football season is on. we're pretty fired up about it. thanks for joining us this half hour. i'm alan gionet. let's start with the forecast lauren whitney is talking about today and tonight. lauren. >> well, it's going to be a great night for the broncos. if you're heading out to nfl village today, temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s. if you're going to the concerts, again, warm outside, plenty of sunshine, still a few clouds out there. kickoff is at 6:30, temperatures about 85 degrees, so it's a warm night for football. and by half time we're in the mid-70s and that's pretty premium weather. so it's going to be a great night out at mile high. we are excited for it, and it's across the state as well, so we'll talk more about that in a moment. right now let's check in with joel. >>reporter: that means we're going to be expecting a lot of traffic downtown pretty much throughout the day today as folks come to this nfl experience. the nfl kickoff concert, it is free, but you got bannick and 14th avenues which are not going to be free. they're closed down, and so if you're making your way downtown, alan, my advice is take public transportation, it's always an easy one. that way you can enjoy a few beverages at the game and not worry about it. if you do come downtown, i

so when you get downtown it's a little easier for you. >> no drinking and driving, we don't want to report on you or you hurting anybody. we're ready for football. the season kicks off tonight here in denver. our broncos insiders have a look at what to expect when the broncos and panthers play smash- mouth football at 6:30 at mile high. >>reporter: don't call it a rematch of super bowl 50, the broncos and panthers set to kickoff the 2016 season later today. hello, i am michael spencer. mark, all eyes on the bronco broncos. >>reporter: a lot of pressure on simeon, and i think that puts a lot of pressure on the other 10 guys. the offensive line needs to play well. they need to open up some holes for c.j. anderson, get that running game going f. that can happen, it's going to allow trevor to have more time to throw and get more comfortable in his first game. >>reporter: defensively for the broncos, it's important that they get to carolina's quarterback in cam newton, we saw them do that in super bowl 50, and i think if they can do

a good shot of winning this game. >>reporter: von miller said this week that he knows that north carolina plays out there like the super bowl. they're not going to call it easy in -- easier than the super bowl, but they expect carolina to execute better than they did back in february, so broncos need to execute as well. >>reporter: the bottom line is i think everybody is happy that football is back and certainly mile high will be rocking later tonight. >> all right, guys. get out of the way of the sprinklers. a man kidnapped and held for ransom is free in a rare case in colorado. the 27-year-old victim is going to be to figure out the motive and to find the people behind it. our rick sallinger explains how a fight over horses just might have played a crucial part. >>reporter: $200,000 cash was left at this gate, the ransom that had finally obtained the release of the kidnapped victim. and that's where he was found here on his family's ranch. >> there was a dispute, a dispute over the past couple

their horses. >>reporter: but investigators are looking deeper to see if those horses may have been federal, state and local authorities announced the results of the case. >> we don't see many kidnappings. they are very rare, particularly ransom kidnappings. >>reporter: it began last week with the report of a customer abducted here. >> early the next morning on the 31st we were able to identify the victim based on credit card information. >>reporter: it was later learned the victim had been take brighton where he was held for several days. meng cheng live in the same building and saw something suspicious. >> they close door, they do what they tell me. it's not my business. >>reporter: three arrests have been made, but the fourth suspect believed to be the planner remains at large. >> that's rick sallinger

tracking devices and after that they were arrested. a longmont is in jail after their son was found in a condition as one doctor said looked like the victim of a contraition camp. doctors say the boy weighed only 88 pound when is he got to the hospital. that boy is blind and he is autistic. police say he survive on seven to nine sodas a day and about 500 calories of crackers, chips. investigators are frustrated. >> we'rehu case like this, but even as a police officer, it's a tough case. >> vanessa and david hall say they thought their son just had the flu and blamed his dangerously low weight on having skinny relatives and being picky eater. let's turn to weather and traffic right now. here's lauren >> we still do have some fog out on the eastern plains this morning. it hasn't been as bad as it has been the last several days, but still some reduced visibility, mainly out near wray and burlington. we had a couple of thunderstorms early this

plains. those have now moved on. the rest of us are really clear this morning, not as much cloud cover as yesterday. temperatures are a little bit cooler, not significantly, but it felt a little cool to start the day. 57 in grand junction, 35 in craig, 37 in gunson, 41 in avon, 55 in boulder, 57 here in denver and 66 in lamar. for your bus stop this morning, should be a nice one out there. temperatures in the upper 50s and we'll see sunshine today instead of some of those clouds we've had the past few days. let's check in with joel and a look at our morning drive. >>reporter: i think you're going to like this morn that to you here in just a moment. i want to show you i-70 and central park boulevard. a lot of volume out there, that's going to start slowing speeds down. not yet, though. traveling from i-70, c-470 to i- 25, speeds in the 60s. here we are across the denver metro area, some slowing just north of 285 along c-470 as they continue to do some paving operations. then we take you into our first accident of the morning.

on 56th itself. alan, i would expect some delays if you are headed out to the airport, just in case. >> joel, thanks a lot. hillary clinton and donald trump share the same stage at different times last night in new york. both answered some pretty difficult questions. here's our henna daniels with the latest. >> the main thing is i have great judgment. >>reporter: donald trump sought to win over voters, including servicemen and women last night, maintaining he was against the war in iraq. >> i was totally against the war in iraq. >>reporter: and hinting at a private plan to defeat isis. >> if i broadcast to the yeem exactly what my plan is. >>reporter: republican nominee was challenged by this army veteran who questioned his immigration policy for military members. >> do you believe that an undocumented person who serves, who wants to serve in the u.s. arm forces deserves to stay in this country legally? >> that's a very special situation, and i could see myself working that out, absolutely. >>reporter: trump grew defensive when questioned by moderator matt lauer about his

about me, i'm going to say great things about him. >> an absolute rock steadiness. hillary >>reporter: hillary clinton who appear on stage first, touted her temperment while drawing a line in the middle east. >> we are not putting ground troops into iraq ever again and we're not putting ground troops into syria. >>reporter: the democratic nominee spent much of the night defending herself against her e- mail scandal. >> i communicated about classified material on separate system. i took it very seriously. >>reporter: the two candidates go head to head in their first presidential debate at the end of the month. henna daniels, cbs news. >> trump is going to be in cleveland, ohio today, the clinton campaign will head to north carolina and to missouri. donald trump, jr. was in colorado yesterday. he talks to sportsmen about getting his father into the white house. it came a day after his father was talking about the military. our political specialist shaun boyd talked with his son. >>reporter: why hasn't he made

this state? >> i think he'll be here. i think he's, you know, obviously focused on a lot of places, a lot more difficult on a map for republican than a democrat, as you know, so we have to be in a lot more places. colorado is a place near and dear to my heart. i lived here for 18 months after graduating college. i love it here. i grew up here, coming to the holiday with my family. it's where i come with my kids now that i have five kids, so it's an important state to us. it's a place we want to win. my father will be here a lot. >> trump, jr. also said the look for his dad to be himself. he says donald trump is not doing the traditional mock debate prepping, but, rather, he's prepping by talking to the american people about the issues he says. football fans have been waiting 215 days for today. the broncos come into tonight's game with the most enveable title in football, super bowl champs. tonight at 6:40, they get a chance to go up against cam newton and the carolina panthers once again. >> newton in the pocket. he's hit and sacked inside the

game. >> of course not. it's the next game which makes it the most important game. >>reporter: a little bit of revenge, though, you'd want to get this game. >> not really. we just want to win. >> fans are going to be starting early downtown. jamie leery live this morning at civic center park with a look at what you can enjoy even if you don't have a ticket to the game. hey, jamie. >>reporter: good morning, alan. stage brightly lit, we're nice and close right now, lots of fun expected here today. with me right now from the nfl's matchup here of events. matt, you have your hands full today, don't you? >> we do. a lot of exciting things going on down here. >>reporter: tell me a little bit. we have a lot of anxious fans awaiting that 6:40 kickoff time. how are we going to keep them busy until then? >> the game is one piece of this massive celebration here in denver. we've been under way for the last couple of days with some great community events and yesterday with the opening of kickoff village. we'll be open again today at 10:00 a.m. fans are welcome to come down then. it's totally free and open to the public and obviously behind us here we have our beautifully

will start at 4:30, again, free. gates open at 3::30, diercks bentley, one republic. >>reporter: both great bands here honoring our super bowl champions, the denver broncos. tell us a little bit about some of the things people can do to do. >> absolutely. a number of things going on, starting with the vince lombardi trophy is here to get your photo taken with. there will be appearances from broncos legends signing autographs. there's a ton of football- themed games and a lot of sponsored games like hundai. >>reporter: matt, thank you so much for your time. busy day for nfl right here. you can keep yourself busy until the 6:40 kickoff time. the bands will start here at 4:30. live from civic center park, jamie leery, cbs 4 news. >> jamie, thanks a lot. some alligator wrestling coming up. how big was this one? found outside a middle school. >>reporter: today is the day broncos fans have been waiting

risk of heart attacks and diabetes an may also save you some money. and this morning there's some new info or how weight may have an effect on different types of strokes. here's our don champion with our health watch. >>reporter: overweight or obese women may be at higher risk of having the most common kind of stroke called ischemic stroke. but a new study from the university of oxford finds overweight women may be also at lower risk of hemorrhagic

marijuana use continues to rise among college students, but use of narcotics and amfet mines are also on the decline. a study from the university of michigan also found daily or near daily marijuana use is at the highest level in more than three decades. and heart patients who meet weekly exercise guidelines spend an average of $2,500 less on healthcare costs. that's according to new research in the journal of american heart association. people without cardiovascular disease who exercised regularly also saw healthcare cost savings. that's a look at some of the day's top health stories, don champion, cbs news, dallas. middle school students got themselves a good look at an 11- foot long, 450-pound alligator wandering outside their school in florida. turned up yesterday morning in the town of davy. police say they received calls about this particular alligator in the past, but they just

conservation commission, workers got a hold of it there, no easy task. now they're trying to figure out what they're going to do with it. lauren is wrestling with the weather forecast. lauren. >> well, at least today it is a great day. let's take a look at what's happening outside, 57 in denver, 54 in boulder, 36 in leadville an for gunson, 57 this morning in grand junction. our cool spot is actually craig 35 degrees this morning. do still have some fog out on the eastern plains, it's not quite as bad as it has been, visibility out that direction and not nearly as widespread as it has been as well. looking at satellite and radar, much clearer to start the day. we had a few thunderstorms roll through the northeastern plains early on, but those have now cleared, and we are looking at mostly sunny skies today all the way from the western slope into the denver area. out east into the plains, you do have a chance for some thunderstorms coming in later on this afternoon and evening, but the rest of us are going to be on the dry side. and then in the foothills, high country, you may be a little bit windy today, but below those red-flag warning criteria levels. fire danger still elevated, but

today. 89 in denver today, 88 in greeley, eastern plains 83 out in burlington, 88 in sterling. in the high country 78 in aspen and for steamboat, 76 in eagle and 90 over in grand junction. if you're heading to the broncos game or maybe taking the day off to enjoy the nfl village and the nfl fan experience, 88 degrees is our high today, so it will be warm out there. and kickoff is at 6:30, 85 degrees, about that for then, and lots of sunshine today. still have a few clouds out there. half time we'll be in the mid- 70s, and for your five-day forecast tomorrow, cold front to crank up just a bit, and temperatures about 75, but we're back to those 80s as we head into the weekend. let's check in with joel. how's the morning drive going? >>reporter: we already got a traffic alert this morning. copter 4 in the air has launched for us a little bit early so we could get these pictures for you. you see the traffic moving along the top of your screen from right to left, and left to right. that is pena boulevard right now. so that remains unaffected. but 56th is completely shut down as police investigating a

there, and i think they're redirecting traffic onto pena boulevard to get around that this morning. so copter 4, it's got a great zoom on it. it's zoomed in pretty tightly as it's pretty far away. as it gets closer, we're going to continue to share these aimages with you so we get a br -- images with you so we get a better idea. so 56th, right along here, along pena boulevard, you'll have to take tower road if you want to access onto pena boulevard or cross, and it looks like they moved the icon along over it was first at pena blf, so it is possible that they are rerouting traffic onto tower road. as copter 4 gets over that and we get a sense of what's going on, we'll share that with you. here we are across the denver metro area, i-225, sixth avenue, i-70, all nice and wide open, including c-470 where we've been watching some construction north of 285. here's what it looks like right now, c-470 and alameda. as you come up the hill there, starting to see a few more cars out on the roadway. great drive southbound coming into town as we have speeds

now. so, alan, as you take a look along i-270, that's one of the spots we watch where it really loads up first. right now seeing speeds into the 50s. >> joel, thanks a lot. a high school football team has come together to honor one of their cheerleaders recently diagnosed with leukemia. all 57 players from foothill high in san pedro california laid an orange rose at the feet of ashley before last friday's game. it was really emotional there. orange is the color of leukem cheerleader says she was shocked, she was overwhelmed and speechless. tonight all eyes are going to be on denver as the broncos begin to defend their title. it is a super bowl rematch. kickoff 6:40 tonight, big defensive matchup. the broncos are underdogs which, of course, they were in the super bowl, if you'll remember. that's just fine for the broncos. let's go to romi who's here this morning. i know you're excited. >>reporter: alan, i can't wait. i think the fans the same

it's been 215 days since the denver broncos and carolina panthers met in super bowl 50, and what is not to like about this rematch? it's the nfl season opener and there's plenty of star power. you've got the league mvp in cam newton on one side and you've got super bowl mvp in von miller on the other, all of this in prime time on a night when the broncos will celebrate their super bowl win one last time. let's take a look at a couple key matchups in tonight's game. the bronco's defense must contain ca with 35 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns, newton can wreak havoc. he's as big as a defensive end, runs like a running back and throws like an mvp. the broncos need to keep newton in the pocket. and much like we saw them do in the super bowl, they have to rush with discipline. the broncos also have to block luke keekley. there is nothing this panther's linebacker can't do, especially against a young quarterback. keekley drops into coverage, stuffs the run and he makes all

adjustments. so if you're trevor simeon, you have to locate keekley on every play. and while trevor simeon is making his first-ever nfl start, don't worry, he'll be going up against a pair of rookie cornerbacks, james bradbury and darrell whorley. this opens the door for wide receivers sanders and thomas to make the kind of plays we didn't see in the super bowl when the broncos only had two completions of more than 20 yards. so, alan, i it's a good thing that the broncos signed penders to a contract extension. >> i hope he's not weighed down by the big fat bank account he's got to drag around now, romi. what are the keys in terms of the running situation. we know there's going to be a lot of running tonight. >>reporter: luke keekley is just one of the best defenders in the leek. trevor simeon will rely on his run game to help him, especially if the offensive line gets rushed, if they get blitzed. so hopefully, not only that, though, we're going to see the run game used to block so that

his receivers. because if he can get to sanders and thomas, those guys can have a field day with a rookie cornerback. so the running backs are going to try and block tonight as well. >> romi, thanks a lot. we're all fired up about t. you can hear more from romi on cbs 4 mornings weekdays from 3:00 to 6: beyond has a natural grain free pet food committed to truth on the label. when we say real meat is the first ingredient, it is number one.

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welcome back. let's take a live look at the city and county big this morning, the nfl village area will be rockin' later on today. it's going to be a great day here in denver and across the state as well, thanks photographer eddie castro for this great picture this morning, and temperatures are certainly nice to start off this thursday morning. 57 in denver, 60 in bulgerston, 64 in la junta this morning, 54 in boulder. 39 in avon, 43 in steamboat and 57 over in grand grand junction. our weather watcher in mesa on the western slope, 48 degrees for us this morning, another beautiful day, and, of course, go broncos. let's take a look at what's happening with our fog. we do still have some fog out on the eastern plains, but it is better than yesterday and not nearly as widespread.

be a warm, sunny day across the state. eastern plains you may get a few isolated this morning. 89 in wray, 89 here in denver. 88 in greeley and lots of 70s in the high country with 78 in aspen and 90 over in grand junction. for the broncos game tonight, for the nfl village if you're heading out for a little fun and the concerts and the activities, temperatures in the upper 80s. kickoff about 85 an during half time we should be about 76 degrees. clear skies, though, today, joel, should be a beautiful day. >>reporter: we have a traffic alert we're already following this morning as we approach the 6:00 hour. we've had copter 4 launch a little bit early to show us these pictures. 56th completely shut down underneath pena boulevard. traffic being rerouted onto pena blf. but as you can see itself, pena is not affected, but this is a serious accident. we are awaiting word from police on some of the details that are emerging from this and we're going to continue to bring those updates to you throughout the morning. our next update coming up here in just a few minutes. i want to show you where this is at. you can see the closures on 56th underneath pena boulevard. if you need to, you can take

over to tower or take pena then on and off of tower to get off this morning, but you are not going to be able to access over pena boulevard, either westbound or eastbound along pena at 56th avenue. here we are across the metro area, a couple other accidents developing including along colfax and we've got all those closures in place, alan, around civic center park for the nfl kickoff concert. >> thank you, joel. dusker parking agents may not want to admit it, but they are making thousands of mistakes every year on tickets. a hold of an internal city database that verifies all the errors that are being made. our brian maass has a preview of a story that airs tonight. >>reporter: they dish out millions of dollars of parking tickets each year, but according to this internal database, every month these parking agents are handing out tickets that never should have been written. >> should have never given me that ticket. >>reporter: parking officers making repeated errors, suggesting that maybe the ticket you got was a mistake. >> seems like it's becoming

leading denver parking managers to cancel their own tickets and how you might be able to get out of a ticket even after it is written. 5:56 right now. here's what's still ahead on the cbs 4 morning news, a man on the run after a crime spree in northglenn. the trail of destruction he left behind after a carjacking coming up. nasa set for a big launch tonight. colorado is a big part of this. this is an asteroid sampling mission. we'll explain. >>reporter: also ahead on cbs 4 morning news at 6:00, disney world will be scanning kids' fingerprints at its park and it may not be for the reason you

and i'm going to say this, and you would not want me to say this, but this one is for pat! >> oh, we loved that, didn't we? oh, what a moment. broncos tonight words again this morning the dawn of a new day, a new season, a new quarterback against a familiar super bowl rival. good morning, everybody, i'm alan gionet. that huge game tonight coming up. first, though, we have people hit this morning on 56th near pena. want to get right to joel on that. joel, what's up? >>reporter: alan, we've had copter 4 over thi denver police now telling us the two cars involved in an accident, an auto/pedestrian accident which also involves two pedestrians that are in serious condition right now. this has shut down 56th as you get to pena boulevard. traffic along pena boulevard has not been spheacted by this, but if you're trying to get aroundification r56th, you're not going to be able to access on pena blf. probably better to take green valley ranch or 40th to cut across, either side there, instead of 56th avenue.