>> the police are telling us these children were not severely hurt. this hit-and-run is so scary to see. take a look at the surveillance video. it happened around 3:00, and ferry. three girls were in the crosswalk with the light according to every witness and they were hit by this truck driver that just keeps going. the girls are young, the oldest is around 12. she was the most it seems severely hurt when the girls crossing with the light were hit this afternoon. good samaritans witnessed as they saw this happen, ran after the truck driver to get the license plate and they got it and gave it to police. >> right here when he hit them, i'm sure he saw them because he bolted. he just ran. >> two of them didn't look too bad but one was laying on the ground. they got her up and put her in the ambulance. >> reporter: this is cell phone video taken by one of the witnesses on the scene.

the girls were bleeding from their noses. the oldest was down, not moving on the pavement. she's the one that we're the most worried about and clearly the emts were most worried about as well and witnesses too. all three of them were taken to the hospital. we do not know anything about their condition but police are telling us they were not severely injured. we do know police are looking for that truck driver tonight because those witnesses and good samaritans ran it down, made sure they got the license plate number, gave it to police. michelle charlesworth, channel 7 eyewitness news. also in new jersey, a fierce fire and a dramatic rescue to save the life of a little girl trapped in a burning condo complex. police say two cops caught the 9-year-old girl as she jumped from the third floor balcony. all this happening in mahwah. the condo manager says everyone else was safe. the flames erupted from

six units were destroyed. charged with killing a 16-year-old. prosecutors claim 19-year-old khari noerdlinger and a 16-year-old victim knew each other from dealing drugs. there was an argument. that's when noerdlinger allegedly stabbed the teen but his attorneys insist the killing in edgewater, new jersey is an act of self-defense. >> a ruthless drug dealer who callusly stabbed one of his own money. that's how prosecutors painted khari noerdlinger today. they said he's simply a college student having to defend his own life. >> reporter: 19-year-old khari noerdlinger pleaded not guilty during a first appearance in a new jersey courtroom today, even as prosecutors laid out evidence indicating he not only knew the 16-year-old he's accused of

>> the evidence will show that they also shared a business together. the evidence showed and does show that they in fact were drug dealers and specifically the evidence shows that sl worked with khari noerdlinger. >> reporter: investigators say the victim, savion and four others. when the confrontation turned violent, prosecutors say noerdlinger stabbed lewellen and tried to cover it up. defense attorneys today refuted the prosecution's claims, insisting noerdlinger was the victim. >> he was jumped. he was attacked. and he probably saved his own life. >> reporter: the son of rachel noerdlinger, the former aide forced to step down after a

she was at the the courthouse today but did not enter the courtroom. >> i think she didn't want to be a distraction to her son but she was obviously devastated. >> reporter: just a few hours later the four defendants accused of trying to rob noerdlinger also made their first court appearance. bail for each was set at $750,000. >> back live in hackensack tonight, the prosecutor also said in court today that the victim and noerdlinger, they have evidence that the two talked on the phone before that deadly encounter, that noerdlinger knew they were headed his way. he's in jail tonight. $500,000 bail with no opportunity to post 10% of that bail. his attorneys say they are hoping to have him out with the next day or two. this case is headed to a grand jury. we're live tonight in hackensack, sandra bookman, channel 7 eyewitness news. a murder investigation underway right now in long island after a gruesome discovery in a wooded area in

kids found a man's body in brentwood shortly after noon today. the victim suffered head injuries. cops say they know who the victim is but they have not released his name. we'll turn to the weather and drenching rain is headed our way tomorrow. meteorologist lee goldberg is tracking it all. he's outside the studios with the details. >> still feeling like april out here but those april showers going to get heavier tomorrow. everybody seems to be traveling light tonight. you'll need the umbrella and gusty winds not going to be fun for the evening commute. george washington bridge moving okay. cross winds in the area. 46 degrees right now. super mild out there. hit 50 degrees . not worried about the mid and upper 40s. our numbers actually rise a little bit in advance of this storm or at least hold steady. flood watches for central new jersey. parts of the area can get an inch of rainfall. there's our storm swirling in the middle of the country. we're going to get the rainy side of the storm. first raindrops around daybreak north and west of new york city.

through the midday. heaviest rain unfortunately targeting the evening commute. late afternoon in to the first part of tomorrow night and still lingering rainfall in the wee hours of thursday morning. so your wet wednesday features light rain developing around daybreak, especially north and west. heaviest rain, first part of tomorrow night. half inch of rain. 45-mile-per-hour gusts are possible. record highs not out of the question. we'll be raining, around 60 degrees. much more on the rainfall and timing. we'll look ahead because there is cold air and maybe a chance of snow in the 7-day accuweather forecast coming up in a few minutes. the race for the next president now officially underway and fully engaged. the first voting now over and the candidates who still have campaigns looking ahead to new hampshire a week from today. for the gop, the headline out of iowa, donald trump losing. he had long boasted of a victory in iowa. ted cruz abesting him. trump barely beating out marco rubio.

victory for hillary clinton but also a victory for bernie sanders. the two splitting the caucus by the narrowest of percentages, .2%. >> i think it's important people understand good ideas are one thing but you've got to know how to implement. you've got to have a record of getting results. i'm taking my ideas and my record to the people in new hampshire this week. >> last night we began the political revolution not just in iowa, not just in new hampshire, but all over this country. >> maybe all over the country but right now and tonight democratic and republican presidential candidates are crisscrossing new hampshire, focusing their campaigns on the next primary state. short time ago governor christie in new jersey who garnered little support in iowa took a shot at fellow candidate marco rubio. >> maybe he'll answer more than two or three questions at a town hall meeting and do more than 40 minutes on a little stage telling everybody his speech he's memorized over the course

this isn't student council, everybody. this is the election for the president of the united states. let's get the boy in the bubble out of the bubble. i'm ready to play. i hope he is. >> you can watch republicans in their next debate saturday night at 8:00 right here on channel 7. new at 6:00, dramatic testimony in the trial of nypd officer peter liang. he's accused of fatally shooting an unarmed man in the stairwell of a housing development. today a friend of the victim, akai gurley, took the stand and described gurley's final moments before he died. here's tim fleischer. >> reporter: coming to court, former nypd officer peter liang would face two crucial witnesses in the trial on manslaughter charge. emotional testimony from the friend of a victim and testimony from liang's partner they were working what's known as a vertical patrol in november of 2014 at the time of the shooting.

eighth floor, liang about to enter a stairwell. he pushed off with his right shoulder, the shot just went off. i said what the expletive happened? he said it went off by accident. he stood there, landau said, for the next four minutes. then entering the stairwell they heard sounds and moved down to the fifth floor. landau said someone was laying down on the stairwell on his back. his eyes were open. asked by the prosecutor, did you perform cpr? no, he answered. did officer liang perform cpr? no, he said. other police officer s arrived and took officer liang's service weapon. that's when landau said officer liang fell to the floor and started crying. earlier in the day melissa butler, a friend of akai gurley who was with him when he was shot in the dark stairwell was brought in to testify. she said she and akai were walking down the stairwell when suddenly the door opened and slammed in to the wall. i heard a shot. the bullet,

the wall and struck gurley in the chest. they began running down the stairs. butler said until akai collapsed. i was telling him to stay with me. i'm getting help, she said. a neighbor called for help. she said he was conscious but not responding. his eyes were bloodshot red. he stopped making any noises. butler left the courtroom, emotionally distraught and in tears. she was surrounded by friends and family. tim fleischer, channel 7 eyewitness news. as we continue with eyewitness at 6:00 for this tuesday night, an investigation in to a deadly elevator accident. a man falling several stories and he dies.

driver who i'm neil patrick harris and new york is my home. no place has more world class culture. come winter, i can't wait to visit our must-see collections of art and superb photography and film. new york has beautifully restored theaters, that are now important centers for the performing arts. and museums that preserve the glories of the past. winter in new york state means more great things to do than ever. plan your trip at iloveny.com

an elevator repair man fell to his death today in new jersey. he was working on a shaft in guttenberg this morning when he fell seven stories. the mechanic works for a company called slade elevator. his name has not been released. a massive search on long island for the hit-and-run driver who killed a man. >> the victim, a man who suffers from mental illness, then jumped from a moving ambulance. that's when he was hit and killed last night. >> it happened in holtsville. here's states tace -- here's eyewitness news reporter stacey sager.

his-- stretcher was up right and he was properly strapped in. >> reporter: the 51-year-old from bay shore unstrapping himself, then jumping out of his ambulance on nicholls road yesterday at about 6:30 p.m. in holtsville. >> then when you add the fact that this involves a hit and run, it makes the whole situation more disturbing. >> this is nicholls road today during rush hour and you can see how busy it is. witnesses say the driver of a dark sedan ran him over and that the driver had to know he or she struck something. here in bay shore where ligrnetta lived for years, friends are begging the driver to come clean. >> he's a person, regardless of anything he's a person. >> reporter: the private ambulance company, hunter ems, also telling us they're working with authorities as ligrnetta's friends say they wish they had acted sooner when they saw the warning signs. >> when i see him, i'd say how are you doing, frank?

>> his beard was growing. >> reporter: stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. still to come, not that we put one iota of credence or credibility in what a groundhog might or might not see, but for those that do, chuck makes his prediction on how long winter might last. >> then the real meteorologist, lee goldberg stops the 19th

after 2 days your chance of heart attack drops. and 1 year after you quit your risk of heart disease is cut in half. but right now... [ flatline ] ...you're a heart attack waiting to happen. every cigarette makes you sick. quit smoking today. [ siren wailing ]

my friends say i should get fios because it's the fastest. i just downloaded 600 photos in 60 seconds. that's seriously better. (husband) we're out of 2%! i wonder what else could be better around here. (husband) i heard that. switching to better internet is now easier than ever. only fios has the fastest internet available, with uploads up to 5x faster than cable. get 100 meg upload and download speeds, plus tv and phone for just $69.99 a month online with no annual contract.

happening between santa claus and the easter bunny, staten island chuck. the groundhog at the staten island zoo didn't see his shadow this morning and because of that, according to a 19th century myth, he's predicting an early spring. punxsutawney phil happened to agree. german legend says if the groundhog does see his shadow on this day, winter will last another six weeks.

gold tie, everybody et -- everybody else on the set has to wear a gold tie. >> i feel left out. [ laughter ] >> all three anchors have a yellow tie and all three ground hogs, even mel, one of long island's great historical groundhogs all go for the big spring forecast. >> i feel like we should be saying i'm all right. >> a time lapse of the groundhog day sunset looks like this. how spectacular is that? what you're seeing there is a cirrus coming in and that's the leading edge of the storm. beautiful is that? >> it lasted just enough time to put your pocket square on. >> our temperature outside is now in the middle 40s right now and we're working with at least

to move in the gw bridge. traffic moving pretty well. wind is calm. anything but tomorrow night. 40-mile-per-hour gusts along with heavy rainfall. 49. 10 degrees above actually 50. it was 20 degrees above yesterday. it is chilly over northern new jersey but these numbers should rise before the rain arrives. maybe it was a couple slick spots early tomorrow morning but for the most part we'll have wet roads developing during the morning point. our numbers way above freezing. raindrops tomorrow morning with increasing breezes. raindrops are mainly west, north. hudson valley, maybe have some rainfall then. rain getting lighter. 53. gusty breezes and really the heart is tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening. our storm is super impressive here out in the midwest. blizzard there. severe weather is a dangerous tornado on the ground and in alabama. we're on the warmer side of this storm. it's

it's a soaking rain. you look at midmorning tomorrow, let's say the first raindrops in new york city are close to the 8:00 or 9:00 hour. now it's starting to cranked as you go through the late afternoon. it's still raining but the rain intensity should start to wane. still could be a drizzle left over for the morning commute thursday. clouds will try to break. clouds may be a little stubborn along the coast. there will be pockets that could approach an inch of rainfall and that's most likely to happen north and west. increasing clouds, shower in spots. if it's before dawn it's delaware water gap, catskills, poconos. increasingly windy. the record is 64. we go up to 61. down to 48 tomorrow night and the worst of it is through the worst part of the evening then tapers off. friday the clouds will hug the coastline a little bit.

why could -- we could have clouds at least early. high, middle 40s. partly sunny skies. then we're going to start to get colder in to early next week. i think it's ripe for storms to develop along the coast and i think we'll be cold enough to get a couple snow chances next week. first one i'm looking at is probably tuesday. i'll have more on that tonight. >> somebody already posted the sunset. >> we did on facebook. >> not that i was looking while you were doing the weather cast. rob is up next with sports. >> speak ing of multitasking, they're getting ready for the super bowl in california. basketball at the garden. and baseball in florida. we check in with mets pitcher zach wheeler. he's in port st. lucie getting the surgically repaired arm ready.

star break has ended. meet the moore's! we're the moore family, and as you can see, we need an internet that can do more. we do more games, and more streaming. so we need more speed. that's why we switched to time warner cable. you can too. call now. now we can connect more devices, at the same time. the wifi in this house is amazing. so is my guacamole. hi grandma and grandpa! ha, look at that! [laughs] time warner cable even has an internet plan for us. get the internet speed that's right for you. from 3 megs to ultra fast 300 megs they even made it easy to switch with a one-hour arrival window.

get 50 meg internet for $39.99 per month. call now. you could get free installation, no data cap, and access to over 400,000 twc wifi hotspots with select plans.

in new york state, we believe tomorrow starts today. all across the state the economy is growing, with creative new business incentives, and the lowest taxes in decades, attracting the talent and companies of tomorrow. like in the hudson valley, with world class biotech. and on long island, where great universities are creating next generation technologies. let us help grow your company's tomorrow, today

i'm a little confused. media day is usually on tuesday but it was last night. >> they sold tickets, they made money. game day sunday, super bowl fun continues in california. the broncos and panthers, it will not stop until sometime late sunday night. the groundhog's shadow, six more days. but at least today the whackiness of last night's super bowl opening night is a thing of the past. no costume characters, no miss universe, just football. >> we have great respect for their football team and how they got here. we also have a lot of confidence in our football team too. >> bottom line is when it's time to work, time to practice, be there, and eventually come sunday, when it's time to play, be there. pitchers and catchers set to report to big league training camps just over two weeks now. season is not far off. some fellas can't wait to get started, like mets pitcher zach wheeler. he's in port st. lucie getting ready to roll.

kind of the forgotten man in the metroitation but the guy struck out 187 batters in 2014. should be ready some time in july. >> you don't want to come back and be mediocre or below average. that's when you put in the work in the weight room every day and throwing on the field because you come back and be great and do good things and have fun, most of all. the nhl all star break ends tonight for the nhl locals. the islanders host minnesota. the devils host the rangers. time to start that battle once again. lauren glassberg is here with a look ahead. >> it's going to be a wild ride to the end of the nhl's regular season. the rangers in second place in the metropolitan division but the islanders are a few games back. tonight the two go head to head. >> reporter: the nhl all star break is now a thing of the past. with 30 games to go in the regular season, the urgency has arrived. >> every game is

every point you can gather is important. >> reporter: there's no better way to start that run than with a division rivalry game as the rangers and devils clash tonight. >> great to see the rangers right away. we know they bring the best out in us and bring added intensity tonight. >> there's a lot of energy on both teams. it's nice to be able to come off the break and have that intensity. >> our games against the devils have always been very competitive and hard fought. >> reporter: tonight it will also be critical to both teams' playoff hopes. four points separate the rivals in the metropolitan division. >> we control our own fate. it's going to be a big month for us. >> i have a lot of confidence. we've got to try to take that experience and bring it for this stretch here. >> as for lineups tonight, john moore is out for the devils. rick nash is out but is listed as day-to-day. laura behnke, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> all the fun begins. the knicks take on the

so far each team has won on its home floor. chrisops porzingis, 26 points, 26 minutes. he's averaged half that in the last half dozen games. good test here for the knicks who lost five of their last six. jose calderone might be healthy enough to play tonight. >> we always say we've got to play as a team. offensively, defensively. if we do that we always got a chance to win the game for sure. >> busy, busy night. >> see you at 11:00. speaking at 11:00, coming up tonight, a $63 million lottery ticket still unclaimed and it's just days from expiring. what's up with that? also a big turnout expected tonight as a local school board considers approving breathalyzer tests for students. this idea is spreading in the tri-state and other parts of the country as well. we'll have the reaction and the controversy. other stories as well. breaking news tonight at 11:00. that's it for us for now. thanks for watching. i'm bill ritter. >> and i'm liz cho.

tonight with david muir is