charter schools "don't siphon off state dollars" from traditional schools, says the boston globe. in fact, public schools get more money. the truth is question 2 will give parents more choices and result in more funding for public education. please vote yes on question 2. for stronger public schools. >> s: hurricane matthew. the storm has been upgraded back to a category four. and it is currently tearing through the bahamas with wind speeds topping off at 140 miles per hour. the hurricane is heading northwest at 14 miles per hour toward florida. f the storm's powerful path leaving behind widespread destruction. in haiti, houses knocked to the ground and torrential rain flooding-out villages. the hurricane is picking up speed and getting more powerful. we have team coverage of the

you can see it on the radar. it is now showing up on the miami radar. about 150 miles east, southeast. at least the eye of the circulation is. the hurricane-force winds, they extend out about 50 miles from the center. that will put it right around this band. you are still tracking hurricane-force winds. about a hundred miles off the florida coastline, as it carves its path north of the bahamas and nassau. this is spinning north to northwest here on the motion. it is expected to become very close to the florida if not over the florida coastline overnight tonight. there is the track from the national hurricane center. as a category four storm overnight tonight. and through tomorrow morning. along that coast. of florida here. very important to note, if the eye of the storm gets over land, that is when you would see the worst damage and the most devastating damage. if you can manage to keep that eye off, the winds closer to 130, 140, they would stay just

damage. you will still get damage along the coastline of florida. it wouldn't be that extensive. the all-important eye. it gets dangerously close. no wonder why there has been many evacuations along the coastline. and many preparations taking place. then there is a huge loop next week. high pressure smashes it down to the south. it is not going to come up the coastline. the timing of the hurricane-force winds, 74-plus miles per hour. and again, it will extend about 50 miles to the west here this evening. boca raton and up through cape canaveral and melbourne overnight tonight and into the day tomorrow. tomorrow afternoon. then it starts to bend out to sea. more on the local forecast which includes a pretty good weekend for us coming up. >> sarah: hurricane matthew bearing down on the bahamas. new video of the strong winds ripping through beaches and storm swells surge. a real concern for people living by the water there. the weather channel's

>> reporter: this is nassau, bahamas. the winds are intensifying here. we are expected to get a direct hit right here in the capital of the bahamas. we are already seeing debris come out on the streets. this giant sign that i cannot... i couldn't even lift it up earlier because of the wind. it was pressing that down. and sticking into the ground. big pieces of the roof are coming off. and these are flying around along with the claro the hotel and allowing water to come through. a lot of these hotels are where people are staying. people who are locals here in the bahamas have come to these hotels, either they don't have anywhere to go, they are injured. they are sick. they are elderly. or they are disabled. and they are in the hotel as the tourists have all left. some tourists are staying

airport closed. we also know of some flight crews that are staying in the hotel. because their flights got canceled. so they are going to have to ride this one out. we talked to the prime minister of this nation. he said that despite a national effort to get everybody into safe shelters, hospitals or hotels like this or schools, there are still hundreds of people outlying islands, there are 700 islands here, who have chosen to stay. these are not big structures. these are flimsy homes. and he was very, very concerned for those hundreds of people who are staying behind in what could be one of the most powerful hurricanes they have seen in 80-100 years here in the bahamas. in nassau, now back to you. >> sarah: well, florida is

the people there are questioning ready. some residents have been forced out of their homes and told to evacuate while they still can. we have that part of our coverage now from daytona beach. >> reporter: boarding up. stocking up. and moving out. millions from the sunshine state to the carolinas race to get out of the way as hurricane matthew inches closer and closer to the u.s. >> time is running out. don't take a chance. >> reporter: mandatory evacuations florida through south carolina. >> if you have not evacuated, gas stations are getting ready to close. your pharmacies are getting ready to close. everything is going to leave. >> reporter: along georgia's coast, too. >> a lot of them have seen a lot of these watches or warnings. nothing has really hit here in a while. there may be some complacency. >> if you need to evacuate and you haven't, evacuate. the storm will kill you. >> reporter: in florida, more than 2,000 members of the national guard stand at the

teams prepare across the region. hurricane matthew has already battered the bahamas after leaving a trail of destruction through haiti where the death toll is expected to climb. the strongest storm to threaten the state in more than a decade. >> these catastrophic levels can completely wipe out well-bill homes and destroy neighborhoods. >> reporter: millions bracing for a potentially catastrophic impact as matthew churns in the atlantic. nbc news, daytona beach, florida. hurricane matthew makes a push towards the u.s. track the storm any time at whdh.com. and on our mobile and tablet apps. and we are following a developing story. 7 "t" workers under arrest. officials say they padlocked and blocked exits at the m.b.t.a.'s money room in charlestown. byron barnett is live now in boston with the latest on this story. byron? >> reporter: well, this simmering controversy between

carman's union has finally boiled over with 7 members of the union now under arrest. now, this morning, the m.b.t.a. transit police arrested 7 members of the boston carman's union outside the so-called money room in charlestown. they are charged with unlawful assembly. now, the arrests were made while about 35 picketers protested outside the "t's" money room building to prevent workers and armored cars from entering. the money room is where carman union mb million in "t" fares every year. the union has been resisting the "t's" plan to privatize those duties. today, "t" officials say the protesters jeopardized the safety of the workers inside by padlocking the gates. >> we are here today standing up for our members, protecting our jobs. we are also here for the riders. privatization does not work. there is a lot of examples at the m.b.t.a. where privatization has failed.

riders more money. >> the gate itself was chained and padlocked. first and foremost, our priority is the safety of employees. in this particular case, we had employees that were located inside that revenue collection facility that if an emergency vehicle needed to get in, it wouldn't be aloud. >> we support anybody having the right to picket and protest anything. but it's especially important that the "t" be able to continue to perform people were asked to leave. they chose not to. and as a result, several members were arrested. >> reporter: meantime, the "t" is expected to recommend that a virginia-based company be awarded the money room

that is the latest live in boston, i'm byron barnett, 7 news. soip a health scare in westford. several students at westford academy have tetioned positive for mrsa. >> reporter: westford academy thoroughly cleaned after four students were diagnosed with mrsa or another staph infection. >> you don't hear about it all the time. when it does happen, it is a scary thing. >> definitely concerns me. and i'm wondering what they are going to do about it. >> reporter: the superintendent says extra custodians have been called in to disinfect the school today. >> we will focus on locker rooms and surfaces. gym mats. we have instructed students also with any towels or gym clothing, that they are transporting back and forth school, to thoroughly launder those. >> reporter: three of the students on the football team.

according to the superintendent. he says it is impossible to know where the bacteria came from. a parent called the school yesterday confirming their child has mrsa. three more cases popped up. most parents confident the school will properly handle the rash of infections. >> they will clean up. this happened a few years ago. i think it will be fine. . >> it is not something that's new to us. but we have to treat it responsibly. quickly. and aggressively. to make sure that the bacteria does not spread. e as planned. in westford, jennifer eagan, 7 news. >> sarah: if red sox begin their play-off push tonight. the team will take on the cleveland indians in their first postseason game. nicole oliverio has more on the match-up. hey, nicole. >> reporter: good afternoon, sarah. well, that's right. their first postseason game since winning the world series in 2013. you remember they finished last in the division the past

around. fans were a little bit nervous given the way the season ended. the red sox are ready for october baseball. and despite having one of the best records in the american league, if team says now everything starts anew. >> everything reset. all of the stuff that you did in the regular season doesn't matter anymore. >> reporter: now it is on to cleveland. the sox take on the tribe that has some familiar faces like former players andrew miller and mike napoli. as well as the former manager, terry francona. say they are a little worried after ending the regular season losing five of the last six games and giving up home field advantage. >> we are here now. we want to go to a game today. they should have won a game. three games to win. they couldn't win one. >> a little shaky about it. i'm not going to lie. we were doing so good. and then... i don't know. something happened. we just kind of fell through. i have faith. i love my boys. >> reporter: the red sox hoping pitching remains

will start game one. >> the biggest difference, obviously, the now you are playing against best competition. if you don't win the first three games in the series, you are going home. >> they will win the series in three. >> reporter: in order to do that, they have to win games one and two today and tomorrow. in cleveland. then they return back here on sunday. live from fenway, nicole >> sarah: trey daerr is in cleveland. he will have live reports right here on 7 news. we are just 33 days from the election. donald trump and hillary clinton are preparing for their second face-off. each candidate taking very different approaches to tackling this weekend's debate. just days out from his high-stakes rematch with hillary clinton, donald trump's the touting his running mate's performance in tuesday's vice presidential

>> reporter: sources disputing reports that privately, he was upset about being upstaged by pence. in nevada, publicly, heaping praise on himself for picking pence as a running mate. . >> i'm getting a lot of credit because that is really my first so-called choice. >> reporter: blocks from the white house, at a star-studded fund-raiser, hillary clinton accusing pence of being unable to defend trump. >> i think that tells you everything you need to know. about who is qualified and temperamentally fit to be president. even mike pence doesn't think donald trump is. >> reporter: still, tim kaine concedes he got a little too feisty. >> i got dinged a little bit even by my wife for, like, interrupting too much. okay. but the key part of that debate was at some points, i felt like i was going after donald trump and mike pence kind of was going after trump with me.

priebus and chris christie are taking roles in preparing trump. clinton preparing at her d.c. home. >> she likes the format. she likes answering questions from individual citizens. >> reporter: with clinton pulling ahead in recent polls, both candidates are emphasizing early voting in the ten states already accepting ballots. clinton's top surrogate expanding out across the country. >> oh, did bill clinton blow it. whoa. did he blow it. >> reporter: meanwhile in, an interview with extra, clinton praising her portrayal on saturday night live. >> i'm better than ever. let's do this! >> she was amazing. i wish i could do, you know, the jumps, the slips. the somersaults. i have been working on it. the next debate. >> why not?

debate will be a town hall-style format. today trump has added a town hall event in new hampshire. dan hausle will be live in st. louis as hillary clinton and donald trump face off for the second time on sunday night. catch his live reports right here on 7 news. and coming up on 7 news at noon, a violent attack in oklahoma. employees thrown to the ground as a man with a knife loses control. a driver tearing through the streets of new hampshire. dash cam video rolling as a police c crashing end. we continue to track hurricane matthew. homes demolished and businesses wiped out. cuba is picking up the pieces after matthew spirals through seaside villages. we will continue into the

joe plaia: every three days, someone in new hampshire is killed with a gun. mothers, sons, friends. and yet kelly ayotte continues to play political games instead of making new hampshire safer. when she has the chance to strengthen background checks, she voted no, backing the washington gun lobby instead. then - on a bill to keep suspected terrorists from getting guns, ayotte flip flopped. kelly ayotte's become another typical washington politician and that puts us all at risk. narrator: independence usa pac

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>> sarah: the southeastern coast of the country stocking up on supplies. some places already running low with millions gathering resources and filling up on gas ahead of the storm's arrival later tonight and into tomorrow. and in cue barks residents are clearing streets and hauling away debris after the hurricane swept across the island. cuban officials are scrambling to get aid bridges have blocked their efforts so far. 5,000 people were evacuated to higher ground before the storm. for the latest on the track, let's send it over to chris lambert. this could be the strongest hurricane since 2005? >> chris: it came ashore with 120-mile-per-hour winds with wilma. the last one to hi the united

makes landfall across florida tonight or tomorrow morning. then you go back a year before wilma. and it was hurricane charlie. that was a category four that made its way across the west coast. charlie was a different path, though. it carved its way basically, just to the north of captiva island and went through port charlotte on the west coast. this one has its eye set on the east coast of florida. 150 miles east, southeast of miami now. right now, the winds aren't that strong along the florida coastline. thishu in terms of how compact it is with hurricane charlie back in 2004 here. where you have the concentration of hurricane-force winds and the strongest winds very close to the eye. it hasn't really expanded. you know, sometimes we get these varieties of hurricanes where you have this huge wind field and this massive wind field and convection that overtakes the hurricane. one is a little more concise here. as you continue to watch that

where the eye actually goes. and the strongest winds tend to be on the eastern and northeastern side of the eye wall. so if you can keep that eye, you know, more toward the eastern side of the forecast track, then florida fares a little bit better. still going to be damage. it is still close enough to cause hurricane-force conditions along the coastline. the most problematic track for florida is if that eye carves a path right across the coastline or even, you know, ten miles inland or so. not only strongest winds. you are also driving in the strongest storm surge. that is when off massive amount of damage along the coastline. once again, for the weekend into early next week, kind of does a loop around here as it weakens back into a tropical storm. will we see anything out of it? our impact here is minimal. the reason for that, high pressure and this front basically squashes it off to the south. there is a disconnect. although there will be quite a bit of moisture that works up here ahead of the front. i think it is too little too

you may catch some showers late saturday into saturday night. fast couple could linger into sunday morning across the cape. for the most part, we will be talking about less than half an inch of rain for a lot of us. in the meantime, beautiful weather out there. right? cooler at the coastline today and tomorrow. not by a lot. we are talking about temperatures running into the 7's. away from the coastline. that is a terrific bounce-back after these low temperatures this morning that were down into the 30's. in fact, back up to 68 in norwood right now. 62 in boston. 65 in bedford. there is almost nothing but sunshine to be had herov so beautiful this afternoon. beautiful tomorrow afternoon. it will be cool overnight tonight. just not quite as cool as it was early this morning. mid-6's, coast. low to mid-7's inland this afternoon. the forecast for tonight, clear and comfortable. 42 in the colder suburbs. 58 in boston. there is that 7-day forecast. again, late-day showers and some showers saturday night. otherwise, the weekend looks quiet. it may take a little while to clear in terms of the cloud cover early on sunday morning. we will get there by the

>> sarah: terrifying moments in oklahoma caught on camera. fast man walks into a business and then starts attacking workers with a knife. then he goes further and starts yelling that he is going to kill people. frightened customers inside the store forced band together to fend off this violent intruder. christa delcamp has a closer look. >> christa: a man starts swinging a knife at employ easy at a business. >> he came in screaming and yelling that he was going to kill all of us. the owner. this man, joel walker had been in the store earlier in the day making threats to employees. then about an hour and a half later, he returned. you see a woman running to warn them that he is coming. one employee gets thrown to the floor. several others join in to help fight him offer. police arrested him minutes later outside. police say they believe the

as well over the past couple of weeks. and he now faces assault and battery charges. in the newsroom, i'm christa delcamp, 7 news. >> sarah: still ahead, classified files stolen. the contractor accused of getting his hands on top-secret government documents. and creepy clowns spotted around the country. and now some schools are

ds. when i hear arguments that massachusetts needs more charter schools, i think: what about the students in all of our schools? every new charter takes away more money from the existing public schools. that's 400 million dollars, just last year. we can't afford to drain even more money from our kids' schools because they're already losing so much. i'm not just standing up for my own kids; i'm fighting for yours, too.

>> sarah: a former nsa contractor is in custody, accused of stealing documents from the agency. investigators say the 51-year-old took classified material and stored it in his home and car. and the theft is raising more questions and new fears about national security. federal agents say when they searched the suburban baltimore, maryland house, they found a huge stash of highly classified documents taken from the super secret national secu prosecutors revealed they arrested the home owner, 51-year-old harold thomas martin iii. a contractor who worked for the nsa with a top-secret clearance. he is charged with stealing paymer documents and downloading class fid materials on to portable digital media. martin worked for allen hamilton, the same contractor who employed edward snowden who made off with millions of pages of classified material.

the f.b.i. says it found documents in martin's house created in 2014 well after the nsa said it was working to prevent thefts like snowden's. >> the nsa hold it is crown jewels in the cyber-domain for the u.s. government. it is where cyberand national security meet. if we can't secure that data, then we are in trouble. >> reporter: investigators discovered the latest theft in mid-august when a group called shadow-brokers offered nsa secrets for u.s. officials say the stolen material included programs for hacking into computers used by hostile foreign governments. officials say they don't know how damaging the theft was because they don't know what martin did with the material and whether any of it ended up in the hands of cyberadversaries such as russia, china, or korea. federal officials say martin has been somewhat cooperative. his lawyers say there is no evidence he betrayed his country which they say he served honorably in the u.s.

returning home. why the golden kettle was removed from government center. a marine receiving life-saving surgery. what he did after his incredible double arm transplant. ? at blue cross blue shield of massachusetts, we offer a variety of medicare plans to fit your budget and your lifestyle. with plans starting as low as $0, e zero things stopping you from really doing what you love. so call now to learn more about our plans that offer everything from annual wellness visits to routine hearing and vision exams, and prescription drugs. we have new dental coverage options too. and we even offer plans with no medical deductible and no referrals. plus, all our plans come with the peace of mind that you get when you have a health plan with over 50 years of medicare experience.

that's why we're here. to learn more, contact us for our free medicare guide with no obligations. you can call us at 1-888-800-8813 or visit us at bluecrossma.com/medicareguide. ? special interests that oppose question 2 claim district schools lose money to charter schools. that's "absurd," says the boston herald. "outright lies," reports the lowell sun. charter schools "don't siphon off state dollars" from traditional schools, says the boston globe. in fact, public schools get more money. the truth is question 2 will give parents more choices and result in more funding for public education. please vote yes on question 2.

>> sarah: we are tracking hurricane matthew right now. the storm now a with wind speeds topping off at 140 miles per hour. the hurricane is heading northeast at 14 miles per hour toward florida. and we are keeping an eye on its path as it inches closer to the u.s. we turn to chris lambert now. >> chris: about 150 miles off to the east and southeast. of miami here. it just left nassau, the bahamas in terms of this eye wall.

and west. that puts hurricane-force winds with this band right here still well away from the florida coastline. we say sustained winds of 140 miles an hour. if you are going to find winds at 130, 140, that would be with the northern around northeastern iial... eye wall with the track, too. when the national hurricane center puts out the forecast and you see that line, that is for the eye. you figure, even if this hurricane does track a little bit offshoreyo hurricane-force winds along the coastline. if the hurricane tracks with its eye and eye wall over the coastline, you bring in the hundred-plus-mile-per-hour winds. and that is when you would see the most damage. it is a possibility here, especially getting closer to melbourne and then up through the space coast of florida as we get through the overnight hours tonight and through the day tomorrow. thereafter, it starts to weaken in terms of wind speeds. this will produce flooding rain for south carolina, portions of north carolina, at least in the southeastern portion of the state. and then this kind of bends

in a much weakened state, at. that hurricane-force winds approaching the miami coastline. i should say north of miami. the florida coastline. up toward boca and west palm beach this evening. this will continue to track overnight through the space coast here. then eventually, off to the north and to the east. and to go along with the strong winds will be the storm surge. in terms of coastal flooding. the inundation from the ocean pushing inland. you will not see a whole lot of it down in the miami area. the reason for that is some of the winds are going to be more out of thrt although you get on the northern side of the eye wall, that is where the winds are going to drive in. some of the biggest waves in the storm surge here. now the national hurricane center is worried about a six to nine-foot storm surge. that is a rise in the sea level. that does a lot of damage to coastal communities. there have been a lot of evacuations, stretching across much of east, central, and northern florida.

evacuating their homes, as you said. sarah rosario is in daytona beach. residents are bracing for the worst. >> reporter: boarding up, stocking up, and moving out. millions from the sunshine state to the carolinas race to get out of the way. as hurricane matthew inches closer and closer to the u.s. >> time is running out. don't take a chance. >> reporter: mandatory evacuations extend from florida through south carolina. >> if you have not evacuated to close. your pharmacies are getting ready to close. everything is going to leave. >> reporter: along georgia's coast, too. >> a lot of them seeing a lot of these watches or warnings. and nothing has really hit here in a while. there may be some complacency. >> if you need to evacuate and you haven't, evacuate. this storm will kill you. >> reporter: in fl, more than 2,000 members of the national guard stand at the ready. while swift water rescue teams

hurricane matthew has already battered the bahamas after leaving a trail of destruction through haiti where the death toll is expected to climb. the storm has strengthened to a category four with sustained winds as high as 140 miles per hour or more. as it nears the florida peninsula. the strongest storm to threaten the state in more than a deck kate. >> these catastrophic levels can completely wipe out well-built homes and destroy neighborhoods. >> reporter: millions brace for a potently the atlantic. sarah rosario, nbc news, daytona beach, florida. >> sarah: stay with 7 news. as hurricane matthew makes a push toward the u.s. track the storm any time at whdh.com. and on our mobile and tablet apps. and we are following a developing story. 7 "t" workers have been arrested by transit police. after officials say they padlocked and blocked exits at the m.b.t.a.'s money room in charlestown. those union workers are being

assembly. the workers were at the charlestown facility to speak out against a move to privatize how cash is collected by the transit facility. the money room is where union members currently count about $140 million in "t" fares every year. the protesters set up before dawn to block collection trucks from leaving the facility. a move that the superintendent says was reckless. >> we are here today to stand up for our members, protecting our jocks. riders. privatization does not work. there is a lot of examples at the m.b.t.a. where privatization has failed. and it is going to cost the riders more money. >> the gate itself was chained and padlocked. so first and foremost, our priority is the safety of our employees. in this particular case, we had employees that were located inside that revenue collection facility that if an emergency vehicle needed to get in, it wouldn't be

protest anything. but it's especially important that the "t" be able to continue to perform. in this particular case, people were asked to leave. they chose not to. and as a result, several members were arrested. >> sarah: those arrests were 7 members of the union executive board, including the president of the union. a boy's bedroom in the middle of the night in revere. he was trapped under the car when it plowed through his wall. now he and his father are talking about what it was like. nancy chen has their story. >> nancy: this is the bedroom ten-year-old was sound asleep in when a car rammed through the wall. and hit him in his bunk bed. >> i just opened my eyes. i don't know what's happening. i don't know what happened. >> nancy: he was lodged

>> it felt scary, not safe. i just panicked. my heart was going fast. >> nancy: it was about 1:30 wednesday morning. his dad, a cab driver just got home from work and got down on his knees in the living room to pray. >> all of a sudden, i heard, like, a bomb. >> nancy: he ran into his son's room and tried to get him out from bemete the car. >> he was like, daddy, easy. please. >> nancy: he says crashes are all too common on this stretch of road in revere. he claims three happened in recent weeks. unable to stay in their apartment, they have packed up. his dad is his hero here. he made sure he could walk away unharmed. >> i know he is always there for me. and i know that the second he heard, like, one rumble against the wall, he would charge in before anything

>> nancy: no charges have been filed against driver. in the newsroom, nancy chen, 7 the outside corporate interests bankrolling question two are trying to deceive you. here's the truth: every time a new charter school opens, it drains money from the existing public schools. that's 400 million just last year - according to the state's own data. which means real cuts to our kids - in arts, technology, ap classes, pre-school, bus service and more. that's why question two's opposed by the massachusetts pta

joe plaia: every three days, someone in new hampshire is killed with a gun. mothers, sons, friends. and yet kelly ayotte continues to play political games instead of making new hampshire safer. when she has the chance to strengthen background checks, she voted no, backing the washington gun lobby instead. then - on a bill to keep suspected terrorists from getting guns, ayotte flip flopped.

narrator: independence usa pac is responsible for the content of this advertising. >> sarah: a wild police chase caught on camerin the pursuit winded down back roads in pelham. eventually, coming to a crashing end when the suspect flipped his car. >> reporter: high speeds and high drama on the streets of new hampshire as police say justin soam flips a car in a desperate and unsuccessful effort to outrun an officer. . >> get on the ground right now! on the ground! on the ground!

why did you run? >> i can't speak right now. sorry. reporth the 2-year-old not answering questions after being released from the hospital as to why he was traveling 80 miles per hour on route 38 in pelham. the speed drew the attention of an officer who immediately began the chase. he blew through stop signs and forced other drivers off the road during the pursuit at:40 wednesday mni matter what. >> i'm at 90. i'm not going to increase. >> reporter: it came to an end when he lost control and hit a rock and flipped his car in the next town of windham. >> that was quite the impact. he was flying. he is lucky to be alive. >> reporter: the impact jolted bob from bed. >> i heard a loud bang. it woke me up. so it was... you know, i didn't know what was going on. >> reporter: one reason he may have run? police say he was drunk.

>> that is enough, guys. thank you. >> reporter: the suspect faces charges of reckless operation of a vehicle and dui charges. in pelham, new hampshire, 7 news. >> sarah: a creepy trend becoming more common. clowns stirring up trouble locally and around the country. in rehoboth, a teen was arrested after police say he made threats against dighton-rehoboth regional high in response to the recent clown stories. the teen said it was all a prank. in methuen, a freshman to school and pretended his cell phone was a gun. the "globe" reports he will be charged with disrupting a school assembly. if you have been noticing a lot of reports about incidents involving clowns lately, you are not alone. recent weeks have seen reports concerning clowns pop up across the country. from pranks and hoaxes... law enforcement saying the threats aren't credible. >> it is not funny anymore.

>> i'm going to cut your throat. >> reporter: even an armed robbery in michigan this week. >> i was robbed at walgreen's. he had a clown mask. >> reporter: some schools are sending out warning letters and e-mails. >> we went ahead and sent actually, a message from the superintendent to all staff and to all parents throughout the district. letting them know we are aware of the situation. >> reporter: the issue even making it to the white house. >> local law enforcement agencies are asking the f.b.i and dhs what to do. about creepy clown sightings. i'm wondering if the president is aware of this phenomenon. >> i don't know if the has been briefed on this particular situation. >> reporter: horror novelist writing on twitter, "hey, guys, time to cool the clown his tier yeah. most of them are good. cheer up the kiddies. " a hint of irony from the man who literally wrote the book on fictional murderous clowns.

set to release next year. some wonder if the cluster of clown-related crime and reported sightings could be viral marketing. warner brothers says there is absolutely no connection to the film. >> sarah: some school districts are actually banning clown costumes for the rest of the halloween season. >> chris: all right. the forecast feemps mainly dry weather the chance of a couple of showers saturday, saturday night. more on that and matthew

in new hampshire, maggie hassan cut taxes for small businesses, protected education... created jobs. in washington, what's kelly ayotte done? voted to cut college grants, cut medicare. but kelly ayotte voted to protect tax breaks for millionaires and big oil. that's what the koch brothers and big corporate interests wanted. they're spending millions supporting ayotte. kelly ayotte's not working for us.

>> chris: a very powerful category four now. matthew is making its journey off to the north and west. the eye will pass north of miami. however, you get close to west palm beach and then points north. this is going to be florida coastline. in fact, that is the forecast from the national hurricane center. category four hurricane. paralleling the coastline. either over it or just off to the east of it. regardless, expecting hurricane-force conditions and damage. now, in terms of the winds being 140, 145, the strongest winds reside on the northeast quadrant of the hurricane. so it is important to see where the eye goes. in terms of the absolute impact in terms of the damage here. if it is a little bit farther

as much damage along the florida coastline. there will still be plenty of damage. no question about that. if it moves 10-20 miles inland, you see the strongest winds and the highest storm surge from the hurricane move on-shore. here we go. this is tuesday. an arab area of high pressure shoving this loop off to the south. gets up close to the north carolina coastline. nope. back down there south of us. that high protecting us for the weekend: out ahead of the high pressure, we may catch a couple of saturday, saturday night. i don't expect a lot of rain over the weekend. 62 in boston right now. 68 in norwood. cool start this morning. how about the gorgeous weather we have had the last couple of days. now we continue that today and again tomorrow. in fact, we step it up a couple of notches. temperature-wise. we are in the low 7's today. away from the coastline. by tomorrow, everybody at the coast, in boston, we near 70 before any sea breeze really overtakes the area. then mid to upper 70's inland. it will be a warm friday ahead of us. pleasant weather on friday.

could get some late-day showers in here. most likely overnight on saturday. not lingering into sunday. could be an early-morning shower across the cape on sunday. that should be it. all right. a fun degrees either side of 70 this afternoon. warmest temperatures away from the coastline. clear skies tonight. comfortable weather. a beautiful day tomorrow. a ton of sunshine. low humidity in place. low to mid-7's across the board. coolest at the coastline. we get into the weekend. baseball at fenway park. hopefully, the sox will be comingk games. regardless of whether that is story or not. it looks like it will be breezy out there at fenway. forecast not bad for october standards. with temperatures running into the upper 50's to near 60 degrees. colors beginning to pop. you are noticing this already here down in the boston area. and out through worcester. a modest amount of color here. across the worcester hills. up toward new hampshire. in fact, your get close to peak color up that way. saturday, we could have afternoon showers.

sunday and monday. a little bit cooler by then. overall, a lot of dry weather on the 7-day forecast. >> sarah: coming up, a kitten drops 12 stories to the ground. watch the incredible we heard this growling sound coming from our basement and our heating unit was blowing cold air. but we didn't worry about it, because our plan from homeserve covers costly repairs. a technician came to see if the problem was a loose blower belt or a faulty valve. he fixes all kinds of things like that.

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>> sarah: a former marine sergeant received a double arm transplant back in august. he lost both arms and after stepping on an improvised explosive in afghanistan. in 2010. it is rare 14-hour operation has only been done three times before. he says he is grateful to the anonymous donor for life-changing gift. >> every day they look down at our new arms, i will drive on through the pain. i will never give up. i will remember his selflessness and his gift

>> sarah: congratulations to them. well, if landmark golden steaming kettle set to return to government center later today. crews took it down back in may, you may remember to repair it. they removed some dents from the 227-pound kettle. it used to serve as the landmark for a steeping kettle coffee shop. a starbucks sits underneath the kettle. coming up next, a creative way to try out what a school is now doing. they are using drones to deliver it. >> chris: how about some pizza? a look at the forecast through the weekend.

>> sarah: stunning video of a volcano erupting in hawaii. the water splashing over the rocks. that has been happening since 200. officials say the volcano is communities. take a look at this. a daring animal rescue was caught on camera in singapore. a kitten jumped out of an open window on sunday and got stuck on a ledge. 12 stories high. animal rescue officers were called. in police officers waited below with an open blanket just in case. it took a few tries before the kitten was finally lifted to safety. poor little kitty. hey, favorite story of the day. frozen yogurt can be delivered

some college students in michigan. they are conducting a pilot program. it took about 15 minutes for the drone to make its deliveries on thursday. i don't know about you. i'm obsessed with frozen yogurt. i would love this. >> chris: sounds great. right? leave it to the college students to deliver a way of getting lazy here. right? perfect temperatures mid to upper 70's. low 70's on saturday. if we do get a few showers in here, it would likely be late saturday or saturday night. i don't see a lot of rain over the weekend. >> sarah: thanks, chris. 7 news continues at 4:00. have a great afternoon,

in new hampshire, maggie hassan cut taxes for small businesses, protected education... created jobs. in washington, what's kelly ayotte done?

for millionaires and big oil. that's what the koch brothers and big corporate interests wanted. they're spending millions supporting ayotte. kelly ayotte's not working for us. dscc is responsible for the content of this advertising. i'm maggie hassan, and i approve this message. nothing matters more than our security. that's why i hired more state troopers... and strengthened plans for school safety. support aggressive action to destroy isis... and put our security before my party-- opposing president obama's plan to close guantanamo. narrator: all while kelly ayotte supports reckless and dangerous donald trump. and ayotte skipped nearly half her homeland security committee hearings on border security and drug trafficking.

>> chad: it's good to see you, marlena. >> marlena: thank you. and thank you for seeing me on short notice. i think it's important. >> kate: so you said on the phone call. >> marlena: well, yes, i... i want to talk to you about clyde. i've spoken with the police and the fbi and i filed a preliminar psychological evaluation. >> chad: does it say that he's as psychotic as his son is? >> marlena: well, i didn't really make a diagnosis. mostly, i want to see what he's thinking so we can... so we can figure out what he might do next. >> chad: of course. well, whatever i can do. >> marlena: thank you. what i really want to do is talk to kate. you had a relationship with him. i'd like to talk about the time that you had together. >> kate: well, no wonder you didn't mention this