very heated conversation about the campaign. >> sarah: gronk's latest injury could make or break his professional football career. how long he's out for, who is going to be replacing him, and when he's headed in for back surgery. >> this is 7news "today in new england." >> kris: good morning. 5:00. we finally reached friday. it's a big relief. thanks for waking up with us. i'm kris anderson. >> christa: it's the thin -- finish line we i'm christa delcamp. wren clair has your forecast. >> wren: we're wrapping up your work week with mostly sunny skies. we'll see sunshine and the potential for a couple flurries across the berkshires. most of us will see plenty of sunshine. not a bad forecast. cooler compared to yesterday. temperatures anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees cooler than yesterday at this time. a couple spots closer to 20 degrees cooler than yesterday at this time. you'll want to add a couple layers before you head out the

here's what it's feeling like out there. 23 degrees in worcester. feeling like 33 in norwood. so despite the cool start, we're going to warm up to above average temperatures. plenty of sunshine throughout your day. but you do stay breezy. >> kris: time now for fast track traffic with danielle gersh. it's friday so a lot of happy drivers. >> danielle: a lot of happy drivers, including happy people like me. here's a look outside. not seeing any issues if you're getting ready to head out the door. ten minutes on the expressway braintree to boston northbound there. route 3, 24 and 95 wide open. the pike no issues all the way back the framingham this morning. and you're in good shape on route 2 and route 3. a couple work crews out there, they're wrapping things up as you head into the 5:00 hour. take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door. ten minutes braintree to boston. 12 minutes into town on the pike from 128. and then 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, just 11 minutes this morning. back to you, guys.

a car smashing into the side of a wept worth police officer's cruiser. the officer inside that cruiser had to be rushed to the hospital. >> kris: police arrested one suspect in this case 678 three others managed to get away. jennifer eagan is at the scene with all the breaking details. jen? >> jennifer: kris, good morning. this happened at the intersection of parker street and ruggles street. as you mentioned, the cruiser that was hit belonged to the wentworth police department. this happened around the officer, who was inside at the time, was taken to the hospital by boston e.m.s. as a precaution. minutes earlier there had been a report of shots fired in this area and a car leaving the scene. police say the car that hit that wentworth cruiser matched the description of the car related to that report of shots fired. according to police, there were four people inside the car. they ran from the car after it collided with the wentworth cruiser. one of the suspects was caught. the other three got away. police pulled clothes and shoes

collected evidence for about an hour this morning. again, that officer who was inside the cruiser was taken to the hospital, but he is expected to be okay. live in boss this morning, jennifer eagan, 7news "today in new england." >> kris: breaking story from overnight, man shot inside of a car in dorchester. we're told he suffered severe injuries and was taken to the hospital. it all happened at the intersection of devin and normandy streets. so far no arrests have been made. >> christa: and breaking news out of milton. one person is dead after this seri it happened on brush hill road at cheever street. we're told that car slammed right into a tree. police are still on the scene trying the figure out what caused the driver to lose control. >> kris: happening today, patriots' star rob gronkowski is set to have back surgery later this morning for an injury that will likely sideline him for the rest of the season. gronk's family confirming he is indeed going under the knife in los angeles for a herniated disc.

again. nicole oliverio in foxborough with more on what they're saying and obviously fans' reaction. has to be so disappointing, but our prayers are with gronk. >> nicole: fans did not want the hear gronk was going to have to get surgery and it would mean he's gone for the rest of the season. his teammates wishing him well, but you know the patriots' motto. they say it's just next man up. >> brady takes the snap. has time. steps up. he throws a deep ball for gronkowski, for the 20, out and he can't reel it in. tunnellables to the turf inside the 15. >> nicole: last sunday a seemingly innocent incomplete pass knocked gronk out for the game and now out for the season. >> gronkowski is being taken to the locker room. you wonder if he irritated something. >> that something is gronkowski's back. he's set for surgery to repair a herniated disc today in los angeles. it will be his third operation since college. >> nobody wants gronk not out

every play of every game, but that's not our reality, so we still have a job to do. >> nicole: speaking on westwood 1 radio, tom brady said he talked with gronk, wishing him a speedy recovery. >> it's hard to see people you care about go through injuries, and he's gone through his fair share. but i also know the results that he's had. >> nicole: with gronk gone, martellus bennett will play a bigger role. >> cut someone else's. >> nicole: the patriots said, "we are going to assist rob through his recovery and look forward to him playing football for the new england patriots." while we're deep into the season, keep in mind we didn't have gronk and brady at the beginning of the season, and things still went pretty well for the patriots. nicole oliverio, 7news "today in new england." >> kris: nicole, thanks for the update. patriots' fans know this could be a huge loss for the team.

recover as soon as possible. >> that's a shame. i wish him well. speedy recovery. >> he's just a great player for our team, and we need him. >> it's a bit of a sad day. you don't want anybody getting hurt, especially a key player like him. >> they need to wrap him up in bubble wrap and put him out on the field, always getting hurt, always falling on himself. >> kris: when the patriots give an update on gronkowski's status, you can find out first on whdh.com and 7news phone and tablet apps. >> christa: right now police are investigating a gruesome discovery on the banks of a merrimack river in lawrence. a young man's body found decapitated. he also had no hand. let's go to 7's victoria warren with the latest on this investigation for us. vicki? >> victoria: really a terrible situation out here this morning in lawrence, christa. a dog-walker was walking down near the river yesterday afternoon, and according to

head found nearby. a horrible discovery along the riverbank in lawrence. the essex county district attorney says a man's decapitated body was found, and now a criminal investigation is under way. crime scene investigators combed the area along the merrimack river right off mccabe court. it all started thursday afternoon when the d.a. says a woman out walking her dog called 911 after body. investigators left with bags of evidence and the medical examiner will work to identify the body and exactly how this man died. the d.a. says foul play is suspected. and the district attorney's office says they will not speculate on the identity of this man until after they hear from the medical examiner's office. live this morning in lawrence, victoria warren, 7news "today in

>> kris: now a story you'll see on just one station. officials are still looking for whoever left behind a symbol of hate at a brookline elementary school. school officials say a student drew a swastika on the chalkboard in a classroom at lincoln elementary school last week. teachers in the area are disturbed by that hateful message. >> it's really stunning, sad that it happened. they learned it somewhere. they're reacting t so, you know, i wonder where it came from. >> kris: the brookline public school superintendent released a statement reading in part, "this is a disturbing normalization of hate and speech symbol, but this speech and these symbols are not reflective of who we are as a community in the public schools of brookline." >> christa: and new promises coming from the trump transition. >> we're going to make joint

and the nice part, our victory was so great, we have the house, we have the senate, and we have the presidency. >> christa: the president-elect taking a victory lap, and meantime a post-election forum getting pretty heated at harvard as members of the trump and clinton campaigns get confrontational on stage. let's go to 7's nancy chen in the control room with more on what happened here. nancy? >> nancy: crista, good morning. president-el t new york city planning to meet with possible cabinet members after a busy day in ohio and indiana on thursday. >> thank you to ohio. >> nancy: president-elect donald trump celebrating and promising to make history, but he couldn't quite move beyond the campaign. >> although we did have a lot of fun fighting hillary, didn't we? >> nancy: and then a shocker. the president-elect announcing his pick for secretary of defense. >> we are going to appoint mad

defense. >> nancy: mattis retired in 2014. >> they say he's the closest thing to general george patton we have and it's about time. >> nancy: at the harvard kennedy school of government, tensions high between jennifer palmieri and kellyanne conway during a campaign roundtable discussion. >> the platform that they gave to white supremacists, white nationalists and very important moment in a history of our country, i think as his present si goes forward, i am going to be very glad to be part of the campaign... >> excuse me, she said white supremacist, so i have to follow up. i know it's mentioned a lot on your web site. do you think i ran a campaign that white supremacists had a platform? you going to look me in the eye

the road to the popular vote... >> i premised my statement by saying, that but you can't... >> guy, we won, you don't have to respond. seriously? >> nancy: very heated in cambridge. by the way, the president-elect kicked off his thank you tour in indiana where he announced a deal to keep carrier air conditioning jobs in the united states. that deal will save 1,000 jobs at one factory in indiana, but 700 other jobs will still move to mexico. in the control room, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: much more news ahead here on this friday morning. a shotgun-wielding robber. the dramatic video police hope will help catch the criminal. >> kris: then parking in certain sports in the city are going to cost you pretty pennies. why lawmakers, where they're looking to raise meter rates. >> christa: and next a sixth grader who wants to help earthquake survivors in her small country. what she did that really makes this week's class act stand out. >> wren: and to our northwest, a little snow out that way.

>> danielle: a quiet start on the roads so far for your friday morning commute. ten minutes from braintree to boston. both the "t" and commuter rail running on [ bell clangs ] celebrate the holidays with delicious dunkin' coffee. stop by dunkin' donuts for two k-cup boxes for $15.99 or 3 pounds of packaged coffee for $19.99.

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be joyful. be together. celebrate joy with dunkin's holiday-flavored coffees, espressos, and donuts. america runs on dunkin'. >> kris: literally leave work and go walking in a winter wonderland. city hall plaza being transformed into a winter wonderland today. s be winter will open ceremony, but people will have to wait another day the try out that large skating path they're putting. there inklemm weather has forced organizers to delay that opening. the large skating rink will open beginning tomorrow. >> christa: it's like our version of rockefeller center. >> kris: it's pretty neat. >> christa: we just need a little snow now. >> kris: or at least seasonal temperatures. it was pretty warm. >> wren: pretty warm? it was almost 60 degrees. unbelievably warm for this time

temperatures. we're about 15 to 20 degrees cooler than yesterday at this time. even though it does feel significant cooler, we're still above our average high. so mild again today, but a few dress cooler than yesterday. we kind of fall off a couple degrees here every day enter the weekend enter your sunday forecast, which will be significantly cooler. right now predominantly clear skies throughout eastern massachusetts. more cloud cover as you head into the west. and this is going to be the trend this morning. we'll see a mixture of sun and clouds into the day, of that will stay to our west. what i'm talking about is flurries and higher terrain, berkshires. but for most of us in southern new england, we'll talk about flurries and sunshine. cooler air in the upper midwest. mid-30s. they've been keeping up with us in terms of temperatures and above average temperatures until just recently. now significantly cooler. highs in the low 40s in detroit and again a wintry mix in upstate new york. we are looking at dry skies. so here's what's bringing that wintry mix, some snow, some flurries to our northwest.

and a little energy out ahead of that is touching off flurry activity. some of these flurries could push into the berkshires, but for all of us, we're seeing sunshine. and we're not going to see those flurries headed our way headed into eastern massachusetts. temperatures in the upper 40s for us today. again above our average highs, well above our average highs, which are now in the mid-40s. but you can see we gradually taper off, and by monday, a lot of us struggle to reach into the low 40s. so what's going to make thing feel a bit cooler here through the next couple d we're still dealing with a breezy start to the day. some gusts up to around 22mph on block island and p-town dealing with gusts up to around 30mph right now. we'll see more widespread gusts as you head into the rest of the day and our winds still out of the west between 10 and 20mph. temperatures are comfortable for us today again in the mid-40s. some of us getting close to 50 degrees. we'll see mostly sunny skies into tomorrow, and we this stay breezy, as well. for today, again, watch out for

trend mild overall, but a couple extra layers today, and it's breezy into tomorrow, but we keep things sunny. by sunday night we could see a couple flurries into monday morning, but no accumulation expected there. >> kris: this morning we're excited to introduce you to an outstanding student who is helping others overseas. >> christa: she's in sixth grade. she's from east boston. she had a vision and her plan came together so perfectly. she's this morning's class act. mckay school has a lot of heart, and one student in particular is going above and beyond to help people in need. so is this the entire school or just sixth grade? >> sixth grade. >> christa: awesome. today we're here to honor a young woman in the sixth grade who has done so much work to help the people of ecuador recover from the earthquake. you probably all know who i'm talking about. her name is rachel feliz. rachel feliz is a student with a

earthquakes in april, rachel wanted to do something. >> in ecuador they had a lot of earthquakes, and i thought that was pretty bad. i wanted to help them, because i saw pictures of kids getting stuck under buildings or kids being hurt. >> christa: so rachel and her friends drew up posters, and they collected clothes and sent them to earthquake survivors with the help of the red cross. >> because it makes me happy to help others. >> she came to me not only with the she had everything written out. >> christa: rachel also collected money by asking students to dress down at a school where uniforms are the norm. kids showed up in clothing from their family's countries. >> a lot of people wanted to join and do it. so we got a lot of money for it. >> christa: and a lot of countries were represented. >> probably like 50 countries. i'm not sure. >> wearing things that represented their countries or their culture, wherever they're from, was really meaningful.

ecuador, rachel showed kindness in a time of need, something that her friends in easts be know all about. >> she's really caring. she has always been different. >> christa: what a sweetheart. she says when she grows up she's far narduzzi row -- narrowed down what she wants to be to three things -- an astronaut, a businesswoman or a doctor. >> kris: three good choices. if you know a student between 6th and 12th grade doing something outstand, look we just saw here, please until indicate them. go to whdh.com. we want to hear all about them. >> christa: coming up, a veteran ambushed inside of his own home. he's tied up and tased by three masked men who ran off with his valuables. now neighbors are concerned with why he was targeted. >> sarah: first up, some good news for the patriots' family. which player is now the father

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>> and now time for 7 ports with joe amorosino. >> joe: good morning. it's now more than likely we've seen the last of rob gronkowski this season. the patriots' all-pro tight end is set for surgery on a herniated disc today in los angeles, a procedure that will knock him out for at least eight weeks. gronk suffered the injury against the jets. he's now headed down a familiar path. it's his third back surgery sinceol before, the team and gronkowski family tackling the issue together at this point, issuing a statement that reads in part, "we do not expect that he will be able to play for the remainder of the 2016 season. but we will await the results of tomorrow's surgery before making a final determination. we're committed to assisting rob throughout his recovery and look forward to his return to playing football for the new england patriots." bruins got a goal from torey

to tie it with the hurricanes last night. after a scoreless overtime, david pastrnak makes sure the garden faithful head home happy. what a move in the skills contest, undressing cam ward. bruins win it 2-1 in a shoot-out. and the celtics back at the garden tonight, trying to get back in the win column, hosting demarcus cousins and the kings. i'm joe amorosino, that's sports, have a great day. >> kris: the major league all-star game is no longer going to determine which league gets home-field advantage in the now the team with the better record will have the extra home game in the fall classic. the change is part of the new collective bargaining agreement. the all-star game had decided home-field advantage for the past 13 years. >> christa: patriots' wide receiver julian edelman is celebrating a milestone. he's now officially a father. >> kris: congratulations to jules. edelman flew out to los angeles to be with the mother, swedish model ella rose. the child's name is lily.

ounces. edelman isn't in a relationship with ella rose, but tmz reports the two remain on good terms. teammates are happy to hear this good news. >> we're really happy for him, and he's going to do great. >> you know any good children's books that you can gift wrap for julian? >> i gave him, "hey, a.j.," saturday, but there are a ton of awesome books out there. >> christa: the book martellus bennett wrote was his own. edelman can read his own children's book to his daughter. >> kris: more entertaining than the playbook. coming up, a massachusetts lawmaker wants to change up halloween. we'll tell you how she wants your kids to go trick-or-treating every year. >> christa: his attempted act of terror changing airport security for everyone. why richard reid is now due back if court. >> kris: a local store clerk

. >> kris: breaking news from overnight, the search is on for suspects who took off after a police cruiser was hit in boston. >> christa: and armed robbers rushing in, pointing a shotgun in the face of a store clerk this morning. people are fed up with this type of violence in their community. >> kris: new high-tech eye in the sky set the take flight over the bay state. how police will use a fleet of drones. >> christa: and ary how a group of boys from iraq made it to the top of charts. we'll sit down with the original members of new edition and talk about their movie. >> christa: good morning everybody on this friday. thank you for waking up us with. i'm christa delcamp. >> kris: and i'm kris anderson. we want to get a check of your forecast, not just for friday, but the whole weekend is ahead of us. >> christa: wren, a lot of pressure. >> wren: i think i can take it because this forecast is

we're starting to filter in some cooler air. we have low pressure the our northwest. that will usher in cooler air. bit bihi temperatures will fall through the next couple days. we're starting out cooler, 10 to 20 degrees cooler than yesterday at this time. so hats and mittens not a bad idea at all. feeling like 23 degrees in worcester. 32 degrees in nashua. 32 degrees in plymouth. definitely cooler than yesterday, but our highs are going to still trend mild. so despite starting out cool, we're talking about above-average temperatures again close to 50. well, it's not that it's still going to be above average. get outside and enjoy some of this sunshine and mild conditions. we're going to continue to drop off in the temperature department. i'll take a closer look ahead. >> christa: let's go right over to danielle gersh with this morning's fast track traffic. >> danielle: happy friday, everyone. it's not too bad out there. let's go to the maps. braintree to boston northbound there. only going to take you about ten minutes. south of town, not seeing any issues on route 3, 24 and 95.

back to framingham. and then route 2 and 3 looking good. 93, no issues all the way back the 495. if you're headed into town on route 1. you are in good shape. take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door. just ten minutes braintree to boston northbound there. 12 minutes into town on the pike from 128. and 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, 11 minutes. the "t" and commuter rail both running on schedule. back to you, guys. >> kris: we're following breaking news. police are src was hit by a car in boston. investigators say four people took off after hitting the cruiser right near wentworth institute of technology. one suspect was taken into custody. the officer inside that cruiser was taken to the hospital, but he is expected to be okay. the day's other top stories this morning. an autopsy will be performed on a decapitated body discovered on the banks of the merrimack river in lawrence. police say a woman was out walking her dog yesterday afternoon when she found this body.

cause of death. it seems likely now that the patriots' star tight end rob gronkowski is going to be out for the rest of the season. he is set to have surgery on a herniated digs, in his back today. the all-pro tight end suffered the injury early in sunday's win over the jets. gronk is expected to be out of action for at least eight weeks. >> christa: an armed robbery caught on camera in lowell. masked men storm in and point a gun in a clerk's face, and they demand cash, and then they took off. this morning police are still out thererc will rest go over to 7's nancy chen with more on the story. nancy? >> nancy: christa, this liquor store was robbed wednesday night. customers say they have never heard of anything like this happening there before. this surveillance video shows two armed robbers breaking into a liquor store with guns drawn. one robber in a black-and-white scream mask moves toward the register to demand cash. the other suspect wearing a black mask waves around a sawed-off shotgun and points it at another employee, pushing him

like that in my entire life ever over here. this is a safe neighborhood. >> christa: police say none of the employees was hurt, but robbers did get away with some cash. >> it's too many weapons. too many weapons. too many drugs, fentanyl, everything. >> less than an hour later, another clerk saw two men dressed in black wearing white "scream" masks by a dumpster. investigators believe they are the same t say the men who run the liquor store are good people who don't need this. >> these are my friends. you know, i've known the guy for a long time. that's ridiculous. >> the liquor store is back open, but police are still searching for those two suspects. nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> kris: police are searching for three suspects after an alarming home invasion in brockton. a 71-year-old navy veteran came home and found three masked men waiting to rob him.

terrorized him with a taser. officials say the invaders got away with old silver coins and left the man tied up for hours before he got free and called 911. >> i'm stunned. i don't know. i mean, look at the neighborhood. it isn't someplace you'd come to rob as far as i can see. >> kris: friends of this veteran who see him at the home say they see him at the same doughnut shop every day and he's the type the bounce back and he's going to be okay. >> christa: police in sharon fired outside the econo lodge hotel. somebody staying at the hotel called police saying they heard gunshots. so when officers arrived, they found bullet cases and a weapon nearby. police are still searching for the shooter right now. massachusetts state police will be unveiling their new drone. the drone will be able to used to survey and photograph scenes as troopers investigate accidents on state highways. the cost here, about $18,000.

eventually have a fleet of these unmanned aerial vehicles. >> kris: state lawmakers have approved new safety rules when it comes to duck boats. this comes after the april accident where a 28-year-old woman was killed while riding a scooter near boston common. the measure requires all duck boat operators to separate responsibility between driver and the tour guide. the bill now heads to governor baker's desk. the cost to park in the back bay and the seaport district is expected to jump significantly next month. according to drivers will have to pay $3.75 per hour to park in the back bay and up to four hours per hour in the seaport district. right now the rate at the parking meter is $1.25. the higher rates are being tested in hopes of opening up more stations. >> christa: and classes at some boston schools may start at different times next year as administrators hope to save money on busing. according to the "globe," officials are considering making the changes so that there is an even distribution of when schools open, which would allow

current start times are 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30. okay. how would you like it if halloween was always on a saturday? one selectman in massachusetts is trying to get the town of pembroke on board with that plan. the selectman has also filed a bill the change the official day of the halloween in the state to the last saturday in october. he says that this is so parents don't have to worry about trick-or-treating on a school night and so authorities can better prepare for >> kris: a boston police officer honored for helping to stop a robbery in roxbury last month. the officer received the commissioner's commendation award, a special award for recognition from the boston credit union. police say the officer confronted a suspect after he walked in wearing a mask, forcing him to run out of the building. officers eventually tracked down that suspect and took him enter custody. >> christa: still ahead on 7, a scary situation as bank customers are held hostage. how two of the hostages helped

standoff. >> kris: damaging tornadoes ripping through the south, the destructive winds caught on camera. >> christa: and a puppy, i've seen this happen, bless this dog. is he really house trained? oh, no. >> wren: and wintry temperatures to our north and northwest? are they headed our way? that answer coming up. >> danielle: it's a quiet start so far this morning on the roads. here's a look at route 1 behind me. this is as you make you way througau both the "t" and commuter rail running on schedule so far this morning. visit a place where siblings become friends, parents become kids,

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the holidays just got more surprising. you can find these great gifts and more in the crayola aisle. each sold separately. >> kris: trending today, an eager beaver causing problems in a dollar store in maryland. there's the little fell lamp police say it was looking at artificial christmas trees before getting upset and knocking those boxes over. animal control was able to capture the beaver. they eventually released it back into a wildlife rehabilitation area. >> christa: looking for good deals, just like you, kris. a jailbird mugshot going viral. you have to see this. if you're away from the tv right now, come and look. a man in oregon taking a picture

a release order. police say one of the man's friends will take care of the bird while he's in jail. a first for everything. >> kris: i have never seen it. >> christa: look at the expression on his face and the bird's. >> kris: the bird looks embarrass. a responsible puppy cleans up his own mess. he put down the toilet paper after he had an uh-oh. his owner says he was so impressed by what he saw, he wasn't upset. the puppy is so popularow probably more followers than both of us. >> christa: probably. we have lots to get to this morning, including know and go. david ortiz has his own version of the ugly christmas sweater, but it's not for everyone's eyes. we'll have a look at it. >> reporter: and a police officer's cruiser hit in boston. some of the suspects got away. we'll have that story coming up. >> kris: also, did one of the biggest names in country music jump off stage to punch a fan?

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>> christa: good morning, everybody. 5:45 if you're waking up on this friday. it's time to get all the information you need the start off your morning. >> kris: we'd love some weather information that includes temperatures like we saw yesterday afternoon. it was beautiful. >> wren: i know. 60 degrees for december 1st. we warmed up to 57 in boston,

degrees. we're doing a turnaround here. temperatures are much cooler than yesterday morning. actually 15 to 20 degrees cooler than yesterday morning at this time for some of us. 29 degrees currently in bedford. that's what it's feeling like when you factor in the winds. 31 in boston. as we head into the rest of your day, we stay breezy similar to yesterday. low pressure camped to our northwest will continue to filter in some cool air for us here through the next couple days. this is also touching off some flurries to our west. that could bring some flurries to the berkshires, and some highway 91. but most of us are seeing a mixture of sun and clouds throughout the day and very comfortable weather when you notice that we're talking about temperatures in the upper 40s. which is well above our average highs. average highs are in the mid-40s for us. as we head into the rest of the week, your weekend, excuse me, we'll be below average for the first time in a while. a mild friday, gorgeous. still breezy out there, wind gusts up to around 20, 20mph. we add on some cloud cover

terrain, worcester hills. the berkshires potentially seeing a couple flakes with temperatures in the mid-30s for most of us. low 30s in worcester. as you head into the weekend, take a look at forecast. plenty of sunshine. temperatures starting to drop off, though. so by tomorrow, we're closer to average. and as we head into sunday, we're actually below average. into the next couple days as we head into next week, a lot of us will struggle to reach 40 degrees by monday. i think we could see some flurries in your monday forecast. accumulation, though, not concerning. >> kris: clear morning skies going to help with that friday morning commute. >> danielle: it's really quiet out there so far this morning, kris. here's a look at the expressway. things starting to slow down. not watching any crashes at the molt. good news. there let's go to the maps. braintree to boston going to take you about 21 minutes slowing down around the split braintree split. route 24, slow and go traffic as we try to make your way through brockton. route 3 and 95 not looking too bad. the pike pretty much wide open all the way back the framingham this morning. route 2 and 3 looking good.

heading into town on route 1-rbg you're in good shape. take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door. 20 minutes braintree to boston northbound on the expressway. 12 minutes into town on the pike from 128. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, just 11 minutes. the "t" and commuter rail both running on schedule. back to you, guys. >> christa: let's get right to some breaking news on this friday morning. a car smashing into the side of a police cruiser in wentworth, and the officer inside that cruiser was taken to the suspect. three others managed to get away. jennifer eagan is live at the scene with breaking details. jen, what's the latest? >> jennifer: well, kris, this happened around 1:30 a.m. at the corner of ruggles street and parker street. as you mentioned, the cruiser that was hit did belong to the wentworth police department. the officer who was inside at the time was taken to the hospital by boston e.m.s. just as a precaution, though. minutes earlier there had been a

scene. police say the car that hit the wentworth cruiser matched the description of the car related to the report of shots fired. now, according to police, there were four people inside that car. they ran from the car after it collided with the webt worth cruiser. one of the suspects was caught,ing the other three managed to get away. police pulled clothes and shoes out of the suspect's car and collected other evidence for about an hour or so this morning. the officer who was inside that cruiser was taken to the hospital, but just as a precauti. jennifer eagan, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: right now patriots' star rob gronkowski is gearing up for back surgery later on today. he'll likely be sidelined for the rest of the season. let's get right out to 7's nicole oliverio in foxborough with reaction from his teammates now. nicole? >> nicole: well, christa, of course teammates are wishing him well, but you know the patriots' motto, you know the next man up, do your job.

that he's likely going to be out for the rest of the season. this as gronkowski is set to have surgery today on a herniated disc. that surgery happening in los angeles. gronkowski is expected to be out of action for at least eight weeksment as a result, martellus bennett is set to once again be the team's primary tight end. >> martellus, does your job change appreciably when gro >> no, i mean, i've been doing the same thing all year, so my job is my job. you know, there's a lot of weapons on this team, and we play well together. so whoever is out, there we're going to go out there and play with whoever it is. >> of course, gronkowski has had several serious injuries during his playing career here with the pats. in 2013 he was out for the rest of the season after tearing

he broke his forearm in 2012 and reinjured it in the playoffs. the year before that he suffered an ankle injury in the a.f.c. championship game. clearly he went 100% in the super bowl loss to the giants some this is going to be the third back surgery that gronk has had since college. the team and his family releasing a joint statement saying they're going to focus on his recovery and eventual return to the patriots. we're live at gillette, nicole oliverio, 7news "today in new england." brockton when a murder suspect gets uncooperative with officers. after this scuffle, 18-year-old frantz polynice hid behind a wall in the courtroom. he's pleaded not guilty to murdering his mother. police say he stabbed his mother to death inside of the family's home on merritt avenue. investigators say the 44-year-old victim was stabbed as many as 15 times with a kitchen knife.

also in the house at the time but was able to get away and call neighbors for help. the district attorney says that it's unclear why polynice attacked his mother but he's currently being held without bail. >> christa: a westport senior health official stepping down following that town's animal cruelty scandal. this comes days after residents called for the resignation of all the town's health officials. the departing official admitted to conducting animal inspections on the farm, even though he was in the licensed to do so. he's the first person now to step down since living in deplorable conditions back in july. the trial date has been set for rachelle bond, the mother-of-murdered toddler bella bond. her trial is set to start february 22nd. prosecutors say bond's boyfriend is the one who killed bella, and the pair allegedly disposed of the little girl's body, which was later found on deer island last year. >> kris: the convicted shoe bomber is asking a federal judge to declare him bankrupt.

richard reid wrote a handwritten note saying he with cannot pay more than $250,000 he was fined. he was sentenced to life in prison after trying to light his boots that were packed with explosives on board a flight. that flight had to be diverted to logan after passengers were able to subdue him. >> christa: an armed robber behind bars after an intense hostage situation inside a bank in jacksonville, florida. police say the 23-year-old threatened to kill 11 people inside the bank if police did not bring him money. swat teams were able to storm inside after two hostages who were hiding in the bank tried to escape and distractedded the gunman. >> kris: the national weather service has confirmed four tornadoes hit the atlanta area wednesday afternoon. surveillance video is what you're looking at here showing the strength of that storm system. strong winds knocked down trees and this tree in particular, the one you'll see in this video, landed on a school. no injuries fortunately were reported. >> christa: and a fan foul at

concert. luke bryan was caught on video punching a fan at a charity concert in nashville, tennessee. you can see bryan stops to talk with someone in the audience and then steps down and apparently throws the punch. a statement from bryan's team says the fan was making obscene gestures. >> kris: the original member of the '80's boy band new edition sitting down with 7news to talk about their new miniseries. they're coproducersf edition story" which will premier in january. it traces their journey from their childhood growing in roxbury's orchard park to a band. >> we come from such humble beginnings. these are places you're not supposed to be able to make it out of. the deck is kind of stacked against you.

night of the miniseries. takes us back a while, doesn't it? >> christa: a few decades. >> kris: a lot of great hits. david ortiz is selling his christmas sweaters for a good cause. the sweater has an illustration of the red sox former d.h. wearing a christmas hat and also plays off his famous line from his speech at fenway park following the marathon bombings. the proceeds will be donated to the david ortiz children's fund, which is his main focus now that baseball is in the rearview mirror. >>is usually it's your grandma that gets those ugly sweaters. i don't think we'll be getting those for her. >> wren: no. today a nice end to the work week. mostly sunny skies for most of us. more cloud cover as you head west of 91. temperatures in boston in the upper 40s. breezy today and tonight. we add on a couple clouds as we head into tonight. we're looking at the chance for flurries in the berkshires and the worcester hills. most of us looking at cooler temperatures and breezy conditions. >> christa: much more ahead. a key pats' player headed into

>> kris: and a dismembered body found along the banks of a river in lawrence. we'll have the latest on the investigation. >> christa: and an officer sent to the hospital after a car slams into the side of his

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>> kris: breaking news. a cruiser hit in boston. suspects taking off. police searching for them right now. >> christa: a patriots tight end down and out. >> he's the backbone of the team. he's there for us. >> the rest of the team got to step up. >> christa: the pats' roster taking a blow with rob gronkowski scheduled for

found in lawrence. police working to identify the remains. >> christa: and sounding off at harvard. >> you think i ran a campaign where white sue prem sitses had a platform in you going to look me in the face and tell me that? >> it did, kellyanne, it did. >> christa: former campaign staff getting heated after the election. >> kris: and julian edelman adding the word "dad" to his duties. >> this is 7news "today in new england." >> christa: good morning, everybody. we have officially made it to friday. i'm christa delcamp. anderson. all eyes are on the skies because yesterday absolutely beautiful. any time you can reach 60 on december 1st you're in good shape. >> christa: it was so bright and sunny and beautiful. >> wren: i love that weather. >> christa: i'm with you. >> wren: very, very mild. today will be cooler. for your little one, load them up with hats and gloves because it is cooler this morning and for some of us more significantly cooler. more on that in a second here. by lunchtime, temperatures are about average in the mid-40s.

their way home from school. not a bad forecast. plenty of sunshine in the forecast, as well. here's a look at who is cooler. and you can see to our southeast, across the cape and the islands, much cooler this morning. 24 degrees cooler than yesterday at this time in plymouth. here's what it's feeling like outside, feeling like the mid-20s in worcester, low 30s in jaffrey, and 33 degrees in new bedford. highs today will be more mild and again we're seeing more sunshine once we start to see some sunshine here. back to you, guys. >> kris:ka >> just your typical friday morning on the expressway, kris. not watching any accidents, good news here. it is slow. let's get to the maps, braintree to boston northbound. that will take you 24 minutes. a little slowing on the braintree split on 128 southbound there and route 24 northbound back to brockton. the pike really wide open all the way back the framingham. good news there, routes 24 and 3 looking good, 93 a little slowing investigate traffic not too bad. you're in good shape heading

take a look at those drive times as you head out the door. 24 minutes on the expressway. 12 minutes into town on the pike from 128. 93 southbound, 128 to the zakim bridge, also 12 minutes. the "t" and commuter rail both running on schedule. back to you, guys. >> kris: breaking news up first this morning. a wentworth institute of technology police officer had to be taken to the hospital after a cruiser crashed. police say a car slammed right into his cruiser and four people inside took off. >> christa: so far authorities them. let's go live to jennifer eagan with more on what happened. jen? >> jennifer: christa, the search continues this morning for other people who ran from the car earlier this morning. this happened around 1:30 this morning. right here at the corner of parker street and ruggles street. now, that cruiser, as you mentioned, blocked to a wentworth police officer. the officer inside at the time was taken to the hospital by boston e.m.s. just as a precaution, though. minutes earlier there had been a report of shots fired in this

police say the car that hit the wentworth cruiser matched the description of the car related to the reports of shots fired. according to police, there were four people inside that car. they ran from the car after it collided with the wentworth cruiser. one of the suspects was caught. the other three got away. police pulled clothes and shoes out of the suspect's car and collected evidence for about an hour or so overnight. again. the officer who was inside the wentworth police cruiser was taken to the hospital just as a precaution, though. we're live in boston this morning, j "today in new england." >> christa: breaking news out of milton today, a deadly crash on brush hill road at cheever street. we're told that a car slammed into a tree and caught fire and two people in that car died right there at the scene. a third survived and is now being treated at boston medical center. it's in the clear exactly what caused that crash. >> kris: braking overnight, a man has been shot inside a car in dorchester. he suffered severe injuries

it all happened on devin and normandy streets. right now we want to turn our attention to the patriots. more specifically, pats' tight end rob gronkowski, who is getting set for surgery in the latest injury of this sideline star's career. this one is going to have big 87 out for a while. >> christa: he's in jeopardy of missing the rest of the season. let's head out live to gillette. here's 7's nicole oliverio with more. >> nicole: it seems unlikely he'll return this season. that includes the postseason. his family and team releasing there's going to be surgery today, and they're going to focus on his recovery. >> brady takes the snap. has time. steps up. he throws a deep ball for gronkowski, for the 20, reaching out and he can't reel it in. tumbles to the turf inside the 15. >> nicole: last sunday a seemingly innocent incomplete pass knocked gronk out for the game and now out for the season. >> gronkowski is being taken to the locker room. you wonder if he irritated something.

the patriots' tight end set for surgery to repair a herniated disc today in los angeles. it will be his third operation since college. >> nobody wants gronk not out there. everybody wants gronk out there every play of every game, but that's not our reality, so we still have a job to do. >> nicole: speaking on westwood 1 radio, tom brady said he talked with gronk, wishing him a speedy recovery. >> it's hard to see people you care about go through injuries, and he's gone through his fair share. but i al he's had. >> nicole: with gronk gone, martellus bennett will play a bigger role. >> i got to make sure i'm ready to play. the only thing i can do is control what's going on with my body, cut my grass before i cut someone else's. >> nicole: in a joint statement, the patriots and gronkowski family said, "we're committed to assisting rob through his recovery and look forward to his return to playing football for the new england

of course, this isn't what pats' fans want the hear, but the patriots always say, next man up. they'll focus on what they need to do to win. live from gillette, nicole oliverio, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: talk about the fans now. they know this could be a major loss for the team. they're hoping gronk will recover as soon as possible. >> that's a shame. i wish him well. speedy recovery. >> he's just a great player for our team, and we need him. >> it's a bit of a sad day. you don' hurt, especially a key player like him. >> they need to wrap him up in bubble wrap and put him out on the field, always getting hurt, always falling on himself. >> christa: so when the pats gave an update on gronk's status, you can find out first on whdh.com and on the 7news phone and tablet apps, as well. >> kris: developing this morning, investigators working to identify a dismembered body found near the merrimack river in lawrence. we want to head out live to 7's victoria warren. obviously a lot of questions

it truly was a terrible discovery right here along the merrimack river, a person out walking their dog, discovered this decapitated body, the head found nearby. >> a horrible discovery along a riverbank in lawrence, the essex county district attorney says a man decapitated's body was found, and now a criminal investigation is under way. crime scene investigators combed the area along the merrimack river right off mccabe court. it all started thursday afternoon when the d.a. says a woman out walking her dog called 911 after coming across the body. investigators left with bags of evidence and the medical examiner will work to identify the body and exactly how this man died. the d.a. says foul play is suspected. and the district attorney's office says they will not speculate on the identity of

from the medical examiner's office. live this morning in lawrence, victoria warren, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: now to a story you'll see on just one station. officials are looking for the person who left behind a symbol of hate at an elementary school in brookline. school first say they do know that it was a student who drew a swastika on the chalkboard in a classroom at lincoln elementary school last week. teachers in the area are disturbed by that message. >> it's really stunning that... it's sad that it happened. they learned it somewhere. they're reacting to something, so, you know, i wonder where it came from. >> christa: the brookline public school superintendent relaced a statement that reads in part, "this type of incident is reflective of a disturbing normalization of hate speech and symbol, but the speech and these

who we are as a community in the public schools of brookline." >> christa: a bit of a victory lap for the trump transition team. the president-elect was in ohio on thursday where he was thanking voters for delivering him a big win. but members of his campaign were at harvard where some tempers were flaring in a conversation with hillary clinton campaign leaders. let's get over to nancy chen with more on what they had to say. >> nancy: kris, good morning. some of the biggest names behind the scenes taking center stage last night as the president-elect shocked a crowd announcement. >> thank you to ohio. >> nancy: president-elect donald trump celebrating and promising to make history, but he couldn't quite move beyond the campaign. >> although we did have a lot of fun fighting hillary, didn't we? >> nancy: and then a shocker. the president-elect announcing his pick for secretary of defense. >> we are going to appoint mad dog mattis as our secretary of

2013 after serving as the commander of the u.s. central command. >> they say he's the closest thing to general george patton that we have, and it's about time. >> nancy: at the harvard kennedy school of government, tensions high between clinton campaign aide jennifer palmieri and trump campaign manager kellyanne conway during a campaign roundtable discussion. >> the platform that they gave to white supremacists, white very important moment in a history of our country, i think as his present si goes forward, i am going to be very glad to be part of the campaign that tried to stop him. >> jen, do you think -- >> sorry. >> no. it's mentioned on your web site, too. do you think i ran a campaign where white sue prem sitses had a platform. you going to tell me that? >> it did, kellyanne, it did. >> conway on the defensive. >> there was nothing that said

statement by saying, that but you can't... >> guys, we won, you don't have to respond. seriously? >> nancy: obviously a very, very heated evening in cambridge. cnn will air the entire roundtable discussion over the weekend. in the newsroom, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: all right, nancy. thank you. it's 6:11. this morning thieves taking off. a shocking surveillance video of two suspects barging into a store armed with a long gun. >> kris: this is really neat here. up on city hall plaza. not every attraction is ready to go on day one. >> christa: and get ready to meet today's class act.

>> kris: another cool thing you can do downtown, a winter wonderland is set to be unveiled at the downtown plaza today. it will feature a large ice skating rink, there chocolate fountain, giant nut crackers, chocolate fountains. did i say that twice? for good reason. >> christa: you had me at "chocolate fountains." >> kris: that ring is not opening until saturday because of mother nature. the war we're not complaining, though. >> christa: absolutely. a little snow would make things more festive, only on christmas, though. >> wren: we're looking at more mild weather here today, not quite as warm as yesterday. still breezy and above average. we lost a lot of cloud cover. it's significantly cooler this morning, especially across the cape and the islands and the south shore. the north shore similar to yesterday but all in all cooler start for us. more cloud cover west of highway 91. that's going to be the trend

northwest. that's going to continue to fitter in some cooler air into southern new england. we're already seeing that cooler air this morning. it's breezy today. similar to yesterday. the high pressure moves in as we head into your weekend, though. we're looking at very comfortable and seasonable temperatures into tomorrow. today we're slightly above average if not close to average. by tomorrow we start to be below average. we're certainly below average as we head into your sunday forecast. 46 the high in boston. close the 50 in plymouth. close to 50 in hyannis. you can see as we head into a few degrees. 39 the high in bedford. 38 in worcester. here in boston, we're looking at temperatures in the low 40s. and as we head into monday, more of us struggle to reach the low 40s. here's a look at our overall temperature trend. you can see we're falling off a couple degrees each day. today was a big jump for us. yesterday a lot of us got close to 60 degrees inch boston we reached 57 degrees. we're certainly going to be cooler than that. our average highs are in the mid-40s some we're actually going to be below average as we

for us. today highs aren't going to be bad at all. plenty of sunshine. partly sunny skies. further west more of a mixture of sun and clouds, but as you head east of worcester county, i think most of us are dealing with mostly sunny skies. still windy out of the west with gusts up to around 25mph. a couple gusts getting closer to 30, especially across the cape. into tonight, we'll add on a couple, a few clouds, and we do have the chance for flurries in higher terrain. so worcester hills, the berkshires could be a couple flurries, but most of us are just seeing cr breezy conditions into your weekend. your weekend forecast doesn't look bad at all. just a bit cool, a bit breezy, as well, but we they dry with plenty of sunshine. our next shot at some wet weather looks to be monday when we could be talking about some flurries. >> kris: time now for fast track traffic. danielle, we have our first problem popping up. >> danielle: it's late in the morning, so it's been a good morning. 93 is where the accident is, but it's north of here. let's go to the maps. it's actually in andover.

we're watching that crash. otherwise 93 not too bad. it looks like we now have a new crash on route 1 southbound, as well. braintree to boston northbound on the expressway, 26 minutes. so you're stop and go there. 24 a little slow as you approach 128. route 3 and 95 not too bad. the pike pretty much wide open all the way back the framingham. let's take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door. 25 minutes on the expressway braintree to boston. 12 minutes into town on the pike from 128. no delays there. 93 southbound, 128 bridge, also 12 minutes. the "t" and commuter rail both running on schedule. back to you, guys. >> kris: danielle, thanks. in class act we're used to seeing people help out their neighbors. this morning we'll introduce do you a young lady not her neighbors, but across in another country. >> christa: she's a singts grader. she lives in east boston. her friends are helping make this all possible. she got them all together and did this. here's a look at today's class

in east boston the donald mckay school has a lot of heart, and one student in particular is going above and beyond to help people in need. so is this the entire school or just sixth grade? >> sixth grade. >> christa: awesome. today we're here to honor a young woman in the sixth grade who has done so much work to help the people of ecuador recover from the earthquake. you probably all know who i'm talking about. her name is rachel feliz. rachel feliz is a student with a vision. when ecuador was rocked by earthquakes in april, rachel wanted to do something. earthquakes, and i thought that was pretty bad. i wanted to help them, because i saw pictures of kids getting stuck under buildings or kids being hurt. >> christa: so rachel and her friends drew up posters, and they collected clothes and sent them to earthquake survivors with the help of the red cross. >> because it makes me happy to help others. >> she came to me not only with the idea, but all the plans. she had everything written out.

students to dress down at a school where uniforms are the norm. kids showed up in clothing from their family's countries. >> a lot of people wanted to join and do it. so we got a lot of money for it. >> christa: and a lot of countries were represented. >> probably like 50 countries. i'm not sure. >> wearing things that represented their countries or their culture, wherever they're from, was really meaningful. >> christa: even though she has no family or friends in ecuador, rachel showed kindness that her friends in east boston know all about. >> she's really caring. she's always been there for me. she's a great friend. >> christa: she is such a sweet and empathetic young woman. she says when she grows up, she's narrowed down what she wants to be to three different things, astronaut, doctor or businessperson. >> kris: three great options. and i heard what she says at the end, she has no family or no connection to ecuador. she just did this on her own.

it, was moved by it and wanted to do something. >> kris: if you know a student between 6th and 12th grades doing something outstanding like, that maybe it's in school, sports or the community, please nominate them. we want the hear all about them. go to whdh.com and send in that information. >> christa: and still ahead, meet the patriots' newest dad. julian edelman welcoming a new baby into his life. >> kris: big changes headed to the baseball all-star game. how it will no longer affect the

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>> christa: good morning. it's 6:24 on this friday. the bruins winning in dramatic fashion at the garden. carolina had a 1-0 lead in the final minute, but david backes tied it scoring with just 31 seconds left in regulation. in the shoot-out, david paster

the b's won it 2-1. >> kris: talking baseball now, the mid-season classic getting another change. baseball's all-star game will no longer determine which league gets home-field advantage in the world series. starting next season, the team with the better record are get the extra home game in the fall classic. the change is part of the new collective bargaining agreement. >> christa: and patriots wide receiver julian edelman is celebrating a milestone. he's officially now a dad. >> kris: congratulations to them. edelman flew out the los angeles wednesday to be with the mother, swedish model ella rose as she the child's name is lilly. she weighs eight pounds and five ounces. edelman isn't in a relationship with ella rose but tmz reports the two remain on good terms. teammates are happy to hear about this good news. >> we were really happy for him and he is going to do great. >> you know any good children's books that you could gift wrap for julian? >> i gave him "hey, a.j.," saturday, but there are a . of awesome children's books out there.

martellus mentioned was the back he wrote. edelman released his own children's book, which he can now read the his daughter. interesting he released that before he was a father. >> christa: now he can release another one afterward, a much different life. all right. 6:26. a bunch more ahead, including changes on the way. we're talking about safety changes that have been sent to the governor's desk when it comes to duck boats. >> kris: and an official cruelty scandal rocks westport. >> christa: and a murder suspect causing dr. that in court. the tense moment that broke out

>> kris: breaking news. police race the roxbury when a cruiser is hit. suspects fleeing from the scene.

that in my entire life ever over here. >> christa: police on the hunt for thieves caught on camera. >> kris: a scuffle in court. tense moments when a teenage murder suspect is arraigned. >> christa: and get ready the pay more for parking. meter rates on the rise. >> kris: and a new spin on an iconic moment. >> this is our [bleeped] city. >> kris: david ortiz giving his legendary phrase a holiday twist. >> this is 7news "today in new england." >> kris: 6:30. we've made it to friday. i'm kris anderson. >> christa: and i'm christa delcamp. the weekend is in sight. what were you going to stay? >> kris: are you laughing about the sweater? >> christa: i was. you're going to love that story, the david ortiz official christmas sweater. not going to get one for my grand that. >> kris: she may not like that. or she may love it. never know. >> christa: demands on their sense of humor. wren has the forecast. how is it looking? >> wren: it's looking like a nice friday forecast. it's the start to a nice weekend.

cooler than yesterday at this time. 22 degrees cooler than yesterday at this time in pofd. 24 degrees cooler in plymouth. and 10 degrees cooler in boston. so you'll want to add on another layer, hats, mittens a good idea here today. temperature-wise, it will feel like the mid-20s in worcester. low 30s in jaffrey and plymouth, as well. cooler, but we're warming up temperatures above our average highs, and we're staying dry some plenty of sunshine fur us today. more cloud cover as we head of 91. most of us lean toward the sunny side of things. >> christa: thank you so much, wren. talk to gurr dwur about the problem spots on the roads this morning. >> danielle: it's slow out there. we're not seeing any major issues, but it's slow going for your friday morning commute. here's a look outside at the zakim bridge and leverett connector. let's go to the maps. we have one crash we're watching north of town in andover southbound on route 93 at 495. the rest of you drive on 93 not too bad until you pass over 128.

disabled vehicle. and that's on the on ramp from everett avenue there. braintree to boston northbound on the expressway, that drive up to about half hour this morning. route 3, no issues. 24 slowing down northbound as you approach 128. the pike pretty much wide open all the way back the framingham. not seeing any major issues heading into town on the pike. take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door. 25 minutes to half an hour on the expressway northbound. braintree to boston, 12 minutes into town on the pike from 128. 93 southbo bridge 20 minutes this morning and the "t" and commuter rail both running on schedule. back to you, guys. >> christa: breaking news. police searching for three suspects after a police cruiser was hit by a car in boston. investigators say four people jumped out and took off near wentworth institute of technology. one suspect was taken into custody. also breaking two people are dead after a crash on brush hill road in milton. state police say a car slammed into a tree and that's when it

two people in that car died on the scene. a third person survived and is being treated at boston medical center. >> christa: happening now, the search for suspects is on up in lowell after a store gets robbed by two men. and those suspect, as you see there, were carrying a long gun and they were able to get away with crash. frightening scene. let's go to nancy chen with more. >> christa: that store on con core street was robbed wednesday night. customers there have never heard >> this surveillance video shows two armed robbers breaking into a liquor store with guns drawn. one robber in a black-and-white scream mask moves toward the register to demand cash. the other suspect wearing a black mask waves around a sawed-off shotgun and points it at another employee, pushing him back. >> i have never seen anything like that in my entire life ever over here. this is a safe neighborhood.

robbers did get away with some cash. >> this is crazy. too many weapons. too many weapon, too many drugs, fentanyl, everything. >> less than an hour later, another clerk saw two men dressed in black wearing white "scream" masks by a dumpster. investigators believe they are the same two suspects. residents of the neighborhood say the men who run the liquor store are good people who don't deserve this. >> these are my friends. >> i know the g time. that's ridiculous. >> the liquor store is back open now, but police are searching for those two suspects. in the control room, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> kris: more news today, courtroom dr. that in brockton when a murder suspect gets uncooperative with officers. after that little scuffle, 18-year-old frantz polynice hid behind a wall in the courtroom during that first court appearance. he plead not guilty the murdering his mother.

home on merritt avenue wednesday afternoon. they say the 44-year-old was stabbed up to 15 times with a kitchen knife. the suspect's grandmother was also in the house at the time but was able to get away and call neighbors for help. the d.a. says it's unclear still why polynice attacked his mother. he's currently being held without bail. >> christa: also this morning, a westport town health officials stepping down after an animal cruelty scandal. the departing firm admitted to conducting animal inspections on a licensed to do so. he's now the first person to step down after investigators found more than 1,000 animals living in deplorable conditions back in july. state lawmakers have now approved new safety rules for duck boats. the measure requires all duck boat operators to separate responsibilities between driving and being a tour guide. the company behind the popular tourist atrack already implemented changes on its own after an april accident where a 28-year-old woman was killed

common. the bill now heads to governor baker's desk. >> kris: new this morning the cost to park in the back bay and in the seaport district is set to jump significantly next month. this according to the "globe." drivers are going to have to pay $3.75 per hour to park in the back bay and up to $4 per hour to park in the seaport district. right now the rate at parking meters is $1.25. higher rates are being tested in hopes of opening up more spaces. >> christa: is leading a movement. to change the way halloween is celebrated. a pembroke town rep is hoping to change the official date of halloween to the last saturday in october. the verdictman says the date change would be a help the parents who are concerned about trick-or-treating on a school night. and classes on some boston schools may start at different times as administrators hope to save money on busing. according to the "globe," officials are considering making

which wound allow busses to make an additional run. the current start times are now 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30. >> kris: still ahead on 7news "today in new england," could there be b a madden curse? gronk is the latest video game cover star to fall on hard times. >> kris: they got their start in boston. now an iconic '80 ease boy band is sharing their story with the world. >> kris: and there are a lot

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? candy girls. love so sweet ? >> kris: we still have our dance moves like they do, right? >> i hope not. sometime four hip-hop stars from roxbury, r&b legends sharing their story of stardom. new edition together again. the members of the band sat down with 7news and talked about their miniseries that traces their journey from children growing up in roxbury's orchard park housing projects to when

againings here in boston, massachusetts, from orchard park and from the beacon projects. these are places that you're not supposed to be able to make it out of, the deck is kind of stacked against you. >> the band will also debut a new album on the final night of the miniseries. >> christa: look at that video quality. vintage '80s. >> kris: as the year comes to a close, we're seeing which locations and key gram. >> in massachusetts you can guess some of the top five. fenway park is number one. sox fans cannot seem to get enough of the green monster, so if the red sox are number one, you might have been able to predict the pats are not too far behind gillette stadium number two on this year's list. logan airport followed by t.d. garden. harvard's campus rounds out the top places.

instagram locations for every state. check out rhode island. >> kris: other parts of the area. 6:42. know and go is next with your top story. david ortiz, speaking of the sox, has his own version of an ugly christmas sweater. the former red sox d.h.'s idea may not be for everyone's eye, though. we'll explain coming up. >> kris: >> reporter: and patriots' fans may not be getting what they like for chris surgery later today. >> reporter: and a police officer's cruiser hit in boston. some of the suspects got away.

? dylan: i was un-athletic and very sedentary in my lifestyle. and then i found parkour and something about it clicked. then i stopped drinking soda and eating sweets and eating all the junk food. i was like if i eat these things i'm going to be heavier and i'm not going to be able to jump as far. my name is dylan polin

>> it's 6:45, time the know and go. >> breaking news, a police cruiser hit by a car in boston. investigators say several suspects took off and got away. >> patriots tight end rob gronkowski set for surgery. what his absence will mean for the team. >> a gruesome discovery in lawrence. a the merrimack river. now investigators are trying to identify the victims. >> christa: good morning. it's friday, the second day of december, 6:45. we're getting to the day's top stories. >> kris: start with traffic and weather. when you have weather like this on december 1st, yesterday was great. >> i couldn't believe it. we were talking about temperatures around 60 degrees for most of us. it was very mild. this morning is a rude awagening, but don't fret. we are going to warm up.

mid-20s in worcester. that's what you feel like when you factor those winds. 31 in boston. 33 in beverly. not a bad start. we're seeing clear skies, more cloud cover west of highway 91. that will be the trend throughout the day today. we're still seeing predominantly sunny skies throughout new england. low pressure to our northwest. that lifts off quickly, there but what you need to take away from that is we'll fitter in some much cooler air through the next couple days. while we're still above average today with temperatures in the upper 40s here in boston, we're going to gradually take day into the start of next week. partly sunny skies for most of us, especially as you head west of worcester county, but here in boston, i think we're looking at mostly sunny skies and temperatures around 48 degrees. it is going to be breezy again today and tonight. higher terrain, we're looking at the chance for flurries. what everybody wants to know about the weekend, we take off a couple degrees. highs in the 40s. for your pats' game, things are

>> kris: time now for fast track traffic. danielle, anything popping up? >> we have a crash we're still watching in andover, 93 southbound. this is at 495. there also on the tobin bridge southbound on the on ramp from everett avenue, we have a disabled vehicle there. south of town, braintree to boston, northbound on the expressway, about a half an hour. route 3 really mostly green. no issues there. 24 and 95 slowing down northbnd and the pike really not bad all the way back out to framingham. not seeing any major issues. let's take a look at those drive times if you're getting ready to head out the door. 25 minutes on the expressway. 13 minutes into town on the pike from 128. 23 minutes on 93 southbound. 128 to the zakim bridge. back to you, guys. >> kris: breaking news. a crash in boston sending a campus police officer to the hospital. investigators say that a car slammed right into this cruiser. the officer was from the wentworth institute of

he was taken to the hospital. >> christa: three suspects are out there on the scene right now. let's go live to the scene and jennifer eagan. >> jennifer: christa, this morning the search continues for those other people who ran from the scene. this happened around 1:30 at the intersection of parker street and ruggles street. as you mention, that cruiser belonged to the wentworth police department. the officer who was inside at the time was taken to the hospital by boston e.m.s. just as a precaution, though. minutes earlier there had been a all right of shots fired in this area and a car lng police say the car that hit the wentworth police cruiser matched the description of the car related to the report of shots fired. according to police, there were four people inside that car. they ran from the car after it collided with the wentworth cruiser. one of the suspects was caught. the other three got away, though. police pulled clothes and shoes out of the suspect's car and collected evidence for about an hour or so overnight. again the officer who was inside that wentworth police cruiser was taken to the hospital. he was expected to be okay, though.

jennifer eagan, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: on to some breaking news out of milton right now. two people have died after a car slammed into a tree and then burst into flames. this was on brurk hill road at cheever street. a third person inside the car did manage to survive and is now being treated at boston medical center. it's not clear exactly what led up to that crash. >> christa: police say man has been shot inside of a car in dorchester suffering severe injuries and had to be taken to the hospital. this all happened on devin and normandy streets. >> chris gronkowski is set for surgery after his latest back injury. this one will have gronk sidelined for a while, possibly the rest of the season. let's head out live to 7's nicole oliverio at gillette stadium with more reaction for us. >> nicole: i think when fans saw gronk leave the field on sunday, they weren't sure what it happened because it wasn't a big hit. now we know he will be undergoing surgery. that means he's likely going to be out for the rest of the season. and that lynn cloudy the

to have surgery for a herniated disc. it will be the third time he's had this surgery since college. so that means tight end martellus bennett is going to be the one taking his place. >> martellus, does your job change appreciably when gronk is not on the field? >> no, i've been doing the same thing all year. my job is my job. >> there's a lot of weapons on this team. we play well together. ho going to go out there and play with whoever it is. >> of course, gronk has had a number of serious injuries during his career with the pats inch 2013 he was out for the rest of the season after he tore ligaments in his left knee, that happening in a game against cleveland. he also broke his forearm in 2012 and reinjured it in the playoffs. the year before that he suffered an ankle injury in the a.f.c. championship game and clearly wasn't 100% in the super bowl loss to the giants.

he did speak with gronk, wishing him a well recovery. teammates obviously wish that he could be on the field with them, but of course the patriots' motto is do your job, next man up, so they're ready to play without gronk. that's the latest live from scwi. nicole oliverio, 7news "today in new england." >> kris: developing this morning. investigators make a troubling discovery, finding a decapitated body near the river in lawrence. police are trying to identify that victim. we want to go out live to victoria warren for the latest. a terrible situation unfolding out here this morning in lawrence. police telling us that a dog-walker found this body. the body was decapitated, the head found nearby. and now there is a criminal investigation being headed by the district attorney's office. the body found along the merrimack river, this person was walking a dog, a woman was walking her dog yesterday afternoon. she called 911 after coming across the body. investigators spent the night

evidence, and the medical examiner will work to identify the body and exactly how this man died. the d.a. says foul play is suspected. as for the identity of the body, all the d.a. will tell us is that it's the body of a man. the d.a. says they will not speculate on the identity until after they hear from the medical examiner's office. live this morning in lawrence, victoria warren, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: now to a story you'll see on just one station. officials are looking for the of hate at an elementary school in brookline. school officials do say they believe it was a student who drew a swastika on a chalkboard inside a classroom at lincoln elementary school last weekend. in a statement, the superintendent of brookline schools said this: this type of incident is reflective of a disturbing normalization of hate speech and symbols. but the speech and these symbols are not reflective of who we are as a community in the public

>> kris: high tension amid trump campaigners and clinton campaign leaders at harvard. this as the president-elect was in ohio thanking voters for helping deliver him that big win. nancy chen joins us with more. >> nancy: good morning, kris. president-elect trump back in new york city preparing to meet with possible cabinet members after a busy day in ohio and indiana on thursday. the president-elect stopping in ohio to thank voters there for his victory. but that wasn't all he had in mind. an important announcement. his pick for secretary of defense james mad dog mattis. mattis retired in 2013 after serving as the commander of the u.s. central command. meantime, it was a very tense night in cambridge at the harvard kennedy school of government. the leaders behind the trump campaign coming face to face with members of the clinton campaign. take a listen. >> and there was nothing that said the road to popular vote anywhere is -- >> kellyanne, i premised my

but you can't then... >> guy, we won, you don't have to respond. seriously? >> very heated. there cnn will air the entire roundtable discussion over the weekend. in the newsroom, nancy chen, 7news "today in new england." >> christa: happening today, massachusetts state police will unveil a new drone. the drone will be able to be used to survey and photograph scenes as troopers investigate accidents on state highways. state police expect to eventually have a fleet of them. >> kris: a fan foul in a big-nameou luke bryant apparently going down and punching a fan. it happened at charity concert in nashville, tennessee. bryant stops performing and talks with someone in the audience and steps down into the front row and throws what appears to be a punch. the statement from bryan's team says the fan was making obscene gestures. david ortiz getting in the christmas spirited, and this is how: the former red sox d.h. selling special christmas sweaters for charity. the shirt has an illustration of

plays off of his famous line from his speech at fenway park following the boston marathon bombings back in 2013: all of the proceeds to the christmas sweater will be donated to the david ortiz children's fund. >> and you'll be getting one for your mom, right? >> she may like it. my mom is pretty edgy. >> christa: i was going the say. >> kris: she would appreciate that. >> christa: i've met her. she's very cool. as rob gronkowski goes in for surgery today, many are saying that he's the latest victim of the so-called madden curse. >> kris: a lot of people talked about this when he was named on the cover of this video game. according to the legend, players on the cover have seen a sharp decline in performance usually because of injury. of course, gronk was on the cover of madden 2017 and has already missed three games this season. he's now likely done for the year. >> christa: okay. and st. louis rams' star marshall faulk was on the cover of madden 2003 as one of the league's biggest stars. the running back suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss five games.

than 1,000 yards. >> kris: troy polamalu and larry fitzgerald shared the cover in 2012. polamalu strained his mcl and missed the rest of the season. fitzgerald didn't get hurt that season fortunately. >> christa: and brett favre was initially honored in madden 2009 after retiring, but the tribute and the packers uniform were quickly dated when photographer changed his mind about retiring and joined the jets. he would go on the injure his shoulder for the rest of his career. >> kris: l.a. like weather for the rams this weekend. >> wren: it's nice for us today and tomorrow right around average if not a little above. mosley sunny skies east of worcester county. partly sunny skies as you head into western massachusetts. it stays breezy today into tonight. your pats game will look pretty comfortable. we keep it dry through your weekend with a very nice forecast. >> kris: go, pats. it will be a big game. "today show" straight ahead. thanks for joining us. i'm kris anderson.

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be together. celebrate joy with dunkin's holiday-flavored coffees, espressos, and donuts. america runs on dunkin'. good morning. he's back. president-elect trump switches into campaign mode during the first stop of his thank you tour. >> we did have a lot of fun fighting hillary, didn't forum, things get ugly between top aides for trump and hillary clinton. >> i would rather lose than win the way you guys did. >> no, you wouldn't. >> and it went downhill from there. road rage. a former nfl player shot and killed in an altercation near new orleans. the 54-year-old suspect stayed at the scene is in custody being questioned by police right now.