the next hour or two. worst weather probably from 7:00 to midnight. 10:00 probably the peak. average rainfall, inch or two. localized flooding is a possibility. we could certainly see gusty thunderstorms that can cause damage across the area. we'll be wild during the overnight. things will settle down, more storm tracking and accuweather in just a few minutes. severe weather possibly playing a role in a couple manhole explosions in new jersey. two man holes shooting 25 feet in the air in elizabeth. cruise on the scene -- crews on the scene to make sure they're safe. the salt from snow removal leaked in to and ate away at insulation of underground wires. that sparked the fires. fortunately nobody was hurt. we invite you to stay with eyewitness news throughout the evening for the latest on the storms. get the latest forecast any time on our free accutrack weather alert app. a tragic fire death of a 2-year-old girl in brooklyn. sources say new york city's child welfare agency had been

found where she spent her last moments cowering under a >> happy birthday to you. >> reporter: by all accounts, kalenah was a smiling, beautiful girl. >> all she knew was to play and be happy. >> reporter: a girl who deserved better. sources now telling eyewitness news aqueeno, who first said she had a babysitter, had actually went out to work as a stripper overnight, then returned here to the fire scene three hours after the firefighters put out the blaze. to say her daughter was missing. what we now know is little kalenah had no sitter since february 2nd. after the babysitter said she was owed money. there was a case open with the administration for children services only one week ago. the accusation, that aquino was leaving her daughter home alone. today acs would only say they're investigating. meanwhile, aquino, in had her own words, describing herself on instagram. her bio saying, quote, i sin but i'm no devil.

i'm good but i'm no angel. kalenah's father, who did not live in the home, tells us he too doubted aquino's claims yesterday that anyone was looking after their daughter. >> that's what she said but who's to say it was really a sitter? >> you're not convinced she even had a sitter? >> i'm not 100% convinced that she had a sitter. >> as we mentioned leila aquino said to be arraigned here possibly tonight. she's expected to be charged with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. i also want to point out when she showed up at the fire scene yesterday, sources say she showed up with a box of tips from her job. about $980 in single bills. we're live in downtown brooklyn, stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. we're following breaking news right now. it has to do with your commute home. the nypd says the st. george

now at staten island. this is for ferry passengers until further notice because of police activity that is happening there. no word quite yet when the terminal will open. we'll keep you posted. now to the latest stabbing in new york city and if it seems as if there are more stabbings than slashings, there are. nypd officials now acknowledging a 20% increase over last year. that's about 10 slashings a day on average. and most of the increase is in the bronx. despite the fears, very few, police say, are random. eyewitness news reporter darla victim. >> the nypd just released video of a slashing that happened in this deli behind me that happened about two weeks ago. the victims in this case say this all started suspect came in and tried to scam them out of money, asking for change for $20 bills but claiming he should have gotten change for a $100 bill. you were standing here. when he went after him with the

knife, you jumped on him? >> yeah, [ indiscernible ] >> reporter: his english is limited but what he's trying to explain is very clear. the 63-year-old says this teen went after his young cousin with a knife. so he went after him. >> he take a knife. he take this one out. fight. >> my cousin started fighting him. >> reporter: ismael took the brunt of the attack ending up with a black eye and stitches forehead. the nypd just releasing the surveillance video of the suspect and the february 7th incident on east 170th street bronx. pattern. i don't think there were copycats. i think the majority have been disputes between individuals. >> there have been 567 slashings so far this year.

that's 97 more incidents, up 20%. but police say of the 97 new cases, 68% were in the bronx. and while police say this saturday evening slashing of a 26-year-old woman in the williamsbridge section of the bronx is not considered random and neither are robberies, only seven slashings this year are statistically considered unprovoked and >> if there are areas where you don't see police officers and you believe there should be, reach out to your elected officials. so we can talk to our precincts about getting more officers in those areas. >> nypd says they have beefed up in patrols in those areas where they believe the slashings have increased. in terms of those 7 random, truly random slashings this year, police say they've made an arrest in all but two cases. darla miles, channel 7 eyewitness news. connecticut state supreme court heard arguments on whether kennedy cousin michael skakel should get

sent back to prison. skakel attended the hearing even though a decision wasn't expected today. he was convicted in 2002 for the 1975 murder of his neighbor, martha moxley. that condition was later overturned in 2013 and prosecutors are trying to get it reinstated. skakel is the nephew of robert f kennedy's widow, ethel. new york real estate developer with a delicate lead that could become insurmountable. half of the delegates needed for the gop nomination are up for grabs march 1st. trump with a crushing victory last night caucuses. nearly 46% of the caucus votes cast, more than the total of marco rubio and ted cruz combined. his biggest victory yet. despite this commanding lead, both rubio and cruz seem confident still. rubio coming out with a couple

telling voters his campaign continues to add delegates. cruz boasts he's the only campaign to beat and the only one he says can beat the billionaire. trump still celebrating his third straight victory. >> we won the evangelicals. we won with old. we won with young. we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. >> i love the poorly educated. also significant in this nevada vote tally, trump also won despite wanting to build a wall along the u.s.-mexico border, the hispanic vote, 46% of that. on the democratic side, hillary clinton getting a big endorsement today. senate minority leader harry reid putting his support behind clinton. clinton is leading bernie sanders in the polls ahead of saturday's south carolina primary. word of a possible supreme court nominee from the white house today. a republican. brian sandoval, governor of nevada, is a former federal judge who supports abortion rights. the nomination is of this

republican is seem by many as an attempt by the president to court the senate gop. many republican leaders are holding their position that the nomination should be made by the next president. taking a quick look at wall street right now where stocks finished the day slightly higher. dow gained 53 points. nasdaq up 39. and s&p 500 picked up 8 and a half points. as we continue with eyewitness news at 6:00, dramatic developments tonight about the man charged in that horrific crash on the new jersey turnpike that killed a popular high school teacher and his very young daughter. he was high, the driver was, and he hadn't slept from more than 24 hours at the time of the crash. >> also ahead, the restaurant not taking the judge's ruling with a grain of salt. will new york city begin its warning labels next week?

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blockbuster developments tonight in the deadly crash on the new jersey turnpike. kbll a man charged with manslaughter for killing a popular high school teacher and his daughter now admits he was high on adderall and had not slept for more than 24 hours at the time of the crash. >> here's toni yates. >> reporter: prosecutors revealed in court why 36-year-old scott hahn is now facing two counts each of aggravated manslaughter and death by auto. the criminal complaint saying he was under the influence of drugs, awake more than 24 hours

and still they say he got behind the wheel. >> crash investigation estimates the defendant's speed at impact was between 50 miles per hour and 70 miles per hour. he had not slept since 1 p.m. sunday, february 21st, 2016 and had consumed 10 adderall tablets. >> reporter: adderall is a drug commonly prescribed for adhd. prosecutors say hahn had no prescription. under the influence and awake more than 26 hours, hahn slammed his 1998 mercedes in to the back of 51-year-old timothy 14c turnpike tolls. the impact pushed the malibu in to oncoming traffic where it was hit again. o'donnell and his 5-year-old injuries. >> statements by witnesses say they saw the defendant's vehicle being driven erratically westbound from the holland

then traveled across lanes alternately accelerating and decelerating, sideswiping a road barrier. >> reporter: according to new jersey motor vehicle records, hahn has four speeding tickets, two violations of unsafe operation of a motor vehicle, driving on a suspended license. >> entering a plea of not guilty. >> if he's convicted scott hahn faces up to 60 years in prison. toni yates, channel 7 eyewitness news. new york city restaurant owners who try to shake salt warnings from their menus will face a fine. that ruling from a judge today. the national restaurant association attempted to block the signage requirement by filing a lawsuit. the judge ruled against the association meaning certain restaurants could be fined $600 if they do not start posting salt warnings starting march 1st. >> highly controversial. just ahead on eyewitness news at 6:00, ever think about

someone has added up the cost of doing that, one of everything. >> lee returns with much more on the line of potentially heavy storms that are moving through our area tonight. some of those storms could be

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good news for liz. she's been the one person who's wondered how much it would cost to buy everything on amazon. a computer scientist in zurich calculating the total to be $12.86 billion. scientists first determined there were 479 different items available on amazon's website last year. then he figured out the average price of an item was $26. at this point amazon has not said whether he is right or not but they haven't said whether he's wrong. >> i assume right around there. >> $13 billion. it's close. >> just be able to get a book. >> you get it in about two hours.

>> and an umbrella. [ laughter ] >> it's going to be a stormy night. we'll be covering it through the night for you. outside right now we have wet conditions and folks fleeing the fog from manhattan back in to brooklyn. visibilities are way down. got some big delays at the area airports. 55 degrees. south wind, 12 to 24. we'll get very gusty if not damaging later on this evening. 55 degrees. our high today could make a run at the 60-degree mark which would be 16 above average. we have over an inch, .9 today in central park. close to 2 inches. there are your sunset and sunrise times. torp watch out for -- tornado watch much of the area in a slight risk area for severe storms. that goes from nassau county westward to the hudson valley and in to much of new jersey and even a marginal risk in the east end. 59 in point pleasant.

wasn't so bad in the boardwalk. 64, wrightstown. we've been struggling through the 30s. catskills finally getting in to the low 40s. warm air will make a clean sweep. getting stormy after 7:00. i think the peak is going to be around 10:00. wind gusts especially east of the city. then we're looking at clouds and a few breaks of sun tomorrow morning. we'll start out at 50. gusty breeze, temperatures holding or dropping in to the upper 40s. it will feel a little chilly during the afternoon. right now you've got downpours over ulster. heaviest is west of the delaware water gap. pretty good downpours over suffolk. look at the thunderstorms about to get in to ocean county over the next 15 this is really where we have the peak of the storm. this storm right here going through western new jersey, look how it's kind of hooking toward mercer county. all of this is going to be heavier west of new york city. this squall line is incredible.

that over the past 15 minutes just going through dc. has to sweep up to our area during the evening hours. things getting much more stormy after the 7:00 or 8:00 hour. peak maybe around 10:00 with gusty winds. heavy, heavy downpours. that will start to move out after midnight. should leave the east end of long island. by tomorrow morning, upper 40s, low 50s. few breaks in the clouds. clouds do dominate tomorrow. we're at 52 tonight. windy and quite mild. occasional heavy rain. thunderstorms a possibility as well. variable clouds tomorrow. windy, passing shower. 50s dropping in to the 40s and awful cold tomorrow night at 32. in fact your wind chills on friday may be in the 20s with a high of 38. that's the coldest day. then we'll start to recover over the weekend. 42 saturday. 56 on sunday. and another taste of spring as we go in to sunday and monday. we'll be tracking throughout the evening. watch the lower third of your screen. we'll let you know what's going on throughout the night. speaking of spring, rob is

up next with sports. >> a little taste of spring right now. spring training rolls on. pitchers last week, here comes everybody else. the yankees gather in tampa. lucky number 13. we'll get you down to spring

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we have this in to the eyewitness news room. prosecutors in brooklyn deciding not to file charges and drop the entire case involving allegations of a gang rape. accused of raping an 18-year-old woman. the young woman has recanted the allegations, refusing to cooperate, because her father engaged before the teenagers did.

and toss it over to sports. >> a busy week here. tomorrow while the yankees hit the field as one big happy family. so far it's been pitchers, catchers, early arrivals. tomorrow the gang is all there. today in tampa players walked down the gray highway in steinbrenner field. meetings, physicals. alex rodriguez is there. so is carlos beltran. mark teixeira is ready to go. he's almost 36 years old, says he's got good years left in him. >> absolutely, i think i can play a long time. the way my body feels right now, i haven't felt this good in so long. i think i feel better this spring training than i felt last year. i expect to play a long time. >> we have a roster that can compete with anybody. just like any team out there, we have to stay healthy, produce up to our abilities. if we do that, we'll be in the race. on to the mets. they get ready for full squad workouts friday. pitcher jacob degrom throwing off the mound again.

but degrom had the green light today. mets just being cautious this early in camp. so far this week college players have got the chance to impress or in some cases not impress teams looking to make multimillion-dollar investments. jets and giants are in the mix from day one. >> we need to add some pieces. we have a lot of guys right now on the roster who are free. so we need to address that and we need to add some pieces there but they need to be the right pieces. >> we had a lot of chances and a lot of positions that play well but we need to upgrade at the same time. we're an older team. we want to get younger at almost every position and we'll try to do that. knicks on the road at indiana trying to get something going. lost 12 of their last 13 games. got beat up monday by the raptors. carmelo anthony seemed to take the loss hard. yesterday in practice he did not speak to the media at all.

sometimes it hits you sometimes and you don't know how to react. sometimes you've got to have some me time. >> got to have some me time. there's a big usa gymnastics event coming up. today olympic gold medalist and dancing with the stars champ shawn johnson visited the athletic arts academy. the provincial center and usa gymnastics teaming up to give tickets to meet shawn. >> make them believe it's possible is pretty cool. >> it's such a perfect seed for them to have ambition and to see where gymnastics can take them. >> let's head back down to port st. lucie, florida. the mets parking lot. and take a look at a new car.

from the garage of yoenis cespedes. a suped up lamborghini worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? we've seen the big pickup truck, the big wheel vehicle, and now this. what can we get tomorrow? >> the good news about cars is they never depreciate. they always go up in value, right? >> the catcher made sure the media understood i'm driving my car tomorrow. let's check in with sade to see what we're working on for eyewitness news at 11:00. >> could the drinking age in new jersey be lowered? one legislator wants to make it happen. how effective is your flu shot this year? there's new information about the vaccine. local police officers coming together to help a young girl battling leukemia. we'll tell you how you can help tonight at 11:00. >> just getting this in, staten island ferry service has been fully restored, problem resolved. that's it for us. thanks for watching. i'm bill ritter. >> i'm liz cho. world news tonight is coming up

breaking news tonight. we're on the scene of a deadly tornado outbreak. several states, homes destroyed. a dangerous night ahead from south carolina all the way up through new york. also breaking tonight, the race for president, and donald trump, now marching to super tuesday. his landslide win in nevada. and the major republican now predicting a trump surprise. the abc news exclusive tonight. my one-on-one interview with apple's ceo, tim cook. for the first time, cook on why apple is refusing to help the fbi break into the iphone used by the san bernardino killer. new details tonight on the pilot in that deadly chopper crash. what he was trying to do. and the famous sports reporter, the "dancing with the stars" host, erin andrews, suing her stalker and a major hotel tonight. did they put the stalker right next door?