done, but it appears finally to be within reach. of course the fate of 100,000 commuters is in it tonight. companies big and small are making contingency plans for a strike threatened for sunday morning on the third largest commuter railroad in america. as we have reported, union negotiators arrived at the hotel all business not taking any questions from reporters. they met behind closed doors with railroad negotiators for about two hours. i'm told new jersey transit put a new offer on the table. that was intended to jump start the talks. the lead negotiator seemed determined to set the tone. >> new jersey transit has already done everything it can to make sure's true. we'll come down at some point

this is over and everybody can go back about their business and employees can go back to their business, which is what everybody really wants. >> reporter: well, let's hope that comes to pass. that was this morning. now, the update on the talks, there was serious give and take all day. official. sources telling "eyewitness tonight. become available. we're live in newark, new jersey. the strike would be huge. shoppers not shopping, workers not getting to work. tim? >> reporter: bill, planning is key to be everything for both commuters and businesses. lunch at havana was busy at times square. plenty of staff on hand, too. if a new jersey transit strike occurs, this and many other businesses could be greatly impacted.

hour or two earlier to make it in on time. we really don't know. there are a lot of unknowns here. >> reporter: restaurant owner jeremy marren says he has 20 staff members and managers who must commute from new jersey. scheduling and other costs could become complicated. >> the possibility of taking a few rooms at a couple of the local hotels and keeping some of my key people there who i have to have come in. >> reporter: 105,000 commuters use new jersey transit to get to their jobs in new york city, and a strike could severely delay that. >> i have to get there earlier than i normally do. >> reporter: contingency plans are being made including five park and ride lots that feed bus and ferry service. they will operate four hours during the morning and afternoon rush. plans would only accommodate about 40% of rail commuters. partnership for new york city finds for every hour workers are delayed, $5.9 million could be lost by employers.

and tie-ups are significant. some of those can obviously telecommute for a short-term period of time. >> reporter: most of the 4,000 new jersey workers at the mount sinai health care complex have to come to work to care for patients. >> everybody is aware that they need to get up a little bit earlier and fight the traffic or you know, stand instead of sit on the train or a bus, and they know that they are going to have to come to work. >> reporter: big retail businesses like macy's which have a large employee base says some options we are considering include working remotely or working from any one of our new jersey locations. now we wait and watch. reporting live in midtown, tim fleischer, channel 7 "eyewitness news." thank you. by the way, you can find all of the contingency plans. a lot of agencies are getting ready for it and getting around in the event there is a strike. it's on our web site.

turning to the other news of the night and a bizarre frightening accident on the grand central parkway left traffic a mess and one person in critical condition. a wheel went app went flying off of a mazda suv and tore through the -- a wheel went flying off of a mazda suv and tore through another vehicle. a driver suffered minor injuries but a 63-year-old man in the passenger seat is in critical condition. shannon? >> reporter: liz, keep in mind that this accident happened hours ago, and it is an ongoing accident investigation. we've had several lanes out on the grand central parkway for quite sometime now. you are seeing these pictures right now on the westbound side of the roadway. they just shut down all lanes. presumably, they will be towing away that car that lost the

delays back towards the lake, but you are looking at the you. this is a nightmare. delays on the grand central itself take you long past la guardia. almost to the rfk bridge. it is having a spillover effect onto the jackie robinson parkway as well as any of the thoroughfares going through queens. a mess if you can take it local. roads like union turnpike not bad, although you have to deal with the traffic lights. this is a nightmare here, and unfortunately it's going to be out here for several more hours. reporting live over queens, shannon stone, channel 7 "eyewitness news." authorities on long island are investigating how a suspect in handcuffs managed to steal a police officer's suv and escape. andrew howard only needed a few miles from freeport before crashing into four parked cars on merrick. after being rearrested, howard was pulled over last nature and

as the passengers in the car, he slipped through a partition into the driver's seat of the cop car and took off. now to vote 2016, it would strategy. the last of 12 debates last night without the usual vitriol and venom. donald trump scaling it back, but is it a bit late. controversy tonight over violence at trump rallies subpoena is mr. trump egging this on? >> reporter: the focus today on donald trump and what some see as the disturbing trend. more protests and scuffles. trump said at one point, part of the problem getting protesters out is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore. more and more people are asking situation worse. >> reporter: the day began for

endorsement of fizz former foe -- of his former foe ben carson who trump once calmed a psychopath. >> we buried the hatchet. >> reporter: violence marred several of trump's rallies. in north carolina this violent exchange. police late area rested jon mcgraw but before his arrest, he had this to say on "inside edition." >> the next time we see him, we may have to kill him. >> reporter: the thing is, is trump encouraging violence? >> if you see someone about to thrown a tomato, knock the crap out of them. >> trump said the problem is often the protesters. >> he is a guy swinging very loud and started swinging it he audience. you know what? the audience swung back. i thought it was very, very appropriate. he was swinging. he was hitting people, and the audience hit back. >> reporter: trump's now in

wrap up this election tuesday with votes in ohio and florida. those states are winner all. today, marco rubio acknowledged a new strategy urging his supporters to back john kasich in ohio. >> if a voter in ohio is motivated by stopping donald trump and comes to the conclusion john kasich is the only one to beat him, i expect that's the decision they make. >> donald trump says there have already been plenty. as for democrats, bernie sanders campaigned today. hillary left hand is off the campaign trail instead attending nancy reagan's funeral. speaking of nancy reagan's funeral, the former first lady tonight has been laid to rest next to her beloved husband former president ronald reagan facing the pacific ocean. [music] >> reporter: mrs. reagan's

presidential library in simi valley, california. among the thousand invited guests, former first ladies and the current first lady along with former president george w. bush. former canadian prime minister brian mulroney read a alert president reagan wrote to nancy on their first christmas in the white house. >> i love the whole gang of you, mummy, first lady, sentimental you, the fun you and the pee wee power house you. merry christmas with all my love, lucky me. >> at her final request, she was laid to rest just inches apart from her husband. mrs. reagan planned every detail of her own funeral. still to come on "eyewitness news" at 6:00 on this friday night, a star

of random gun violence. tonight, his sorrow-filled mom talking to us about her son as police search for a killer. the search for a quarterback for the jets. could the answer be a former heisman trophy winner? rob powers is coming up in sports. >> yes, a cooldown but march is still going missing. we are still at april levels in the 60s. over the weekend, we're watching the big storm that dropped a foot and a half over the gulf states. this price can't be right... that's the right price! it's that low. what other things on this list can't be right?" looks like a list of can't be right's." seriously? at stop&shop, prices are down. savings are up.

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11:00. he was just 18. a high school basketball star whose life was ahead of him and he seemed ready to grab it. >> his life was cut too short by a random act of gun violence. he was walking down the street when he was caught in crossfire. >> the family's grief is unimaginable. [inaudible speaker ] >> it was a warning but a short. 18-year-old kaval was shot and killed hours after tweeting a photo of his trophy adding with." >> he has so much going for him, so much! nothing anybody would say or anything would do would ever bring my brother back.

captures the scene after the shooting wednesday night. police say they don't believe he was the intended target, but someone fired into the group of people he was with. another 18-year-old was injured. >> my son didn't deserve this. no mistake, no "it wasn't meant for him," that's not bringing my son back. >> reporter: wednesday he scored 21 pins in a dutchess county all-star game. the senior worked to improve his grades and fielding offers from division ii schools. today grief counselors were available for students, teammates, even teachers in mourning. >> this is probably the first time i'm not actually crying. i'm doing everything to hold back. it's just it's very disappointing and very frustrating. >> it's a sad day when you see our student athletes just go down like that. my teammate and one of my close friends go down like that. >> reporter: police are interviewing witnesses and

as of now, no arrests in this case. marcus solis, channel 7 "eyewitness news." an investigation is under way tonight into an emergency landing by a small plane on long island. the faa says it will try to figure out why a cessna 152 was forced to land at sunken meadow state park. the pilot did call air traffic control to say the train was in trouble. the plane dropped off the radar about four miles west of stony brook hospital. two people, an instructor and student were on the plane. thankfully, they were not hurt. when we come back, lee gold with his accuweather forecast.

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out because it's a little chilly, but overall, it is a nice weekend. the first time in a while, it's very, very pleasant with the great sunset over new york harbor. miss liberty gets a front row seat as boats race around the harbor. it's dispersing the ice nicely. >> you are so smart. >> i'm just reading some cue cards. [ laughter ] >> the high was 67. that's just after midnight. the early afternoon hours were in the low 60s. we were running about 15 degrees cooler than yesterday. these are still april levels, mid-april levels. these are not mid-march levels in the upper 40s. the chill does return tonight. many suburbs will dip into the 30s. over the weekend, the highs are staying near 60, and don't forget to turn the clocks ahead. remember late saturday night or before you head to bed or early sunday morning, push those

and also the air filters in the home. after that, a raw, rainy start to the workweek. it's not going to be pretty on monday. rosslyn's at 8:00. hudson valley is in the 50s and still mild in belmar. not the 81 we saw yesterday. so cooler than yesterday. why is it the same in islip? because long island had the sea breeze and in the low so we have clear to partly skies this evening. a lot of sunshine tomorrow. both weekend days sunny in the morning. more clouds start to fill in, in the afternoon hours. we could end up partly to mostly cloudy in the afternoon. it's a dry day, mild, way above average and should be around 60s. we should go mainly clear. the winds are coming out of the 30s and 40s.

we watched the system that was drenched in louisiana, mississippi, arkansas, 16 inches of rain over the past two days, the first thing we'll see is clouds and on sunday, not just clouds but maybe by the end of the day, south and west of new york city, the steadier rainfall is moving in on monday. temperatures tomorrow morning are headed out. it's really nice in the afternoon. just a light jacket should do it. tomorrow 62 and more clouds south and west. mostly cloudy, only down to 49 tomorrow night. that's a nice launching pad on sunday. we'll finish the day off cloudy and maybe you'll need the umbrella. it looks like it's raining throughout the day. decent rainfall amounts, maybe half an inch of rainfall. as we go into tuesday, hope any

temperatures have a shot of reaching 50 degrees. the pick of next week is pennsylvania. no upper 70s and 80 degree temperatures. they are way above average as we approach spring. >> we'll totally take it happily. ron's up next with sports. >> we start with football. the quarterback wheels have started to turn. straight ahead, we talk about the jets and why robert giffone iii might be worth a second look.

that had governor andrew cuomo: there is an unhealthy income inequality gap that is only growing. if you work full-time you shouldn't have to choose between paying the rent and buying food. i say lift up the working families of this state and pay a real decent wage. we fight until this nation fulfills its promise of opportunity for all and that's what this fight for $15 is all about.

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or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure... ...kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. tomorrow, tomorrow i love ya, tomorrow ask your heart doctor about entresto. and help make tomorrow possible. you're only a day away. when was the last time we had a quarterback controversy? [ laughter ] >> they do that. robert giffone ii. needs a team so they talked today to see if there was a

griffin was the number two pick in years back after winning the heisman trophy then went to injury after injury when he quickly became the washington's backup and then free agent. maybe due diligence here and maybe leverage. so let the quarterback moves begin. browns are moving past johnnie football. they released johnny manziel after two rough seasons on and off the field. the talent never caught up to the hype. they never found a trade partner. manzell is now out of a job and mark sanchez has a new one. the eagles traded him to the broncos for a traditional draft pick. in his first five nfl seasons, they went to the eagles and now the broncos who didn't have an experienced qb on the roster after manning and roth whiler

first step, spring baseball today in florida, yankees, orioles, continue milwaukee cha with another good taye for -- tanaka, another good day for him. too. the yankees beat the orioles, 7-1. the mets on the road against the nationals. went up against stephen strass who looked good for three -- stephen strasburg who looked good for three innings. the mets lose by the hard working score of 9-5. new short stop cabrera may star the season on the disabled list. no baseball for at least two weeks. cabrera can start and that may not leave enough time for

former mets relief pitcher henry mejia is challenging his suspension after a third positive test for performance enhancing drugs. mejia says he wasn't using when he took the last test. his lawyer contends baseball is engaged in a conspiracy against his client who just wants to play. >> you know i like to play basketball. you know i can enjoy my friends and be the mouthpiece. >> reporter: the mlb denies it all. playing the cuban national team with the mlb sending a large delegation. the garden seton hall meets xavier 9:00. in the american, uconn in the overtime. bearcats kevin johnson gets to

jalen adams goes to a fourth overtime. connecticut wins in crud drewle overtime. that buzz -- quadruple overtime. that buzzer beater keeps them alive. >> how about that, quadruple overtime. >> one, two, three, four. >> i was going to say something else. i learn things from you every sports. [ laughter ] here's a look at the stories we're working on at 11:00. >> yes, thinks, bill. intense negotiations over the new jersey transit contract going on right now. we'll continue to monitor the situation and break in with any developments when we get them. you can check out our social media pages for the latest. plus, is it adhd or just immaturity? we can have those stories and 11:00. >> thanks. thanks for watching

>> i'm liz -- bill ritter. >> i'm liz cho. have a great night. ncy reagan breaking news this friday night. the new fights breaking out at a trump rally. both outside, and inside. the clashes captured on video. >> get them out of here. >> the new security concerns after the assault earlier this week. as trump's republican rivals mount a last-ditch effort to stop him tuesday night. celebrating nancy reagan. the former presidents. he first ladies sitting beside one another. the laughter among them. the candor from nancy reagan's children. and diane sawyer among those remembering mrs. reagan. the deadly flooding. hundreds of rescues. states of emergency. and the two storms hitting this weekend. the urgent manhunt right now. a brazen escape. an american city. neighbors on high alert. two violent prisoners. one accused of murder, breaking free. and the alarming new headline about the zika virus.