ashley yore has the lessons learned. >> reporter: the day care now a scene of a crime. >> we have to fall in sight of the young man. there are vans sitting there and no one watching them. >> reporter: hillsborough deputies say this is where a 13- year-old slipped through an unlocked window and swiped the keys to this van, one of three owned by the nonprofit champions for children that runs the dimples play land child care on 12th avenue south. >> it was such a small window. i'm not sure that we took seriously the fact that a grown person could slip through it. now we know it wasn't a grown person. >> reporter: a few minutes' drive away, cell tech recorded this surveillance video. you can see the teen trying to get into the store. the owner watched the white van pull up on his security monitors from home, driving erratically. >> backing up, going in. backing up. going forward. i know it was a kid driving the van because there's no way that

>> reporter: you can see the boy get out and head around the back of the store. >> trying to go through to see if there's any way to get in. >> reporter: the owner and his brother chased the boy away. he ran back to the day care, stole another van and then crashed that one here at 78th street and madison. he tried to steal a bike a half mile away and then deputies caught him in a wooded area nearby. >> it's hard once they start fleeing because obviously the deputies and the officers involved don't want to create an accident. in louisiana, suspected tornadoes causing damage near new orleans and baton rouge. this picture showing damage at a gold's gym. sheriffs deputies spotted a tornado near livingston parish. there are no reports of any injuries but many people are now cleaning up from damage and remain without power.

threatening situation for folks in louisiana and mississippi. this is just an incredibly powerful tornado moving through now eastern louisiana, headed into mississippi. the red boxes there, those are tornado warnings. and we're looking at probably an ef-3 at this point. maybe even stronger. we will have to keep our eyes on that. now, how will that line impact our weather? for the time being, everything is quiet, with the exception of a couple of showersment but the tail end of that front is coming this way. when you have temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s, it destabilizes everything. overnight tonight and tomorrow the line rolls in. at this point it doesn't look like it will be anything close to what is going on up north. nevertheless there is a slight risk of severe weather. certainly something that we will have to keep our eyes on closely throughout the evening and in the overnight hours. we will update that forecast and extend it into the weekend coming up. >> thank you, denis.

to make good on one of his first campaign promises, closing guantanamo bay. some say it puts america's safety in jeopardy. clifton french is here to break down the plan for us. clifton, what is the military's plan right now. >> it's just business as usual right now. the commander of the base believes that the people are dangerous but he says they can be moved anywhere in the world safely. >> today the department is submitting to congress our plan for finally closing the facility at guantanamo once and for all. >> reporter: it's an announcement expected for 7 years. now a plan to close guantanamo bay. we were there earlier this month, touring the camps where the suspected terrorists have been held. a massive state of the art prison that costs hundreds of millions to build. this morning, the president broke down his plan into four elements. first, continuing to release the 35 detainees already cleared to be freed.

version of a parole hearing for 46 more. third, continue military commissions for those charged with crimes. and finally, the most controversial, bringing who is left to the u.s. >> we're going to work with congress to find a secure location in the united states to hold remaining detainees. >> once i get that legal order, we will execute it. >> reporter: that is admiral clark speaking to us about the future of the facility. he laid out sonars, including moving the prison to the u.s. which he said could be done safely. >> it won't change the types of military police and medical personnel provider services. it won't change the procedures we use for safe and secured detention. >> reporter: we know some released detainees have gone back to the terrorist fight. but the move could save money. today only 91 detainees remain, down from nearly 800.

serve as guards and caretakers. the budget for gitmo last year, $450 million. and the president says it could save $85 million per year by closing it. now, he wouldn't say where in the u.s. those detainees would be moved. he still needs congressional approval to get this done. there are already plenty of folks in congress opposing his plan. >> thank you, clifton. tonight republicans taking issue with the president's plan on the campaign trail. marco rubio says the britners at gitmo are the worst of the worst and should not be released to their own countries or be detained on. >> these are soldiers, terrorists of foreign terrorist organizations. many of whom once you release them join the fight against us. >> rubio says if he is president any terrorists captured alive will be held at gitmo.

democratic caucus in nevada, it's now the republicans' turn. donald trump is expected to win and he is firing back at the pope again. pope francis is calling the plan to build a wall on the u.s. border not christian. but trump is now comparing his proposal to vatican city. >> i've seen the vatican. that's the biggest stockest wall i've ever seen -- strongest wall i've ever seen. i've never seen a wall like that. in fact i want to use that as the model for the wall we want to build. >> some historians are attacking trump's comments saying the vatican walls were built to protect against pirates and don't enclose the entire city state. some are only marked with a line of paint. bernie sanders hopes the latest eastbound coursement

him with the african-american voters. spice lee is endorsing sanders. next democratic primary is saturday in south carolina. both hillary clinton and bernie sanders will speak to voters tonight at a town hall. their next head to head debate will be next month in flint, michigan. tampa police are searching for leads after two people were shot this morning. two people were taken to the hospital and expected to recover. police received a call about shots fired. if you have any information on this, you're asked to call tampa police. new developments in an early morning fire in tampa. we now know a cigarette started this fire on east sitka street. the woman who called 911 talking about what else she did to save the person inside. take a listen. >> the old lady in the back, i helped her, got her out of there. got the dogs out of there. i told her let's go. >> tonight we know four adults

the fire. one man suffered burns trying to put the fire out with a hose. he was taken to the hospital but expected to be okay. the home is a complete loss and the red cross is assisting the family tonight. police need your help to identify the man in these surveillance pictures. they believe he stole thousands of dollars worth of tools from sears. if you know who this guy is, you're asked to call crime stoppers right away. you could be eligible for a cash reward. jamison. >> governor rick scott is highlighting job opportunities in tampa. ashley furniture held a grand opening for the global retail and e-commerce offices. local and state government offered incentives to encourage the company to move into the movie theater. the center is bringing 200 jobs for families right here to the bay area.

ashley furniture to expand here, it's 200 families that their lives are dramatically different than they were before. >> we have job openings on abcactionnews.com/jobs and search for listings. >> just trying to be mindful of my pennies. area schools. tonight how something you need to get rid of anyway could provide much needed supplies for your child's classroom. a murder for hire plot or an audition for reality tv. the woman convicted of hiring a hit man to kill her husband gets a second chance to tell

>> right now at 5:00, a florida facing charges in a contract killing plot takes the stand in court. >> she is getting a retrial from the 2009 charges. today was a pretrial hearing. she pleaded not guilty on charges that she tried to hire

in court today dalia says an informant threatened to kill her husband if she didn't go through with it. now sheeters it was to appear on the tv show. >> he was feeling pressure and threaten i needed to continue doing everything. i said i didn't want to do this anymore. at that point he lifted his shirt and showed me his gun. >> the informant was a former lover who she claims forced her to speak to the hit man who was an undercover police officer. dalia claims she was acting. >> well, it's top of mind for any parent in school, budget cuts. one advocacy group found over the last five years, congress slashed education funds by 20%. a unique way that schools are getting much needed money into the classroom. >> reporter: a hands-on mom, so much so that she took a job as a school nurse so she could

her daughter's peanut allergy. she is keenly aware of a declining budget in the schools. >> i saw this advertised and i about. schoola.com, a website created francisco. the concept, simple. request a prepaid bag, donate used or gentle clothing and nearly 40% of everything sold goes back to your school. >> we have seen some of the money. we have received checks. >> no-brainer. i'm so grateful to be participating in this program. it really makes a difference. >> reporter: beverly smith, principal of lee elementary of technology says for schools like hers, the money goes a long way. need. she has used the school of cash for basic supplies like pencils. >> we try to protect our students from knowing that we what they want. we try to make do with what we have.

anticipate even more savings thanks to schoola. with 20,000 schools participating nationwide, there are lots of options on the website. and not just for children's clothes. women's too. most of the clothes, 70% off, less than retail. >> shop on a budget and get someone in washington, you know, to buy something that i have donated and i can get $2, $3, $4. every penny counts and it does go back into our school. >> now, i've already posted the link to my story on abcactionnews.com. it's going to take you to schoola.com. there you can either just join up or sign in. and what is really interesting, you can just enter your zip code to find out if your school is already taking part. by the way, your classroom wendy. >> thank you, serena. right now a new study shows that sea levels rose faster in the past century than the

humans cause climate change. that is the biggest factor. without it, the rise would have been half of what it was. well, storm system to our north right now will have an effect on us here. but they're really dealing with it right now. >> louisiana and mississippi are getting tornadoes they usually don't see. we're talking ef-3s. maybe even ef-4s. what is left is coming our way. despite how beautiful our beach is right now, it's a little windy with temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s. all of the instability with out there leads to the possibility of strong storms and maybe even a small tornado in our neck of the woods tomorrow. morning into the early afternoon. i'm not tremendously concerned about it but we need to keep our eyes on it. it's always a good idea, especially when the storms roll in overnight, even if you're a sound sleeper, it will wake you up. it's based on your location, whether it's your gps location

of warnings for your immediate area. if there's not a concern to you, it's just the county that you live in, you won't be awakened. that's a good thing becausor storms are usually small in this area. we don't see the widespread line of damage, nothing close to what is going on in louisiana. as i said, there are a few showers across polk county and highlands county. those are based on the fact that we're so warm today. enough instability and enough moisture with that wind coming in off of the gulf as well, pretty frontal i guess you could call it. a better chance of rain rolling in tomorrow as things get cranking first thing in the morning. temperatures anywhere in the upper 70s to lower 80s. you can wave these good-byes because in the next few days winter has decided it's not done with us yet. temperatures in the lower 60s for highs. in fact our afternoon highs will be colder than the morning

yes, the same roller coaster ride we have been on for two or three months. upper 70s to low 80s earlier today. still 78 in clearwater. 75 in tampa. those winds have been gusting all day long. tomorrow, they're going to continue as they will on thursday. the difference is they will be coming in out of the northwest. and that's going to be bringing in some noticeably colder air starting late tomorrow. and then continuing right on into the weekend. as i said, more of a southerly flow today. you see the showers develop across our southern counties. quickly moving through. no thunder or lightning with this. just quick-moving showers. and then things actually wind down over the next few hours. once we hit about 7:00, 8:00, everything is gone for the time being. the rest of this evening will be okay. still kind of breezy. but clouds will be thickening. by tomorrow morning, we look for some rain and some storms coming in. now, again, there is a slight chance we could see severe weather out of this. if that were the case, it would

should not be a widespread area. but these are the things that can low up rather quickly as they did the last go around when a front came through. we can't write this oven entirely. we will be tracking it all night. ivan will be here in the morning and shay will be here and i'll be here if needed. my gut tells me right now most of the action stays off to the north. then back behind it, we cool off. the winds start howling again. but this time from a different direction out of the north/northwest. when that happens, nine times out of ten, that brings us in colder air. that is what will happen with this go-around. you look at the latest european numbers. this is significant because if you remember last night, it was hinting at half an inch of rain. as is always the case in florida we can get an inch of rain like that, in 15, 20 minutes. i do believe this will not be the rain event that we have seen as of late.

in the upper 60s to low 70s, then the cool air and the cold air by our standards rolls in by thursday and sticks around for the weekend. the winds will be picking up. gayle warnings in effect off shore. the sunrise is 7:01. sunset at 6:26. a look at florida's most accurate 7-day forecast. the storms tomorrow morning are gone by the afternoon, late afternoon. and then thursday into the weekend, there are the changes. a lot of sunshine. very beautiful on the outside. just chilly, with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s come friday and saturday. and then by early next week, we're back to where we should be in the low to mid 70s. >> looks good. thanks, den. a recall that everyone with a sweet tooth will want to see. the chocolate you will want to avoid and the choking hazard already found in a piece of candy. plus phones, friends and music are common distractions

they're not the only ones. one thing distracting millions of drivers that you probably never thought about. >> pulled his own pants down and said he's going to have sex with him. a teenager with a history of sexual violence allowed back in school. how one mother says he was able

>> right now a new research shows distracted driving is responsible for nearly 90% of the most severe crashes. >> phones, passengers and radio is a major source of distraction. by a driver's emotions play a major role. researchers say emotional drivers, those that are clearly angry, sad or agitated are five times more likely to get into an accident than those chatting on their phone. ten times more likely than those not at all distracted behind the wheel. taking action for your health tonight. a recall we first told you

our free abc action news mobile app. mars has announced a recall in 55 countries in europe because a piece of plastic was found in a chocolate bar. that recall includes millions of mars, snickers and milky way bars produced in the netherlands. it does not include to the united states. it includes bars with best before dates between june and october of 2016. that candy should be thrown away. next at 5:30, fighting for safe sidewalks. a group of residents in the bay area have demands for hernando county leaders. a 10-year-old girl struggles after falling through the snow. the miracle that saved her life after her dad let go of her

>> live from the station taking action for you. this is abc action news. >> now at 5:30, spring hill residents fighting for a safe way to get around may have reason to celebrate. >> they made their chance against the red tape holding things up. i'm laura harris. >> and i'm jamison uhler. eric waxler shows us why the county says they can't afford it. >> a thousand feet, that's the distance from the senior living facility to a shopping plaza down the road. shouldn't be that hard to get to. try navigating this in a wheelchair. residents say they are forced into the street right here is that is always buzzy and risking their lives judge university to go to the store. cerebral palsy makes it difficult to speak for darlene but she has no trouble getting her point across. >> i want a sidewalk. are you kidding me?

>> reporter: she has been asking officials to put a sidewalk here for years. those living at vista grand can safely make it to nearby stores and doctor's offices. richard even showed up to express his frustration with commissioners dragging their feet. >> this is a simple project. it's not like we're building a nuclear submarine. we're putting in a sidewalk. >> reporter: there are plans for sidewalks on both sides of quality job. but that won't be done for at least two years. commissioners say there isn't money available now but they agreed today to look for cash to get this done. in the meantime residents continue to dodge cars just to run basic errands. >> we live across the street from the hospital but we don't want to use it because we got hit by a car. >> reporter: darlene continues to lead a fight she has been at since 2012.