this is new york's number one news. channel 7 eyewitness news with lori stokes and ken rosato. heather o'rourke with traffic. now, eyewitness news this morning. developing at 4:30, new details just in on o limpon robbery scandal. >> also, fast moving flames destroy homes and displace dozens of people in staten island. firefighters have been hurt. we are live on the scene where they are still battling hot spots. >> and breaking news, live pictures from an overturned garbage truck creating a mess on the roads. good morning, i'm ken rosato. >> and i'm toni yates.

>> nice to have you aboard. you are never more than 7 minutes away from weather and traffic. >> you work three days in a row, you get to stay another week. here we go. we take a look outside this morning. we start the day with 75 clear skies. 76 around babylon. 72, 71 down the jersey shore. and a great day. a great start to your weekend. we're lo 88 this afternoon. northeast wind, moderate humidity. we'll talk about the rest of your weekend coming up. debbie duhaime has a look at your traffic. >> first of all, go to our web cam and show the bqe. getting down toward the l.i.e. it's bumper to bumper with construction. also reports of an accident right at the bqe. watch for that. let's highlight the maps and

other on hamilton avenue. an accident involving that overturned tractor trailer. it looks like we have that debris spill. let's see what else is happening on the a train. no service with track work. same thing on the 7. so some shuttle buses available as well. l.i.r.r., metro north, new jersey transit running on or close to schedule. and the hudson valley. it's construction getting down toward pleasantville. alternate side in effect. you, tony, ken. >> thank you, 4:32. more on the breaking story debbie just mentioned. tractor trailer hauling trash overturned on the brooklyn queens expressway and that is the garbage. look at that spilled all over the road. police are looking to talk to the driver right now. and we're also learning more about a six alarm fire in staten island. >> pick up that, we are talking

destroyed seven homes. more than a dozen fighters are hurt. eyewitness news reporter is live in the st. george section with the very latest. diana. >> this gave firefighters all they could handle. they are out on the scene this morning and they expect to be here for a couple days. 42 people have been left homeless this morning. it was just after 6:00 last night that the fire department was called. were so intense, they damaged buildings across the street. three homes were destroyed. two buildings actually collapsed. four others suffering some type of damage. the fire started just after 6:00. forcing everyone to evacuate. the fire department was on the scene within two minutes. these flames moved too quickly, but the fire struck six alarms before it was out with heat so intense, it presented a real

suffering from heat exhaustion and four other civilians had respiratory issues due to the intense smoke that filled the street. however, everyone was able to get out of the buildings safely. >> a lot of old people in that building, you know, it takes a lot of time to take downstairs. it was all the way to the third floor. the fire was really hot. >> we were in the house and one of my cousins shouted, fire, and there was this big blaze and a lot of people screaming and stuff like that. >> so the fire did take out some power lines and knocked out power to most of the block. crews are still working to restore that this morning. as i mentioned, 42 people are homeless. they are in the care of the red cross. all of this is still under investigation. we're live in staten island, i'm diana rocco, channel 7 eyewitness news.

developing this morning, new details on the robbery scandal in rio. two swimmers are flying home right now. another had to do in order to come home. eyewitness news reporter, darla miles has the very latest. >> good morning, four hours and $11,000 later, gummy is finally going to get to leave brazil. that's how much time he spent speaking to brazilian authorities and $11,000, that's how much money he'll have to prosecution. new video shows american swimmer, jimmy fegan walking out of a court early this morning, after spending hours speaking with a judge working out a deal. teammates, jock and conner met with boos, they are finally heading back to the u.s. after being pulled from their flight wednesday and spending thursday giving testimony to rio police.

a statement, we apologized to the people of brazil for this ordeal. in the mist of what should right will be a celebration of excellence. this video which police contradicts the story ryan locthe told about being robbed at gunpoint. the american swimmers can be seen vandalizing a bathroom before being questioned and paying for damages. but locthe is still sticking to his story. gun was pointed at the swimmers, no matter what happened at that gas station, the swimmers were robbed by people with a gun, appearing to be law enforcement. no matter what country you are in, that is robbery. also according to abc news sources who spoke with all four swimmers, they say their version of this story still holds up, because they believe they are about 3 minutes of missing surveillance video from the gas station, which would show all four swimmers being

of locthe, it's unclear what charges will be filed at this point, because again, he is already back in the u.s. ken. >> thank you, it's 4:37. a transgender woman was struck in the head with a hammer. police are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime. the 28-year-old was hit as she walked along 67th street wednesday morning. police say a man came up to her from behind and screamed, quote, this is what you get for being gay. she was treated for serious the young man who confessed to drowning his mother in their family's pool on long island is in jail this morning on an $8 million band. police say 23-year-old, dennis cullen, jr., got into an argument with his mother because he was not taking his medication. police say an argument escalated at their home and cullen put 63-year-old elizabeth cullen into a head lock and dragged her to the deep end of their pool. cullen is charged with second-

anniversary of the crown heights riot. tensions lasted for three days in brooklyn before it erupted in deadly violence. eric adams remembered the riots yesterday as he pushed up for stepped up safety measures. he wants the city to spend more money on cameras, that can be used by the nypd to investigate crimes. >> we have this, property and those who are in manhattan district, brooklyn wants its own and it will cost pennys on the dollars of what we're paying for the ring of steel in manhattan. >> adams says a robbery on tuesday in crown heights was captured by cameras maintained by the local community council and that helped lead to an arrest. >> 4:38. you are never more than 7 minutes away from weather and

>> all the way down to one world trade, staten island is in the distance. good visibility, great morning outside. we look across midtown, temperature 75 degrees. that's nice and comfortable. no showers on the radar. you have to go all the way west of chicago for a 77 by 9:00. noontime 83. beautiful weather this afternoon. we're going to get to mid and upper 80s and a moderate humidity. a great day tomorrow. changes coming then. >> debbie duhaime is looking for the commute this morning. what's going on? >> good morning, bill, good morning, everybody. problems on the l.i.e. as we take a look at our web cam. look at the volume westbound. it's bumper to bumper. all lanes subject to closure here. westbound, eastbound, one lane blocked with emergency activity, as we highlight the maps. this is the l.i.e. westbound at the bqe. all lanes closed with an

over to hamilton, 3rd avenue. that's the accident involving the overturned tractor trailer. we'll keep an eye on that for you as well. and construction, and traffic slowing down through that stretch as well. alternate side parking rules are in effect. back to you, tony, ken. is. >> thank you, 4:40, still ahead on eyewitness news, a revealing statue of donald trump causes quite the commotion in union square. hear where more statues popped up. >> problems piled up for fire. the belongings that were not lost in the flames. >> plus, the fight against the zika virus needs hello! it's our new intern, bart's first week here at td bank,

we're training him to bank human. i am banking assistance & registration technology. wait, wait, wait. but you can call me, banking assistance & registration technology. hi amy. thank you. thank you. that is not protocol manager jenna. that's ok bart, it is here. at td bank we do things differently, like having the longest hours of any bank. don't just bank. bank human. when you can take your hands off the wheel to get out of a tight spot. an relax with your foot off the brake and stay put. and when you enjoy 400 horsepower that's both smooth and controlled. that's the more human side of engineering. this is the lincoln summer invitation, hurry in now to your dealer for limited time offers! lease an mkc for $289 a month or get 0% apr for 60 months

we could brag about what's in new light & fit yogurt. but we'd rather talk about what's not in it. or preservative ingredients. and with 70 calories... maybe we're kind of bragging? new light & fit. new this morning, a long

hempsted left her dogs in full sun exposure with no shade and no way to get back into the apartment. officers responded, one of the dogs died at the scene. the other was treated at the hempsted animal shelter. it's unknown how long she left those dogs out on the balcony alone. >> 4:43. they are the victims of a burglary. someone broke into a fire damaged building and stole electronics. nobody got hurt, but six people had to be rescued after they were trapped. investigators say the fire was caused by over loaded extension cords and outlets. mike pence will tour louisiana today and there are calls from one newspaper in the state for president obama to cut his vacation short, to visit the region, at least 13 people have died in those floods at one point. 11,000 people were in shelters. homeland security has told

government will help the state recover. johnson said more than 900fema personnel are on the ground and hundreds more are on the way. he also says president obama is getting daily briefings on the situation while he's on vacation in new england. >> in california, firefighters are finally making progress on that massive wild fire sweeping through an area east of los angeles. the blue cut fire has burned through nearly 36,000 acres. as of this morning, the fire is 22% contained. it's estimated that more than 34,000 homes and nearly 83,000 people were under evacuation orders. some evacuations have been lifted. they are still trying to figure out what sparked that fire. >> 4:44. we are seeing video of coast guard crews working together to help boaters off the coast of washington state. the sailboat was 200 miles off the coast when it began on taking on water.

to empty out the water. the coast guard was able to deliver a new pump once they got it working, the boaters were able to get back to shore. >> a naked statue of donald trump has been removed, but not before crowds got quite the eye full. we had to blur out the essentials. the life-sized statue was one of five statues posted in cities around the country. the statue shows trump's hands folding over a belgium belly. the city's parks department had it removed by breaking it off at the ankles. the statues posted in los angeles and san francisco are still in place. one other statue was found in cleveland. >> okay. >> it is quite the election season. >> okay. meteorologist, bill evans joins us now with the exclusive accuweather forecast. >> i thought they nailed the hair pretty good. >> look outside this morning, a look from our camera here.

partly cloudy skies, it's going to be a nice start to your day. here's our corner of the world. hey, the coffee cart is here. all right, let's get going. it's friday, 75 degrees. humidity moderate. winds are calm. and the pressure right at 30, which is our mark of fair weather. yesterday's high of 85. normal is 83. looking at what will be sunshine and beautiful weather. pretty sunrise coming up at 6:10. it's a great start to the weekend. we have sunny skies today, just moderate humidity. and humid tomorrow. really saturday the best day of the weekend as we'll have a thunderstorm or two coming in. big changes next week. 75 for murray hill to 76 ridgewood, queens. we're looking at 72, 74 ocean county. just a little light wind this morning, that's about it. it will come around to the northeast. north, northeast wind, and so you have a light wind, clear to partly cloudy skies, a couple great days from high pressure.

then tomorrow morning, we're starting out 75 in the park to 65 north and west. a great start to saturday. so you kind of see the flow here, the model is picking up where it might be a scattered shower or thunderstorm. there's not a whole lot happening with that. sunday, however, is a big game changer. we'll see 76 to start today. and then sunday night, comes in from the west. we'll talk more about that. winds are north at 5 to 10. look, waves are 2 feet. great in the low risk of rip currents. 88 degrees, sunny, warm. clear, warm, the humidity picks up tonight. and sunny, warm, and humid tomorrow. so, saturday is a great day. sunday, the daytime is dry. it's late in the day. we could get a scattered shower or thunderstorm. and we're going to be looking at what is going to be really some weather that is cooler, dryer, breezy next week. low 80s for highs, which is

low 60s. it will feel like a nice break coming up next week. >> smooth sailing. all right, thank you. >> over to debbie duhaime, another check on traffic. >> thank you so much. we're going to start off by telling you what's happening in brooklyn. we're going to show you the live shots of this accident involving this overturned truck. look at the mess here. this is hamilton avenue at 3rd avenue. it's an accident involved in this tractor trailer. as a result, hamilton avenue to the bqe as we zoom in, you can see there's a debris spill, a lot of emergency activity here at the scene. this is going to take awhile to clean up. look at the mess at the garbage all over the place as well. so, again, that ramp at hamilton avenue to the bqe is completely blocked as we zoom in on the police department activity. avoid this at all costs. as we go to the maps, we'll highlight that area.

accident. completely closed. let's go to the l.i.e. westbound right at the b.q.e. this is another serious accident, all lanes subject to closure. l.i.e. west at the bqe. avoid that one as well. and heading to 17 south at midland avenue, construction, you're diverted at century road. alternate side parking rules are in effect. back to you, tony, ken. >> 4:49. chicago's top cop recommending seven police officers be fired over the deadly shooting of a black teenager. in a statement, superintde said documents, video, and other evidence proves the officers violated the reports. one officer, is charged with murder. he is accused of shooting the teen 16 times. >> this is bizarre and brazen kidnapping attempt that happened in front of a family as they were shopping for their groceries. the suspect, he had no shirt on. he walked into a store near boston and seen picking up a small boy and flinging him over

confused at first, they thought the suspect could have been an employee playing with the child, but moments later, the dad confronted the man who handed the child back and then he ran away, but police found him hiding in the woods behind the store. >> 4:50. the justice department is working toward ending its use of private prisons. the announcement was made yesterday as the federal prison population declines. this comes after the justice department found private facilities had more safety and security problems than prisons government. >> gawker.com is shutting down next week. the site's founder made the announcement to staffers yesterday. the decision came just days after univision bid $135 million for gawker and its related sites. gawker filed for bankruptcy after hulk hogan won a $140 million judgment for invasion of privacy. >> 4:50, researchers are looking for volunteers who are

develop a vaccine. the study, researchers in the u.s. begun safety testing. more experimental shots are poised to undergo preliminary testing soon. any that seen promising are going to be tested and thousands of people in parts of local teenager accusedden america are hard hit by the virus. >> it's now 4:51. coming up this morning, bring a bucket. you can cool off with a slurpee as big 7-eleven promo. >> and comes up with a clever

hi guys! got the birthday girl a drum set. drum set? he's kidding! [laughs] oh you guys must have time warner cable. this is gonna be some party. yeah, their free home wifi lets us connect all our devices at the same time. and there's no data cap, so... the kids must love that, huh?! hey, there's the birthday girl! let's get this party started! get time warner cable 300 meg internet. that's 50 times faster than dsl and no data cap. uploading! call now. get 50 megs for $39.99 a month. hi grandma! miss you! who is that? are you gonna finish that? ok. switching is easy with time warner cable's exclusive one-hour arrival window, so you don't have to wait around. plus, there's no contract all with a money-back guarantee. he over-did it. [snoring] [giggling] get 50 meg internet with unlimited data for $39.99 per month.

ask about free installation, and access to nearly 500,000 wifi hotspots with select plans. call today. hello! it's our new intern, bart's first week here at td bank, he's a robot from one of those other banks. we're training him to bank human. i am banking assistance & registration technology. wait, wait, wait. but you can call me, banking assistance & registration technology. hi amy. thank you. thank you. that is not protocol manager jenna. that's ok bart, it is here. things differently, like having the longest hours of any bank. don't just bank.

4:54. a dust d it swirled at the runway at the airport. a dust devil is a rotating column of air that kicks up dust and dirt as it moves. even though it looks like a tornado, the national weather service says they form on clear days. meteorologist, bill evans talks about that. >> bill evans accuweather forecast. >> the devil. we have clear skies, we're

washington bridge. looking good as we take a look at the sunrise. we're looking at temperatures of 75. 75 to 76, newark, north, northeast, northwest, a very light wind today. it's going to be a pretty day. 81 degrees by lunchtime. we're off to a beautiful start in the weekend. i'll tell you more about your forecast. she is looking at all that in the area. >> exactly, exactly. and bill, i'll show you what's this is right on the ramp, hamilton avenue getting to the bqe is blocked. this is so close to the be, qe. hamilton avenue and 3rd avenue, look at this problem. it's overturned garbage truck. this ramp right here from hamilton avenue to the bqe is going to be closed for awhile. you can see crews trying to get ahold on this situation. but again, this is hamilton avenue. watch out for that problem.

tell you about another problem. over on the l.i.e. getting out toward the bqe, it's another accident, all lanes closed as we highlight the web cam. let's go over to the web cam, the l.i.e. westbound bumper to bumper because of that problem. alternate side parking rules are in effect. back to you. ken, tony. >> all right, debbie, thank you very much. a public hearing will be held in tom's river on thursday to discuss making sure the public will always have access to the state's shorelines. to protect people's rights to the shore for recreation, for boats and other water craft and of course, for fishing. all shore towns would have to include a beach access point as part of their land use master plan. security areas and habitats for threatened or endangered species would be exempt. >> it's 4:56. municipal id program, more than 863,000 native new yorkers and

year and a half ago. a survey shows more than half of the card holders used their city id as their primary form of identification. >> if you're looking for a sweet treat, you may want to head to your near 7-eleven. >> don't forget to bring a cup, a jar, or a crock pot. holding its second bring your own cup event this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the slurpee. this reminds me of my youth. bring a clean, watert hole and no matter how big it is, fill it with your favorite flavor. the event runs tomorrow. >> you suck get a brain freeze. >> all right, we're closing in on 5:00. firefighters still putting out the hot spots of a massive fire. we'll have dozens of people misplaced. we're live with an update. >> and new information on the deadly fire in new jersey and how the community can help the

? ? ? you live life your way. we can help you retire your way, too. financial guidance while you're mastering life. from chase. so you can. financial guidance while you're mastering life. fios is not cable. we're wired differently, which means we can fix things differently. thanks for calling fios. this is ryan. you can't tell me this cord isn't in. i know it's in. it's in, but it's not working.

yes, mr. mcenroe... see that cord? just plug it into the connector on the right. so you can clearly see what's in and what's out? oh absolutely. i like that. tech support that lets your technician see the problem over your smartphone. only from fios. your daughter wants to stay organic. your husband wants to stay free from artificial ingredients. you want to stay free from artificial preservatives. and your debit card wants to stay on a diet. fill your cart with small victories like stop & shop's nature's promise brand.

this is new york's number one news. channel 7 eyewitness news with lori stokes and ken rosato. heather o'rourke with traffic. and bill evans with the exclusive accuweather forecast. now, eyewitness news this morning. developing at 5:00 a.m., flames destroy or damaged people and firefighters injured in the blaze. >> also, developing, it appears the american swimmers who said they were robbed at gunpoint were not telling the whole truth. find out why they won't be facing charges. >> and a commuter alert after an early morning tractor trailer crash spilled garbage all over the roadway near the brooklyn queens expressway. yuck. good morning, i'm ken rosato. >> thank you for joining us, i'm in for lori stokes.

and good it's friday and you are never more than 7 minutes away from weather and traffic, here is bill evans. >> here we go, take a look down the sidewalk. see what's going on this morning. kind of quiet here along the upper west side. temperatures this morning right around 75 degrees with clear skies out of northwest wind. temperatures, 66. 76 around elizabeth. 72 around islip. 72 down the jersey shore. it's a nice morning. going to be very comfortable. that's later on today. pleasant this morning. nice start to the weekend. however, that's the better exit quickly place. because the bqe is a mess this morning. debbie duhaime is in this morning. >> allow that extra time, especially in brooklyn this morning. we're gouge going to show you a look, getting into the be, qe. westbound, it's bumper to

an accident with all lanes completely closed here on the l.i.e. eastbound. one lane blocked as well with some emergency activity, as we highlight the maps. avoid the l.i.e. west. and again, that problem over in brooklyn, over in the section, you're still seeing this major problem on hamilton avenue. that's an accident involving that overturned garbage truck. garbage all over the place, to the bqe is comple closed. and also watch out for a down tree. alternate side parking rules are in effect for today. back over to you. >> debbie, thank you. firefighters still putting out hot spots hours after a fire gutted a row of homes. >> 42 people are displaced. seven homes are damaged or destroyed and 21 people are hurt, including 19 firefighters. diana rocco is live at the scene with more. diana, good morning. >> tony and ken, good morning.

you mentioned, is out. but firefighters expect to be here for several more days. they had quite an issue fighting this fire last night. it spread to several homes before they were able to extinguish it. you can see what's been left of these homes here. they are a charred remain here. there were two partial collapses. this really give firefighters all they can handle. this is what it looked like shortly after the fire broke out yesterday. you can see how flames were, shooting from the roof. they actually damaged buildings across the street. three homes were destroyed. two of those buildings collapsed. four others suffered damage. the fire started just after 6:00 forcing everyone to evacuate. the fire department was on the scene within two minutes, but those flames moved so quickly, the buildings were engulfed by the time they arrived. the fire struck six alarms before it was out. that intense heat presented a real challenge.

heat exhaustion, four other people had respiratory issues due to the smoke that filled the street. everyone was able to get out of the building safely. however, it took several hours for firefighters to bring this under control. >> totally destroyed. three other buildings have moderate damage. two buildings have minor damage. one of the obstacles, very, very heavy smoke. partings of carbon monoxide in the street. not only in the building. but two of the buildings extreme danger of collapse. the third building may collapse and then as you get further out, they are less severely damaged. >> so, as an extremely dangerous situation out here last night, it did take firefighters several hours to contain this and keep the entire block from going up. 42 people are homeless this morning. there are still power issues on the street.

the block. crews are still working to restore that, all of those people are in the care of the red cross this morning while this remains under investigation. we're live on staten island, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> diana, thank you. united way set up a fund to help the victims of a fierce multifamily house fire in new jersey. five-year-old and her grandmother, 56-year-old, margaret, died wednesday following tuesday night's fire. their pictures now posted on a go fund me page. the girl still recovering. other residents jump from windows to escape the flames. gift cards will be collected for victims at the meadowlands family success center. and developing now, here's a live look at the scene where a tractor trailer hauling trash overturned on hamilton avenue. as debbie mentioned, the crash is blocking a wrap to the brooklyn queens expressway. garbage spilling all over the roadway. police are now talking to the

about an armed robbery is now headed home. jimmy secured his freedom by making a deal with the brazilian judge to pay $11,000 to charity. the arraignment means ryan locthe are no longer expected to face charges after they told police they were robbed at gunpoint on sunday. brazilian investigators say the men along with two teammates vandalized a bathroom and confronted by armed guards. coming up, we'll learn more from loce' on this story. and conflicting reports are coming from the family of the howard beach woman murdered while she was jogging and the nypd. commissioner bill bradden is making it clear there are no suspects and police are not close to an arrest in the murder of karina. but her parents claim there are a number of very strong leads and an arrest could be just days away. her father is pleading publicly

>> she is in great distress and we know she wants to make that call. we are pleading with her to make that call. >> it's been 17 days since their daughter was strangled and sexually assaulted near their howard beach home. >> donald trump is headed to louisiana with they will travel baton rouge. this all comes after republican presidential candidate told north carolina voters he regrets some of the voters he made. >> sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. i have done that and believe it or not, i regret it.

>> although he did not specify which comments he was referring to, the apology comes days after a big campaign shakeup. 5:08. we are learning more information about the shakeup planned for the clinton foundation. the foundation would stop accepting foreign and corporate doe nations donations. >> you are never more than 7 minutes away from weather and we're looking for my camera looking south here. we have a nice morning. it's comfortable. we have light wind out of the northwest to northeast. all over the place here. humidities are not that bad at all. great start to the day, and looking at 77 by 9:00. noontime 83. 85 by 3:00. and looking at what is going to be 87, 88 later on. great boating day today. boaters, we have waves at 2 feet, and fishermen will have a

low risk of rip currents at the beaches. weather and traffic together every 7 minutes. debbie duhaime. we are full of garbage. >> good morning, everybody, do watch out for that problem with the overturned tractor trailer and the garbage spill at 3rd avenue. again, that hamilton is closed, now also the l.i.e. westbound is subject to closure right at the bqe. this is a pretty serious accident, l.i.e. heading west at the bqe. a collision, let's go outside an look right now with our web cam. look at the volume getting into the bqe. all lanes completely blocked. let's tell you what's happening southbound. a downed tree to watch for and heading to the merit parkway. some construction being cleared by exit 33. alternate side in effect. back over to you. tony, ken. >> debbie, thank you. still ahead on eyewitness news this morning, a store clerk refused to be a victim, turning

on robbers, locking them inside his store. hear why his efforts did not lead to an arrest. >> also ahead, the coast guard to the rescue and two wilderness guys were mauled by a bear. a bear. i'm robert de niro to visit in the world and now it's the easiest, because now there are new tourism guides on the road, and on your phone that make it easier to find the places you love. find great dining, amazing history, and world-class entertainment, no matter where you are. take the ultimate road trip and see why i love new york.

welcome back. a clever clerk in new jersey out smarts two men threatening to rob the place. tommy torre torres was working on soth avenue in patterson when the men barged in. when the men looted the store, he locked it, pulled down the security gate. >> we don't have any iphones, you can take anything, whatever

than 20 minutes, look at this. some question why it took 20 minutes for police to arrive, saying the hard part was done. patterson police director says internal affairs is looking into that 20 minute response time. new this morning, the coast guard rescued two wilderness guys mauled by a bear on a trail north of citca, alaska. they were attacked. the air crew hoisted the man they suffered several injuries and several lacerations. >> thursday turned out to be a good one for the gold, if you were competing for the united states. take a look at the standing. 100 for team u.s.a. that is way ahead of the countries in second and third place. great britain and china. >> a sweet reprieve for the americans who got a second chance in the women's 4 by 100 relay after allison dropped the baton.

raced all alone and fast enough to make the finals today. after ryan set a new shot put record in the qualifying rounds, he capped off the day with a gold medal in the finals. joe kovack in silver. and the 1500 meters, he becomes the first repeat decathlon champion since bob did it in 1952. worldest athlete. and more gold for the united states. queens native dashes to the victory, the first american woo m woman to win a gold in the event. bolt proved he is the world's fastest man. he ran to gold with an easy win. his third straight olympic medal. bolt is winning in pursuit of a third straight triple.

in tonight's 4 by 100. >> he will be weighed down. >> that is unbelievable. bill evans joins us now with the accuweather forecast. >> we take a look from our camera in brooklyn to the wall street area down toward the battery, from the brooklyn bridge south. a nice morning outside. dew point is high, we have humidity close to 79, 80 percent. we're looking at a little bit of humidity this morning. die down. 72 the jersey shore. 74 bridge port. these numbers are nice. the winds are light. parts of the area, northwest coming around northeast later on today. sunny clouds back to the great lakes. so, here's our future cast. you're looking at 66. low 80s, mid 80s this afternoon. tomorrow, we start off in the mid 60s to mid 70s and tomorrow afternoon, we're back into the mid 80s. the guidance is showing a popup

happen so much. i'll take you toward sunday. that's the big transition day. you'll see on sunday, there are some showers that will start moving into pennsylvania, around noontime, and then for the afternoon and evening, sunday, we'll see this cold front coming through with shower and thunderstorm late sunday and that's going to be the big weather changer for next week. going out this morning, 5 to 10 miles an hour, very light, waves 2 feet. rip current risk is low, water temperatures that are going to be warm tonight with clear skies, a little humid. 75, a great august evening. we have sunshine and warm and humid day tomorrow. the high is here's your accuweather seven- day forecast. here's the trend to where we have, you know, showers and thunderstorms in the evening. a cold front comes through. sunday night's low, look at that 70 and how the lows drop off monday, tuesday, wednesday night in the 60s. highs will be in the low 80s.

humidity. beautiful weather next week. >> totally lovely. >> there you go. i'll take it. have a great weekend, it will be nice. >> thank you, sir. another person we want to have a great weekend is debbie duhaime. >> and good morning, ken, tony, bill, and good morning, everybody. problems continue in brooklyn with that overturned garbage truck. look at this mess on hamilton avenue at 3rd avenue. it's an overturned tractor trailer that was carrying garbage. you can see crews at the scene trying to get a hamilton avenue to the bqe remains closed. avoid that area. also highlight the maps and tell you what else is happening. as you head over to the l.i.e. westbound, all lanes subject to closure at the bqe. this is a pretty serious accident. again, l.i.e. west, all lanes closed at the bqe with a collision. 4 trains seeing delays with

@ spray the southbound, back to you, tony, ken. thank you, still ahead on eyewitness news, tourism worries in florida. more cases of zika discovered in the only spot mosquitoes are known to be transmitting the zika virus.

two new cases of zika linked to miami beach. the total number of cases has risen to 35. officials were going to make zika a transmission zone. that would be a huge blow to the tourism industry there. active transmissions are only in the winwood area, not miami beach. officials urge residents to spray themselves with mosquito repellent. new york state and local police are stepping up patrols keep drunk drivers off the road. the drive sober or get pulled over campaign kicked off yesterday. he directed state troopers to ramp up their enforcement as part of the nationwide crackdown. the state says labor day is among the deadliest times of year when it comes to drunken or drugged drivers. >> you're never more than 7 minutes away from weather and traffic together here on eyewitness news this morning. here we go.

pretty morning here. we have clear skies as we look all the way down empire state building, past one world trade to staten island. humidity is at 74, 79, 88%. you're taking the ferry, great ride. a little northwest wind here, going to be a great ride from jersey city, going over to liberty landing. going to be a nice morning, and if you're taking and forth, 79 degrees in long island sound, and this we warm to 80. we are looking at a calm wind and going to be looking at sunshine. we get to 83 during lunch. with a north, northeast wind, the humidities remain low to moderate. debbie duhaime has her hands full. >> that's for sure, and everybody better get to it. let's see what's happening. we're going to highlight the maps and tell you about an accident. a garbage spill, all over the place here, hamilton avenue at

in the section of brooklyn. now, another major problem this morning is the l.i.e. westbound, all lanes closed. that's an accident. avoid it if you can. going out to the web cam. here's a look at the l.i.e. westbound into the bqe. very busy for trains on or close to schedule. back over to you, tony, ken. >> all right, debbie, thank you. still ahead on eyewitness news, the country ranked number earth a happy planet and why the united states will never have a chance at first place. >> oh, come on. we can do better than that. also, how twitter is getting

welcome back. 5:26 on the money this morning. asian markets are mixed. >> japan rose slightly, hong kong posted a marginal loss. the dow starts up 23 points at 18,597. nasdaq and s & p 500 began higher. futures are pointing to a lower open. >> and a look at the future of automobiles. >> and twitter announces a major crackdown.

today's tech bytes, twitter is -- >> a string of recent attacks around the world. twitter has increased daily suspensions by 80%. >> a fleet of self-driving cars. >> customers in pittsburgh will be able to summon the cars with their smart phone. working on making the cars fully driverless. they will come with human backup drivers to handle any unexpected situations. unveils its latest concept car. the mercedes. >> it's huge. more than 18 feet long. it has an electric engine packed with 7800 horsepower, but a range of 200 miles. >> it can be charged through a wireless electromagnetic field. >> it's still a concept, but it looks cool. >> my birthday is coming up.

time. >> costa rica, the central american country reached a balance where its citizens lead relatively long and satisfied lives without a huge impact on the planet. now because the index's formula divides measures of well being by each country's foot print, none of the world's most developed countries made the top ten list. mexico comes in second, columbia comes in third. >> 5:28. coming up in our next half hour, we are live at the scene of a massive fire that destro of homes leaving dozens of people displaced. >> and, of course, meteorologist bill evans returns with your weekend returns with your weekend accuweather forecast. she spent summer binge-watching. soon, she'll be binge-studying. now she writes mostly in emoji. soon, she'll type the best essays in the entire 8th grade. today, the only spanish words he knows are burrito and enchilada.

get back to great with the right gear. from the place with the experts. office depot officemax. gear up for school. gear up for great. good is in every blue diamond almond. good is a catalyst, good is contagious. and once it gets going there is no stopping what you can do. get your good going. blue diamond almonds. proud sponsor of the us swim team incredible bladder protection in a pad this thin, i didn't... ...think it would work, but it does. aks, the super... ...absorbent core turns liquid to gel. i know i'm wearing it but no one else will. always discreet for bladder leaks. now, new york's number one news, channel 7 eyewitness news this morning. >> developing on staten island, several families have lost everything they own after a fast moving fire destroyed a

monitoring the hot spots. >> and, new overnight, the four olympians, including ryan locthe at the center of an investigation for possibly lying about an armed robbery, but they will not be charged. >> and watching a cleanup underway on the ramp. we'll keep you updated on the progress. good morning, i'm ken rosato. >> and i'm toni yates in for lori rosato. >> it's nice to see that road. you are never more than 7 minutes away from weather and traffic. here is bill evans. >> temperatures are comfortable. we're looking at 75 degrees to start your day. we have a wind that is mostly out of the northwest. we have 66 here around hanover. 72 long island. 72 belmar. look how nice, lots of sun, uv index at 10. low risk of rip currents at the beaches, mid and upper 80s today. a moderate humidity.

>> debbie duhaime is in the traffic center. she has her broom ready to hit hamilton avenue. >> good morning, everybody. we're going to go outside and take a look at the inbound. this is eastbound getting up toward the prospect. traffic is moving slowly, but as we highlight the maps, a problem off the bqe. hamilton avenue at 3rd avenue closed as we highlight the maps. hamilton at 3rd avenue closed because of that accident involving the overturned the big garbage spill. so, crews are out here cleaning up the mess. as a result, hamilton avenue ramp to the bqe remains completely closed. now the l.i.e. westbound getting out toward maurice avenue. that's an accident, one lane remains blocked. watch for delayings and the southbound new york state throughway exit 11. an accident right before the tappan zee bridge. back to you, toni, ken.

the american swimmers accused of a big fib will not be facing charges. there are new developments in the rio robbery scandal, including ryan locthe. eyewitness news reporter, darla miles joins us with the latest. >> reporter: four hours and $11,000 later, jimmy fegan is leaving brazil. that's how much time he spent speaking to brazilian authorities and $11,000, that's how much money he'll have to donate to charity to avoid false police report. >> new video shows american swimmer walking out of a court in rio early this morning. after spending hours speaking with the judge to work out a deal so he can go home. teammates, jack conger met with boos as they left rio. they are heading back to the u.s. after being pulled from their flight wednesday and spending thursday giving testimony to rio police.

quote, we apologize to our host in rio and the people of brazil for this distracting ordeal. in the mist of what should rightly be a celebration of excellence. at the center of it all, this gas station surveillance video. which police in rio say contradicts the story ryan locthe told about being robbed at gunpoint. investigators say the american swimmers vandalized a gas station bathroom before being stopped by an armed security guard and handing over $400 cash for damages. but despite the apology from and the new surveillance video, locthe is still sticking to his story. his attorney saying, he was, in fact, robbed by someone appearing to be law enforcement. and locthe is back in the u.s., it is unlikely he will face penalties in brazil. there could be reprecushions back home, like probation or a fine from u.s.a. swimming or possibly losing his endorsements from speedo.

devastating fire nearly 12 hours after it ripped through a row of homes. eyewitness news reporter is live in the saint george section with an update. diana, good morning. >> tony, good morning, the fire is now out, but the work here is far from over. the fire department expects to be on the scene for several days. you can see what is left of these structures where the fire started yesterday. some of them are just bare bones, others have actually collapsed. more than 40 people have been left homeless this mo were so intense, this is what it looked like last night shortly after that fire started. the flames actually damaged buildings across the street. three homes were destroyed. two of those buildings collapsed. four others suffered so much damage, that the families will not be able to return home. the fire started just after 6:00 and everyone was forced to evacuate. the fire department was on the scene here within two minutes. but the flames moved so quickly, the buildings were engulfed by the time they

six alarms before they were able to gain control with heat so intense, 17 firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion. four other people were injured. they had respiratory problems due to the intense smoke that filled the street. the good news this morning, everyone was able to get out of these buildings safely. >> a lot of old people in that building, and you know, it takes a little time to get downstairs. it was all the way to the third floor. were in the house and one shouted, fire, she ran out and all of us got out and there was this big blaze and a lot of people screaming and stuff like that. >> two of these structures did collapse, but of the structures that remain standing this morning and doze does look like several will have to be torn down. there are 42 people that have

are children. they are in the care of the red cross while all of this remains under investigation. we're live in the st. george section of staten island, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> diana, thank you. 5:36 is our time. police are investigating a possible hate crime after a transgender woman was struck in the head with a hammer. this happening in queens. the 78-year-old was hit as she was walking along 67th street on wednesday morning. police say a man came up to her from behind and screamed, before hitting her. she was treated for serious injuries and released from the hospital. >> the young man who confessed to drowning his mother remains in jail on an $8 million bond. police say 23-year-old, dennis cullen, jr., got into an argument with his mother because he wasn't taking his medication for paranoid skitsofrania. it escalated and dennis cullen

and dragged her to the deep end of the pool. cullen is charged with second- degree murder. >> first, forced out of their homes by fire. now also the victims of a burglary. somebody broke into a fire damaged buildings in yofngers yonkers. six people had to be rescued after they were trapped by the flames. that fire was caused by an over loaded extension cord and outlets. you're never more than 7 minutes away from weather and traffic he our camera looking south. got a beautiful sunrise on the way. coming up just after 6:00, here's our camera in brooklyn. looking down toward the battery, 75-degreings, going to be a great start to your weekend. no showers to speak of. high pressure from the great lakes to new england. going to make for great weather. here's the way it should be. sunny, pleasant, 76 by what a nice morning here. 79 by 10:00 to 11:00.

hour here. to upper 80s this afternoon and moderate humidity. weather and traffic together every 7 minutes. what's going on out there? >> we have a lot of action on the roads. we'll go to the new york state throughway and show you a look southbound getting down toward exit 11. all lanes completely closed. southbound new york state throughway approaching exit is 1. it's an accident involving a tractor trailer that caught fire. so as we highlight the maps again, this is the southbound state throughway. all lanes subject to closure. now heading over to brooklyn, you still want to avoid that area of hamilton avenue at 3rd avenue. that's an overturned garbage truck and a debris spill to the bqe remains closed and the l.i.e. heading westbound at maurice avenue, accidents still blocking one lane, four trains back on or close to schedule. alternate side parking rules are in effect. back to you. >> it's 5:38.

help for the historic flooding in louisiana. it is the worst natural disaster there since superstorm sandy. >> and to the rescue, the joint effort from two countries to help a boat when it began

from long island to buffalo, from rochester to the hudson valley, from albany to utica, creative business incentives, infrastructure investment, university partnerships, and the lowest taxes in decades are creating a stronger economy and the right environment in new york state for business to thrive. let us help grow your company's tomorrow- today at business.ny.gov welcome. it's me! the extra crispy colonel. y, twenty dollar fill-up feeds a family of four. it's crunchy! juicy! and oh so tasty. kfc.

5:41. a long island woman will face a judge to answer to animal cruelty charges. of balcony of her apartment building. they were left with no shade and no way to get back into the apartment. one of the dogs ended up dying. the other was treated at the hempsted animal shelter. the deadly floods in louisiana killed at least 13 people and at one point, 11,000 people were in shelters.

johnson pledged they would help recover. personnel are on the ground and hundreds more are coming. president obama is getting daily briefings on the situation. the president is currently on vacation in new england. >> firefighters are finally making progress on that massive wild fire sweeping through an area east of los angeles. the blue cut fire is what they are calling it. it burned through nearly 36,000 are 22% contained. officials estimate that more than 34,000 homes and nearly 83,000 people were under evacuation orders. some evacuations have been lifted, the cause of that fire still not known this morning. >> 5:42. we are seeing video of u.s. and canadian coast guard crews working together to help voters off the coast of washington state. a sailboat was 200 miles off the coast when it began taking

on board ended up using buckets to empty out water. the coast guard was able to deliver a new pump to the boat. once they got that working, the boaters were able to get the boat back to shore. >> way to go coast guard. >> bill evans joins us with the accuweather forecast. >> can you imagine? we have to get amazon prime to get these guys a pump. >> whatever they did, it worked. >> you have to get the right pump. you know. really good work here's what is going on. down toward the harbor. we take a look toward the sunrise. sun is up in 20 minutes from right now. just after 6:00. a beautiful sunrise. here's a look across, over toward flushing bay and long island sound. 75 degrees. the winds are calm. the pressure, 29.96. yesterday's high, 85. all this points to great weather. yesterday, we had about a tenth of an inch of rain. sunrise, 6:10. going to be great.

sunny, low to moderate humidity. tomorrow is more humid, but saturday, best day of the weekend. some thunderstorms will come late in the day, cold front that brings big weather changes next week. your air quality is good. pollen count is low. next item in the pollen count will be next month. the grasses are gone for now. the pollen count goes to ragweed. so, oyster bay 74. 72 around huntington. some nice numbers he, wind and light to nothing so far. so, a couple days of nice, high pressure here. all the way back to the great lakes. we'll have a great voting day. waves 2 feet in the atlantic. that's in the atlantic. and back bays and behind fire island, right around the jersey shore. rip current risk is going to be low. sunshine and warm today, 88. that's 5 degrees warmer than normal.

clear, warm, humid summer's evening. saturday is a great day. sunday, much of the day sunday is dry. okay, so late in the day, a shower and a thunderstorm. and sunday night, that front pushes through. then look at next week, wow. it's going to feel like a breezy precursor to fall. we're going to warm back up thursday. we get a break monday, tuesday, wednesday, and looking at low 80s and temperatures in the 60s. some nice stuff. i'm headed to martha's vineyard next week. >> on a boat? >> going to play golf with the president. it should be really good. >> does he know that? >> neither does secret service. >> don't get arrested. >> on noxious weather man on the golf course. >> wouldn't be the first time that call went out. >> debbie, keeping an eye on the traffic for us this

good morning, toni. we're going to start off by taking a look outside at the l. i.e. the l.i.e. moving westbound. it's an accident being cleared, but the eastbound side completely reopened. but again, this is the westbound l.i.e. into maurice avenue. i want to show you what's happening. new york throughway all lanes getting toward niacc. it's all due to an accident involving a tractor trailer. avoid that area if you can. shot right now, a live shot from brooklyn. look at the cleanup going on here. this is over on hamilton avenue at 3rd avenue in brooklyn. clean up of an overturned tractor trailer and a debris spill. and again, this may take awhile. the ramp from hamilton avenue to the be, qe remains completely closed as well. avoid hamilton avenue right by the bqe with this messy situation. alternate side parking rules are in effect. back to you.

thank you. 5:46. still ahead on eyewitness news. remembering the crown heights riots 25 years later. hear how the city plans to mark this day in history. >> shares his gift of music. what happened to him 24 hours before that makes this moment so special.

at the the lincoln summer invitation sales event,

from the moment you take your foot off the brake, the brake stays engaged and you stay put. taking the legwork out of stop and go traffic. and even hills. that's the more human side of engineering. this is the lincoln summer invitation, hurry in now to your dealer for limited time offers. lease a lincoln mkx for $349 a month or get 0% apr for 60 months and just announced $1,000 summer invitation bonus. 5:49. today marks the 25th anniversary of the crown

the riot. he wants more city funding led by local organizations that can be used by the nypd to investigate crimes. >> we already have this that protects property and those in manhattan district, brooklyn wants its own and it will cost pennys on the dollar of what we're paying for the ring of steel in manhattan. >> crown heights was captured by cameras maintained by a local community council and that helped lead to an arrest. >> two nasa astronauts avoid the international space station will get the space station ready for commercial docking. astronauts, jeff williams, and kate will head out for a space walk today to transition the space station's docking system. the changes will actually allow commercial space operators to dock there. the new adapter was supposed to be installed a year ago, but

blew up during its launch. >> 5:50. a musician recovering from having a brain tumor removed. ? [ music ] ?? >> he performed in front of a rochester hospital just one day after he had his surgery. look at that. a day. the violinist discovered th bad headaches for the last year. he says he wanted to perform in order to inspire others and also thank those who contributed to a go fund me account to help pay for his rather large medical expenses. >> that is so beautiful. >> isn't that something? and quite the violinist. >> this is one day later. >> that is amazing. >> hopefully he'll have a nice, long, healthy life. >> what a gift. >> absolutely. it's 5:51.

at the brooklyn queens expressway ramp. this is a live look outside there. cleanup effort underway. tractor trailer overturned spilling all that garbage everywhere. we will have an update for you, next. >> and bill evans returns with another look at your exclusive and may i emphasize, weekend td bank's new intern, bart, is one of those robots from an other bank, we're training him to bank human. uh-uh, bart?

but they are still working. the clock is fine. our live customer service is available all night, and all day for that matter. he's learning. at td bank we do things differently, like live customer service 24/7. bart: hello? hello! don't just bank, bank human. we love the new york state fair! two words.. piglet races! wine slushees. bonding time. fried everything! there's so many bands. the bands! those pigs are just so cute! a rollercoaster! the great new york state fair just got greater. with all new fairgrounds, more rides and more fun. from august 25th to september 5th in syracuse, new york. order tickets before opening day for just $6. it's all here, it's only here.

you're never more than 7 minutes away from weather i'm meteorologist, bill evans. we're looking at a beautiful sunrise. high, thin clouds that will blow right on by. nice temperatures to start this day. we're looking at 75 around the five borrows. 76 around newark. jamaica queens, northerly wind makes it feel comfortable. humidity in the moderate zone. great ride on the ferries today over toward lower manhattan, even toward jersey city. if you are going back and forth on the ferry.

to bridge port. looking at sunshine and low 80s by the time we get to noon. low humidity and a great start to the weekend. debbie duhaime is looking at the new york throughway this morning. >> that's for sure. all lanes subject to closure. this is bumper to bumper heading up toward the prospect. as we go to a live shot. i wanted to show you that problem. this is hamilton avenue at 3rd this is right on that ramp, hamilton avenue to the bqe is closed. a garbage spill. crews are making a dent here, picking up the garbage. this is hamilton avenue in brooklyn. to the bqe remains closed. back to the maps we go, over on

an accident involving a tractor trailer and it looks like it caught fire. alternate side parking rules are in effect. back to you. tony, ken. >> thank you, it's 5:56. a naked statue of donald trump has been removed. not before crowds got the eyeful. it started going viral. the life-sized statue, one of five posted in cities around the country. the stern faced statue shows trump's hands folded over a bulging belly. square caused such a stir, the city's park department had it removed by breaking it off at the ankles. being billed as a resounding success. mayor bill de blasio says more than 863,000 native new yorkers and immigrants received a card. half use their city id as their primary form of identification.

just ahead this morning, out of hot water. team u.s.a.'s swim team safely heading back to the u.s. after the scandal over a now duh bunked robbery claim. the scandal overnight. >> and expect some tough talk directed at democrats today from donald trump as the nominee tours flooded louisiana. >> and a bridge collapses, sending a train diving into a river. >> meteorologist, bill evans has the exclusive accuweather

? ? ? this is new york's number one news. channel 7 eyewitness news with lori stokes and ken rosato. heather o'rourke with traffic. and bill evans with the exclusive accuweather forecast. now, eyewitness news this morning. good morning, it's 6:00.

on staten island. we've learned one firefighter suffered serious injuries. >> from rio with love. a controversy over a false robbery appears to be over this morning. one american swimmer isn't getting home without paying the price. >> and a commuter alert in brooklyn leading to a messy and smelly cleanup near the bqe. good morning, i'm toni yates in for lori stokes. >> it is friday, say it loud, say it proud, august 19. you are never more than 7 traffic with bill evans in the accuweather forecast. >> say it loud, say it proud. we get to see the sunrise every day. we can tell you from experience, this is one of the best i've seen so far this summer. really nice as you look across the reservoir, two flushing bay, to long island sound. you can see all the way out.