and the same expected today. what voters need to know before they head out to the polls. >> thanks for waking up with abc on election day tuesday. getting close here. dan schafer. >> good morning i'm dea reilly. we are ready for it to be over. breaking down what to expect and what to bring with you. >> but first will you need an umbrella with you. >> no. >> there's your simple answer from ivan. >> sun on you. looking good. by the time the polls open we'll have sun out there. how about that. 60 in brooksville, 50s in crystal river. at 7:00 about 65. there's the sunrise at 6:47. by noon time perhaps going out and boating for lunch temperatures low 80s, 82 by 4: 00 and at 7 at 76.

a couple of showers and cooler and less humid times ahead. we'll talk more about that. >> ivan i think you should bring back the pair sail. that's a great idea. >> absolutely. >> we are seeing improvement on the howard franklin. all of the lanes are back open here so again some improvement the crash blocking all but one lane southbound heading over into st. pete on the howard franklin. here's how long it's taking to get across just 12 minutes so that's a lot better. much improved from the 25 minute time we earlier so no need to find an alternate route and the average speed from pasco down through hillsborough on 275 and i-75 all in the green this morning. back to you. >> thanks janelle. a minute after 6 now. if the early voting numbers are any indication record clouds across the state. >> florida is expected to play a huge role in choosing the next president. rodney is live and that polling

busy. our state is already seeing huge voting numbers. >> well, you are right about that deah. consider this. early voting numbers about about6.4 million voters and expecting long lines at the church in fact record numbers throughout this early election season. of course before you head out to the polls there are a few things you definitely need to keep in mind. number one the polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. if you after 7:00 p.m. as long as you are in that line you will be allowed to vote. also when you get to that polling location you may be asked to provide a picture id. if you do not have that id with you simply request a provisional ballot. you will be allowed to vote. one thing you can count on today is long lines. consider this in polk county between those mail in ballots and early voting they have already seen about 170,000 voters so they are expecting plenty of people here today to

people headed to the parking lot here to be ready, to be walking in at 7:00 a.m. so definitely expect those lines today. we'll have much more on that side of the story coming up this morning at 6:45. for now reporting live in lakeland rodney done. hillsborough county two problems watching for votes violations intimidation sending staffers to 28 statest viewer than 2012 because of the voting rights act. the presidential race campaigning into the early hours of election day on the left. donald trump wrapping his last day on the campaign trail. this morning at 1:00 he was supposed to hold a finale in new hampshire but he made a democratic push to michigan.

john bon jovi took the stage in her last rally in north carolina as clinton talked about a positive vision for america. today's vote will also determine who will control congress beginning in january. right now it appears republicans will retain control of the house. the g.o.p. currently has 246 seats. republicans are expected to lose a few races but still have enough seats to retain a 218 seat majority the senate a slightly different beast. take a look here. right now republicans control 54 seats. illinois senator mark kirk is forecasted to lose his seat. if republicans lose three additional seats the senate would be tied 50/50 and control would depend on who wins the white house as the vice president casts the tie breaking vote. our senate race could

senate. democrat patrick murphy is hoping to unseat republican senator marco rubio. according to the latest poll rubio leads murphy by seven points. murphy accuses rubio of being an absentee senator while running for president and rubio says he inflated his resume with little to show. new developments between charlie crist and david jolly. we are learning governor crist made a last minute contribution to his own campaign friday. political reports he spent $75,000 for his bid in pinellas county. >> amendment one is one of the controversial issues you are being asked to vote on the florida solar amendment. the union with drew endorsement and demanded the ad be pulled after hundreds of members complained. the commercial who features a firefighter implied that roof top solar panels could be a

control the state's solar market but claim it protects consumers. across the bay area voters are being asked to vote on issues that may appear coon fusing seem to be written in a language only a lawyer would love. if the city council should be able to order internal audits between the mayor's office and the city council. council members want the power to perform more audits to see if taxpayers are being ripped off. whether to create a county redistricting board to make sure the county represents everyone equally. the key here is advisory. the county commission would still have the final say. a handful of voters in new hampshire cast their ballots at midnight and shows how close the election could be. polls in dixville, harts location and mills field opened just after midnight and closed

hit clint took a narrow victory over donald trump in dixville and harts location but trump had a 16-4 edge in mills field. he has an early lead by a vote of 32-52 over clinton so far in new hampshire. a mystery illness strikes a school. the one thing investigators are focusing on that they have sent more than 20 young kids to the hospital. plus another squirrel attack. the differently this time as workers tried to fend off the

coming up on 6:10 on your election day tuesday. good morning from the weather center looks nice out there right now. 50s to low 60s to the north and across the interior counties flirting with upper 50s. tampa at 65. as we take a look at the temperatures hit highs in the lower 80s. front comes in tomorrow. we'll talk more about that and showers and cool dry air behind it in a few minutes. >> thanks ivan. this morning authorities are trying to figure out what made more than 20 kids sick at a florida pre-school. >> most of the students were hospitalized with symptoms like nausea, vomiting diarrhea and dehydration. when they got to the school they saw a scary scene of students taken out on stretchers a lot of them passed

twos taking them out to the ambulance. some of them were passed out. others were like droopy. >> i don't know. i just got the call from work. i don't know if she's in the hospital. something that they ate at school. >> fire officials say food poisoning is the primary suspect after hazardous material crews did not find a gas leak and none of the adults developed symptoms. they plan to test the food the kids ate. a deltona northeast of orlando there's been another one. a woman called 911 for help after an angry squirrel attacks again. the woman getting bit and injuring her wrist in the fall during the attack. a staff member shot the squirrel with a bb gun this time. signs are warning residents about the squirrels and three people were hurt in the first squirrel incident last week. coming up a man accused of helping isis. the steps investigators say he

group and the defense his mother has for him. plus incredible video. a massive sinkhole crumbling away a five lane road. the impact this is having goes

time now 6:14. new this morning federal

defense. aaron daniels arrested monday trying to leave columbus, ohio with the intent of going to libya to join the terror group. daniels sent $250 to an isis operative earlier this year and created e-mail addresses and social media accounts to support them. his mother says he told her he wanted to learn more about islam and got caught up with the wrong people. >> this is my thoughts, what happened. he got in contact with the wrong organization. he was thinking they were going to >> if convicted daniels faces up to 20 years in prison. a seminal county man is charged this morning in a disturbing plot. deputies say danny del gatt o posted nude photos of his ex- girlfriend on craig's list along with an ad advertising her for sex. deputies say del gatt o also shared the woman's home and

strange men started showing up. a brutal subway murder, the suspect pushed another woman onto the tracks in times square as a train was approaching. that 49-year-old victim died at the scene. police say the woman suspected of pushing her has a history of schizophrenia. authorities don't believe the women knew each other. campus police at the university of west florida are investigating an armed robbery. >> they won't say what was not random. the robbery apparently happened sunday night on the university's campus of pensacola. two insteadent were sitting in the car outside of their dorm when someone approached them and demanded a backpack that one of them was holding. >> somebody comes up to the passenger door opens the door reaches in and says give me the bag bro. >> there was a struggle. the victims told police the person then pulled a gun on them. police believe this was a targeted robbery.

are not sharing that information. an ohio man is going the extra mile to save his own life put out an ad for a new kidney and flew a banner for tailgaters before the ohio state football game. it reads need kidney complete with his phone number at the end. he's already gotten three phone calls. take a look at the stunning new video of a street collapsing in japan. this is crumbling this morning into an opening sinkhole. authorities have evacuated nearby buildings as a precaution. the hole cutoff electricity, water and gas to more than 200 buildings. near subway construction may have been a factor but authorities have not confirmed that. we are expected to learn more information today about what oklahoma regulators plan to do following sunday's 5.0 magnitude earthquake.

volume in others. oklahoma oil and gas officials say more than 700 square miles will be included. specific details will be released later today. oklahoma has had thousands of earthquakes in recent years all traced to the under ground injection of waste water from oil and gas production. and good morning from the weather center here on your election tuesday. looks good for us as far as sunshine throughout the day. just a few clouds rolling in. cool start needi a the north upper 50s low60s and interior counties nice and cool this morning. 68 in st. pete and 65 in tampa. not finding much in the tampa area. a couple of sprinkles along 95 with the easterly wind. high pressure in charge for now but clouds and showers to our north and west. this will not move as it is right now through our area. i would bring in pretty good rainfall here. it will weaken, moisture will be limited and by the time the

to notice much. 10 to 20% chance for a couple of showers tomorrow. dry today the entire day with a few clouds rolling in. the wind strong as yesterday doing better as far as boating as well if you are taking the day off. low 80s across the interior, upper 70s along the coast. very comfortable. humidity still low so it's going to feel nice temperatures lower 80s going to drop even more as far as humid conditions towa tomorrow. moderate chop will go light and down to 2 feet. looks good for voters and a slight chance of a shower tomorrow with the passing front. a lot of clouds around us keeping temperatures south of 80 degrees. it's actually not the front yet but by wednesday night we do cool off. lower 60s even in tampa and st. pete and highs upper 70s through veterans day into the

mild afternoons. good morning everybody. i know it doesn't look like it from the camera here but we are seeing improvement on the howard franklin a crash we've been covering for about an hour southbound at the hump off to the side. just a little bit of a slow down right when you pass this crash taking just about 10 minutes to get from tampa over into st. pete. a couple of things to tell you about in north port and sarasota county we have a northbound i-75 at kings highway and a little bit of a slow down here and a crash not too far away once you pass that stalled car. a little bit of a slow down on i-75 getting through north port there in sarasota county and i- 4 looking great in the green 22 minutes from county line road into downtown. dan? >> thanks. if you don't have a ride to the polls don't worry catch a free ride. take a look at your screen

also offering free rides starting at 7:00 a.m. pasco county the public transportation system there also offering free rides starting at 7. you need a valid voter registration card. for more information visit our website. now to something else on your ballots today, judges. >> the supreme court and appellate judge. yes or no. yes you want to keep the judge or no you don't. according to the members of the them. their members voted in favor of all three state supreme court justices and 28 appellate court justices on the ballot. still ahead this morning napping on the job the police chief defends himself after this photo of him sleeping in his patrol car is released. the reason the mayor says the chief did the right thing. and kicked out of her uber. the one thing revealed to the driver that she says changed

it is 6:25 on this tuesday. take a look at this picture it's hard to see but that's a police chief in a small arkansas town under fire because he's sleeping. that's his head right there. he's sleeping in his patrol car over the weekend. the person who took the picture says the chief was asleep

insists he was not wearing his uniform at the time and says he was off duty. >> i worked a lot of hours so i pulled into the store in this plaza. >> the mayor is defending chief frazier and says he's covering for the entire police department right now which is currently short staffed. the mayor told the chief to get rest whenever and however he can. a colorado woman is upset with uber telling him she is hispanic. she was getting a ride to see a concert told the driver she is a documentary filmmaker. when she started getting close to the destination she's a first generation american born hispanic. that's when the driver pulled over and made her get out. >> right from when i said the word latino his whole demeanor tightened and he turned around

>> the ride cost her $6 but it's not about the money she paid but how the incident hurt her emotionally. a california mom is furious with her kid's school. cafeteria workers gave her children juice with mold in it. one of the juice boxes was six days past the expiration date and wants answers from the school district but so far the superintendant ino the juice is stored properly. about a half hour away from voting in hillsborough county a place where the winner could not just take the state of florida bus also win the entire presidential election. plus spam e-mails clogging up the election centers in multiple states. the concerns about what they contained and the resources they wasted. looking beautiful weather

the low 80s this afternoon with mostly dry conditions but a front comes in with a couple of showers. talk about that in a couple of minutes. >> watching this crash all morning southbound on the howard franklin bridge in the clearing stages. exactly how long it's king to

today is our independence day. >> love trumps hate. >> today is the day it all comes down to this america makes its decision. the stakes are high in florida. 29 electoral votes are up for grabs. >> the latest polls and early votes both pointing to a close race. taking a live look in

the outcome here could predict how the entire state goes. we'll explain the key factors in a live report coming up. thanks for waking up with abc on this election day tuesday. i'm dan schafer. >> i'm deah riley. we have complete coverage and the final moments of the campaigns going right down to the wire wrapping up while you were sleeping. >> first traffic and weather together. ivan cabrera has your forecast. >> as you saw there plenty of sunshine on the way and sunris conditioning we take a look at what's going to be happening for the day. staying dry, nice and mild this afternoon. low 80s. we do have a front coming in tomorrow a couple of showers with it and continue dropping with humidity. it's going to be a nice rest of the week with that brief interruption tomorrow. lower 80s this afternoon. above average but cooler temperatures in here by the end of the week. we talk more about that in just a few minutes. >> good morning everybody. if you are heading over into st. pete this morning we do

you can see it here behind me following it all morning. captain now is flying over this right now and the tow truck is on the scene right? >> hey that's the good news. you can see it over there on the left hand shoulder, actually the right shoulder on the roadway but they have got that vehicle loaded in the process of pulling it out of the way. it's a road ranger with flares and cones going to have to move those but thba from tampa onto the howard franklin bridge is getting much bigger. back to you janelle. >> might be a good idea to take another bridge. we are seeing nine minutes to get over to pinellas county on the courtney campbell, 13 on the howard franklin and 6 minutes on the gandy. no delays at all in the opposite direction. 6 minutes on the courtney

bridge. election 2016 today, state of florida still a toss up. latest polls show hilary clinton with a lead over donald trump 46 to 45%. >> hillsborough county could be a very important county for the candidates today. >> if history is any indicator hillsborough county could mean everything to the candidatest. in 19 of the last 20 presidential elections the winner of hillsborough county hasn't election. the reason for this over the past 80 years hillsborough county has shown to have the demographics that best reflect the entire state. i recently sat down with our political analyst dr. seuss dr. seuss yan mcmanus. >> it reflects the state age and gender make up. it's all right here in hillsborough county which is

best predictor of how the nation is going to vote. >> so goes florida so goes the nation. how about so goes hillsborough so goes florida so goes the nation. >> thanks james. remember to download our abc action news mobile app with election coverage on the go. instant results and live streaming election coverage on under dog in the race looking at the latest cnn polling likely to go one way or the other. the candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win. trump starts off with 204 electoral votes. states in red and light red. the blue states and light blue are in clinton's camp. all right 268 electoral votes

electoral votes to get to 270. the states in white including florida are the battle ground states. florida is a must win to trump. if he wins it to gets to 233 not nearly enough. he would need to take all of the other undecided states including arizona, nevada and new hampshire and north carolina to get close. but if you look closely he's still one vote short, 269. now he could t he could get that vote in nebraska. nebraska is one of two states that breaks up electoral votes by district. if he wins that district he gets one more electoral vote and could get to 270 to win. now those are big ifs. trump campaign counting on wrestling one or more of those democrat leaning states pennsylvania, new mexico,

grand rapids, michigan last night. >> hilary clinton and donald trump didn't waste a minute on the campaign trail. it went right down to the wire wrapping up early this morning. on the left as dan mentioned this is donald trump rallying into 1:00 this morning in the typically blue state of michigan. on the right hilary clinton closing out her campaign in north carolina while you were sleeping with some star power. >> go out and vote for hila mama. >> lady gaga and john bon jovi hit the stage for clinton's final event in raleigh north carolina and earlier in the day she got support from the boss bruce springsteen and president obama and first lady michelle obama. she closes out her campaign with a positive message on america's future. >> there is no reason my friends why america's best days

his finale in new hampshire but at the last minute he scheduled a late event in michigan. >> did you ever think you'd be hearing a major speech like around close to 1:00 in the morning. are we crazy? is this crazy? >> trump saying today is the day. the american working class is going to strike back. he also channeled hollywood referencing the movie independence day taking final doesn't need super star support. >> we don't need john bon jovi. we don't need lady gaga. all we need is great ideas to make america great again. >> trump is taking--has taken a calmer tone in recent days but last night he did briefly attack massachusetts senator

american heritage. a waste of time investigating e-mails in 14 states looking like spam roughly the same question about voting under various names. officials were concerned they had malicious content and eventually traced the e-mails to a yale university professor who was sending out mass e- mails for an independent study but it took hundreds of man hours. >> well i think it's irresponsible to send out what's essentially spam to all of our county clerks to try to conduct a lab experiment for academe ynoa. it's not part of what we do. >> the professor was trying to study voter access. election officials say the positive take away from this is their security system worked. a record number of americans have already voted ahead of election day.

driven by soaring voter turn out from latinos not the only ones seeing big increases. ballots from asian americans have roughly doubled here in florida, arizona, virginia and north carolina. asian americans typically make up 1 to 2% of early voters. >> the election creating tension between friends and neighbors. they need your help right now trying to find the woman who was caught right here in this surveillance video snatching a campaign sign from the caught on camera. that woman you see here jumps out of a golf cart, runs towards that sign and snatches it out of the ground. then just two days later what looks like the same woman comes back this time without any pants and does it again. this happened in land of lakes at a home late last week. the woman again seen with a man driving a golf cart. the homeowner says the most shocking part they are likely from her neighborhood community.

a wheel chair thrown out of the trump rally in tampa meets the president. the 12-year-old was kicked out of saturday's event after holding up a hilary clinton sign at that trump rally. clinton's press secretary in florida worst posted these photos of the boy and president. she heard about what happened and arranged this meeting for the boy in kissimmee. with the election top of mind many candidates are seeing things this bird is a local celebrity because some say it looks like donald trump. he has been nicknamed the trump bird and is for sale bringing in a lot of foot traffic. some call the bird the fryer can yes, siree because of the bowl cut look. a little league president is calling for vandals to end their war on a local baseball field. someone caused thousands of dollars worth of damage after splattering paint all over the new dug out.

the new baseball league in september but that didn't happen because of vandals damaging the field a number of times. they raised $200 to build a fear--$200,000 to build the field and now $10,000 to repair all of the damage left behind. still ahead this morning a woman doesn't let her new arrival get in the way of casting her vote. going to the polls when she should have gone to the hospital. it's the ultimate proof that nothing should voting. and this could be a first example of salad being bad for you. the serious damage a woman is blaming on her bottle of dressing. right now at 6:41 here is a live look at a polling place in polk county. doors are set to open here in just a few minutes. people already lining up as you can see outside. we'll continue our complete coverage of election day with the one thing you can expect if

6:44 your morning sprint brings you news you need to know on this election day. >> polls open at 7:00 and team coverage this morning starting with rodney dunigan who is live in lakeland one of polk county's busiest polling sites.

ballots between mail in and early voting they've seen 170,000 voters already just here in polk county. statewide the number hit record number of early voters $6.4 million. election officials say you can count on long lines but no need to worry as long as you are in line by that 7:00 p.m. deadline you will be allowed to vote in your county. james continues our team coverage this morning of what voters in can expect. >> we are here at the new tampa community park a polling site in hillsborough county. hillsborough county could mean everything for the candidates tonight. in the last 20 presidential elections in all but one of them the winner of hillsborough county has gone on to not just win the state of florida but also win the election. early voting has favored the democrats out pacing republicans by more than 28,000 ballots and doesn't tell us who these votes are for just that

democrats voting early here than republicans. in the end it all comes down to who shows up today and what numbers are finally calculated tonight. reporting in hillsborough james dailey abc action news. the department of justice is dispatching 500 staffers around the country to monitor polls today including in hillsborough county. it's one of six jurisdictions they'll be monitoring the second most of any state. if you do experience a problem at your polling poll worker know or contact your county election office. beware of any unsolicited messages of your polling location. a south florida woman is warning about a text she received trying to send her to the wrong polling place and others on facebook say they have received it too. here are a few reminders as you prepare to head to the polls the top three things you need to know to have a smooth voting

supervisor's website and enter your address. second bring a valid id. poll workers checking to make sure everything matches before you vote. and mail in no later by 7 tonight. >> if you don't have a ride to the polls get one for free with hart, the pinellas sun coast transit authority offering free rides starting this morning at 7:00 and pasco county public transportation is also offering free rides also at 7. all you need >> we posted all of this information and everything you need to know about this election day on our website abc action news.com and also our free app to get instant results as they start coming in. we'll be live streaming speeches tonight from the candidates as they happen. hilary clinton and donald trump will be holding election parties in new york tonight. one thing to watch, will there be a clear winner tonight and will the runner up concede? we'll be sure to make sure you

news plus cover the local victory parties here. and if you think you have a good excuse to skip voting today one colorado couple says no you don't. >> not at all. the wife voted while she was in labor. she started having con tractions but she was determined to vote before she went into the hospital so she told her husband she felt well enough to vote so they headed out. >> we ran over there and kind of made it just in time because shortly after that i was like it's time we got to get hospital. >> if we influence one person and make the world a better place for her it's totally worth it. >> the couple decided to vote while she had con tractions because they didn't know if they would get to after the baby was born. baby bella is doing just fine. >> you can vote from anywhere via absentee ballot even outer space. shane kimbrel voted from on board the international space station. and good morning

here i-275 northbound at balancer and take a look at this we have the inside lane blocked northbound i-275 travels southbound and we are seeing delays here southbound due to on looker delays here. also a crash reported northbound i-75 at baylor, checking the cameras trying to find it. i am hearing reports of delays northbound on i-75 as well. and take a look at this. we are slowed just about everywhere. slow on extremely slow southbound 275, 26 the average speed there. ivan. >> all right janelle thanks a lot. cool start this morning upper 50s in areas. heading into has her hills as well at 59 so a bit chilly needing the jacket this morning but warming up nicely by later on this afternoon. mid to upper 60s from tampa to st. pete. high pressure in the eastern u.s. blocking this rainfall from making any significant

through tomorrow with a few clouds a couple of showers possible but that would be about it. this is today. future cast mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies as we warm up this afternoon. with the wind not as gusty as yesterday coming in out of the north and east. 82 for the high with lower 80s generally the rule throughout the tampa bay area this afternoon and doing that with low humidity. still comfortable out there and dew points in the 50s. that's very nice and in fact by tomorrow with through and cloud cover with us behind it lower humidity. by the end of the week high temperatures upper 70s for veterans day setting up a great weekend with highs in the 70s and plenty of sunshine. a woman in wyoming says she was trying to make a meal when her salad dressing exploded. >> it's hard to explain i was attacked by a bottle of salad dressing. i think he probably thought i

something. >> when condiments attack. she took pictures. they had been recalled. a bacteria in them make them bubble up, foam, spew out of the bottle and explode. the dressing went everywhere damaging computer carpet and walls estimating the damage of $2,500. snakes on a plane, snake on a plane. >> one too many. the united press international is reporting that snake is a venomous green viper. it was posted to social media by a passenger on that aero mexico flight. you can coming down from behind the over head bins. the plane was given priority to land and the staff captured the reptile. can you imagine sitting underneath that. oh my gosh. the airline is investigating to see how that snake got on the plane in the first place. >> stay with us.

the potential first families pounding the pavement for the presidential win. >> we get a sense of who they are through their children, through their spouse. we want to get a human connection. >> she's the best darn change maker i've ever met in my entire life. >> still hugely popular president bill clinton has tried to capitalize on that love but in a rare move melania trump has been mostly absent from the trail. >> hard to been a positive or negative factor. she really has been a neutral factor. >> coming up at 7:00 a.m. wall to wall coverage as america's votes with your gma first look i'm paula ferris abc

good morning everybody. we are jammed on i-275 southbound at fletcher. no crashes there but we do have a crash northbound right at baylor causing on looker delays as well. 30 minutes to get from the apex to i-4. >> looks good weather wise 65 at 7:00 a.m. and back into the low 80s at 4: 00 by polls closing at 76. gorgeous day out there. >> a lot of folks taking advantage of it. beautiful look at election day st. john catholic church in lakeland one of polk county's

of hundreds of polling places welcoming voters in about 4 minutes. people lined up. >> polls open at 7 this morning and stay open until 7 this evening. if you are mailing in you can't drop them off at a local polling place. they have to be returned to a supervisor of election ballot office. anybody with an i voted sticker gets free donuts today. >> marco's for free pizza at some polling locations. macy's offering when you use the coupon code vote. more election day freebies at abc action news.com. >> ivan has his i voted sticker. >> i saw the lines i didn't want to be in so more time for donuts for me. >> stay tuned. good morning america is coming up next. >> keep up to date good morning america is next. >> and ivan and janelle are

good morn good morning, america. fight to the finish. donald trump and hillary clinton pull out all the stops overnight. crisscrossing the country to make their final push for the white house. clinton holds her biggest rallies yet. >> there will about the outcome of this election. >> calling on the president, the first lady and some major star power. >> we are going to be livin' on a prayer. >> bon jovi, lady gaga and bruce springsteen, all there. ? can't start a fire without a spark ? >> donald trump hits five battleground states in one day. >> i'm asking you to dream big because with your vote, we are