facebook at wnnfans.com. making news in america this morning -- first vote. an official kickoff to the primary election season. the pivotal iowa caucuses. . candidates' te-night push sweeping across the hawkeye state. extreme weather. blizzard warnings now in effect. the snow falling overnight. a foot of snow expected in some areas. plus, severe weather toppling trees, strong winds and intense rain pummelling the west coast. frightening fall. a drummer's big finish taking a tumble out a window. plus, extremely tight and zebra printed.

ferocious pants. good monday morning. the wait is over. decision day in way what. the 2016 presidential nomination process kicking off today. >> and the candidates are spending the night crisscrossing the state hoping to win the first in the nation caucus. >> reporter: the new poll on the republican side showing donald trump taking the lead, back from senator ted cruz. senator marco rubio if third. for the democrats the newest poll from the des moines register has hillary clinton and bernie sanders neck and neck in a statistical tie. lala zak the is live in iowa. . >> reporter: good morning. we're so excited to be here. you know, at 7:00 central time, iowans are gather togetheh with their neighbors in church basements, school auditorium as they try to pick the next president of the united states.

make a political revolution. >> i'm a better candidate and thanks to you, i'll be a better president and i want you to know that. >> reporter: this is it. time is up for the three democrats and the 11 republicans running for president. administering a caucus in we shall des moineses >> i think a lot of people are going to be making that decision neighbors. >> reporter: the last iowa poll find 5 points or less separating fifit and second place. with about a third of voters still waivering in their support, campaigns can influence the results up to the last second. >> i pray to god's will. >> reporter: ted cruz attended church on the final day. he said he prayed for donald trump and marco rubio who made this ae peel. >> if i'm the president of the united states, when i'm the president of the united states, we will confronthe challenges of our time.

for an upset second-place finish or better. >> get out of bed and caucus. >> reporter: and donald trump long the man in the lead giving deal. >> he will be unbelievable. >> reporter: and we'll expect to see results f fm the republicans pretty soon after 7:00 local time here tonight. but for the democrats, it tends to take a little bit longer because those caucuses unfold like a game of red rover. sway from the less viable candidates over to their side. >> red rover, i like that one. after the final push last night, what do the candidates all have planned for today. >> usually on election days candidates tend to lay pretty low. iowa, they tend to come out a little bit more than other places. buttill we see little events. most of the events are from those candidates further behind

hillary clinton has one event this evening. jeb bush is already heading to new hampshire later this afternoon. >> oh, a big day for everyone. lana zak live in des moines. ted cruz is coming under fire forending mailers to iowa voters designed to look like official documents that accused them of a voting violation. >> the envelopes are labeled electiononalert. the document inside includes e voter's voting score, even information about their neighbors. >> iowa secretary of the state is calling the mailer deceptive. cruz is refusing to apologize for what some are calling voter intimidation. stay with abc news later this morning, george a robin will be live from iowa on "good morning america." and david muir will report from des moines on "world news tonight." count on abcnews.com with updates throughout the night.

right heren abc, folks, this saturday after iowa and just days before the new hampshire primaries, moderatedy david muir and co-anchor martha raddatz of "this week." iowa is bracing for a major snowmakers expected to ramp up just after tonight's polls. flagstaff, arizona, could see as mu as 15 inches of snow. yes, that is lightning you see there. strong winds could trigger whiteout conditions. in southern, high winds gusting up 40 miles per hour, uprooting trees. one of the falling trees killed a driver in san diego. the latest radar shows those powerful storms now headed northeast. impacting the central rookies and central plains, eventually taking aim at the g gat plains and the mid west. all three of those e`caped

southern california. now, authorities are trying to determine how the trio pulled off such a brazen escape. o others were captured saturday three miles north in san francisco. thanks to an alert citizen who tipped off poli. police say a jailhouse english teacher supplied the inmates with google images that helped their escape. isis has claimed responsibility for triple bombings that have killed at least 15 near a shrinee in syria. more than a hundred others were wounded. peace talks have yet to get under way. some movement. a u.n. mediator has met for the the firstime with rebels. the group could declare the zika virus outbreak a global health emergency. it has been linked to thousands of serious birth defects mainly

two nfl conference chahaions have arrived in california ahead of the big game.. first to land in san jose the denver broncos led by quarterback peyton manning. >> and an hour later the carolina panthers arriveded head up by of course cam newton. none of the players ske to reporters. they're saving it all for the tonight. still ahead, what wall street could be telling us about the president to shl election. and under arrest, twowo virginia tech students accused in the death of 13-year-old girl. this morning, investigators laying out the details in this bizarre case. plus, caught on camera, drummer getting into a song when he suddenly falls through a

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these are frightening moments on a british airways flight from london to chicago. two hours into the flight the bong 747 head to dump fuel and returned to heathrow airport after two of the five set of landing gear wheels broke in flight. but the pilot managed t t land the jet safely. well a new month of trading begins today following the worst january in sen years. the dow fell more than 5% last month. wall street's slow start in 2016 could be big for the republicans. since 1960, every election year with a negative january and no incumbent running the white house has changed parties. gas prices continue their downward trend toward their lowest level in six years. the lowestt price for gas

four cents from last year and down a quarter since this time last year. the national average has been below $2. americans were in the mood for lighter fare at the movies this weekend. kungfu panda 3rought in a lot of cash. the third installment pulled in more than $41 million. star wars the force awakeens came in third. >> we love our fast-food news this hour. new burger out today, burger king extra long buttery extra ng. sauc it will be featured on the 2 for $5 menu. >> that's a big burger. we come back -- trapped under a ee.

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observers described it as having colorful fragments and looked like it fall apapt or exploded. wet roads stretched from the mid-atlantic coast down to the tennessee valley and alabama. rain and snow will make for slippery roads across the midwest and plains states as well as the southwest and roads will be wet in the pacific northwt. and if you're flying, airport delays are possible in sa lake city, denver and miami. there's shock this morning on the campus of virginia tech, now that two engineering students are charged in the kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old girl. >> police in blacksburg announced yesterday that natalie keepers had been arrested for helping to dispose of the body. earlier david eisen youhae ashgsg!eisenhauer. >> based on evidence collected to date, we have determined they

disappearance. >> the victim's heartbroken mother said her daughter had survived mersaa life transplant and lymphoma at age 5. murderer. a deadly shooting this weekend involving rival motorcycle gangs in denver. an attorney said one of the club members fired a gun during the melee on saturday saying it was in self-defense. a drummer in a nashville band made quite an exit and it was caught on camera. the don kelly band was winding its set saturday night. a big finish. when the drummer topples backward the window. he broke a rib in the process.

he back in and played another four h hrs in another club. the man rescued south of baltimore, doug goman was cutting down a tree in the woods when it fell o top of him, severely injuring his legs his cries were finally answered by a nun who just happened toe praying in the woods. >> he was there foror about two hours. luckily that someone had heard him screaming for help. >> fire officials said if not for that nun running back too their nearby convent for help, goldman would not have lasted through the night. time now for sports. the best athletes in the nba, the nfl and the nhl in action now. >> highlights from the johns from espn. the super bowl is here, next

meantime oer sports news. >> we vote for cam newton or peyton manning. that's how it work and they're not eligible. we'll do the nba. steph curry. knicks/warriors at msg. warriors started slowly only 18 in the first quarter. green had a triple-double. th warriors won big. the old pro bowl was played sunday. in hawaii. michael irvin trying to earn his team a win. that's charles woodson, retiring of course his ninth pro bowl appearance. tyrod taylor, jarvis landry. yes. nice grab. but team rice wouou fall to team irvin, 49-27. nhl all-star game in nashville. john scott, big controversy

he got traded. nhl said you can't play in the nhl becausehe's in minors. the uproar was big. this is like a fantasy camp for him. not an all-star caliber player but his attitude, his likability, he scored aouple of goals, his team won the three-on-three, won the team mvp and car. that's it for us. new live "sportscenter" coming ur way at 9:00 a.m. eastern. 9:00 a.m. >> i loved that. >> everybody loves a good underdog. >> absolutely. up next in the pulse, wipeout, a surfer's major free fall caught on mera. >> and bernie sanders' shirt and a tricked-out tractor, some of

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> all right, it's time to check the pulse. starting with carolina panthers' quarterback cam newton's wardrobe choice. it's going viral overnight. check out these pants. zebra-stripped inspiration from versace. they're all sold out everywhere. although, that kind of@ blows my mind. because it's versace and a lot

the loafers aren'bad, either. >> >> cam newton has the swag to pull it off. that's for sure. you need mad swag to pull that off. >> reaction has been pretty swift on social media. fans weighing in. cam newton dressed like sean michaels at wrestlemania. here's another one, busy above, party below. >> perfect way to describe that. >> sure is. >> ten years from now, we'llll probably look back and say, what was i wearing? >> ten years from now, those will still be classic. >> we'll see. now to a viral video nsation that has social media going crazy. they're calling it the craziest wipeout ever captured on film. check this out.

airborne 40 feet on that monster wave. >> it's known jaws a surf break off the coast of maui. he compared the intensity to being in a car crash. >> that hurts. he has one heck of a profile pic now. look at that. he can freeze that. he lived to tell about it. all right, since he was blinded for a few seconds because of that salty sea spray that hit him, remarkably walked away with just a stiff neck. next to a bit of comic relief. >> 28-year-old adam peters has become a bit of an internet celebrity all thanks to this t-shirts, covered with bernie sanders sanders hands. from the ap to the "the new york times." >> meantime, mike huckabee has

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checking our top stories -- today is the decision day for voters in iowa. who will soon be heading to the iowa caucuses. . the race is on both sides on tight with trump in the lead and a statistical tie between sanders and clinton. now the three california inmates are back behind bars, authorities are investigating how they made the brazen escape flee. a powerful winter storm is set to dump as much as 15 inches of snow on parts of northern arizona before taking aim on the great plains and the midwest. looking at today's weather elsewhere, rain across the nnessee valley and pacific northwest. a mix of rain and snow stretching from the southeast all of the way out into the midwest, as well as the great plains. in just a few hours, eyians

this first test for the presidential candidates. >> some in the hawkeye state don't h he to leave their homes in order to caucuses. >> reporter: you out where it's quiet and more sisis than traffic signals, some will ce here. >> yes, we're very excited. >> reportqr: to where mary weaver is backing up a donkey bars a snack for the democrats. making a big decision smack dab in the middle of her home. e of five places left in iowa where the caucucu happens in a living room. >> we have three delegates that ll be coming out of this caucus. >> reporter: that means friends and neighbors will gather here and choose one of four groups to join. clinton, sanders, o'malley or uncommitted. it's the fourth time the weavers

caucus. why the living room location? for small-town comfort. >> we would be driving like from our home if we want too ogden, it would be 20 miles. so, we're really doing it almost as a convenience for oustrselves an our neighbors. >> reporter: to form groups to support a candidate means nothing is left unsaid. political differences are actually the cenr of attention and there are a lot of opinions. >> but tha part makes it interesting. >> reporter: but when a caucus is in a living room at the end of the day, they still all got to live next to each other. >> they may be neighbors, we may see each other in the grocery store, so it's all very civil.