this is new york's number 1 news, channel 7 eyewitness news with joe torres and sandra bookman, laura behnke with sports, and jeff smith with the exclusive accuweather forecast. now eyewitness news at 6:00. a historic pilgrimage begins. pope francis arrives in cuba. the start of a world wind -- whirl win 10 day trip, including the island nation and the united states. and trouble on the tarmac. a flight about to take off clips a fence at jfk airport. good evening, everyone. i'm sandra bookman. >> i'm joe torres. we begin with the pope's red carpet welcome in cuba. he landed in havana to begin the longest overseas journey of his papacy.

visited. his welcome in havana came with a military honor guard and a handshake from president raul castro. >> a group of children presented the pontiff flowers. he responded by touching their heads as he blessed them. aaron katersky is in havana visit. >> reporter: pope francis landed in havana to begin the longett overseas journey of his papacy, a 10 day trip to cuba, and the united states, two places he has never been. >> it's not about privilege. we are the only -- it's not about we are the only one here. it's about recognizing the role and condition of the church and the society. >> reporter: cuban president raul castro greeted the pope who has endeared communist rural with his critique of capitalism. he is supposed to push castro for religious freedom. they have been sprucing up,

welcoming papa francisco, who brokered restored ties between cuba and united states. 90% of the population is willing to participate in this important event, this man said. it will have a crucial impact for the moment we are going through, he said. americans who come here recognize it too. >> i think his message of love and of hope have touched me and everyone else that's here and you can see it in everyone in our group and everyone who is in cuba. >> reporter: francis is the third pope to visit cuba but he's the first from latin america. he will be able to speak to these adoring crowds in spanish but to prepare for his audiences in new york and elsewhere in the united states, the vatican says the pope has been meticulous in his study of english. from havana, aaron katersky, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> and preparations are underway for the pope's visit to new york city, including a security check today by homeland security secretary jeh johnson. today he visited st. patrick's cathedral and the united nations.

mallory hoff is at the u.n. tonight. mallory. >> reporter: joe, the pope will arrive in this area on friday. he will address the u.n. general assembly and as you can see, preps here are already well underway and people we have spoken with in this area say they are well aware that traffic is going to be rough. barriers, no parking signs, road closures, the pope's historic visit will bring historic traffic. >> you're not going to be able to move. shut down. >> this is going to be a mad house. >> i'm afraid. the traffic could be crazy. >> reporter: as papal visit prep continued, the secretary of homeland security made his way to philadelphia and then new york to review security plans. >> we fully anticipate a successful and safe visit for the pope and for the public. >> reporter: but pope protection and travel restrictions will be hard to miss. the secret service will build a fence in midtown by st. patrick's cathedral in the middle of fifth avenue. >> it's going to be just an added inconvenience, but, you know, i mean, i think it's an

honor that we get to host him. >> reporter: in east harlem, streets including east 112th street in front of our lady queen of angels school will be shut down. >> it's going to be busy, it's going to be crazy but it's going to be for something good. here we have a blessing from above. >> reporter: while some will experience papal visit parking problems, these gentlemen will be just fine. they have a home across the street from the school. >> everything is going to be closed for blocks and blocks and blocks. i'm hoping to get a good view. >> i have a feeling he's probably going to be walking around here at some point. >> reporter: in addition to the pope's presence, the president and 170 heads of state will arrive at the area for the general assembly. to call it a busy week ahead would be an understatement. >> i think the only thing new york needs is the pope, so i think it's a good idea that he comes. >> reporter: if you plan to get anywhere in new york when the pope is in town, you are certainly going to want to plan ahead and as you have seen, things but this area will continue to

transform in the days ahead. live from the u.n., mallory hoff, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> mallory, thank you. eyewitness news is your go-to source on the pope's visit from his schedule to road closures and mass transit changes, it's all on our website, abc7ny.com/pope. new tonight, trouble on the tarmac at jfk airport. a virgin atlantic flight to london had to be aborted just before takeoff when the aircraft's wing became lodged in a fence. it happened as the plane was being pulled back by a tug. eyewitness news reporter a.j. ross reports from kennedy airport. >> reporter: takeoff hopes for passengers aboard that virgin atlantic flight were quickly diverted this morning when a freak accident occurred as the plane was being pushed back from the gate with a tug. take a look at this video posted on twitter by a passenger on board where you can see part of the plane's wing clipped a nearby fence around 8:30 this morning. there were 277 passengers and 14 crew members aboard the london bound plane who were

to be bussed back to the terminal. a virgin atlantic spokesperson released the following statement saying, quote, the vs26 departing from jfk to london heathrow today returned to the gate after a miscalculation by the tug caused minor damage to one of its wing tips. all customers have disembarked the aircraft and our teams are working hard to get our customers underway as soon as possible. safety is our number 1 priority and we would like to apologize for the delay and any inconvenience this caused. since this incident earlier this morning, operations have resumed back to normal here at in queens, i'm a.j. news. right now the search for a hit-and-run driver who ran over a man in the bronx. the nypd says the victim got into a dispute with the driver at east 155th street and union avenue, then the driver may have hit him intentionally scene. the victim is in critical condition.

a new jersey state trooper investigating an accident, well, that trooper became the subject of yet another investigation when the window of his vehicle was shattered. the trooper was working as seen on i-78 in clinton township early this morning when an unknown object crashed through the window of his marked suv. now, the highway was shut down for hours as police searched for a suspect but came up empty handed. the driver from the initial injuries. new details about the freeway shootings in phoenix. the suspect under arrest claims police have the wrong guy. police say leslie allen merritt, jr. shot four vehicles on august 29th and 30th on an interstate highway in phoenix. they say they have forensic evidence linking merritt's guns to the shootings but they can only link him to four of the 11 shootings. >> all i have to say is i'm the wrong guy. i tried telling the detective that and my gun has been in the pawnshop for the last two months. i haven't even had access to a weapon.

>> the judge set bail at $1 million. the 21-year-old landscaper said he cannot pay that bail, adding he has two children. a phoenix city council member says the break in the case came after merritt pawned the gun. there have been no serious injuries. one man was killed, another injured in a shooting in new jersey. it happened early this morning in paterson. police are still looking for suspects and a motive. authorities have not identified the victims. city police officer who died in the line of duty. granada place in far rockaway queens is now also known as detective dennis eguerra -- dennis e. guerra way. he died after inhalation toxic materials last year. hundreds of fellow nypd officers joined guerra's widow, four children and other family members for today's dedication. crochet causes controversy in brooklyn. coming up on eyewitness news, a giant mural covers the side of

a building. so why is the owner so upset? also ahead an inferno on wheels. how a vet raced to save a stranger trapped inside that burning vehicle. and the empire strikes back, carlos beltran leads the charge against his former team as the yankees tie up the subway series. and what's new? it felt like summer yet again today but a fall air mass on the way courtesy of a few showers with a cold front moving through western pennsylvania. some of the showers could affect parts of the tri-state area.

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police just released surveillance video of the man they suspect of raping a homeless woman. the 22-year-old woman told detectives the attack happened on 125th street in east harlem on thursday at about 5:00 a.m. she said she was sleeping on the street when she awoke to the man having sex with her. police say the man is about 5'8" inches tall and has shoulder length braided hair. a new york city mother has been indicted on a murder charge in the death of her son. 36-year-old latisha fisher pleaded not guilty yesterday to killing 20-month-old gabriel fisher. police say she smothered the child by holding her hands over his face in a manhattan restaurant rest room in march. the prosecutors say she told first responders that the devil made her, quote, put him to sleep. president obama's historic choice for secretary of the army will be the first openly gay secretary of a military

branch if the senate confirms him. the white house says the president selected eric fanning for his experience and exceptional leadership. fanning has served as acting under secretary of the army since june and worked as a special assistant to the defense secretary. in one brooklyn neighborhood people have been asking a lot of questions about a new wall mural. the quo shad -- crocheted art hangs on a building facing a flea market in bushwick. housing activist who says his aunt owns the building says no one asked that mural could be hung there. the artist worked with the man who runs the flea market and neither disputes that they didn't ask for permission. >> this is someone's private property. you did not ask permission to put something on a person's private property. >> police say the mural isn't criminal vandalism because there was no damage or intent to cause damage but the mural

likely violates city rules regarding signage on private property. poconos. an rv goes up in flames while it's being a woman was trapped inside. she lost consciousness. but a brave navy veteran put his own life on the line and managed to go in and drag her out to safety. the rv wound up rolling down the street. the flames spread to an suv that smashed into a parked car. people say the streets looked like a war zone. the only injury, smoke inhalation. >> a lot of lucky people. >> for sure. well, a lot of check mates being heard in manhattan today. coming up on eyewitness news, a battle of wits in central park as chess men and women go head to head. and it was a beautiful day for chess or just about anything else on this last saturday of the summer of 2015.

what a perfect day to spend outdoors. hundreds of players took part in the 15th annual chess in the park rapid open in central park. organizers say it is the largest outdoor chess tournament in the u.s. players of all ages and skill levels took part in that tournament. that's a great way to start this saturday. >> yeah. >> is it not? >> checkmate. >> instead of eating chips and sitting on the couch like i did before work, yeah? >> that's a better way to spend a saturday. >> i should keep my mouth closed? pretty nice day. we are going to do it again

>> another summer like day today, tomorrow cooler, less humid, breezier, might get a shower in between overnight tonight but not a bad second half to the weekend is shaping up. head outside right now and check out the empire state building, lit up in both the yankees and -- right now it's in the yankees colors in the pinstripes. laura will confirm that for me. and a little bit of orange showing up at times because of the mets and because of the subway series we have going on this weekend. temperature right now 76 degrees, that humidity at 71%. i see a little bit of orange on there, don't you, joe? >> yes. >> little bit on there, okay. i didn't want joe to be offended. >> no. >> wind coming in from the south at 5 miles per hour, the high on the day getting up to 83 after a morning low of 68 so temperatures way above normal for this time of the year. the normal high is 74 for september the 19th. 94 was your record back in 1983 and the sun setting at 6:59. so 73 right now belmar, 79 still at morristown, 77 at poughkeepsie, low 70s on the island. couple of very light sprinkles working their way across parts

of the mid hudson valley over dutchess county, these might not even be reaching the ground, they might be drying up before doing so. but there is a cold front slicing through western new york, western parts of pennsylvania, and as this moves off to the east, there's better shot at getting a shower in a few spots overnight tonight especially north and west of new york city. we are watching a low developing off the north carolina coast right now. this will be meandering offshore during the next couple of days and this may actually throw clouds back toward the coast during the day on tuesday, so tuesday is probably the cloudiest of the next seven days. here's our high resolution futurecast overnight and you can actually see this front approaching from the west by midnight, yeah, there could be a few showers in pike county, pennsylvania, sullivan county here in new york and many of the showers weaken before getting into new york city but a few of them survive the trip especially north of new york city. by 7:00 in the morning, maybe a sprinkle or two down the jersey shore onto parts of long island so mainly south and east of the city and then we clear things out with a northerly wind developing during the day and ushering in that drier air

mass. lows tonight down to about 67 in the park, we are down to 58 in sussex, 53 highs tomorrow back into the upper 70s so a little bit cooler than today but still above normal nonetheless so a breezy beauty tomorrow after a sprinkle or two south and east of the city. early 79 as we head into monday, clouds and sun and you see some clouds meandering offshore. these will move in our direction during the day on tuesday. accuweather forecast for tonight, partly cloudy, again a shower in spots after midnight, we are down to 67, sun and patchy clouds tomorrow, breezy, less humid, we are up to about 79, mainly clear tomorrow night, how about upper 50s even here in new york city. that is refreshing. 74 on monday under clouds and ironically fall begins on warmest day out of the next seven getting up to 80 and then back into the upper 70s for thursday and friday, lower 70s by saturday. good weather for the pope's visit thursday and friday most importantly. whatsoever. >> no.

laura behnke up next with a look at sports. >> he's going to miss the subway series, unfortunately. this is the way the series was meant to be played with plenty on the line for both teams as the mets and yankees clash again today, both eyeing the playoffs but only one new york team actually brought the offense to the ballpark. and the college season rolls on

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here's laura. >> here we go. it's not quite the same as the first time they met this season when both the yankees and mets were in first place. but this subway series is not lacking in drama. the pinstripes fighting for their division lives, trying to wrap up the nl east pennant. noah syndergaard on the mound for the met, pitching well but so was beltran. michael pineda held onto four on the mounds, allowing four hits and 5 1/2 scoreless while the lineup delivered in the insurance category. 5-0 yanks. the bullpen pitching quite well. 6th inning bases loaded but justin wilson gets to end the threat. 5-0 the yankees tie this series. >> we've been close to toronto and, you know, they got a little bit of a lead on us but we have been fighting and

in a sense we have been playing playoff baseball for a while. >> the results don't dictate. two mistakes and against a lineup like that they are going to make me pay for it. tomorrow the second sunday of the nfl season but for the giants it's otherwise known as redemption time as the team looks to put their opening night loss behind them. linebacker jon beason, however, doubtful to play. as they play in front of the home crowd for the first time this regular season tomorrow afternoon against atlanta but even days later talk is still about that stalled drive in dallas that then led to the heart breaking loss. but it's time to move on. >> it's a team game and the offense as a whole unit all has to click with all the other guys regardless of who is on the field. hopefully with the continued conduct ses of our offense one -- continued success of our offense get to play. antonio cromartie practiced for the second straight day. questionable for the day. the corner back left the season opener last week with a knee injury.

the jets would certainly like to have him back this week because they are going to have to deal with the colts and that guy, quarterback andrew luck. that's no easy task. >> it's a nightmare. i mean, he does so many things well and, you know, everybody keeps forgetting it's not just him. they got great receivers, great running backs and tight ends, they've got a good offensive line so preparing for them as a whole and then concentrating on him is hard. yes it's monday night football time. jets and colts, you can call it all on picks 11. kickoff set for 8:30. in the first -- terrell hunt tore his acl so the reins were handed to eric dungy who today tried to lead the orange michigan. dungy, second quarter he gets laid out by mitch stanisack who helmet hit. dungy knocked out of the game. syracuse led most of the way until the final seven seconds.

so we go to overtime. jordan frederick saving the day for the orange. 4-yard run for the win, 47-27 syracuse. 3-0. and uconn visiting missouri. this one seemed like a baseball game. first quarter huskies the punt, block for the mizzou safety. uconn led 6-2 at the half. fourth and goal from the two, mizzou goes on to win 9-6 as the huskies fall. the pga's fedex cup playoffs continue this weekend. so far it has been jason day's tournament to lose. after a pair of excellent rounds that saw day tie the pga's 36 hole record low. well, today the leader was not quite on track for a three peat but still shot two under. six stroke lead. and finally it was a beautiful day for softball out on randall's island this morning i was fortunate enough to help special olympics new

york kick off its fall invitational as around 200 athletes competed for gold, silver and bronze medals in the team's softball tournament as competition. all. great fun for the athletes. that is the news for now. we thank you for joining us. i'm joe torres. >> and i'm sandra bookman. we are coming back after