news channel 8 at 8:00, every night on great 38. right now on news channel 8 at 6:00. a tow truck driver answering a call for help hit and killed on a bay area road. and now his fellow speaking out, urging people to pay attention. good evening everyone. i'm rod carter. >> and i'm melanie michael. thank you for joining us tonight. we begin with that tow truck driver who lost his life over the weekend. detectives tell us a drunk driver is to blame and now that man is in jail. >> this happened on southbound lanes of interstate 275 near fowler avenue. live tonight from the hillsborough county jail with this all too sad and familiar

absolutely right, sad to say, 30-year-old leandro perez is facing dui and dui manslaughter charges. he's the third driver this year to be charged with hitting and killing a tow truck operator. department of transportation cameras captured the grizzly scene where the tow truck driver was hit and killed. authorities tell us he was helping two other motorists on i-275 southbound near fowler old leandro perez failed to move over and hit him. >> once again we lost one of our brothers to another drunk driver. >> ginger darling works in the industry and believes these accidents are preventable. >> people aren't being responsible. people aren't being considerate of other people. i was brought up, you move over when you see somebody on the side of the road, no matter who they are. but we tow truck operators are

troy maguire was hit and killed on i-75. it happened around 4:00 a.m. as maguire was helping other drivers and a pickup truck plowed into him. authorities arrested gregory miller and charged him with dui manslaughter. and back in february, tow truck driver roger perez was killed along the howard franklin bridge, also helping a stranded driver when authorities say alison huffman slammed into him roger perez worked, he believes if people don't start paying attention, it's only a matter of time before another driver is hit. >> to think another one, another one of us, you know, we've been doing this -- i've been doing this so long. and just another brother. another brother gone. >> and deputies are holding perez here at the hillsborough

appearance before a judge first thing monday morning as far as those other two cases, deputies are still holding huffman on a 17,000-dollar bond. miller bonded out and is currently awaiting trial. chip reporting live for us tonight. thank you. tampa police are searching for the driver who struck and killed a bicyclist this morning at the intersection of himes he was hit in the crosswalk by a dark colored sedan. tonight, any who witnessed this crash is asked to call tampa police. tonight we have new information about that mass shooting in new orleans french quarter. we now know at least one person is dead and nine people are injured after someone opened fire on bourbon street at 1:30 this morning. two men were arrested in connection with the shooting on gun charges and one of the men was also among those who are

landrieu called the shooting senseless and tragic. >> totally unacceptable. i mean the violence just continues to spin out of control with people brandishing weapons whenever they think they can. and it's really unfortunate. >> right now it is unclear what sparked that violence, investigators are working to figure out a motive and to track down all the people involved in this. >> in cuba, today was the first of nine days for official mourning after the atmosphere in havana this morning was subdued. flags flying at half staff and performances and concerts canceled. castro's remains were cremated. the burial ceremony will be held in santiago de cuba. a much different scene in miami. cuban exiled poured into the streets celebrating the end of an oppressive era. that's where we find janine

all of it witnessing history in the making. >> reporter: the crowds have dwindled down a little bit. but they're still here present in front of really the town square of miami's cuban exile community where the street remains closed and families continue to gather to commemorate if not celebrate this morning and what they're hoping for the future. that's what the conversation has turned to. it's not only about fidel castro's death but the resu the united states. cuban exiles calling for fro elections for cuba turning their emotional reaction to a call for results now that fidel castro is dead. >> he was powerful and maybe now it's doing to be easier for another country to help cuba to have liberty. >> countries like the u.s. especially now with a republican administration in

president. he might have had an attack or something. >> many now showing support of donald trump especially following his response to castro's death calling him a brutal dictator. >> he calls it like it is. >> terry migrated to the u.s. in the freedom flights of the 1970s. she says her family suffered under the castro regime and now she's let down by president obama's softer resp individual lives. >> he's been sugar coating for the last eight years any resemblance of democracy and has in my opinion totally defaced us in the face of the world. >> meanwhile, with castro's brother raul still in power, officials here are preparing for what effects we might experience in the following days. >> there are plans in place for mass migrations. and if that were the case.

gather here. people of all ages. these little kids may not really understand why they're here. but it's a moment in history their families want to make sure they're present for. people taking pictures to perhaps tell this story several years from now. all this has been impromptu. people spilling out on the streets. in front of this restaurant. the gathering space for this cuban exile community here. a formal event is planned for wednesday. a march and rally. an'l more information on that tomorrow morning as we continue our coverage live from miami on news channel 8 today. gene ramirez, back to you. an historic weekend for sure. thank you. we'll see you in a little bit. >> the death of former cuban leader fidel castro stirring up mixed emotions as u.s. lawmakers weigh in on castro's regime and the future of the island nation. melissa continues coverage tonight in dc.

reaction surrounding the death of fidel castro is spilling in. >> my note is a simple note thanking fidel for the sacrifice he made. >> for my family who came over here who suffered. so i was pretty ecstatic when i heard this morning. >> american politicians reacted to castro's death. including president obama who was criticized for offering condolences. senator bernie sanders she >> the goal right now is to see that we can improve our relationships with the people of cuba. >> senator marco rubio, a cuban american tweeted the american's statement was pathetic. >> barack obama is the president of the most powerful country in the world and what i call pathetic is not mentioning in that statement the reality that there are thousands of thousands of people who suffered brutally under the castro regime. >> he also tweeted about castro

brutal dictator and his legacy is one of unimaginablsuffering. >> our goal is the national security and national interest of the united states and as part of that, to do everything possible through our foreign policy toward cuba to incentivize and pave the way for the move toward democracy. >> melissa rainy news channel 8. coming up we'll see where the president elect stands on filling up his political roster. also ahead, making sure you arrive alive. ride sharing services like uber and lyft are good for getting you from point a to point b, but is one safer than the other? we're staying milder as we wrap up this long holiday weekend. the new workweek ahead may feature shower chances. the storm team 8 forecast

well, across america, it's been a day of planes, trains, and automobiles as people are heading home after the thanksgiving holiday. it's pretty packed out there. that makes today one of the busiest travel days of the year. a trip advisory survey shows thanksgiving travel was up by 7% this year. many say today is day they will be pretty happy tonight. a millionaire many times other. that's where the winning ticket for saturday's 421 million- dollar jackpot was sold. so far no one has stepped forward to claim the prize. he or she has 180 days to claim it. the winning numbers by the way were 17, 19, 21, 37, 44, and the powerball, 16. now to a consumer alert for you tonight.

differences between the two when it comes to safety. both do background checks but lyft goes a step further with in-person interviews. a man who applied as a driver for both companies thinks that's a huge difference. >> it's important. because i know someone's put eyeballs on who the driver is. >> neither company requires drivers to take care of recalls though. lyft told us drivers have a strong personal incentive to make sure their car is in safe personal vehicle must be expected annually. the same holds true for ride share drivers that partner with uber. working during the holiday weekend to finish his white house team. coming up, we'll show you who president elects donald trump is considering appointing

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donald trump is speaking out for the first time about an election recount effort fueled by green party candidate jill stein and the clinton campaign. >> he's working on his white house team with others in tinner circle not too happy about his recent choices. we have a closer look at this situation. >> as president elect donald trump ends his holiday weekend in florida, he's angrily tweeting about hillary clinton's deci election recount effort in wisconsin, on twitter trump quoted clinton as previously saying we have to accept the results and look to the future. jill stein made the requests demanding recounts in michigan and pennsylvania. >> this was a hack riddled election. and on top of that, our voting machines are very open to hacking. >> this is a fundraising notoriety driven fraud by a

trump who won 1.4 million. >> in a statement, clinton's campaign lawyer said they didn't uncover any evidence of hacking. but now that a recount has been initiated in wisconsin, we continue to participate in a process in a manner fair to all sides. trump is speaking regularly with president obama and building his white house team. but mitt romney is proving controversial. >> we don't even know if he he and his consultants were nothing but awful to donald trump for a year. >> others say rival or not, he's going to hire the best people possible. >> wisconsin election officials are expected to meet monday to discuss a possible time line for that recount but are all ready saying they may not finish by a federal deadline of december 13th. jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington. now, max defender 8, the world's most powerful radar, and your storm team 8 forecast

>> a fantastic finish to the long holiday weekend today. certainly started beautifully. mark sent this in from saint pete today. looking out over the bay. beautiful sunrise there. we had a fantastic day from that sunrise. started off with a lot of sunshine. this is a time lapse from brandon. in the afternoon, you saw fair weather clouds welling up. very limited moisture though. with that, we didn't track anything today on ma into the upcoming workweek. with the potential for a few showers over the next five days. this is the latest look at the satellite imagery. showing not a whole lot of activity across the tampa bay area. just a few clouds around. we'll keep it partly cloudy through the over night hours. all the red shading to the south and east, that was the dry air in the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere. but you notice the blues and greens arriving from the north and west.

that will add to the mugginess. you'll notice it on the rise during the day tomorrow. and right on through the first half of the upcoming workweek before a front eventually comes through on thursday. that will be our best chance to pick up some showers. about a 10% rain chance wednesday. and then a 20% chance on thursday. we could see an isolated sprinkle tomorrow afternoon. enough moisture above us to get a few of those going. we've seen 1/100 of an inch so 1 inch and 1/3 for the deficit. places like saint pete, sarasota, in the top five driest novembers. this is another way to visualize it. percent of normal rain. all these values here. 100% would be average in november. 10% or less across the tampa bay area. we badly need the rainfall. we'll have a couple chances to pick up some over the next few days here. milder start to the day tomorrow. we'll be in the low 60s.

breezy and more humid. and just a tiny 10% chance for a shower tomorrow afternoon. passing a sprinkle at best. but we'll take what we can get at this point. looking out at the bright lights of raymond james, a fantastic evening for football in tampa. we're at 74 degrees. the wind out of the northeast at 7 miles per hour. 71 in saint pete. upper 60s across northern spots. 66 degrees right now in inverness. a few clouds around through the overnights hours. staying milder. a mix of the morning tomorrow. you notice the rpm forecast model. hinting at the potential for a couple showers tomorrow afternoon. but it's a small chance at that. don't forget our teddy bear round up. we partnered with the rough riders. we'll pass those out to children in need this holiday season. list of collection locations on wfla.com. a few clouds tonight. staying milder. low temperatures in the low 60s tomorrow. breezy and more humid. a small shower chance late in the day.

toward wednesday. thursday with the next cold front to have a good shot at picking up showers. boy do we need it. it's nice to have a few shower chances thrown in with the rest of the fantastic weather in the extended forecast. >> we'll take it. right. coming up in sports. dan lucas is in with an update on the seattle seahawks. >> cooper demanding a better effort from his team this afternoon.

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team, this time from the nfc west. and since losing at new orleans, the seattle seahawks have reeled off three straight wins. they're on fire. but the bucks are seeking their own three-game winning streak tonight. and i have to tell you, this game is all about the buck's defense right now. it held seattle quarterback russell wilson to one yard passing in the first half. jameis winston and mike evans have connected twice for touchdown passes. stay up with us tonight after sunday night the bucks bonus show. the falcons hosting the arizona cardinals. this young man, taylor gabriel, what a day for him. takes the pass from matt ryan and turns on the jets. 35-yards. it was a 10-10 game at that point. the falcons run away with this thing. gabriel gets across the goal line. the falcons win 38-19.

6 record. mark ingram takes the pitch. ties it up at 14. later brees passes to ingram who can practically walk into the end zone for this one. rams defensive coordinator doesn't know what to think there. 49-21 the final in this one. for the first time since 2011 the bulls are 25 in the ap and coaches poles. the bulls are 23rd in the coaches pole. 24th in ap. they will not get a shot at the american conference title game but will head to a bowl game with a 10 and 2 record. after friday night's loss at home to columbus, lightning head coach john cooper did not mince words criticizing his team's effort and sloppy play. this afternoon the bolts kicked off another road trip. this time a three-game trip in

prettiest game by either team. but dominic moore, a chop at the puck there. he beat ben bishop. 1-0 bruins. slater can't win the battle at center ice. david finds jimmy hayes. they score three times in the period. david will tack one on here in the third. so cooper, not entirely discouraged after this one. none the less, another loss, 4- 1. not good. and the bolts go columbus. i believe on tuesday. so that's the team that just beat them 5-3 here. >> pick it up boys. >> all right sir. >> thanksgiving weekend.

how's the rest of the evening looking? >> milder. staying milder over night as we wrap up this holiday weekend. a mix of sun and clouds to get the workweek started tomorrow. breezy. you'll notice it's a little

tomorrow afternoon. but i think it'll likely be wednesday or thursday to get more showers here. >> i'll take muggy over a blizzard any day. just saying. >> thank you sir. thank you for joining us. nbc nightly news is next. you n join us at 8:00. . on this sunday night, questioning the vote, president-elect trump claims millions of americans voted illegally saying that's why he lost the national popular vote. uncertain future, cuba tonight after fidel castro's death and many wondered what's next for the island country. >> bourbon street shooting. ten people shot in the new orleans french quarter. hometown hero, melania trump, tiny hometown in europe, the residence hopes her success will make it a tourist hot spot.