now at 5:00, new evidence revealed in the case of an imam and his associate shot and killed. flames 15 years later, the world trade center mall finally reopens. the pain and perseverance this symbolizes. "news 4 new york at 5:00" starts right now. good evening, everyone. i'm sibila vargas. >> and i'm david ushery. storm team 4 tracking severe weather that is moving into our area. janice huff here to tell us when and where. >> most of western new jersey

eastern pennsylvania will see the worst of the weather. a severe thunderstorm watch is in effect. the severe storms are still in pennsylvania, but they're headed towards the delaware. right now most of the warnings are over parts of eastern pennsylvania. these thunderstorms producing quite a bit of lightning and also have produced some wind damage around places like harrisburg and hagerstown, maryland. this is all progressing towards the east and should within the next hour, hour and a half, especially west of the city. we have one lone shower that is over upper manhattan and the bronx and lower westchester county. that is moving off to the northeast, east-northeast. watch out between now and 6:00. those bigger storms will start moving into the poconos and into central new jersey by 8:00 this evening. we'll continue to track the storms for you and have the

we're also following some breaking news at jfk airport. this is because of a power outage. it's causing major problems for anyone flying on american airlines. some parts of terminal 8 are without power right now. bag screening is delayed. american airlines now waving fees and offering to allow passengers to use other airports. new at 5:00, an emotional encounter in court as the his associate comes face to face with heartbroken family members. marc santia is there live. >> reporter: the courtroom, it was packed. extra security brought in. tense moments inside as the imam's family watched the accused killer waddle into court, his legs in shackles, his hands cuffed behind his back. then a key piece of evidence was revealed. overwhelmed with emotion, the

didn't say much moments after he saw the man charged with killing his father. >> i don't know why you going to kill him, but now i want justice. >> reporter: prosecutors say ballistics tests show the gun found inside his basement apartment matched the bullets used to kill imam akonjee and his friend uddin as they left the mosque. emily perez lives n morrell, who was arrested. >> when i found out, it's like a shock. it was in my neighborhood. i was shocked. >> reporter: in court, prosecutors called morrell's actions a, quote, cold-blooded, premeditated assassination. morrell's attorney says his client did not pull the trigger. for those mourning the loss of their spiritual leader and friend, they say they're scared.

faith in fear of copycats. right now, morrell is facing a first-degree murder charge. law enforcement sources tell news 4 he waited several minutes before the alleged deadly attack. if convicted, morrell would spend the rest of his life behind bars. i'm marc santia, news 4 new york. meantime, in the wake of the shooting, a show of solidarity with the muslim community. the hashtag shared. many saying they'd be happy and honored to escort them to their mosque amid safety concerns. a father and son found dead in their jersey shore home. get this. firefighters say the way the home is built helped fuel flames there. other houses could face the same danger. brian thompson is at the scene with new information. brian, what have you learned about all this? >> reporter: yeah, dave.

we know that. there appears to be nothing suspicious according to the prosecutor here, but beyond this tragedy there is this additional concern and that is this is just one of many old homes in this town. flames raced through this 100-year-old house in a matter of seconds and here's what's left. dead inside a father and son who that has shaken this neighborhood. >> such a nice gentleman. his father was great. we'd walk to the beach and sit and talk to him. >> one of the greatest guys you'd ever meet. >> reporter: mark was divorced and the father of two. those children would come here to visit him and their grandfather twice a week. one of those days being every tuesday, today. >> he was great with the kids.

loved him. >> reporter: the house was a rental, renovated a couple of years before sandy. town records show now violations, but the speed at which flames raced through here even before firemen could arrive serves as a warning to others in this seaside community, many homes dating back to the early 1900s. when you have wood lath a plaster walls and ceilings, a fire can move very, very quickly. >> reporter: so what could have turned this into a raging blaze in the matter of minutes and threaten other homes? investigators for the prosecutors' office are believed to be focusing on the fact he had been a smoker up until a couple of weeks ago. maybe he had a relapse into

computer. he'd sit out on his porch using his laptop computer. they're wondering if that could have been a cause. either one of which could pose a threat to any old home here in belmar. i'm brian thompson, news 4 new york. an emotional funeral today. family members and friends gathered in massachusetts at the service for vanessa marcot. shnt mother's home. her body was found in the woods. nobody has been arrested in her killing. hear what officials revealed today. 49 pregnant women have tested positive here in new york city since april. $21 million dedicated to the fight, and now there's fear that the cooler months ahead could actually spread the virus here. gus rosendale explains. >> reporter: on a beautiful day

people who travel to places where zika outbreaks are prevalent. >> people need to be careful in the park, wherever. >> we're here today to talk about the crisis of zika. >> reporter: and a crisis of federal funding. the mayor along with other local leaders and health officials calling on congress to approve $1.9 billion to fight the virus nationwide. the money is held up by capitol hill repubca contraception, even though zika can be transmitted through sex. >> but the republicans still do not see this as a crisis. >> reporter: another concern, the many new yorkers who will soon travel back from the caribbean after summer break or to that area for winter holidays. >> we'll be getting back a significant number of families

>> reporter: 4 investigates tracking weak laws when it comes to zombie pools. we asked the mayor if he pushed for tougher new laws. >> well, i need to know the legal considerations, but the idea is a very good one in my view that we have to get at standing water, wherever it is. >> reporter: mosquitos can breed in a shot glass. testing is on the is the case count. 483 new yorkers have now contracted the virus, including a baby. to show you how things have changed in just a short amount of time, in february the health department wasn't testing at all for zika. now they're doing 100 tests a day. another number that is expected to increase. i'm gus rosendale, news 4 new york. it has been 15 years in the making. today a new chapter starts in the rebirth of the site of the

mall has reopened with new stores and a powerful message for our city. roseanne colletti is in manhattan with more on this new opening. >> reporter: it has been a really big day here and it is shaping up into a big evening as well. we're told there is some top-notch musical talent that is going to perform this evening. the stage is right over there. when we asked said we're not allowed to say. this place was open to the public officially around noon. a real stunner in stone and glass, two floors, and 265,000 square feet of retail space. only one way to describe it for these tourists. >> most amazing mall we have ever seen. >> reporter: musical entertainment rose above the den

curious. >> we come here a lot, all the time, coming into work. i wanted to see it being opened. >> reporter: the grand opening is symbolic of the progress of building back from 9/11 almost 15 years ago, a reminder of pain and promise for a woman who lost her brother when the north tower collapsed. >> t.j. would love this. he would be right here with all of us. it is resiliency. it's our strength. it's a sign of hope. >> reporter: 50 to 60 of the st among them luxury labels. restaurants, sites for another 50 to 60 tenants remain a work in progress. the street level entrances at church and greenwich also opened for the first time, making the mall sidewalk accessible too. >> i've been really excited about it. i think it's going to really make us want to stay in our neighborhood, go shop, eat in

revitalize downtown. >> reporter: now, this area is set up to look something like a theater, the atrium, with the seats and the water bottle. they're ready for this evening's performance. we'll have to see who those a-listers are. as for this space, it has been a transportation hub, but now officially becomes a retail and shopping hub as we colletti. news 4 new york. still ahead, the search for a lucky lottery winner. >> it's worth 100 grand. here's the catch. it is about to expire. and a robbery attempt in queens ends with the attacker taking a bullet. how this all went down at 5:30. we'll take you live to rio de janeiro. bruce beck speaking one on one with new jersey's own gymnast

morning here at the track. you see that mishap wit

both women got tangled up. each runner encouraged the other to keep going. ultimately finish they did despite hanlin finishing 29th and dengstino finishing 30th. bruce beck is in rio bringing us all the action tonight. bruce? >> reporter: david and sibila, it's the final day of gymnastics coit floor exercise. you know the routine. it is time right now for the spoiler alert. i'm going to do my best to do this properly. if you don't want to get the results right now, turn down the volume or mute the volume. do you have some time? here we go. simone biles captured the gold

aly raisman of the united states took the silver. okay. turn up the volume right now. we're going to continue with the broadcast. simone biles is the superstar of women's gymnastics in rio. she's 19 years of age, but in 2020 in tokyo laurie hernandez will be 20. she may be indeed be the one. she's already wowed the world hernandez, who captured a team gymnastics gold as a member of the final five, grabbed her first individual medal yesterday on the balance beam. she got silver while simone biles took the bronze. laurie excels on the beam where her athleticism and personality are on in display in a high pressure event.

hispanic athlete to make the u.s. women's team since 1984. how exciting was it to win an individual medal? >> it feels amazing. we got that team gold a few days ago, which was amaamazing, but win my old medal was really nice. >> i love to describe you as someone who has infectious joy when you're performing. >> thank you. i feel like my emotions really come out through my face. >> when you were today, you were calm and collected. you told all the media afterwards. did you really feel that way? >> i did. right beforehand i was getting a little bit nervous because i understood the situation. i understood this is my last competition at the olympics. i just wanted to do so well. once i stood on the beam, once i was on the equipment, i felt fine. >> reporter: laurie is the youngest member of the final five. she is the first olympian born

her last year as a junior she was 15 years of age and she dominated the competition. now in her first year as a senior she's off to a heck of a start. live in rio, i'm bruce beck. news 4 new york. back to you. >> before you go, of all the highlights you've covered there, is there any other news you learned while in rio today that could top any of that? >> reporter: yes, indeed. i'm going to be a grandfather. we could not be any happier about this whole thing. i don't want to be called grandpa. i want to be called bubba. >> if phelps can call his baby boomer, you can be called bubba. >> all right. thanks so much. we are your home for all

read up on all the athletes and game highlights on nbcnewyork.com. >> he is so far away. i wanted to bring him home a little bit. >> we already call him bubba. weather is about to get volatile around here. the severe storms are coming out of pennsylvania pretty fast. north and west of ci where they could possibly be the worst. august running hotter than average. the heat the other big story today, but we start to see it gradually diminish as well as the humidity over the next few days, especially by next week. a big difference here. severe thunderstorm watches in effect until 11:00. that's for pike, somerset, hunterdon, counties.

because the storms are moving. within the next hour, we'll see some warnings showing up as they cross the delaware. lightning safety. as of august 16th, there have been 27 deaths in the united states. about three of those in new york state in the last week. that already ties the number for last year's lightning deaths total. remember, when you hear thunder, there's lightning close by. you should move indoors. it's do not stand out in the field. make sure you move inside. these are the highs today. we had a few 90s. 87 in the city. it felt worse because we had these dew points well into the 70s. that tropical awful feel was back today. this is what it feels like right now. 96 in the city. 100 in morristown. 102 in trenton. we have the heat advisory in effect for the rest of this evening. tomorrow not so bad.

upper 80s on saturday. it is still warm. it is next week when we really get the relief. we'll track the storms coming up in a few minutes. >> that lightning statistic real compelling there. the weather catastrophic elsewhere in the u.s. flood emergency. tens of thousands rescued in louisiana. there's new video we're getting in tonight. steroids and student athletes can be a deadly combination, but is testing why new jersey wants to expand the program while other states are cutting back. they cancelled the cruise on us. it cost us $310. i expected $310 back. >> a common practice that you may not know about, but that

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under water. 11 people have died. 40,000 homes are flooded. the red cross is now calling this the worst flood disaster in the u.s. since superstorm sandy. the governor says his top priority is making sure no one is trapped in their homes. in the race for the white house, hillary clinton's e-mails are back in the headlines, but first donald trump is in wisconsin today. the republican nominee will hold a rally in west bend in just a few milwaukee as the city reels from protests following the deadly police involved shooting of an armed man over the weekend. the fbi is expected to hand over to congress its notes from a july interview with hillary clinton about her private e-mail servers. house republicans requested the documents. the latest nbc news poll finds the democrat candidate leading trump nationally by nine points.

tickets purchased in connecticut, double check those numbers. someone bought a $100,000 winning cash five ticket back on march 15th and never claimed the prize. lottery officials say they don't know exactly where -- they're not going to say where. the ticket expires on september 14th. if the prize isn't claimed, all that money will go to the state. you about possibly involving patients at three local hospitals. a would-be robber got a taste of his own medicine. why police say he picked the

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right now, a quiet block turns into a crime scene. gunfire in park slope after investigators say a robber picked the wrong guys to mess with. one of the would-be victims an off-duty nypd officer. >> that suspect is nursing a gunshot wound. wale aliyu is in park slope tonight with how this all unfolded. >> reporter: witnesses tell us the suspect took off that way nearby prospect place, which