he opted out of that debate. again, today, saying he made the right decision to skip the debate...just days before the caucus. at a rally in new hampshire today... he said he wanted to focus the attention on a group he deeply cares about: veterans. " "i took a chance and its something you have to do and we did something and i don't even know the end result but we went up and the end result is i did the right thing and i did the right thing because i did something great for veterans and when you think of it these politicians are on that debate most don't know what they're doing, they are talking, talking, talking and we're raising money for incredible people especially when you heard jon last night so there was something really nice about it. it could not have been better, it was a ten, you know as they say when something works out, it was a ten." stephanie: trump's rally did not pull in nearly as many viewers as the gop presidential debate, however. the front- runner had told reporters earlier thursday that he anticipated he would take away viewers from the min stage debate. trump is back in eastern iowa tomorrow rally in clinton. jack/1shot: the bachelor has given his rose away, at least his political version of a rose. former abc bachelor and iowa native chris soules visited with republican chris christie earlier today, though he did not publicly endorse the new jersey governor. soules is a strong supporter of ethanol and iowa's farm industry, and major leaders in the industry have publicly backed christie throughout the primary season. jack: and here's a look at all the cities hit - on saturday alone. that's more than 30 cities. candidates are doubling up in like cedar rapids, ames, des city. are hosting their caucus parties in the metro on monday night. stephanie: looking into a that happened early this morning. stephanie/1shot: the call came in a little before 9 in the morning for a bank robbery at the central university avenue. black male suspects, old, came in to they had their faces and was armed with a handgun. no arrests have been made yet, and anyone with information should contact des moines police. jack/1shot: governor branstad helped open the first diplomatic office in iowa today. the consulate of the republic of kosovo is court avenue business suites in the saddlery downtown des moines. leaders of the kosovo say they because of strong business hospitality over the years. " these exchanges that the iowa sister state encourages - it really builds friendships and relationships and leads to more trade. and of course the national guard deserves a lot of credit for this relationship with the kosovo security force which really lead to this sister state and the leadership of general tim warner. " jack: the iowa- kosovo relationship started in 2011 when the iowa national guard partnered with the kosovo security force. the consulate is that relationship and offer more business opportunities and partnerships. stephanie/ots: a one-in-10- million special discovery at a local hy-vee store... has people seeing orange. his name is "r.c." and he's an orange lobster. earlier this week at hy-vee's distribution center, seafood inspectors stumbled upon the rare lobster, who came from the cape cod area. the lobster is named "r-c" after its responsible choice seafood program. "typically those lobsters never leave the coast. they are either spread out along the coast or, if you think about it, consumed by predators. rc, being an orange color, hes unlike any other lobster out there. he doesn't have that camofage to protect him in the ocean so you have to think, being a 12 to 13 years old, he survived all odds out in the ocean. to actually have that lobster recieved here at pdi is an exceptional feat for him. " stephanie: the grocery store chain is currently exploring options for a more permanent home for r-c, and they're looking live out his years wile people can gt a good look at this rare guy. jack: state legislators want to close the pay gap between men and women in iowa. jack/1shot: 20 other states are joining iowa in moving talking about legislation this week. and lawmakers held a press conference earlier today at the capitol about the issue. they're trying to show that there's real pay discrimination within the work place, and work to change that. right now, women in iowa makes 77 cents for every dollar a man makes in the same or similar position. "equal pay would mean that poverty rate for working women would be cut in half which means more than 23,000 iowa families would be lifted out of poverty. " jack: the issue of equal pay for equal work has come up on the caucus campaign trail as well, with iowans asking nearly every presidential candidate about it over the last several months. stephanie/2shot coming up on local 5 news at five... major changes could be coming for women in the work place if president obama has his way. but next... the zika virus getting closer to the u-s. do we really need to worry? "you're watching local 5 news at 5 in hd with jack miller, stephanie angleson, we are iowa's most accurate meteorologist brad edwards. this is local 5 news at 5, we are iowa." jack: the battle against the zika virus intensifies throughout the u-s and the rest of the americas. jack/1shot: there are major concerns the mosquito born disease will harm pregnant women and their unborn babies. abc's kenneth moton has the latest on what's being done to slow the spread of the virus. "preventing the mosquito born zika virus and fighting the spread... these images of newborns with birth defects are difficult to see but health officials are sounding the alarm for families across the americas. dr. margaret chanworld health organization the level of alarm is extremely high. more than 30 cases of zika in the us...all brought back from travel abroad. at least 3 of the people are pregnant women in illinois and new york...now under close watch. it's believed the virus causes brain development problems explosive spread in brazil...more than a million cases...4 thousand babies affected. constancia ayresfiocruz institute we don't have a good sanitation system here in brazil. the climate all those factors together helps to spread the disease faster." brazil is aggressively combatting the type of mosquitos that carry zika. but that hasn't stopped the disease from moving north hitting central america, the caribbean and now the us. anthony faucinational institute of allergy and infectious diseases we prepare for the possibility of an outbreak but we believe it is unlikely to happen health officials say 20 people contracted zika in the us territories of puerto rico and the virgin islands. women who are pregnant or even thinking about having a baby...are being advised to postpone travel to affected regions. on-cam close: pregnant women in the cruise operators traveling to the caribbean and latin america. the fda is also reviewing the policy on blood donations as zika continues to spread. kenneth moton, abc news washington " stephanie/ram: president obama is making his latest push to advance equal pay for women today. the white house announced he's proposing a new rule that will require companies to report pay data by gender, race and ethnicity. the rule would apply to companies that have 100 or more employees. it would require employers to information on a submitted to the employment opportunity currently includes sex and age of workers. the administration said the rule would help aid investigations on shortchanging on gender, race and ethnicity. " we still gotta make sure that women are back in the work place, simply, for starting a family. guys, we're responsible for the family thing too. and they're already doing more work than we are in getting that shouldn't be penalized stephanie: the president officially announced the proposed rule at an event marking the seventh the lilly pay act. piece of legislation he signed as president. stephanie: chief meteorologist brad edwards joins us now.. brad ((ad lib weather toss)) "now, we are iowa's most accurate forecast with chief meteorologist brad experts" jack: chief meteorologist brad edwards joins us now with central iowa's most accurate forecast. brad? brad: (adlib) brad: (adlib) brad: weather adlib: put script here in green what a great way to start our weekend! thanks to mostly sunny skies today we made it into the mid 40s with even some 50s in sw iowa. we will be staying mild tonight too. there will be a few clouds coming in tonight with temps falling back into the 30s most of the night. saturday will be partly to mostly cloudy with mild temperatures all day. highs in central iowa should reach the mid to upper 40s depending on how southern iowa will likely see 50s again in the afternoon. clouds will be thickening up saturday night with a chance for some rain/snow showers late saturday night into sunday morning. temperatures will stay above freezing for central iowa, but northern iowa will be more likely to see some snow showers. with any luck, we will see partly sunny skies sunday afternoon, but it will be windy with nw winds of 15-25+ expected. highs sunday will be in the upper 30s north to lower 40s south. as we head into next week, we will be dealing with a major winter storm coming in late monday night and hitting us very hard goers will be dry, but some light snow could be falling by 10 pm monday night with most of the snow starting after midnight for central iowa. tuesday is when the worst of the storm hits with heavy snow and strong winds likely. right now, i think there will be a large part of central iowa getting anywhere from 6"-12" of snow before ending early wednesday morning. of course, this forecast can change, so we will be watching it very closely! made it into the mid 40s with even some 50s in sw iowa. we will be staying mild tonight too. there will be a tonight with temps falling back into the 30s most of the night. saturday will be partly to mostly cloudy with mild temperatures all day. highs in central iowa should reach the mid to upper 40s depending on how much sunshine we actually get while southern iowa will likely see 50s again in the afternoon. clouds will be thickening up saturday night with a chance for some rain/snow showers late saturday night into sunday morning. temperatures will stay above freezing for central iowa, but northern iowa will be more likely to see some snow showers. with any luck, we will see partly sunny skies sunday afternoon, but it will be windy with nw expected. highs sunday will be in the upper 30s north to lower 40s south. as we head into next week, we will be dealing with a major winter storm coming in late monday night and hitting us very hard tuesday. right now, i think the caucus goers will be dry, but some light snow could be falling by 10 pm monday night with most of the snow starting after midnight for central iowa. tuesday is when the worst of the storm hits with heavy snow and strong winds likely. right now, i think there will be a large part of central iowa getting anywhere from 6"-12" of snow before ending early wednesday morning. of course, this forecast can change, so we will be watching it very closely! brad/wxhang (adlib) jack:/ stephanie: thanks, brad! jack: coming up on local 5 news at five... if you like fancy cars, a pair of them are on the market in philadelphia with a holy connection. "you're watching local apple is recalling millions of power adapters because they could cause an electric shock. jack/lam: apple said today the two prong wall plug adapters were designed for use in continental europe, australia, new zealand, korea, argentina and brazil. not here in the u-s. the plugs were shipped between 2003 and 2015 with macs and other apple devices, and were also included in the apple world travel adapter kit. apple says in very rare cases, the adapters may break and create a risk of electrical shock if touched. you can exchange the faulty plugs for free at any apple store or authorized apple service provider. stephanie/1shot: one of the two "popemobiles" that shuttled the pope around during his trip to philadelphia last september is going on the auction block. pope francis rode around the city of brotherly love in two fiats. one of those cars will be auctioned off today at the philadelphia auto the other will go on display at the auto show... which starts tomorrow and runs through february 7th. proceeds from the auction will benefit select ministries and missions of the archdiocese of philadelphia. stephanie wrapping up the workweek on a mild note...but don't get too comfortable... chief meteorologist brad edwards has the latest on when that winter storm will come through iowa...when we come back. stephanie: going viral. 55-million facebook views so far... t-rex decided to try his teeny little hand at ice skating. who knew t-rex's were so athletic, let alone that, you know, they still existed? brad/wxhang weather adlib: put script here in green what a great way to sunny skies today we made it into the mid 40s with even some 50s in sw iowa. we will be staying mild tonight too. there will be a few clouds coming in tonight with temps falling back into the 30s most of the night. saturday will be partly to mostly cloudy with mild temperatures all day. highs in central iowa should reach the mid to upper 40s depending on how much sunshine we actually get while southern iowa will likely see 50s again in the afternoon. clouds will be thickening up saturday night with a chance for some rain/snow showers late saturday night into sunday morning. temperatures will stay above freezing for central iowa, but northern iowa will be more likely to see some snow showers. with any luck, we will see partly sunny skies sunday afternoon, but it will be windy with nw winds of 15-25+ expected. highs sunday will be in the upper 30s north to lower 40s south. as we head into next week, we will be dealing with a major winter storm coming in late monday night and hitting us very hard tuesday. right now, i think the caucus goers will be dry, but some light snow could be falling by 10 pm monday night with most of the snow starting after midnight for central iowa. tuesday is when the worst of the storm hits with heavy snow and strong winds likely. right now, i think there will be a large part of central iowa getting anywhere from 6"-12" of snow before ending early wednesday morning. of course, this forecast can change, so we will be watching it very closely! stephanie: thank you for spending your time with us tonight. jack: we are working hard on another great newscast for 6pm. watch for we're proud to say we are iowa... have a great night. " " " " live breaking news tonight. with just three dayays unt iowa, the bombshell development the top-secret e-mails.