we're dealing with, and nothing organized here. all we need is the ingredients and moisture. the hot temperatures, we'll certainly have that and the sea breeze because of the difference of the heating with the land and water here. so you can put those together and make some thunderstorms. we did yesterday. they really got going along 75. then it pushed towards the coast. it took them a while to get there so right through the early part of this morning around 2:00, 3:00 a.m. finally the rain stopped. 77 i we'll get back to 90 degrees through the middle part of the day. it'll feel like 1:00 like it's already in the upper 90s to 100 degrees. from 4:00 to 7:00 and beyond, that will be the range as they begin to build the showers and storms and push through. we'll watch that through later on today. it is 6:00, friday, and here is the commute. >> so far so good. most of the roads are dry. although, when i left, i did run toa few wet roads.

wheel of our live drive cam. he's on the courtney campbell causeway. no crashes and looking great right now across all three bridges. the courtney campbell is less than ten across the other two bridges. we are following one crash around st. pete beach, gulf boulevard right at pinellas bay way. we have road blocks reported here. you can see the yellow so a little slow heading northbound leading right up to that intersection. leave yo we head out the door. taking a live look outside. this is the junction at i-275 and i-4. looking great rate now. these cars right here, the taillights are heading south towards the howard frankland. that car is taking just five minutes. back to you. one minute after 6:00 right now. we want to get to the latest on the tragic news we've been following now. a pinellas county woman is getting ready to face a judge

year-old son brutally beat his 13 day old sister to death. >> that woman kathleen steele is jailed. investigators say she left her three children inside of a locked van while she went into a st. pete cell phone store. there was no air conditioning in the van and the windows were up. she didn't return to the car for almost 40 minutes. detectives say according to the 6-year-old, the 13-day infant began crying uncontrollably. he says he lost his temper and ground and ceiling of the van as well as hitting her in the face. >> the 6-year-old removed baby kathleen from the car seat and began flipping her multiple times back and forth. he said he slammed the baby and was slamming her and kept slamming her. >> deputies are not charging the 6-year-old due to his age. he and his younger brother are in the custody of child protective services this morning. we'll get a check on the charges the mother is facing

stranger to the media. back in 2009, she and her husband were part of a tv series of women who fight their way through difficulties to conceive. after 12 years of trying, she conserved. the father admitted back then that he was worried. >> i'm nervous because kathleen's nervous. >> we're absolutely very serious about having another one. >> phillip steele died of caer were born using his frozen sperm. we know the news is understandably shocking and disturbing for so many of you. thousands of you are talking about it right now on our facebook page. we want you to know we'll follow any development in this case. we'll keep you up to date on social media and abcactionnews.com. there's new information right now about the tampa officer accused of raping a woman during a traffic stop.

york previously worked for the police department in 2000 and 2003. tampa police say while off duty, york pulled over a woman who's speeding in february and sexually assaulted her in south tampa. the department fired him in march but didn't arrest him until just yesterday. the clearwater police department revealing an officer who resigned last week violated a policy for shooting at a officer adam wahl is under investigation for violating department policy for conduct on some social media posts. the posts were about a man trying to organize a protest in the after-math of police- related shootings. two officers from another department were fired for similar posts. new this morning, for the first time, we're hearing from the husband of a woman killed at a police training exercise in punta gorda. he describes the horrifying

he watched and officer shoot his wife of 55 years when she volunteered for a scenario. >> we tried to save her life. i was just in shock. i didn't know what to do. >> reporter: gary was taking part in that citizens training academy when his 73-year-old wife mary was shot by the official's revolver. the official who pulled the trigger, lee coel is on administrative leave. we are leadershipping he had been fired in miramar police department because of excessive force. the family has forgiven him citing mary would never want them to have hate in their hearts. >> this is a big mistake. they shouldn't have to live with it for the rest of their life. >> reporter: we're getting a chilling look this morning at the accident at shooting in punta gorda. this photo shows official coel

this shows mary knowlton, who is about to play the victim in the demonstration. the police chief is still unable to explain how coel's gun was loaded with real bullets instead of blanks. hillary clinton if should release her tax returns as early as today. last week she released everyone of seven years of tax returns. they say this movco trump to do the same thing. clinton has hammered trump on his refusal to release his tax documents. >> he refuses to do what every other presidential candidate for decades has done and release his tax return. >> trump says he's being audited and will do so when that finishes up. meanwhile, he said he's weighing in whether to support

it allows cubans to stay in the country. trump rallying in kissimmee yesterday. one flipped the crowd the bird after he told trump he was in love with russia. trump didn't defend himself at all. he did stress over and over a new position that president obama's policies >> barack obama number one is incompetent. number two, remember this, number two, he is the founder, in a true sense. >> both trump and clinton have said florida is a must-win state to become presidentp. the candidates under a tht race with clinton showing a slight edge. wrapping up the first full week of the school year. we're helping you make it

online resources. just go to abcactionnews.com/back to school. you'll find things like a list of nine gadgets to help your kids. our on-air coverage continues on monday when pasco and polk counties go back to school. still to come this morning on abc action news at 6:00, an all new look at the highly anticipated "star wars" movie set to hit theaters in four months. the iconic character making comeback. >> you don't see this often, a man doing that in the courtroom. i'll be honest, it's the

"star wars" fans getting an olympic treat with the new trailer. of course this preview included one second of video fans have been waiting for. that was it. did you see it? did you see it? [ laughter ] >> darth raider will be in the new film. voice-over by james earl jones. >> that's so cool. >> one second. >> that's all you need. it wasn't exactly

2016. >> and this is also florida. that man as you see there is twerking in court during his first court appearance in miami- dade county. listen to the reaction in court. [ ughter ] >> people in the courtroom thought it was funny, but did you see the judge? she was not amused at all. calvin griffth also mouthed "- - mouthed" hi, mom "poi. she is probably also embarrassed by now. he says he was trying to get the judge's attention. >> don't worry, you don't have to twerk to get our attention. >> don't worry. >> i was worried there for a second. we are months away from the peak of the hurricane season. of course we're handcuff been hit.

put out their forecast. we'll break that down for you coming up. coming up, a python latches on to a man in florida. the resource authorities are now turning to this to figure out where this python came from.

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we have an update to a story we brought you as breaking news yesterday.

figure out what caused this deadly explosion and massive fire in an apartment building in maryland. >> they are looking into reports that people smelled natural gas before the blast. the fire killed two people and injured 30, including two firefighters. some people are still missing but police don't even know how many. this morning, we're also following the latest developments surrounding the third accident at an amusement park. this one in pennsylvania. >> >> yeah. a 3-year-old is in the hospital after he fell from a wooden coaster in pennsylvania. the accidents are now raising safety concerns from people all over the country. in the latest case, authorities say he was riding with his older brother. there were no seat belts, only a bar to hold riders in. the 3-year-old was reportedly talking and conscious when he was flown to a hospital. we're waiting to hear how he's doing. after the news, they are hopefully looking for the

incident. >> take a close look here. you did a great job describing this in the last half hour. the black pickup followed the people into a gas station parking lot. one of the women pulled out a gun and pointed it at the other driver. that victim has not identified the women yet, even though he is being questioned by police. a florida man says a 4 foot long bald python attacked him. wildlife officials are trying to figure out came from. the man says he was sitting inside of his screened in porch when he felt something sharp periods of time his side. he called 911. he got a tetanus shot and antibiotics. the snakes aren't native to florida, so officials are trying to figure out where the python came from today, governor rick scott

in record numbers. more than 57 million tourists visited during the first half of this year, the highest six- month total ever. it is surprising considering the state is dealing with toxic algae blooms in the walter ways and the zika virus. a 9-year-old was killed after being struck by lightning. the buy's amish family lives in a remote area. his mother told him to go outside to open the barn doors to let the horses inside. that's when he was the mother called 911 and gave the son cpr, but he died en route to the hospital. the sister was also hurt but survived. august is a deadly month for lightning fatalities here in floridaup july was also up there as well. so that's one thing. ivan, you've also updated predictions on this year's hurricane season. >> we were talking about that. the national hurricane center put it out midway through.

dramatic here as far as i see. don't forget, this is the deal here. it was one of e rongest hurricanes to ever hit us, cat- 5 andrew, right? that was an a-storm, and it happened in august. it only takes one to make it a terrible hurricane season. we've already been hit by colin. so the update is not that significant as far as changes. 12 to 17 is what they are forecasting as far storms. they picked it up to about 1 because of what we've already had, multiple storms already. 5 to 8 hurricanes and then 2 to 4, which would be intense hurricanes, cat-3 or higher. so i think that actually is more helpful, right? so an above average season with a 35% chance of doing that. near normal, half of the chance of doing that. what we know is we're not going to have a below average season here. so of course the more tropical

higher likelihood they would hit the continental u.s. nothing imminent, by the way in the next five days as we head into the peak of the season, which is not until the second week of september. so we still have a ways to go. we've already had, of course, right through earl, numerous storms here. we had two hurricanes, one of which formed out of season, alex. the next named storm would be fiona. that is nowhere near happening as things remain atlantic. it looks to be at least anarchage if not -- average if not slightly above average. most of the area is looking good out there. corey dierdorff is over in pinellas county on ulmerton road where traffic ends up picking up but no crashes or breakdowns around where he is. we are following a couple of crashes starting off with this one we've been watching for about an hour now over in st. pete. this is right on gulf boulevard

seeing a slowdown here in the northbound lanes but also getting reports of road blocks in the southbound lanes. so if you are heading to this intersection, you might want to leave yourself a few extra minutes to get around here. a quick check on the crash here on westbound i-4 at old gray road, we have a crash there with road blocks off to the shoulder there. back to you. still ahead, a mishap at the world trade center building before it's even open. some confusion over what caused the damage. >> plus, if you rare meteor shower last night or want another look at it we've got the sunning video for you straight ahead -- the stunning video for you straight ahead. >> abc's geo benitez has details on a stunning rescue. >> reporter: in this morning's gma first look, relief after three arkansas state university students who disappeared in a cave are found safe. >> went in to inspect the cave. >> reporter: the trio missing

about 10 to 15 minutes from the entrance to the cave. >> i was really scared. >> we heard just a tiny little voice. >> reporter: 25-year-old casey sherwood, a soon to be senior and cub scout leader was reported missing by his wife along with two incoming freshmen out on a spelunking expedition exploring the cavern during the summer break. >> it is a brutal cave. >> reporter: brian says this video shows that deep and dark cavern >> no one has ever found the end. >> reporter: we'll have more coming up at 7:00 a.m. i'm geo benitez, abc news, new

a massive construction crane broke windows when it hit the >> nobody was inside. building, which was still under construction. a crane had just lowered materials to the ground when a gust of wind sent a ball from the crane crashing into the window. it cracked the tempered glass window but no glass fell. they will eventually replace the window. the building is scheduled to open this early 201. -- open early 2018. did you get a chance to watch the cosmic display last

6:00 a.m. giving us all a front row seat to some of the brightest shooting stars. we'll show you a time lapse of the spectacle from spain. nasa says there were over 200 meteors an hour, which is double the normal rate. the last outburst like this you have to go back to 2009. >> jeanette? goo -- >> janelle? >> good morning, everybody. we are watching a crash on i- right around county road. 557 or old gray road, looks like this crashes in two different spots. one blocking the exit. we'll have more coming up in just a few minutes. still ahead at 6:30 shall the debate on marijuana is coming to another tampa bay area community. the decision one city is asking you to weigh on today. help is on the way to fight this raging western wildfire. the resources coming from right

a 13 day old baby beaten to death by her 6-year-old brother. where their mother left them for nearly 40 minutes that started this tragedy. >> it's been two months since the pulse nightclub massacre. on this milestone day a political controversy center stage. >> advocates outrage directed at donald trump and marco rubio. >> we're also hearing from pulse nightclub survivors saying they are not getting the help they need. we'll get to that coming up in a minute. first, a look at traffic and weather together. ivan, we're off to a dry start. >> and i think we'll do the same as we did later today. we're looking good with mostly clear skies out there.

the 80s once we get a little sunshine out there. by 10:00 a.m., we're already at 84. we will have plenty of sunshine. by the afternoon, temps form to 91. at 1:00, we still think we're good with the southeast flow with the late day storms. storms fire as we continue moving toward the west and morning commute. it's going to be dry and even the evening, we should squeeze out most of it. a couple of crashes roadways. first, we're going to check in with corey dierdorff on the howard frankland. no crashes or breakdowns on the bridges with less than ten minutes to get across all three. we have a crash at davenport, westbound i-4. you can see it behind me here. the semi truck looks like the exit to county road 557 is completely blocked. a little farther up, we have another crash or it could be part of the same crash. so starting to see some delays

slight delays right now as the morning rush hour pushes on. we could see the delays starting to build. right in front of the road block reported, slowdowns in both directions. action air one is flying over 275 and i-4 where traffic is moving right along. that malfunction junction is functioning just fine at the moment. back to you guys. an update this morning. as you are waking up, we are mourning the loss killed violently by her 6-year- old brother yesterday. >> an absolute tragedy. today, her mother is expected to be in court. abc action news reporter ashley yore is live outside of the cell phone store where the tragedy happened. the deputy says this all started after the mother left her kid alone inside of her hot vehicle. >> >> reporter: that's right, deiah. for 40 minutes, that mother left her three kids inside of a

conditioning while she went inside to run an errand in the store. that mother now facing an aggravated manslaughter charge today. the pinellas county sheriff says 62-year-old kathlyn steele left her kids, a 6-year-old, 3- yeld-o, and 13 day old infant all locked in that hot van without the air conditioning. the infant baby kathleen started crying uncontrollably. the 6-year-old lost his temper and beat the baby hitting her against the ground and ceiling of the van. the sheriff says the boy flipped the baby and slammed her repeatedly. when steele got back, 6-year- old frankie told his mother that the baby had been upset but steele ignored him. she called her neighbor who is a nurse instead of 911. investigators say baby kathleen was already dead. investigators say the 6-year-

his age but did demonstrate to investigators what he had done on a doll. the 6-year-old and 3-year-old are now in child protective services. their mother is expected in court at 1:00 30 this afternoon. -- at 1:30 this afternoon. we'll bring you the updates both here on air and live on abcactionnews.com. today marks two months since the pulse nightclub massacre. on this same day, marco rubio is expected to speak featuring a lineup of known anti-gay speakers. people have protested including the owner of the pulse nightclub and sister of one of the victims. gay rights advocates say the event is fueling bigotry. meanwhile, the money from the one orlando fund is weeks away from getting to the victims and families. learning about survivors denied help from a state program. >> it's kind of frustrating to

and what can wait. >> johnson is one of hundreds of people trying to get back to normal after either being wounded in the shooting or witnessing it. he was shot two times in the arm losing feeling in his fingers ands would out of work while he recovers. now he's turning to the united assistance center in orlando to get aid. minutes from now, governor rick scott is holding another meeting to host a round table discussion to talk to the community about the concerns about this outbreak in palm beach county. our sister station will be there, and reporters will bring you any updates you can use from this meeting coming up at 9:00. >> this comes as officials say the infection zone in florida is shrinking. authorities say they have cleared a second part of the winwood neighborhood in miami- dade county. the number of locally transmitted cases stands at 25. lakeland is set to weigh

they will hold a hearing talking about decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana. the d.e.a. saying yesterday it consulted with the health and hewlin services department and decided marijuana has "no accepted medical use in the united states." firefighters on the west coast are getting help from florida. the florida fire service is sending a team to help fight the wildfires that are still raging. one of the wildfires has burned 5,000 acres in california are heading to colorado to help out. some are leaving today from tampa. others left yesterday from brooksville. airlines offering more international flights through tampa, and with the added traffic, you might see longer customs lines. local officials want you to know there is an easy way you can avoid those lines. three bay area congressmen will unveil the new mobile passport control app at t.i.a. tonight. it is available on smartphones or tablets allowing to you skip custom lines by answering a few

u.s. and canadian citizens. this morning, team usa is still leading the way in medals in rio right now. here is a look at our count here. 38 medals. china is second with 30 followed by japan, russia, and great britain. we can think american gymnasts for adding to the lead. simone biles' incredible performance last night. she won the gold for individual all her teammate aly raisman took silver. this is the fourth straight time an american woman has won the all around competition. last night, michael phelps added to the medal count as well, his 13th individual gold medal breaking a record for the most individual wins in olympic competition. >> you'd think i had a child in the olympics the way i was jumping and crying.

to come in. nice view there. it's going to be dry. by the afternoon, a few showers and storms cover today about 50%. we'll have more on that and a weekend forecast coming up. heading out the door in davenport. we have a jackknifed semi that is blocking the exit. the camera just moved on us because they are also showing us the second part of the accident or a second accident just past the exit right here blocking an outside lane. so seeing dela thousand davenport. we'll have more coming up in a few minutes. >> thanks, janelle. coming up, several dangerous fires found on a college campus. the unusual cause the experts think brought them to the state for the first time ever. >> and later, it's one of the most popular sports bars in the bay area. a lot of you are grossed out rate now by what our new dirty dining report uncovered there, including disgusting findings

welcome back. >> experts say

wellps on people and the university is warning you to keep an eye out. the biggest place to watch out for them are dark places like clothes hampers and shoes. still ahead, housing prices surged more than a million dollars many one community and the reason why buyers there are not surprised. >> later, how would you like to enjoy fried twinkies in the comfort of your own home? that dream could be a reality today. we'll tell you about it up

good morning, everybody. we are watching a couple of crashes on i-4. westbound county road 557, we have the exit blocked. a jackknifed semi truck there. also a little further up, we have another crash. you can see it right here behind me. not sure if they are connected. either way, we are seeing delays through davenport on into tampa, we have a crash right at macintosh road causing, again, some delays on i-4. if you are heading that way, leave yourself extra time because i-4 is looking lake a mess this morning. we also have a car crash right here southbound dell mabry that's causing delays. hopefully, they will have that crash moved out of the way shortly.

here. checking in from the sky action air one flying over i-4 and i- 75. so not too bad here. looks like i-4 clears up a little bit once you get closer into town. ivan? we're looking good weather-wise. the storms fired late yesterday. nothing has really changed to prevent them from happening as we check outside right now. looking at first light there. in fact, we've had this for a while. sunrise coming morning over 7:00 a.m. days getting shorter here. 77 in tampa. likewise port richie here. looking good this morning. we'll have plenty of sun but by the afternoon, i think your midday hour looks fine. we see the storms continuing to move in from the east coast heading into our beaches. plan your weekend just like that. plenty of sun early, hot and

late. it will cool us off, so there's always that bonus. by the time we get to 5:00 p.m., everything marches toward the coast like what happened yesterday. i don't think the rain will persist through 3:00 a.m. just keep in mind, some of the storms could be on the stronger side with frequent lightning and heavy rain. feels like 100 plus this afternoon. rain chances are just where they should be, about 40 to 50%. so nothing that would enhance certainly nothing that would la 40 to 50% coverage continuing through the early part of next week. we'll have the temps in the low 90s. donald trump now says he supports the call for congress to approve more funds to help fight the zika virus. trump says he would absolutely ask congress to let the fund be granted to florida. both republicans and democrats supported more funding for zika

republicans want to improve less than $1.9 billion. the democratic national committee is now creating an advisory board on cybersecurity after last month's hack before the democratic national convention. the hacked e-mail showed a lack of neutrality in the primary race with plenty of officials strongly opposed to sanders. nancy pelosi received classified information on the hack and says the information points to a clear culprit. >> this in. i know for sure it is the russians. the russians broke in. who did they give the information to? i don't know. who dumped it? i don't know. >> individuals affected by the hackill be notified next week. the new advisory board will work to prevent future attacks to ensure the cybersecurity is as safe as possible. a group of students who went missing while exploring an

they went on the cave misadventure wednesday night. a rescue crew found them last night. authorities say parts of the cave they went into are narrow while others are slippery with several cracks. they are grateful for the rescue crews for the hard work finding the students. jerry sandusky plans to take the stand to prove his claim he was wrongly convicted of sexually abusing ten boys. the former penn state assistant football courthouse on friday. during that hearing, he aims to overturn his 45-count conviction. the 72-year-old didn't testify at his trial in 2012. his lower says he expects sandusky's testimony to be lengthy. the hearing is expected to continue august 22nd and august 23rd. sandusky is serving a 30 to 60- year prison sentence. the hernando county sheriff's office is preparing you for the worst holding an

teaching things like how to act in a natural disaster and first aid tips. that will be from 1:00 until 4:00 today in brooksville. a lot of you will weigh in right now on our facebook page about our latest dirty dining report. check it out right there. ferg sports bar and grill, one of the most popular sports bars in the bay area known as the official gathering spot for the tampa bay rays fan. it is shut out and shut down for business rate now. our i-team says forced ferg's on central avenue to close yesterday after finding evidence of rodents, roaches, ants, flies, and maggots. according to the inspection report, inspectors counted 40 live roaches, too many roach droppings to count, 60 rodent dropping as long with ants, flies, and maggots. they also demanded ferg's stop using salt and pepper shakers after finding rodent droppings

department found some small issues that we're immediately addressing and will correct. we're doing everything necessary to not only alleviate those but to prevent them in the future and will continue to be a high standards restaurant." if you want to see the rest of ferg's statement, go to abcactionnews.com/dining. san jose has become the most expensive metro market for homes in the country. the median home price store is just over $1 even the san francisco area. for those looking for a home, the report by the national association of realtors says the single family home price broke that $1 million mark for the first time ever for a metro area. they say it wasn't that surprising. there is a low inventory which drives prices up. the nation's largest drugstore chain has announced

mobile app. it allows to you leave your wallet behind. it already integrated debit card and pay pal options. it will go nationwide by the end of the year. macy's announced it plans to close about 100 of its department stores. it will ut down 15% of its struggling stores. macy's has not said which stores or how many employees will be affected but said it will happen early ne affect your heart health later in life. that's not good news for the future generation of americans. more than nine out of ten u.s. teens have poor diets and more than half don't get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day. it is a formula for poor heart health later in life. parents should make sure kids live a healthier lifestyle now. sam's club is offering

11:00 to 1:00. the screenings are free for both members and nonmembers. you can get vision, hearing, and blood sugar checked. students and parents can get the checkups. three more counties in tampa bay still have to start the school year. >> but one of them, plenty of moisture county has 150 teacher positions that are open. school officials are offering some tips for parents or asking for patience right now. they also say give yourself extra time in th school. sarasota goes back to school on monday the 22nd. this is your last day to help make the school year better for local kids in need. abc action news keeping up to double the donations that you make. drop off any school supplies at any hudson's school supply. we start with an

a mother is expected in court today after her 6-year-old son violently and brutally beat his newborn sister to death. 62-year-old kathleen steele left her children locked in a van outside for 40 minutes while she ran an errand. investigators say her 13 day old daughter started crying, and her 6-year-old son grabbed the baby. across the celling and floor hand hit the baby in the face. investigators in say baby kathleen was already dead by the time the mother got help. she will be in court at 1:30 this afternoon. the tampa police officer accused of raping a woman during a traffic stop is free from jail this morning. officer adam york was freed

while off duty she filed a complaint. the company notified him in march but just fired him yesterday. detectives arrested guzman khan for a hoax bomb charge. yesterday, the director of one orlando fund extended the deadline for survivors who of the $22 million raised by the fund. the deadline to do that is now september 12. good morning, everybody. we're still watching a couple of crashes. this is causing onlooker delays because all of it is up on the shoulder. we still have that crash we've been talking about all morning long over in davenport. we have a new crash to tell you

want to go to sly to make your way around this. a serious crash here, so avoid that area if you can. ivan? looking good out there this morning with sub shine and midday, the clouds roll in. temps in the 80s with showers and storms and 50% coverage this afternoon. final think this morning, you know we have to wait until the state's fair to enjoy fried twinkies or can you just enjoy one from you today. the cream filled snack is the result of a year long clan ration and wal-mart. >> i'm not sure about that one. >> no, thank you. [ laughter ] stay tuned. "good morning america" is coming up next. >> keep up to date with us on our mobile app and on air.

good morning, america. >> oh. >> best in the world. simone biles soaring to new heights in rio with the golden touch. her teammate, aly raisman, right by her side with silver as again. michael phelps with a record 22nd gold leaving the competition in his wake. >> oh, baby, it's time to come home, michael. >> and simone manuel making history in the pool. >> manuel is going to do it. >> tying for gold this an epic day for team usa. also breaking overnight an emergency landing. at least two dozen rushed to the hospital when a jetblue flight hits severe turbulence.