benefits he's entitled to but nearly six years he's still waiting and time is running out. his case is not an is lated one. he can barely walk much less create anything. >> hi fingers are frozen. older. within months he lost 60 pounds and had two heart attacks. >> it's emotional because you have to see this person like this. >> he could be behind his

>> osha found it to be hazardous to human exposure. they used it to wash parts and everything. >> the chronic serious problems that he's having. he has taken a personal interest in the case. her son is in the military where nester is one of my clients battling the same issue in the law we say justice delayed is justice denied. this is ridiculous when someone files a claim and can't get a hearing for five years. >> there's medical evidence linking his condition to agent orange. he's confident he can prove it. the challenge is getting the va to listen. under u.s. code, if a vet is suffering a chronic condition

>> when i call they say everyone is trying to get an expedites hearing. >> they served their time but they are ignored at the end. that's how i feel. >> reporter: nester knows he may not live long enough to get his day in va court but maybe his story will inspire others to take action. >> i am happy to have one more day. they are urging people to call their u.s. senators to bring attention to the issue. we tried to reach the department of veteran affairs and have not heard back. marco rubio making a campaign stop in tampa. his rally at the convention center is just wrapping up. the florida senator and his campaign for president up against the ropes tonight. maricela joins us live tonight with that rally. what did he have to say?

he said was that it always comes down to florida and he referenced the primary in our state next week and he encouraged everyone to vote on tuesday. he's confident that he can win this state and also mentioned that he believes he has a lot of momentum after winning puerto rico's primary this weekend and taking all 23 delegates. the focus needs to be on the issues and not anything else -- not about the other candidates and also referenced the november election that is going to come down to florida. he says he's the best republican candidates that will beat the democratic nominee and the crowd chanted his name over and over again and he told me moments before the rally that he believes that he not only is the best candidates but not going to back down despite trump's persistence to do that. >> i will unite this party.

it will be deeply fractured if someone that 30% of the party doesn't like. >> reporter: two other points he wanted to make is he say he can't run to run against hillary clinton so he's foreshadowing the two winners of the party's nomination. he wanted to mention once and if he becomes the president, he says the first thing is appeal every one of president obama's un-constitutional executive orders. as for the other candidates, donald trump was at a rally in north carolina today. john kasich, hillary clinton and bernie sanders all in michigan. ted cruz spent part of his day at a rally in mississippi. hillary clinton will be here on thursday. she will hold a public get out and vote event at the rit z.

for more information go to our website at abc action news.com. hulk hogan on the stand talking about his fall from fame after his tex tape went pubic. he's suing the website gawker from releasing that tape online. after listening to his three and a half hour testimony carson is with us live. >> reporter: he was on the stand for quite some time talking about the sex tape and public humiliation that went along with it. his attorneys say that gawker, the online website posted it for profit and power. hogan is suing that website, gawker and it's founder nick million. he told jurors about the day he

>> you're not filming this are you? he just slashed into me. he says what the hell is wrong with you? i'm your f'ing best friend. jurors have to decide whether or not gawker violated his right to privacy. live in saint pete, i'm carson chambers, abc action news. an update on florida's law. prosecutors have to give defendants notice when seeking the death penalty and a member of ten-year jurors have to support the death penalty recommendation. florida ruled the process un-constitutional.

of folks took an extra day off including tv's dennis phillips although he does have an excuse. he has the flu. so i'm here with your forecast that's fantastic as we continue through a great weekend and what's shaping up as a nice monday. clouds coming from the west and an easterly component as well bringing the temperatures up towards 80 degrees. 77 in tampa but closer to the coast cooler. 67 in palm harbor and 70 in largo and apollo beach 73. beaches were packed today. reports in from saint petersburg beach were absolute swamped. we had a lovely day and will have another one tomorrow. down to 65 by 11:00 and your

more warmth tomorrow and we'll look at the action weather forecast and let you know how long the nice stretch of weather will continue coming up in ten minutes. thank you bill. lake park remains closed almost five months after a sink hole opened up there. officials shut the park down because they were concerned the hole might get bigger. many groups rely on the park are now concerned about how long it's taking to fix the problem. problem. [ inaudible ] . >> reporter: brittney loves horses when she moved to tampa bay she chose the farm because it was next door to trails to ride on. riders are not too happy the

three months. >> it's been a real donor. so disappointing. >> reporter: a sink hole opened in october and the section of the road around it was closed off. then in december because of concerns the 90-foot deep hole might be growing the county closed the entire park we need to make sure it's safe as it can be. the fact the park is still closed has a lot of people scratching their heads it's sad because they have so many groups that use that place. >> reporter: groups like tampa bmx which had to cancel a ton of races and the archer ri group which just scrapped a national tournament that brings in 400 people and raises $5,000. >> we receive telephone calls asking us why and what's going on. obviously we don't have the answers. >> reporter: the county says after engineers studied the original hole they learned the surrounding area was a hot bed

and a full survey of lake park hasn't been done in 40 years. they decided to spend 20 thousand dollars to study the whole thing. >> we want to make sure the park is safe. >> reporter: the engineers' report is due this week. there's no time frame on when the repairs will be done leaving group suffering losses to look at other places to hold their events. the hillsborough county sheriff's office believes one man is responsible for multiple car burglaries last week. this is one of three people actually say committed these crimes. we'll show you the picture if we

he was wearing a sweat shirt with navy on it. the sarasota county sheriff's office finding the station at a 7 7-9/11 -- -- seven 9/11. a new york teen is using social media to find his father. he knows his name and the rock concert where his father met his mother. we'll tell you coming up. plus this. hey, abandon coast guard.

>> sinking 52 miles out to sea. how two fishermen survived after their boat sank to the bottom of the gulf. from the top of the main sail beach in, looking out from the gulf of mexico great shot as we're inching close to a spectacular sunset. a look ahead through the work week or maybe it's your week

let's take a closer look at this picture. his mom met his biological dad in syracuse, new york in 1986. it was the k rock athan. he knows his dad's name is jason from syracuse but not much more than that. the picture has been shared tens

has not found his dad. if you want to take a look at this and share it while you're there it's on our facebook page. you see behind me two fishermen from saint pete who were rescued when their boat sank 55 miles out to sea. >> he's going going under. >> the two fishermen escaped just as the boat sank into the life raft. they used a flair to signal the location. the government just released its list of the most common consumer complaints. >> reporter: jackie has the list plus where to turn for help. >> reporter: for the first time in 50 years debt collection

imposter scams rank third. number one, 9,000 people complained about debt collector calls on cell phones. identity theft complaints spiked 47% between 14 and 15. that included a massive jump in tax fraud complaints that victims can go to identity theft.gov and they assist victims in a recovery plan. another 53 thousand people were reported in 2015. that's when the bad guys impersonate someone else. we have posted links to these resources at the top of my page and you will see it under resources. what a beautiful day out on

i just didn't want to come to work. but i'm here anyway. a lot of people at home probably feel the same way. >> coming up next week we have march madness and people going to work. >> yes, low productivity. >> that's what happens during this time of year especially with beautiful scenes like this. loads of people at the beaches up through pel pel counties. we have enjoyed beautiful weather and loedz of sunshine. a marvelous monday should be a terrific tuesday as well. no rain for a while. pretty dry weekend and looks like it will stay dry right through next weekend. i'll let you know about the rain coming up in a bit. we checkout side in tampa, 77 degrees. we got some clouds around, about

the dew point at 50. north west winds in clear wear shifting around with the sea breeze this afternoon. partly cloudy and 68 there as the sun starts to set. 74 in saint pete and a dew point of 55. pleasant conditions as we look at temperatures in the mid 70s right along the coast cooler because of the gulf water temperatures still in the mid 60s. 77 is the warmest reading in the state right now. most everybody else in the upper 60s to low 70s. we're seeing warm temperatures across the southeast as well. 73 for new orleans and 75 in jackson. even saint louis at 73. high pressure clears the skies and brought nice almost springtime weather for this latter part of winter. this high is why we're going to get the winds coming in out of the east throughout the evening

you can look at our future cast. this is the rpm model. no real rain for the next 48 hours. 58 as you kick back the covers first thing in the morning after the temperatures dip down through the 60s overnight. upper 70s at least and we could see readings pushing into the low 80s further inland. here's why the reading along the coast is lower. 66 degree water temperature. winds continue out of the east overnight and into tomorrow. moderate chop on the inland water ways. sun is up at 6:48. don't forget kids, those times will change later on after this weekend when we set our clocks forward. so yes, you lose an hour of sleep but gain an hour of daylight in the afternoon.

thanks for stopping by. the coach used to sport orange and blue when he coached the bears for nine seasons. three years later to today he's in the orange and navy but this time as a head coach at illinois. i introduced the former coach this afternoon in champagne, illinois and he had a few interesting comments. he said he will not pursue anymore nfl jobs and he wants to end his career in illinois. he said this about the buccaneers. >> you have been in the business as long as i have. we all end up where we belong. to me, we belong by me signing a six year contract saying where we think we should be. there's a coach going in the hall of fame this summer that

so you just take it and move on. not saying that in a bad life. that's just our profession. >> he's referring to tony dungy. a former player is calling it quits. logan announced he's retiring from tampa bay. he played in 7 probowls in his career. speaking of retirement, peyton manning made his official retirement this afternoon. he leaves as a five time mvp and the only quarterback in history to lead two teams to super bowl wins. he held back tears as he said good-bye to the game he loves. >> i love the game. you don't have to wonder if i will miss it. absolutely i will. it's something about 18 years. 18 is a good number.

finally, you knew when the lightning did create jobs, it opened a door to the organization. he lifted the suspension o of jonathan and reports on the

continuing coverage of today's top stories on our website.

we have several breaking stories this monday night. the race for the white house. michael bloomberg says he will not run because it may help donald trump win. trump, and his message for ted cruz. and hillary clinton, what she just asked of bernie sanders. and a major victory for erin andrews. the $55 million verdict. after suing her stalker and a major hotel. deadly storms tonight, powerful winds, flash floods, and lightning strikes.