>> the doors didn't open until an hour ago. we're taking action for you tonight, covering inside and outside the big gathering. we want to start our team coverage with michael pallusa inside the sun dome tonight. >> reporter: it is a packed house. expected capacity more than 10,000 people as we pan across the media stage towards where trump will be speaking in just an hour at 7:00 tonight. we talked to a lot of people here who say they want to hear trump talk about specifics this time around. it is getting packed in here, as you can see. let's show you some chopper aerials we shot just a short time ago. it is wrapped around the block. they are free tickets, it is first come, first serve. so if you don't get in time, and there aren't any seats available, you will be turned away. a lot more seats open, but pretty much just the nosebleeds at this point, where i'm looking right now in the middle

a lot of supporters we spoke to say they love trump because they say he wants to make america great. we talked to a woman a short time ago. >> get him elected and work with other americans and they get in there, and they don't do their job. it's time for something to go do a job who's not owned by special interests or corporations and mr. trump will do it. >> reporter: again, we have been talking to people in the crowd here. a lot of them talking about the rhetoric that donald trump has been saying in previous campaign rallies. what they would like to hear now are specifics. they want to hear specifics on attacks plan, immigration -- a tax plan, immigration, what he's going to do about isis. what if he doesn't give you specifics and he is the gop nominee, well, we're just going to have to trust him. we'll hear what he says in an hour. we're live at the usf sun dome. abc action news.

candidate causing critics to come out tonight. carson chambers is standing by live with the group protesting trump's appearance tonight. trump. >> reporter: we're actually outside the sun dome. this is actually where the line is going in. so we're kind of in between two different very different school of thoughts. we have folks coming into the rally here. these are folks who have tickets and they have been waiting in line for quite a long time, and then over here on my left, we have the protesters for democratic society, and others who are joining to protest donald trump in what they are calling a dump trump rally. so it's kind of an interesting little slice of democracy here that we're kind of caught in between. folks going into line here. a lot of people say they waited about an hour to get into the doors here, which they opened

it is now almost 6:02, so not a bad wait for folks, but definitely getting a taste of protesters as they come in the front door here at the sun dome. back to you. . >> interesting out there tonight. thank you, carson. we're learning more about the man killed by a wrong way driver. more than two dozen wrong way crashes in the bay area since 2008. new at six, abc action news reporter, jake peterson tells us the victim's family hopes more is done to deter wrong-way drivers. >> reporter: it's been less than a day, and mckenzie fisher feels a huge void. >> i just wish he was still with us. he was at my soccer game last night. >> reporter: early friday morning, her grandfather eugene fisher was going south on i- 275. simply headed to work. troopers say it was near the ashley exit when larry lorenzo thompson's vehicle smashed into

>> there's been an exit at the ashley exit. >> reporter: drivers in the area frantically trying to help while waiting for paramedics. cops were close by because troopers say thompson was spotted earlier near howard and 275 going the wrong way. almost hitting an fdot road ranger. >> i wish there was other safety things that we could have done to help him still be alive. >> reporter: fdot says they are trying. last year they installed 13 of these flashing signs, along the interstate. the exits next to ashley don't have the flashing signs. but all the ramps in this area are clearly marked with red signs that say wrong way. the impact is still too much for fisher's family. a tragic crash taking away a husband, veteran, and grandfather. >> he's not going to be here to see my sister graduate next year or see her when she goes to prom. i just wish there was some way

>> reporter: report in tampa, jake peterson, abc action news. >> thompson also died in that crash. highway patrol troopers say they're still trying to figure out why he was driving the wrong way. hillsborough county deputies on the hunt tonight for a thief who deputies say used a slight of hand to steal a nearly $700,000 rolex. the man in these surveillance pictures responded to an ad for a rolex watch. he swapped for a similar looking fake. if you know who the man is, please call the hillsborough county sheriff's office. we're learning a pinellas county deputy is off the job and under investigation, following a case of road rage. deputies telling us sheila langles pointed a gun at another officer while she was off duty. the incident happened over the weekend at the twin lakes harbor. she resigned on monday. a pinellas county man pled guilty to a federal hate crime. the justice department telling

calling two mosques, threatening to fire bomb the buildings and shoot everyone, including children in the head. he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. now, the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> good evening, everyone. titan doppler radar, we are rain free today. we were pretty much cloud free, starting off on the cool side, no one had to deal with frost first thing this morning. we warmed up beautifully, topped out in the lower 70s and we are still in the mid- to upper 60s across most of the area. a front is going to be rolling in later on tonight. the clouds will eventually bring not only cloud cover across our counties, but most of the interior counties, but a sprinkle or two. the thing is, most folks will miss it because it will be overnight by tomorrow morning. and cool off again. how low it will go. coming up.

impacting a lot of your children's education. >> the superintendent resigning possibly going to be fired. >> abc action news reporter, story. >> reporter: just moments ago i stepped out of the meeting are speaking out for and against superintendent katherine laroy. at this point it doesn't matter. she already submitted her letter of resignation, and then right off the top of the board meeting, board members unanimously approved it. now they move to the more tricky part, the settlement offer. before they get there, about 20, 25 members of the community are coming forward to let their voices be heard. this has been a very difficult time for the district. their leader on the hot seat in the wake of the whistle blower investigation brought by associate superintendent greg rivers. he accused her of harassment but she was cleared of the investigation, and moments ago, her secretary choked up as she talked about how she witnessed nothing but professionalism

>> regardless of what tonight's outcome may be, it is a privilege to say i am superintendent katherine laroy's executive assistant. thank you. >> reporter: once they finish up with the community members, they'll go to the board and they will discuss the settlement offer. laroy is seeking $230,000 from the board to essentially pack up and walk away from the district. a sticking point here. some of that is contractual. so it's automatic. one point of contention is probably the $30,000 in attorney fees that she's requesting at one point during this whistle blower investigation. she said she would pay on her own. now she's requesting to be reimbursed. you can stop the bleeding today, and move forward. we're live, ryan raiche abc action news. ryan, thank you. news tonight involving your children's health. the federal government saying it will launch a multi-agency

risks of certain artificial turfs, specifically those made from rubber. the epa says the consumer product safety commission, working on this. senator bill nelson sent president obama a letter asking for a federal study. research by the university of washington soccer coach found 153 reported cancer cases involving turf. a flight from st. petersburg, headed up to nebraska, forced to make an emergency landing in alabama because of an electrical odor in the cabin. take a look at the flight path. you can see it circle around in alabama. the flight left st. pete this morning after swapping that plane in birmingham arrived in omaha an hour ago. allegiant tells us passengers received a 100-dollar voucher for future flights. information tonight in the fight against the zika virus. the total number of confirmed

related. and launching a zika virus information hot line. bottom of your screen. operators will answer questions you might have about the virus efforts. still to come, credit skimmers busted. the stroke of luck that led to the capture, the long list of victims and the vital question needing to be answered tonight. a hospital under fire, they kicked out a woman who ended up dying in police custody, and now they're being punished by the state. how close the facility may be to getting shut down for good. dennis. today was certainly more like it. sunny, warm temperatures back in the 70s. but, yes, it all changes again tomorrow.

new developments tonight for a florida hospital at the center of a major controversy. state regulators citing calhoun liberty hospital with what they

deficiencies. facility made headlines when they kicked out barbara dawson for refusing to leave their emergency room. she collapsed in the hospital parking lot, and died from a blood clot in her lungs. that hospital is now being fined and if it does not fix the deficiencies by march 1st, it will be suspended from florida's medicaid problem. abc action news uncovering a scary case of credit skimming, two people busted with the personal information of 638 people. all new at six, abc action news reporter, clifton tells us about the unrelated case that blew this case wide open. >> reporter: doris thornton and greer are being held here at the hillsborough county jail, picked up yesterday by a state trooper on a run of the mill traffic stop. it was just before 2:00 p.m. on i-75 north of fletcher avenue. an fhp trooper pulled over a

state's move over law. inside, 35-year-old dermain greer and 34-year-old doris thornton. when the trooper approached the vehicle, they were both acting nervous. he decided to search the vehicle. inside he found 638 pieces of stolen personal information. there were two magnetic strip readers. >> every once in a while, i'll come home or they will be out there arguing. or he'll be on his phone talking away for hours. >> reporter: we went to both greer and thornton's home. they live 2 miles from each other. greer stays in this home in a quiet neighborhood. nick lives across the street, and is concerned what his neighbor may have done to people nearby. >> you come and check your mail and if the box is open a little bit, you think is someone going through my stuff. >> reporter: doris thornton lives in this large house on mcmullen road. when we approached, this young man started screaming at us to leave.

there to pick him up. neighbors say she was there about five years, and there were frequently deputies stopping by the home. it's not clear where the skimming devices were used or if they had been placed. those living nearby are full of concerns: >> it gets you thinking, you don't know what was going on. >> reporter: and it's going to cost a lot of money for either of these people to get out of jail. just do a little math, each one is facing 240 charges. each charge costing $2000 bond, do the math, multiply these two. that's $1,280,000 for them to get out of jail. i'm report live in hillsborough county, clifton french, abc action news. federal investigators are going back into the water in hopes of finding out more about a cargo ship wreck. the ntsb says it will try to locate the voyage data recorder. it sank on october 1st after sailing to the path of the

and no bodies have been recovered. the plan to search more than 13 miles of land under the atlantic will begin in april. it's expected to last two weeks. get ready to stream video and post on facebook from your phones faster than ever. at&t saying it will be ready to conduct field trials on the 5g network by the end of the year. it will deliver speeds 10 to 100 times faster than today's 4g speed. now, the most accurate action weather. for your valentine, you will weather. clifton's math skills. >> isn't that impressive. that's crazy. >> he's a smart guy. >> he's a look outside. a beautiful sunset across the area with temperatures right now in the 60s. you know, i admit it, we were kind of complaining a little

earlier this week, and we had windchills in the 30s. this is a look at windchills across the northeast on sunday morning. 25 to 35 below 0. yeah, they're going to see the coldest weather so far of the year. and we're going to be right on the fringe of this cold weather. sunday morning we're going to be back down in the lower 40s. this go around, it's going to stay well to the north. we're not going to have freeze warnings or windchill advisories. titan doppler radar is rain free right now, with temperatures beginning to cool off. how about this afternoon, this was more florida weather. that's why people visit us in the winter time because we're typically sunny and low 70s and that's exactly where we were today. 70 at the airport in tampa. 72 lakeland. st. pete stayed in the upper 60s. tampa to clear water, to st. petersburg, skies are clear, and we are remaining in the middle 60s. here's the satellite picture and nothing, i mean, what a beautiful day. you are hard pressed to find any cloud cover out there today.

over the last couple of months, just to be changing, just like that. well, it's going to happen again tonight, but i think you'll sleep through most of these changes. through this evening, into the overnight hours, all of a sudden, the front comes through. i mean, i cannot rule out a sprinkle, but i think at the very least, there will be more clouds between around 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. if you're up bright and early, you'll see some of these clouds, south of i-4. most of the area is already cleared out and the rest of saturday looks great. great weather for the santiago night parade on saturday night. great weather for the florida state fair. it's going to be cooling off saturday night into sunday, the cooler air back behind our front, and just sort of a piece of what's going on way up north. on sunday, more of an easterly flow tries to set up, maybe a few clouds on the east coast, and still a very nice day. temperatures still right back down again. we were in the low 70s today. with this cool front, usher ushering in temperatures in the

area on saturday. low 60s up north. mid- to upper 60s across the south. sunday morning, lower 40s. we're not looking for a freeze on sunday morning but it's going to be chilly, and then we have another front with a pretty good chance of rain later monday into tuesday. but the voters northerly wind up to 15 knots. it is going to be gusty tomorrow afternoon behind the front seas 2 to 4 feet, gulf temperature in the mid-50s. look at florida's most accurate 7-day. 67 on saturday. 66 on valentine's day. the rain chances pretty decent monday night into tuesday. at this point, i don't think we see severe weather out of this. just some rain. and then next week, actually behind the front, we're about where we should be. staying near 70 degrees. well, folks it all gets underway tonight for the tampa bay lightning, a four-game home stand for the boys beginning with nashville.

the playoff race is going. one more thing the bolts need explains. >> reporter: ryan callahan knows all too well about being the nhl trade deadline. after all, he was part of a administratey st. louie trade. >> when i got traded, that was a lot of talk around it. obviously i knew there was a chance that i was going to get to help, you know, you try to block. >> deadline deals have helped the bolts in recent years with the acquisitions last year, ryan callahan in 2014, and ben bishop in 2013. the lightnings play prior to the deadline has taken a hit. in the last three seasons, including john cooper's full season as head coach, the bolts have struggled in the weeks leading up to the deadline. >> no one in this room knew about that stuff before he mentioned it right now. but, you know, we have to make sure we change that.

little bit of truth to that. with the new coach, new staff, and everything going on. maybe that had a little bit of effect. i don't sit here and say that would have been the case last year, and i don't see that happening this year as well. >> reporter: there's good news to the lightning, in two of the last three years, the bolts have won 12 games in each of the two seasons after the trade deadline passes, as well as clinching a spot in the playoffs. >> we have seen to take a turn in march, and taken off from there. if there's a little correlation. maybe there's a little bit. nothing that i would sit here and say i have to watch out for that. >> reporter: report with the lightning, john sabol, abc action sports. and coming up tonight at eleven, i'm going to have tk's take on the situation which is now a full fledged distraction. that's tonight at 11:00. and nascar driver tony stewart says he's doing much better after his atv accident a week ago. stewart hopes to get back

vickers drives for him at daytona.

continuing coverage of the

>> and we'll see you right back here at eleven.

breaking news tonight. what donald trump just threatened to do. trump tonight saying he might sue ted cruz over being born in canada. and on the other side, bernie sanders is asked, is he standing in the way of history? the first woman president. how he answers. and a horrific machete attack at an american accident. and, temperatures not seen