mistaken for gunfire. joining us on the phone is ross feinstein. how are passengers reacting to all this? >> i think you summed it up pretty well. it is impacting escalators and elevators as well as the checked baggage screening of checked baggage. the terminal still has power on. it's still operational. flights are still departing. however, we are encouraging customers to give themselves extra time, at least two hours this evening. we also have a flexible travel policy in a place where passenrs traveling out of jfk this evening. they can go out of newark laguardia, islip, stewart, or newburg. we're trying to give passengers an opportunity to go out of one of those airports, but give yourself extra time, especially for checked baggage. >> what should travelers know? should they now call in to their airline if they do want to make the change and go out of another airport? >> american is not the only

there are other carriers that do operate within terminal 8. this does impact all airlines operating in terminal 8. we encourage folks if they want to make changes to their reservation, do it online at aa.com or contact reservations directly. the terminal flights are still departing. obviously the biggest impact will probably be the weather out of jfk but we want passengers to give themselves extra time. impacting th >> real quick, any idea when the power will be back on? >> we're working quickly to get that restored. it does appear to be some type of power-related surge that may have occurred at 1:50 p.m. eastern time. so we're working very quickly to get that back online as quickly as possible. it seems one part of the terminal. it's not impacting the entire terminal. computers are still running fine. it's just the check baggage screening. >> ross feinstein, thanks so

the news tonight, we're learning more about the 35-year-old from brooklyn charged with the execution style murders of an imam and his associate. oscar morel went before a judge late this afternoon facing a count of first degree murder and two counts of second degree murder. >> police released a photo of the revolver they say morel used in the killings. n.j. burkett was in the courtroom today and he joins us now from q gardens, queens. smoking gun. it's an exact ballistics match to the bullets recovered from the victims' bodies. but no, the suspect insists he didn't do it. that left the victims' families outraged. >> reporter: the imam's son says it's a nightmare. oscar morel, the man accused of murdering his father, stood before the judge this afternoon and pleaded not guilty. insisting through his attorney that he didn't do it.

that's it. nothing else. >> did he say anything to you? was he upset? >> he just denied. said i didn't do any of this. >> can you describe his mood? >> he was fine. calm. upset that he's here. he said i didn't do anything. >> reporter: the cold blooded execution double murder shocked the city. captured on surveillance video. the 55-year-old imam, maulama akonjee, and his 6 assistant, tara uddin, both shot point blank in the head. an suv struck a bicyclist shortly after the shooting. a vehicle that matched the description of the getaway car. detectives say he later tried to ram officers who tried to stop him. they later recovered his .38-caliber revolver. >> oscar, did you shoot them because they were muslim? >> reporter: prosecutors say the evidence is overwhelming, that the bullets are an exact

as the gunman. that he was seen on, quote, numerous cameras and that morel admits he was at the scene. for the relatives of the victims it's an outrage. >> he's been an imam his whole life, from the very beginning. scholar. and no enemy. >> family says the imam barely spoke english, and no, he had no known enemies. as for the motive, that's still not clear. anyone hoping to hear more on because the prosecution simply didn't bring it up. morel was ordered held without bail and has not been charged with a bias crime, at least not yet. n.j. burkett, channel 7 eyewitness news. right now storms are moving through some parts of the area. meteorologist jeff smith is in for lee goldberg and is tracking things at the weather wall. >> those storms already dropped temperatures down to 81 degrees in new york city. we had a downpour move through manhattan, sections of the bronx

storms are over eastern pennsylvania. that's prompted a severe thunderstorm watch for central and western parts of new jersey right through 11:00 this evening. first ahead of main line, downpours have formed over the city moving up in to southern parts of westchester county. this is the one that concerns me here. this line of storms over eastern pennsylvania, approaching allentown and the delaware water gap probably within the next hour or so. as it moves off to the east, it should weaken a little bit before moving in to new york city. so i think the bes of getting strong damaging winds with severe weather west of new york city during the evening. some relief behind this front. we'll talk about that in your full accuweather forecast. some patients starting to return to a nursing home in middletown after the air conditioning broke down at the height of the heat wave. for those patients and their families, it's been a nightmare. many worry not enough has been done and it could happen again. marcus solis is outside the home

the mayor of middletown so upset is that there are problems with the air conditioner discovered in may, violations were issued and the problems were supposed to be fixed. they weren't until now. >> reporter: it is a 200-ton chiller, a temporary unit now doing something that hasn't happened all summer. circulate cold air throughout a nursing home. on saturday 98 elderly patients had to be evacuated from the highland rehabilitation and e reached dangerous level. an evacuation ordered by city and orange county officials. >> the fact that we had to go out there on a saturday and evacuate them is really the ultimate failure. the only thing worse than that would have been having a fatality. >> reporter: no one at the nursing home was willing to speak to us, but management is at no choice but to deal with local officials in the state health department. the first sign of trouble occurred memorial day weekend when temperatures on the top floor exceeded 100 degrees. one of the facility's air conditioning units failed.

only 50% and leaking coolant. repairs that had been promised were never done. >> one explanation given by a maintenance guy up there was we were trying to get through the summer so we wouldn't have to shut the facility down during hot weather. that's not an acceptable explanation, but that was the rationale that we believe they were taking. >> reporter: it took nearly eight hours to transfer the patients to 11 different facilities, as far away as tarrytown. this afternoon the home was patients to return. theresa desethno is the mayor's mother. her sister is a resident at the facility whose new management is now under fire. >> i was heart sick. because i was a member of the board there under catholic charities for 23 years. >> our goal is not to shut the facility down but it's also not to have a facility operate within our community that is not

that owns this nursing home will still have to deal with the violations, face that manner in court this fall. the patients will start to return. going to do it gradually. it should take a couple days. marcus solis, channel 7 eyewitness news. as police investigate more than 600 tips in the murder of a new york woman killed while jogging in massachusetts, family and friends say their final goodbye. the funeral for vanessa marcotte was held today. on august 7th in the town of princeton. it's a tight knit community. some residents who did not attend the funeral still stood by the church to pay respect today. >> i just wanted to put my hand on my heart and say a little prayer inside. hopefully they'll hear me from the inside. maybe she'll hear me up top. >> marcotte worked at google in manhattan.

least one possible person of interest. meanwhile tonight in a similar case but unrelated, family and friends of a 30-year-old queens woman will take the same path karina vetrano jogged before she was murder two weeks ago. a gofundme has raised more than $244,000. part of it will be offered as a reward for information on her murder. of akai gurley. the family will get more than $4 million. the 28-year-old was killed in brooklyn, shot in a stairwell by former nypd officer peter liang in the pink houses back in november 2014. the money will go to gurley's 4-year-old daughter akayla. the family's attorney says because of the way that money is being invested, she could receive up to $12 million over her lifetime.

to bring him back but she'll be taken care of. >> the officer convicted will pay $25,000 toward the settlement. hillary clinton is not taking anything for granted, including good poll numbers. while donald trump took a day off, clinton was blasting him and working to get out the vote. eyewitness news political reporter dave evans with more from the cam >> as you mentioned, hillary clinton was on the campaign trail today but focused on donald trump's controversial new plan to fight terrorism. she is significantly ahead in several polls right now but clinton urged her supporters don't be complacent. >> reporter: hillary clinton today tore in to donald trump, not speaking directly about his terrorism plan but about the nation's overall security. >> it just absolutely bewilders me when i hear donald trump try to talk about national security.

trump unveiled his plan that focuses on protecting the homeland, requiring immigrants to pass an ideological test to make sure they share our values. >> the time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face i call it extreme vetting. i call it extreme, extreme vetting. >> it's not just a says, it's not just he doesn't know what he's talking about. that's bad enough. but what he often says hurts us. it sends the wrong message to friend and foe alike in the world. >> reporter: the clinton campaign also released a new ad, questioning whether trump's plan is constitutional. but mostly today clinton focused on getting the vote out. governor christie, a key trump

but polls show trump losing ground in key battleground states. in virginia, a new poll gives clinton a 14-point lead. >> even though we're doing fine right now, i'm not taking anybody anywhere for granted. we're going to work hard these next 85 days. and i can't do it without your help. >> tomorrow afternoon donald trump will have his first national security intelligence briefing. at because of trump's shoot from the hips style. also because trump yesterday called for closer ties with russia. today trump is in milwaukee. relative of a boater found dead in the water off of long island speaks exclusively with eyewitness news. what he thinks happened and what he's asking for tonight. >> plus, new york city getting aggressive with the zika virus. but officials need just one thing to help protect you. >> and for the first time since 9/11, shops opened today in the

i know you! [laughs] welcome! hi! we're your neighbors. we live across the street. thanks for this. i see you've got time warner cable like the rest of the hood. genius. tons of free hd channels. and you can record six shows at the same time. and with the super fast internet, entertainment nirvana! wow. nirvana. switch to time warner cable for $89.99 per month, you'll get free hd channels, 100 meg internet with no data cap, and unlimited calling. call now. looks like you're all hooked up. game's about to start. let's do it. we're watching here? oh yeah. ohh. how about you and i go watch my favorite show? switching is easy.

oh you've got the twc phone. it's unlimited calling to like half the world. including mexico, canada, india, european union. yeah. this will work as a coffee table. don't! ah! it says...fragile. get tv, internet and phone for $89.99 per month. plus free installation, tv equipment, and epix included. call now. i'm robert de niro and new york is my home. it's the best place to visit in the world and now it's the easiest, because now there are new tourism guides on the road, and on your phone that make it easier find great dining, amazing history, and world-class entertainment, no matter where you are. take the ultimate road trip and see why i love new york.

right now we want to take you back to the breaking news airport. it is experiencing a partial power outage in terminal 8. american airlines says it is affecting escalators, elevators and bag screening. lights are on in the terminal and the jet bridges are working. four fires considered suspicious tonight in new jersey. these are the flames from one of the fires in mahwah. pallets outside of a post office

it could have been deliberately set. >> there's a lot of people in close proximity, no reason for that fire to have started without it being ignited. >> the other three suspicious fires, all of them brush fires, and all of them flames were put out quickly and nobody was hurt. new york city taking action in the fight against the zika virus. mayor de blasio says thousands of pregnant women have been tested for zika with 49 testing positive. none contracted the virus here. he's asked congres emergency funding. eyewitness news reporter lucy yang is live in hamilton heights where the city is spraying pesticides to fight mosquitos. >> i'm in riverside park, and this area will be sprayed with pesticides starting tomorrow night. new york city officials determined not to let the zika virus become a local epidemic. >> i'm already pregnant dealing with enough stuff, to worry about this too is too much.

with her first child. she recently canceled a cruise to the caribbean because a vacation was not worth the risk of possibly getting zika, not worth the risk of permanent crippling brain damage to her precious baby. >> i'd rather lose all that money than risk my baby, something happening to her. >> reporter: as new yorkers take personal precautions, the mayor and other officials today announced a new round of spraying for new york city. for the fifth time this year the next round of spraying to be done wednesday night in to thursday morning in manhattan and queens. >> by tracking mosquitos we are able to figure out where we should place our traps and where we should spray. last night our team sprayed over 5,000 acres in the bronx. >> reporter: the health commissioner confirms 483 cases of zika virus in new york city. 49 of them, pregnant women. we're told all those patients got sick while traveling.

here carrying the virus. but officials are not taking any chances. the mayor now pressing the federal government to commit heavy funding to fight what he calls a national health crisis. >> we need the federal government to act now and pass the authorization for $1.9 billion in funding for actions against zika. >> right now the city has a budget of $21 million to fight zika. no doubt they're anxious to add information on the pesticide schedule and the exact locations where they will be spraying, you can go to our website at abc7ny. for now we're live in hamilton heights tonight, lucy yang for channel 7 eyewitness news. ex-new england patriot aaron hernandez back in court today for a hearing in to the double murder case against him. the judge set a february trial date for hernandez. he's already serving a life sentence for killing another man

murder led police to charge hernandez for the murders of two men outside a boston nightclub in 2012. a giant panda surprise in austria. officials announced yang yang gave birth to a cub at sienna zoo last week. then a day later they discovered there was another cub. she had twins. when they saw yang yang cradling two babies, that's when they realized. you can see the two little babies on the camera there. panda was just 4 inches long and the other was about 3.5 ounces. so just very precious. >> so sweet. >> you know all about this. >> as far as i know, we don't have twins. [ laughter ] i don't know i guess. >> but jordan slept will last night. >> he did, yeah. get us up to speed with the weather. >> we're watching storms over eastern pennsylvania. they have a history of producing wind damage near harrisburg. we'll have to watch them as they

new jersey during the next few hours. we have one downpour that developed right over new york city, right over manhattan, and caused about .02 of an inch of rain in a short time. temperature right now, 81. if anything, that downpour increased our humidity. now up to 85% so it's pretty oppressive out there. the high on the day getting up to 87 after a morning low of 78. average high, 83. so we were still above that. not quite continuing the heat wave though. 96 the record in the sun any thunderstorm during the evening hours could be locally severe. with such a moisture laden air mass in place, the threats are flooding downpours and potential for damaging wind. especially west of new york city. it does become a little bit less humid in to the day tomorrow. dew points with ildrop even though it's pretty hot out there it's going to feel a whole lot better than today. right now 81 in the city. rain cooled degrees. but you're still near 90 in

lower 80s on the island. you add in the humidity and this is what it feels like. it feels like 100 degrees in morristown, new jersey. severe thunderstorm watch in effect for the morristown area and points west. also that heat advisory, because we still do have the heat index values between 95 and 100 in spots for the five boroughs in new york city and points south and west through 10:00 this evening. here's the radar picture. the big line of storms off to our west, a couple of renegade showers developed ahead of that, bronx, lower westchester county, approaching greenwich and stanford, connecticut a little light sprinkle there. those have tended to weaken. these are not weakening over eastern pennsylvania. approaching allentown right now. this one has a bow shaped signature on it which indicates the potential for strong damaging winds. in fact these do have a history of producing some wind damage. each of these little symbols here indicates wind damage,

p.m., just approaching, just moving in to the delaware water gap by 7:00, much of western new jersey being affected by these storms. there could be one or two cells that develops ahead of the main line. i think the line of severe storms would tend to weaken as it moves in to new york city. best shot of getting severe storms would be west of the city. 76 overnight tonight. back up to 87 during the day tomorrow. lower humidity. so one or two strong storms in the area this evening. down to about 7 little less humid. tomorrow sun and clouds. 87. partly cloudy tomorrow night. we're down to about 74. we'll continue to track these storms coming up at 5:30 and also on thursday. might not be a completely dry day. then we're timing the front for next week. behind that front is much lower humidity and much more comfortable air mass on the way. we'll see you next half hour. new at 5:00, a man in a wheelchair severely injured in new jersey when someone hit him and just drove off. tonight the big break in the

park rangers will be on patrol in one town on long island. >> caught on camera, a man leaves his car running when he stops to get his mail with dangerous results. dangerous results. ? ? ? isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go. now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can. i'm only in my 60's. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses,

you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. at accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. no way, that's jacob degrom. let's get his autograph. jacob...

jacob and i could be identical twins. i don't think so. well, maybe just related, haha. no way. well we both throw a heck of a fast ball! not just anyone can be a major league pitcher like jacob degrom. but anyone could save money with geico. geico, proud partner of the new york mets. investigators are working to figure out who fired an off duty police officer's weapon during an attempted robbery in brooklyn. the off duty officer and his cousin had just left a bar in

were approached by two suspects. one of them had a gun. during the robbery the officer's weapon was fired apparently in self-defense. one of the suspects was hit in the leg. he was taken in to custody at the hospital. the other suspect ran off. authorities in new jersey are trying to identify two men killed in a house fire on the jersey shore along with their dog. firefighters from belmar and two other towns responded to the 14th street area in belmar just after 5:00 last night. kept them from getting inside and saving the victims. officials say the extreme heat also kept them reigniting the flames. >> you can see the intensity of this fire, the fact it didn't spread, we were lucky. really because of the skill of the firefighters. they were here under very difficult challenging conditions given the weather. >> the mayor says the victims were year-round residents. an autopsy will determine the cause of death. arson investigators don't think

fire in a building on manhattan's upper east side is under investigation tonight. newscopter7 was overhead as firefighters searched the building on lexington avenue near 63rd street. that fire started about 1:00 this afternoon. it was quickly brought under control and no one there was hurt. an eyewitness news exclusive, a family member of a boater found dead off the coast of long island speaks out. what he believes really happened. >> devastating floods in louisiana claiming another life coming up next, new information about the state of emergency there tonight. >> and religious statues go missing from front yards in one new jersey town. hello! it's our new intern, bart's first week here at td bank, he's a robot from one of those other banks. we're training him to bank human. i am banking assistance & registration technology. wait, wait, wait. but you can call me, banking assistance & registration technology. hi amy.

that's ok bart, it is here. at td bank we do things differently, like having the longest hours of any bank. don't just bank.

we're back and we continue

outage inside terminal 8. american airlines, the main carrier in that terminal, says it's affecting escalators, elevators, and checked baggage screening. right now there are flight delays but they also say it's due to the weather. an eyewitness news exclusive. a boater found dead off the coast of long island. tonight a family member says he believes it wasn't an accident. andrew weis left from gilgo beach on saturday and never made it to his destination. later found badly damaged, possibly hit by another vessel. we first broke this story with a push alert on our news app. kristin thorne is in huntington with the exclusive story. >> andrew weis lived here on the north shore of long island. he has relatives in the huntington area. they tell us weis grew up on the water. he knew everything about it. they absolutely believe that foul play was involved in his

by another vessel. absolutely convinced. >> reporter: it's not just bud clarke. police say they also believe someone may have hit andrew weis' boat. >> there are hundreds of thousands of eyeballs out there. my objective is to say someone had to have seen something happening. >> reporter: it was early saturday evening when the 48-year-old father of three small children set out from gilgo beach in to the great destination. his severely damaged boat washed up in lindenhurst sunday morning. his body was recovered yesterday from copiague harbor. his relative says the whole thing doesn't make sense. he was an experienced swimmer. >> when i say experienced, i'm talking 40 years experienced. not 40 days, 40 months. 40 years experienced. >> reporter: clarke says weis

distress situation, which makes him think weis was knocked unconscious by another vessel. >> somebody, i know, don't think, i know, either did it and is not saying something, saw it and is protecting the person who did it, or maybe isn't sure it's something they should do because they don't want to get involved. >> suffolk police say they have impounded weis' boat and they're right now and they say they're still trying to figure out what exactly happened out there on the water. weis' autopsy has not yet been finalized. kristin thorne, channel 7 eyewitness news. we want to go back to that breaking news at jfk, as we've been telling you a partial power outage at terminal 8. jim dolan has just arrived on the scene at the airport. jim, what's it like? >> it's getting a little crowded

mostly to weather and not this low power such that they're experiencing inside terminal 8. terminal 8 owned entirely by american airlines. let's go to video that was shot just a short while ago. the power shortage, low power situation is affecting baggage screening and escalators. the baggage carousels and computers and restaurants, they're all operating at full power and the tsa says they have an alternative screening method in place but it is taking some time. are long delays but again, american airlines says those delays are due to weather, and they say, for example, newark airport is experiencing long delays as well. american airlines is not the only airline that operates outside of terminal 8. berlin air operates out of there, qatar air, and a few others. but it's mostly american airlines and they're experiencing now as long as two-hour delays. american airlines is suggesting you give more time to get to the

get through the screening process here. could be a long night here but again, they are saying right now the current delays are because of weather and not because of baggage screening. reporting live from jfk airport, jim dolan, channel 7 eyewitness news. now at 5:00, louisiana's flood of 2016 is leaving a huge swath of devastation in some areas rivaling the damage done by hurricane katrina at the very least bringing back a lot memories. >> 10 people dead, 40,000 homes and businesses flooded. and the waters from this 1,000-year flood event have yet to recede. rob marciano touring damaged areas outside baton rouge today and he joins us live from denim springs. rob, what all did you see today? >> we're seeing the waters recede and what it's revealing really is surreal disturbing, devastating all at the same

at one point during the height of the flood, water would have been up and over my shoulders. raging down here like a river, there's one vehicle there tossed. another one, a full-sized pickup truck toppled and submerged. there are hundreds of cars like this that have been tossed around and abandoned during the height of the flood and they're littering the landscape. all those people now beginning to go back to their homes at least in this part of louisiana and see what's left and that's for sure. >> it is a sad scene. i was just going to ask you about that. i understand 80% of the homes in the baton rouge area alone may be destroyed. that's a lot of homes. a lot of people impacted. what's the long-term shelter plan for victims? any idea? >> to say destroyed is probably a bit of an over statement by the sheriff. certainly impact, certainly first floor belongings and first

destroyed. but for most of those homes, people are able to go back in and start the cleaning and rebuilding process. but a lot of people now are spending time with friends and family. but so overwhelmed are even those homes. people have to some of the shelters. communities around here have several shelters as well. fema now on the scene. they're treating this as they should, as likely the worst natural disaster since superstorman >> certainly bringing back a lot of memories, i'm sure, about katrina that hit that area so many years ago. thank you, rob marciano for joining us live this evening. appreciate it. >> you bet. governor cuomo's office is being criticized for mishandling $22 million in federal funding meant to promote tourism in the wake of superstorm sandy. an audit finds state officials failed

spent effectively. the funds were earmarked for areas impacted not only by sandy but by hurricane irene and tropical storm lee as well. just in time for the start of the school year, a thousand backpacks are being handed out to students in new jersey. members of the jewish federation of northern new jersey filled the backpacks with school supplies today. they'll be distributed to elementary students from low income households. students in schools in teaneck, hackensack, paramus and other commun receive the backpacks. armed rangers inside a park on long island. the drastic measure one town is taking to try to stop an uptick in violent crime. >> we're watching a line of severe thunderstorms over eastern parts of pennsylvania. warnings getting awfully close to the new jersey border.

effect for central and western new jersey through 11:00 this evening. this line really means business as it moves to the east along i-78 and i-80. be careful out there.

keep an eye out this labor day weekend. re island will be shocked to see armed park rangers on patrol. they've hired six rangers to patrol the area's beaches, towns and parks. as of now, two will patrol at night on the weekends. they'll also focus on huntington station where there's been a rash of shootings and gang violence. a spokesperson for the town says if successful, they will expand to week night patrols. >> we've been successful in other towns in long island.

give it a try. >> the added patrols are expected to begin within the next 10 days to two weeks. a rash of statue thefts have police wondering if it's the work of the same person. it's the 24th item stolen from a homeowner's yard since the beginning of the year. police are monitoring to see if any of the items pop up for sale online. some of the religious statues could be worth a couple hundre don't know if it's somebody that are just kids doing this or maybe who hates the blessed mother and is going around trying to destroy them. >> police are stepping up patrols in the area to prevent any further thefts. a driver who slammed in to bus was caught on camera in oklahoma, making his getaway. dashcam video shows the bus driver attempting to avoid impact with a car that ran a red

it, sending passengers flying out of their seats. it stops on the sidewalk inches from a pole. the driver of the car gets out and hobbles away from the scene. five people were hurt. you'll want to see this. a man on long island gets fired and loses his temper. opening fire and damaging the business. tonight we're going to hear from former colleagues about this terrifying incident. >> and retail shops are back open at the world trade center for the first time since 9/11.

??? across new york state, from long island to buffalo, from rochester to the hudson valley, from albany to utica, creative business incentives, infrastructure investment, university partnerships,

my and the right environment in new york state for business to thrive. let us help grow your company's tomorrow- today at business.ny.gov my son has meningitis b. but how did we end up here? his mom thought he had the flu and that he was covered by the meningococcal meningitis vaccine he had received. until 2014 there were no vaccines for meningitis b in the u.s. now there are. while uncommon, meningitis b can lead to death within 24 hours. trumenba is a vaccine for 10 through 25 year olds to help prevent group b meningococcal disease. trumenba should not be given if you had a severe allergic reaction after a previous dose. most common side effects were injection-site pain, fatigue... headache, muscle pain, and chills. ask your doctor or pharmacist about all the risks and benefits of trumenba and tell them if you've received any other meningitis b vaccines.

drink... a spoon... a kiss. it all started here... it might have been prevented with trumenba. ask your doctor or pharmacist about trumenba. for the first time in nearly 15 years, stores have reopened at the world trade center. the mall is inside the transportation hub known as the oculus. the grand opening today included a celebration inside the hub and big crowds taking in the new sights. lauren glassberg was there for

in lower manhattan. lauren. >> hey sade, i want to sort of set up the scale of the number of people down here. a quarter of a million people work here. 60,000 people live down here and you factor in tourists. by the way, i think everyone in the group is here inside the oculus right now. that's why westfield is spending more than a billion dollars on this site because it believes people will come and spend their money at the world trade center. outside the oculus while inside commerce came to life. >> welcome to westfield world trade center, the new new york place to be. >> reporter: 350,000 square feet of sun drenched retail space with room in the center of it all for performances. today there were many, including one of the stars of hamilton, leslie odom, jr. westfield, which runs shopping malls all over the country actually took

center right before 9/11. 15 years later the company is operating a whole new facility. 100 shops and eateries. about 60 of them open today. keel's was one of the first to sign on. >> with everything that happened here on september 11th, i'm super proud we have a store here. i think it's important we rebuild new york, continue to support this area in particular. >> reporter: for those who work and live in the area, it's certainly convenient. >> we didn't realize it was so close to being open. >> any stores you're excited about? >> the apple store. that's my favorite. >> lots of options. more high end than we need again but there's also good regular priced things in a good variety. winter, raining, excessively hot day like today, then you have a place to go. >> i think it's going to be a great stop. >> reporter: rachel lost her husband and brother-in-law in

families attended the opening. >> it's touching they still think about us. it's been 15 years. i think it's a good thing. >> reporter: a mall housed in a striking architectural shell alongside hallowed ground. >> i think they do strike a nice balance. it doesn't feel to mall-y, but i like it. >> as part of today's opening festivities, there have been hourly performances. those performances with john legend who's going to be taking the stage down here at 6:00. if you'd like to go on a tour of all the shops and what's to see of the oculus, you can do so by joining me on my facebook page. i've got an 18-minute tour. we pick over the entire place so you can check it out there if you can't come in person. for now we're live at the world trade center, lauren glassberg, channel 7 eyewitness news.

feed. thanks. it looks great though, doesn't it? >> it looks really cool. getting a tour now of the weather. accuweather forecast for jeff smith in for lee goldberg. >> with this heat advisory in effect, an air conditioned mall the place to be. we have one downpour pop up over midtown manhattan, move northeast over parts of the bronx and dropped our temperature by about 6 degrees but the humidity came up equally as much. mostly sunny skies out there right now. we're watching eastern parts of pennsylvania. those will be approaching new jersey. 87 in the park. we broke our heat wave streak but you continued it on a strong note. newark getting up to 93 early this afternoon. if you're headed over to yankee stadium at 7:05 as the blue jays face the yankees, could be a shower or thunderstorm at some point during the game. i'm sure the tarps will be on

the humidity and the heat index values are pretty high. upwards of 100 in morristown. 106 at toms river. still dangerously hot in a few locations. we're watching storm locations not too far from allentown. these may be extended east to hunterdon. a severe thunderstorm watch in effect through 11 p.m. for most of central and western new jersey. meaning the atmosphere is ripe for the development of the storms. also a heat advisory i and points south and west right through 10 p.m. here's the radar picture. in one good sign i've seen, these storms that were moving through allentown, weakening just a touch as they head toward the delaware water gap. not producing quite as much lightning but we'll be watching them as they try to reintensify. these storms look pretty nasty. these will head toward pike county, pennsylvania and parts of sussex county. 50 miles per hour at redding regional airport in pennsylvania.

winds that could cause downed trees and power lines. by 7 p.m., the storms moving in to the i-287 corridor, weakening toward new york city. the best shot at getting strong damaging winds and very downpours is probably west of new york city during the evening hours. lower humidity in to tomorrow. air quality is going to be in to the good side wednesday. uv index is a 9. pollen moderate to high. one or two strong thunderstorms in the area this evening. especially west of the city. we're down to 76. tomorrow. sun and clouds. it will feel a whole lot better than today. we're down to 74. there's an outside chance of getting a shower or thunderstorm during the day thursday. not enough to post officially here in the 7-day forecast. much of the area stays dry. 88. hot on friday. 90. the humid really makes a return over the weekend for saturday and sunday. might be a thunderstorm in better chance sunday night in to monday.

during the day. actually getting down in to the 60s at night even here in new york city. >> not sweltering. pleasant. >> nice word. good ring to it. [ laughter ] shots fired inside a local auto shop. >> police say when a man was fired, he started shooting. coming up next, we'll hear from some of the people inside that building when the violence

i know you! [laughs] welcome! hi! we're your neighbors. we live across the street. thanks for this. i see you've got time warner cable like the rest of the hood. genius. yeah, they offer tons of free hd channels. and you can record six shows at the same time. and with the super fast internet, entertainment nirvana! wow. nirvana. switch to time warner cable for $89.99 per month, you'll get free hd channels, 100 meg internet with no data cap, call now. looks like you're all hooked up. game's about to start. let's do it. we're watching here? oh yeah. ohh. how about you and i go watch my favorite show? switching is easy. you'll get our exclusive one-hour arrival window, a money-back guarantee, and there's no contract to sign. oh you've got the twc phone. it's unlimited calling to like half the world. including mexico, canada, india, european union. yeah. this will work as a coffee table. don't! ah! it says...fragile. get tv, internet and phone

ded. call now. [ grinding metal ] whoa, that doesn't look good. no, not you. ordinary fuels can clog your engine with dirt. it's like lugging this around- it's dragging down your fuel economy. but over time, using new and improved bp gasoline with invigorate helps clean up that dirt, like hundreds of scrubbing brushes. so that means a cleaner engine, which helps you get more miles per tank. i'll be here if you need me.

a scary situation on long island. police say a man lost his job th h and opened fire on employees. that suspect in custody tonight. employees say it could have been a whole lot worse. this happened in valley stream in nassau county. eyewitness reporter stacey sager has the story. >> he said i'm not playing. i'm not joking. then i hear bang, bang. >> reporter: with at least eight workers on monday, the rampage could have easily turned in to a workplace killing. 32-year-old christopher hicks

stream for only two weeks but his boss quickly realized he wasn't able to do the job. his coworkers also heard him grumbling to himself. >> just maybe a little crazy sometimes. >> reporter: but yesterday they stood here in disbelief after hicks was fired, he lobbed a muffler and a car battery in to a windshield. that was just the beginning. they say he came back with a gun. >> i looked around and there was and he say, you think playing? >> so you're looking right at him? >> i was looking right at him with the gun in his hand and he fired. >> reporter: the owner tells us the surveillance camera captured the moment hicks pulled the trigger. they caught up with him at his apartment building nearby and placed him under arrest. hicks was charged today with attempted assault, reckless assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and slapped with

t the garage say they can't believe the charge isn't attempted murder but they're counting their blessings tonight. >> because of god, that's why i'm here today in the land of the living. >> reporter: and wishing it never came to this. >> there's nothing wrong with the world. it's just the people in it. >> this guy clearly had some anger issues. >> yeah, i think so. >> reporter: in valley stream, i'm stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. texting and driving. just how dangerous is it? eyewitness news at 6:00 starts right now . she was murdered two weeks ago tonight in a jogging trail in queens. family and friends of karina vetrano gathering, still looking for answers while cops are

the execution style imam and his associate in queens faces a judge today but the mystery remains, why were they killed? good evening at 6:00. i'm bill ritter. liz is off tonight. we'll have more on those stories in a morning. we begin at kennedy airport. an american airlines terminal 8 for the second time couple of days making news tonight. this time a partial power outage that coupled with the weather, it isn't a pleasant traveling day. >> that's exactly right. that is the situation at the airport. it's not a power outage that affects everything inside terminal 8. it just affects some of the areas inside. but it is enough when you

video that was shot a short while ago. the power outage is affecting baggage screening. the escalators and elevators. but carousels and computers and restaurants are all working. they're all operating. the tsa has an alternative screening method in place for the baggage screening but that takes more time and of course that's the one thing that will slow down an airline and a flight the quickest. there are long delays here but to the weather and they point to newark airport which also has some long delays right now. they're experiencing delays as well. american airlines owns the terminal but there are other airlines that operate from inside. so the best thing to do is to check with your airline to make sure your flight is leaving on time or if there's a flight coming in that you're waiting for a passenger, just make sure you call that airline, make sure everything is all right and