why one age group of residents seems to have a target on their back. >> good evening, i'm keith jones. >> and i'm erin coleman. tonight the current mayor of allentown and the former mayor of reading indicted when ab alleged pay to play scheme faces more than 50 counts alleging he sold city contracts for $150,000 in campaign contributions. he spoke within the last half hour for the first time since the charges were filed. >> there's no doubt going to be many difficult days ahead, but i look forward to my day in court. the truth being told and the saga being over. >> they will soon face charges. >> we first learned that federal

authorities were looking into leadership in allentown and reading in july of 2015. that's when fbi agents raided both city halls. but just in the last two hours, the u.s. attorney painted a vivid picture of what those agents discovered. >> the mayor headlines the indictments facing charges for a pay to play chemo. prosecutors accuse him of selling contracts for street lights, cyber security ask city pools for $150,000 in campaign contributions. >> i have an opportunity to get work from a city like allentown. >> also indicted is former reading mayor von spencer for a pay to play scheme. >> he's accused of bribing the council president to e repeal an anticorruption statute. >> all of the alleged corruption in both of these indictments

does serious damage to the integrity of our systems. >> the mayor's indictment marks the third time southeastern pennsylvania politicians face federal charges. >> prosecutoring. >> the mayor finds himself indicted as he runs for reelection. he's previously resisted calls for his resignation. >> we looked into his campaign history starting back in 2011.

>> try and try again. senators voting tonight in the midst of a health care debate with no cob census in sight. a bill to repeal obamacare and e replace it later 235i8ed too. >> this unknown makes the process very difficult to understand and for some difficult to fight. the health care debate in washington today rolling on for hours.

with little either side can show for it. >> as long as they are committed to those two things giving rich people a lot of money and not have a process of hearings, we're going to fight against them. >> republicans made a promise. we made a promise to the american people to repeal it. >> the repile first replace later bill senator rand paul today failed. leaving ub known and a challenge back in philadelphia. >> the cuts to med are devastating. >> reporter: but will there be any in a final bill. he's been going back and forth to washington talking to lawmakers, but the debate senators are in right now is particularly vexing. >> hast harder with an unknown.

>> when you bring up arguments, people can say, wait a minute, that's not what we're talking about. >> in the next phase of things, we can see proposals from individual senators. one could come tomorrow. >> in the meantime, more than wub month after he was shot during a congressional baseball practice, congressman scalise is out of the hospital. a hospital statement says he's in good spirits. and is looking forward to his return to work. for now he's in an intensive in patient e rehabilitation program. 561 will be closed until 8:00 tonight because of this crash. take a look. a truck ran into a utility pole causing live wires to come cr h

crashing down just before noon. no word on the driver's condition to get around it police recommend the whitehorse pike. >> delaware, one of the most vulnerable areas here for possible floding because of all the rain that area has already seen. in university city today, much different picture. kids enjoying the cooler temperatures at 40th and walnut. meteorologist krystal klei is is tracking all of the changes that are coming our way. now is a good time to get the rain boots ready. >> dust them off if you haven't been using them. you see it's still cloudy. temperatures have been lower than average as well. 81 in philadelphia. the average is 87. not necessarily feeling like

summer conditions. especially with the 70s. mid-70s for the suburbs in new jersey. 78 in the lehigh valley. delaware at 9 degrees. as we go through the next several days, we keep those temperatures lower than average. so today we have been at 81. just a week ago, we were at 96 degrees. and this was a four-day or five-day heat wave. so take a look. tomorrow, 85. last week we were at 95. 81 for the forecast. last week we were at 93. and saturday same deal. last week it was 93. this week only 77. why so cool? part of the reason will be storms that turn into heavy periods of rain friday through saturday. here's the wide view for us now. it's cloud coverage, but ahead, we're track iing all of this. woer going to talk more about that first alert and time out when some of the heaviest rain moves through.

a child porn bust in bucks county. christopher mullen turned himself in to new britain township police. he's under investigation since february. mullen is charged with possession and distributing child pornography. a cat's cry for help saved a family from their falling home in west philadelphia. >> they said the cat can was acting woerd and that's what made her get up. when she walked in the hallway, that's when the house started falling. >> investigators are trying to figure out whatted this morning's collapse. the struggle to finalize the

budget continues. that's according to a partnership of a assessment of readiness for college and careers. they have been testing kids for e three years. since then 88,000 students have met or exceeded expectations in english language art. 70,000 more going above and beyond in math. for the first time, the philadelphia eagles are responding to a new study about the dangers of football. >> new at 5:00, now they are reacting to the report that links traumatic brain damage to the sport. and caught in the cross hairs, the investigators go inside a philadelphia neighborhood where kids told us they can get a gun faster than they can get a job. under the microscope, the congressional campaign, one of the most influential democrats, accused of paying off an opponent.

the serious allegations, next at 5:00. pro-tip: chop all your veggies for the week at once.

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a major change in military poli policy. the president announced today on twitter transgender men and women will no longer be allowed to serve in the u.s. military. president trump cited tremendous medical costs and disruption as the reason for the policy cha e

change. it's an about face from former candidate trump who called himself a friend of the lgbt community. the announcement caught lawmakers and many in the pentagon off guard. the white house couldn't explain how the change will be imlimited. >> it's a very difficult decision. it's not a a simple one. but the president feels that it's the best one for the military. >> i cannot imagine making military and national security policy by tweet. >> president trump's decision reverses a policy initially aprue d by the pentagon under former president obama. tonight strong reaction to president trump's move banning transgender people from serving in the military. nbc 10 talked with a transgender woman and several veterans in philadelphia. all of them disagree with the president's decision. >> to each their own. as long as they are not hurting or harming anyone, why let them serve? >> i believe that many of us have more heart than a lot of

heteropeople. they are willing to make sacrifices and put our faces in the front line for our country. >> june was denied enlist the to the military when she was 18 because of her transgender identity. now the resident believes president trump promoting hatred and discrimination. >> arizona senator john mccain issued a response to president trump's twoet saying, quote, the statement was unclear. the department of defense has already decide ded to allow transgender individuals to stay in the military and many are serving honorably today. analysis of this newly announced ban of transgendered individuals in the military continues on "nbc nightly news" with lest. john mccain will be honored here in philadelphia with the liberty had medal later this year. the national constitution center says there will be a small numb of tickets for the october

event. last year representative john lewis was honored. you can register for those tickets to the 29th annual liberty medal ceremony online starting august 15th. drawings will take place in september. philadelphia's office of emergency management has a new leader. mayor jim kenny was named as the head of the department. most recently serve d a as depuy director for operations. the relows of undertreated waste water continues to cause problems in the delaware bay. the department of natural resources is closing the bay for recreational shellfishing for the next 21 days. undertreated waste water was released earlier this month. it's expected to end october 14th. nbc 10 saw plenty of people enjoy iing temperatures in the 70s. this is suburban square. pretty comfortable night to grab a bite. >> ben franklin bridge in cam n camden, a calm evening.

changes are coming. a little later this week, krystal klei is joining us now. >> first alert has been issued for friday and saturday. you are particularly concerned about the risk of flooding. >> that's exactly right. it's one of the main focuses of our first alert because we have seen a lot of rain over the last several days. saturday, sunday, monday, now the ground is sach waited. we'll get to the first alert in a moment. we have some live video showing off the nice conditions. it's nice out there. temperatures not feeling too summer like. 81 in philadelphia. 7 in wilmington. perfect temperature roigt there. we do still have the cloudy conditions ask that's not going to away for several more days. here's the satellite view. that grayish color is the overlay and the clouds are rolling around. they are not going to move out. we'll keep with the cloudiness and the next system moves in and that's going to bring us the problems. temperatures tomorrow ahead of the system will warm just a

with. 86 in allentown. these numbers still a little lower than average for this time of year. long port at 78 degrees. newark at 83 for the forecast high temperature. let's talk about the first alert. so thursday itself looks cloudy but dry. then we get late into the night. all neighborhoods under a first alert. we're going to start seeing the moisture move in thursday night. and then really hit us friday through saturday. so we're looking at the possibility of severe storms to start. then it shifts to more of a heavy flooding event possible with rising rivers and creeks in the forecast. some creeks like morris river already at flood stage right now. so more rain added instantly dwoing to cause flash floding. this shows how much rain an area needs to start flash floding.

this ap wraps around philadelphia. new castle county has been totally saturated and even parts of upper chester and montgomery county as well. we can certainly see that much through your friday and saturday. >> you're lotalking about 2 to inches, it locks like it's quite possible. that's almost a sure bet. that's what it it's going to look like thursday morning. we have a couple showers perhaps later on during the afternoon. that occurs on friday. here come the showers and

thunderstorms. and some of this is on the heavy side. you can see the yellows and oranges and reds zipping through there friday night and into saturday morning. it is possible this rain lasts into saturday. so not that much rain through 7:00 a.m. be look at the amounts from this one computer model. there are some models showing more rain than this. look at this. dover at 6 plus inches of rain. you don't need 6 inches. just 2 is going to cause some flooding. so that's why we're pretty sure there is going to be some flooding.

now is the time to join the effort to support our schools we are helping teachers and students stock up on the supplies they need to kick off the school year right. tap to donate supplies or money. to this now, waking up to the sound of gunshots. that's the reality for a lot of people living in philadelphia. >> do you feel safe here? >> no, i don't. >> coming up, we take inside one neighborhood where some men don't live to see age 23.

new details about allegations involving long time congressman bob brady. federal prosecutors say brady's opponent in the 2012 congressional primary withdrew from the race after brady promised to pay him tens of thousands of dollars. george spencer has been digging into the allegations today. this all hinges on campaign finance records. >> records which a campaign aid she falsified. her guilty plea to federal charges was announced yesterday, but at this point, neither his political opponent nor the congressman himself are charged with any wrong doing. >> standing on the streets of the first congressional district, the long-time congressman can and party chairman bob brady.

but as the facebook page for his campaign states by march 1st of 2012 he had withdrawn his candidacy. federal parosecutors say he exited that race after they promised to pay candidate b that is jimmy moore, $90,000 from his campaign funds to repay candidate b's campaign debts. prosecutors say a moore campaign aid pleaded guilty to falsifying campaign reports to cover it up. >> those reports related to the fact that one individual who was running for congress paid off the campaign expenses of his opponent in order to get his opponent to exit the race. >> brady's attorney said the congressman did nothing wrong. we have been cooperating and will continue to do so. a source close to the congressman insists the payment was completely legitimate and standard in politics. as the war campaign was failing,

the source says the campaign paid for exclusive rights to the voter research and polling data. essentially the legal purchase of a campaign asset. although the review of the spending records did not find polling worth $90,000. today the acting u.s. attorney was pressed on whether brady himself knew the money was being sent to his opponent. >> i'm not commenting on that. >> reporter: but there's evidence that they thought he might interfere with the work that there's a significant danger that candidate a would attempt to contact the cooperating witness in a corrupt attempt to influence his or her decision to enter guilty pleas. he says it is a mischaracterization of a conversation. they spent several hours troo iing to track down moore nor

comment but we never got to him. >> george spencer reporting for us here, thank you. it's the black mark on football that parents and players everywhere are talking about. >> tonight for the first time we hear from eagles coaches and players about a new report that it shows just how serious head injuries in football can be. the story is all new at 5:00. a lot of people don't even make it to get to see me. >> tonight a look at gun violence in a philadelphia neighborhood. the area has had the most shooting victims so far this year. the nbc 10 investigators dig deeper into this trend and how it shaped a 23-year-old man's life. and coming up new on nbc 10 news at 6:00, a husband's sacrifice to save his wife and a stranger. only nbc 10 takehouse to the trio's reunion after their life-changing swap.

gunshots ringing out, bullets flying, loud police sirens and the fear of getting shot and kill ed by walking to the store. neighborhoods riddled with gun voi lens. it's a reality for many in philadelphia. we're taking you inside what their lives really look like. >> all new at 5:00, the nbc 10 investigators introduce us to a young man caught in the cross

hair. the man's age group seems to have a target on it. >> reporter: he may have good reason to feel that way. >> people don't even get to my age. >> reporter: the 23-year-old lives in northwestly in the 22nd police district. no area has seen more shooting victims in 2017. in the first six months, 31 people under the age of 24 were shot. five of them dead. >> money, power and a respect thing. some people just want control. >> it's just moving forward and it's getting worse. >> abbi spent one year in the north philly neighborhood most affected by gun crime. her research points to a major problem. kids can get a gun quicker than they can get a job. >> they were just knew if they needed a gun, they just had to ask someone in their community and, poof, there would be a gun for them.

>> reporter: the poverty, high unemployment and struggling public schools contribute to gun violence. in the first half of 2017, philadelphia saw 587 shootings city wide. 223 involving people 24 or younger. young people account for one-third of the city's gun deaths. police statistics show most of the shootings involved black men. according to the last u.s. census, philadelphia is almost equally as white as it is black, but if you're black in philadelphia, you're twice as likely to be shot. >> we met the police captain in the north philly neighborhoods that see the most violence. he told us that the stats haven't changed since he's been a police officer. >> 18 to 25 seems to be the prime age to be someone that commits a crime, but also to be a victim of a crime.

>> once you got a record, they are not going to hire you anymore. you have to make some type of money. >> why do you think there's so. many shootings? >> what i can say is there's no mentoring going on. we have no mentors. >> he says he's trying to keep his life on the right path and be a good example in a neighborhood he says needs them. for the investigators, nbc 10 news. >> my experience here in our travel covering breaking news, we meet people like rodney richardson. e resilient and trying to make a difference. >> one of the things that stuck out, some people feel like it's easier to get a a gun than a job. unbelievable. >> all new at 6:00, our investigation digs into the number of shootings in philadelphia and later on on nbc

10 news at 11:00, we lock at the rising murder rate. and a change police made to solve more homicides. we have new information about the man swept away in brandy wine creek. e he jumped into the creek on monday afternoon and disappeared. his is holding out hope that he will be found live. >> now at 5:00, a philadelphia man suing an airline. he says his children were kidnapped on an airplane and taken to austria without his permission. he says he hasn't seen his two children in two years. he's suing german airline for violating company policy. e he says his children left newark airport with his ex-wife july 2015. he wasn't with them. the airline requires consent from the parent who is not traveling.

>> in lancaster county, police want to find the couple that took this puppy right in front of two children. the owner of the poodle says he was showing the dog. the dog is worth more than $1600. >> hundreds of people here in camden county and other locations across south jersey. they boarded buss to fight for the homeless. the group they tended a congressional e reception where they voiced concerns about federal cuts to critical programs fighting end to homelessness. >> we believe that the first step sto recovery for so many people is to put a rof over their head. we believe in what is referred to as the housing first model. >> 400 people from around the state took part in the trip.

300,000 drug disposal pouchs will be placed in pharmacies across the state. the bags contain chemicals that destroy the prescription drugs. extremely high bacteria levels have shut down 15 beaches. they are all closed. water quality advisories are effect for dozens of other beaches cape may counties. you can blame it on the recent heavy rains that cause pollution run off. a new lease on life for one lank horn woman. she always wanted to become a scuba dive instructor, but she didn't have the strength or the confidence to take the rigorous exam. after undergoing surgery, she lost more than 100 pounds, aced the test and is teaching others to dive. she thanked her surgeon by giving them a scuba. lesson. >> this is one of those feel

good areas of medicine we get to see people's loifs change and it's incredible to see these kind of things. and all props to her. she's a wonderful teacher. >> even with the surgery, she said her weight loss journey within the easy, but it was all worth it. >> could that be a winning ticket? the mega millions jackpot announced a $282 million jackpot. >> the first thing i would is help my church. then i would grow business so i didn't have to work as hard as i do now. >> the cash option for the jackpot is $174 million. that drawing is is on friday night. from crayons to ipads to

tablets, we need your help to support our schools. the classroom project you can help fund so kids can communicate in smaller groups. and an online bargain turns out to be a bust. when our viewer couldn't get her money back, she called harry hairston and nbc 10 responds. and a journey of hope for a kayaker. the reason heed a thousand miles and even dodged alligator. s on this trip.

from the time i was pregnant with him, had so much life and energy in him. he wanted out, and he wanted to conquer the world. right now, quinton's goal is to be a doctor. it's not easy being a single parent with three kids and having to provide for them. but my son will be an amazing doctor, and he'll help people that are less fortunate. no matter where you are in your college journey, sallie mae can help you find the money you need.

he kayaked 1,000 miles to rare awareness and money for charity that helped children. he paddled wiz way from tox florida. it took him one month and he definitely had a few challenges along the way. >> i actually got chased by an alligator for a little bit in louisiana. i ran over an alligator in louisiana. that was a little terrifying. >> his goal is to raise $6,000 for operation smiles. so far he's raised just over $2600. tonight your chance to help support our schools. take a look at this class right here. this is their bare face masks. i want to make it bigger for you. take a look at that. you could be the first to donate to this class of 22. they have things like crayons, pens, pencils, they need it all. in philadelphia i'm going to show you this one.

this issen an autistic learning support class that want to have two new ipads. ipads just like this one, a little show and tell here. it will allow students to access special programs and online resources. finally, the third example we give you today is teaching eisenburg elementary in delaware. she want. s a horseshoe shaped table and seats so her kids can meet in small groups. head down the shore this weekend to drop off the supplies in atlantic city. we'll be collecting pens, pencils and anything else you'd like to. saturday from k a.m. to 1:00 p.m. we have made this thing really simple for you to donate. log on to nbc10.com or the free app. click on supporting our schools. then choose the project you want to help fund. an online deal goes wrong.

our viewer says she tried for months to get a refund. that's when harry hairston and nbc 10 responds stepped in. and we issued a first alert for storms and the flood threat across the region. we'll talk about the timing of it and how your weekend is locking, coming up. plus sex workers on display in philadelphia. a look inside at their dangerous lives all new at 6:00.

he gets things done stevfor south jersey.o tell you don't believe him. because steve sweeney gets things done for himself, for the special interests who pay for his campaigns, and definitely for chris christie. but steve sweeney doesn't get things done for you. unless you count cutting education funding, raising the gas tax, and sending more of your tax dollars off to trenton instead of south jersey. if you're tired of typical politics, stop electing typical politicians like steve sweeney.

90% of brains have brain damage. that's according to a a new study. it sheds new light on the impact of multiple blows to the head during football. >> we spoke about the new report. what do they have to say? >> there's a lot of reaction to this. this is the largest hole of its kind done by a medical journal. the reaction from eagles legends tonight. >> it's a dangerous game.

you have to know what you're getting into. >> reporter: nfl players do know the risks. especially now with the discovery of cte. >> i had concussions like many other guys. >> if something happens later on in life, i'll deal with it. >> reporter: the nfl last year finally admitted a connection. they have pledged $100 million for research and they have changed rules to make the game safer. >> the more that e we know and the more that we implement safer practices, the safer these guys will be later on in life. >> the late kevin turner, the former eagles fullback, when he was dying with cte, he said he would not go back and change a thing. current eagles players, they

aren't leaving the game even. >> everybody puts on a helmet and have to weigh their own options. >> i think it's different steps you can do to protect yourself. >> put it in guy's hands and whatever happens happens. >> you have heard of one or two players this year retiring early because of this, but none of the eagles are. they love the game and they are assuming the risks. i'm john clark. we'll be back here at 6:20. >> see you then. while we're about football, there's nothing like a mother's love.

>> his mom was there to see him off. >> i also heard the justification that she needed to use the car too. but i like that former one. >> that's a good idea. what we see here is cloudy conditions. tomorrow will be cloudy conditions. if you look to the west, we have a big storm heading our direction. that it's why we have issued a first alert. we're going to see cloudy conditions. temperatures will be a little warmer at 85 in philadelphia. that is just a start of a period of very rainy weather.

so this is friday to saturday for severe storms to fire off. and then some heavy rain flooding concerns picking up through friday. friday night and even early saturday. anymore rain hits the ground doesn't absorb in. let's go neighborhood by neighborhood and break down the storm impact. we have burkes county putting us in a moderate threat for severe storms possible across the area. flash flooding, a possibility, but a little less likely than areas farther out subpoesouth. we go to the suburbs. a moderate to high threat for severe storms possible. this would be more spotty severe storms. flash flooding is a higher

potential because we're already seeing the saturated ground conditions. it doesn't take much, 1 to 2 inches in some parts of the suburbs for us to start seeing flash flooding to happen. philadelphia, delaware, south jersey at the highest threat level for severe storms and that flash flooding, which is likely in the zones. we say likely because these are the areas that have seen sop of the rain. it would not be difficult to see flooding ands rising quickly. look at the hour by hour forecast. we go through thursday evening. there's the spot thunderstorms into your friday. the rain spreading at lunchtime continuing heavy through the afternoon. and continuing heavy friday

night and even early saturday. we'll talk more about this coming up. we have all heard the saying when it's too good to be true it probably is. >> an online deal for cleaning services turns into a mess. when a customer couldn't get answers, harry hairston responds delivers. that's next at 5:00. a man goes under the knife to save a stranger's life how his actions saved his wife too. all new at 6:00.

a viewer says she found a great deal on livingsocial.com. >> when e she couldn't get what she paid for, she wanted her money back. when a refund was refused, she reached out. >> we went looking for this place. all she wanted was a a credit right back to her living social account. >> she and her husband downsized to this home in 2016. she found a voucher for a company. the cost is $96.99.

when she tried to use it, the voucher had expired. but living socials terms say vouchers may always be redeemed at the merchant who issued it for at least the amount you paid for it, even if the promotional value expired. she says no one answered the phone or returned her calls. so she contacted living social. >> they said we can't give you money back. >> reporter: living social instructed her to go to five hour cleanings office. >> there's no such place at that address. >> that's when outer bridge contacted nbc 10 responds. its name is not in the building

directory. and three security guards we spoke with say they never heard of the company. after we told living social we couldn't find any evidence the business exists at least at that address, it told us it would refund her $96.99. >> this is the living social page you went to. >> they had no idea her account was refunded until we asked her to check it during this interview. >> how do we do for you. >> you did wonderful. thank you. >> license or certification from any merchant. it's up to you to research any company you find on the site. >> great advice. >> money we got for folks. let's take a look at that. >> $726,389.

thank you. >> nbc 10 news at 6:00 is next. >> here is jim rosenfield and jacqueline london. >> still ahead, a new exhibit hopes to expose the plight of sex workers in mexico. >> we'll hear from the photographer who hopes her words will end a worldwide problem. >> we'll go lye to allentown where the mayor makes a public plea after his indictment on federal charges. and we issued a first alert. the time line that could affect some neighborhoods just before the weekend.

two public servants accused of making illegal deals. a a senator sounds off. targeting a minority in the military. right now at 6:00, cashing in for the public. >> two mayors indicted. leaders you trusted hear from one of the men accused of pay to play politics. >> i have done nothing wrong. >> good evening. i'm jim rosenfield. >> and i'm jacqueline london. within the past 90 minute, we have heard from the current

mayor of allentown about these allegations. >> nbc 10's randy gyllenhaal was there. he sound ed defiant. >> e he came out of his house here and said he would fight these charges after we learned that two mayors are facing two big federal indictments. the former mayor of reading declined to comment saying he's still looking over the paperwork, but the current mayor of allentown came out of his house a little bit ago saying he would fight these charge cans and say he will run for reelection. >> reporter: after fbi agents raided city hall in reading and allentown, authorities found evidence of public corruption. prosecutors allege the two mayors sold their offices to the highest bidder in allentown mayor ed pawlowski accused of taking bribes in exchange of giving city contracts. >> all of the alleged corruption in both indictments does serious damage to the integrity of our