breaking overnight lawmakers decide the confederate flag must come down. we have a full report on the decision in south carolina. >> there are light showers this morning, but the rain could get a lot heavier tonight. accuweather tracking the chances of strong storms. >> later gator wildlife teams wrangle a reptile from a north jersey river. >> eva pilgrim is joining us in for tamala edwards. let's go over to david murphy and matt pellman who is filling in for karen. >> reporter: all right guys we have clouds around, storm tracker 6 live double scan shows we have showers crewing through the northern and western suburbs. right on the brink in philadelphia. although i do not have anything on the terrace right now. later this morning we should be done with that and then we get into an afternoon lull. cleveland, cincinnati and points to the south, you can see additional showers ahead of an

protoplasming cold front. that is 've -- approaching cold front. we're expecting showers and strong thunderstorms. in fact we have a slight probability of severe weather across the region. you can see the entire area covered by this, this means any thunderstorm that forms could give us a lightning and downpours and damaging gusts as high as 60 miles per hour. there's a slight chance of a tornado north and west the bottom line you hear a rumble of thunder you see the skies turning ominous later tonight. 77 in philadelphia. muggy, 75 in wilmington, 68 in allentown. mid 70s down the shore. most of the area has dewpoints in the upper 60s or low 70s. if you have them up above 70 you have oppressive humidity. 89 at 3:00 p.m. for the high. late in the day and evening strong gusty thunderstorms possible. things get better in the

exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast. there's the first drizzle drop coming down, i'll detail the current situation on radar and look at the thunderstorms on future tracker 6. we have better weather in the seven day. >> reporter: the rain drops david you better coming inside. that means they will be hitting the boulevard and he thinks. doesn't matter, we have other problems southbound near the ridge avenue off-ramp, the disabled vehicle taking out the left lane. a sizable delay has formed from broad street down to this point. stick to hunting park avenue as the alternate. the super highway in bucks county, looks like it's another not so super morning in falls township. construction northbound by oxford valley road taking out the left lane. the squeeze is on, the right lane is getting by, we're seeing delays i-95 up to oxford valley

road. i don't know why they do it during the morning rush, but they've doing it the last couple of days. northeast extension speeds in the 40s heading toward plymouth meeting. coming east on 422 wet conditions building volume, but nothing else in the way. 202 close to devon it's wet by 252, the spray is off the vehicles, but at this point no delays on 202 and no accidents. matt and eva. >> we begin with breaking news, the state house in south carolina has voted to take down the confederate flag from capitol grounds. that came after 13 hours of contentious debate. katherine scott is standing by in the satellite center with the full story. >> reporter: this is an emotional charged debate a lot of comparison on both sides of this.

it's been flying over the state house for more than 50 years but soon the confederate flag will be taken down. early this morning the south carolina house approved the senate bill by two-thirds margin after a passion debate that lasted -- passionate debate that last 13 hours. >> i cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful take a symbol of hate off these grounds on friday! >> reporter: from the streets to the capitol building the debate has been heated over the flag. the state was the first to leave the union and raise the rebel flag 50 years ago to protest the civil rights movement. the move came weeks after a 9 black church members excluding a state senator were shot and killed in charleston. house leaders deliberated well

into the night. those who objected called it a symbol of heritage and tribute to southern veterans. >> well take people who respect their southern heritage and kick them in the teeth. >> reporter: on facebook the governor thank the the lawmakers for their service and compassion. calling it a new day in south carolina. the flag will be taken down 24 hours from the signing of the bill. it will be taken to the relic room. >> a bedroom fire damaged a philadelphia row home overnight. this is new video in from the cobbs creek neighborhood. firefighters put out the flames on the 5400 block of walnut street. the heat melted through the screens on the second floor. no word on a cause. this is new a man charged with three random murders in the lehigh valley is accused of going on a similar killing spree

in north jersey. union county prosecutors are expected to announce additional charges against todd west suspect of three suspected shootings in elizabeth new jersey on june 25th. he admitted to the murders in the lehigh valley after his arrest on monday. in these cases three killings and robberies were reported in allentown ascertain easton in the span of 45 minutes. >> a teacher at a school on the main line said she was fired for being in the same-sex marriage. marge winters walked into a meeting with her wife and supporters. the mercy academy discussed it's decision not to renew her contract. saying. the archdiocese said it is a private catholic school and personnel decisions are made

without the oversight of the archdiocese. police in delaware have a new clue in a home invasion case. two men and the man in the sketch were accused of posing as a bail bondsman they threatened the mantua weapon and took off with jewelry and cash. heavy rains are passed through western pennsylvania, flash flooding forced people to evacuate. others had to be rescued. residents in beaver county reported some waters reached five feet deep. >> looks like the rains from out in western p-a are here right now. >> reporter: some of that is filtering through. storm tracker 6 live disowbl scan is seg -- double scan is showing it's not everywhere. you can see yellows and oranges that's a steadier downpour in

media you'll see it. wilmington is pick be this up and newark, delaware you ever that heavier stuff in the process of moving in. up north it's lighter rain in allentown and in southern montgomery and bucks county you're looking at rain coating the roads right now. a secondary line out to the west doesn't appear to be as much. behind that a little later this morning, we'll wind up dry for a while before the stronger storms arrive late today. as we look outside cloudy skies, there are showers as we just showed you on storm tracker 6 live double scan, of course, it's also warm and muggy. 77 degrees currently the dewpoint in philadelphia slipped below the 70-degree threshhold but it's sticky out there. winds out of the west at 5 miles per hour. you have that line or two of showers popping through. 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. we get into a pattern where it's warm ascertain humid and mix of sun

and clouds setting the table for a cold front that's going to take the juicy atmosphere and turn it into decent thunderstorms. by 5:00 p.m. we'll have our eyes out at the northern and western suburbs, by 7:00 the model has wanted to have this in the northern and western suburbs and close to philadelphia. the timing may not exactly white from 5 to 8:00 p.m. look for them coming through. this is a well-defined line that could produce lightning and heavy downpours and strong, gusty winds. 9:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m. we're down to scattered showers and the worst is over. the big threat is lightning and downpours and strong gusty winds, a low chance of large hail and tornado having said that, i will say there's slight indications of possible rotations north and west of philadelphia, so a tornado

cannot be ruled out. if you're dealing with straight line winds you want to take cover or lower floors. 89 degrees, warm and humid we're waiting on the storms later tonight. the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast, some late-day storms, warm and humid 89. tomorrow warm, 86. overnight in through tomorrow, the humidity drops off even though it will be a warm one, it will feel more comfortable. saturday is a good day sunny very warm, 89 great weather for ppl park union fans on saturday night, i'll be down there dooping it up with you. fireworks, they have that camp out overnight if you buy a special ticket on the field. hotter and humid on sunday. >> a bugged musician said he recorded an entire album at an apple store. a selfie stick plays a

pivotal role in a rescue. >> reporter: we have traffic on broad street to ridge avenue. we'll talk about the disabled vehicle on the northeast extension after the break. >> a fisherman comes face-to-face with an alligator in north jersey. that's later on "action news." dear fellow citizen, kids are a great thing. before you know it they're in college. if you're lucky, they get a degree in finance and figure out how to pay for it. could happen. but just in case it doesn't, i can help. we have new student loans others don't offer. next time you have a question about how to pay for college ask me. sincerely, jared duemling, fellow ninja and fellow citizen

> 6:43 be taking a live look at philadelphia international airport. we have rain showers moving through the region right now and we could see stronger ones

later. >> we know what the rain does to the traffic situation. >> reporter: we're starting to see strong delays that's what the rain does it slows us down when you see the ponding and puddling on the roads. as we look live at the schuylkill expressway, i think you can see these vehicles trudging through a lot of water in the eastbound lanes by conshohocken. they are getting through it, but it's slow on the eastbound side of the schuylkill expressway. westbound travel time worse sitting at a half-hour between the vine and the blue route because of the sizable delay between the boulevard and gladwyn we see every morning. better news on the boulevard itself, looks like they just cleared out the disabled vehicle from the southbound lanes by the ridge avenue off-ramp, all three southbound lanes are reopened toward the schuylkill expressway. traffic is still slow coming down from broad street. on the big picture you see the disabled vehicle speeds like

15 miles per hour on the southbound boulevard. speeds are not so hot on i-95. southbound by cottman from the ben franklin bridge into girard. a lot of speeds in the teens. watching a new disabled vehicle in upper dublin, pennsylvania turnpike under pass speeds dropping near upper providence. egypt road and black rock road by the pizzeria and grill. northeast extension southbound at lansdale that crash heard. pottstown watch out for the dispier location a-- fire location at shoemaker road. >> a selfie stick helped a family swept away by a rip current. it happened to a teenager and her parents in nantucket. the girl's father grabbed on to the teen's selfie stick to keep

other close until a lifeguard and someone on the beach helped her. >> two crimes in tennessee could be connected. mask men forced their way into a family's knoxville home they abducted a man and wife and infant son and forced the man to rob a bank where he served as vice president. the robbers abandoned the family they were not hurt. the ceo of a nearby credit union endured a similar ordeal in april. pope francis touched down in bolivia. thousands greeted him at a welcome ceremony he praised the police police bolivian president. an aspiring rapper in new york recorded his entire album at an apple store in soho.

he transferred his work to a portable drive. >> the employees smooth things over with the manager. they would come around and listen to the music. >> prince harvey's album is slated to drop later this month. if he sells enough copies he'll go out and buy his own computer. >> a live preview of "good morning america" is next. plus there's a rare gator sighting at a new jersey river. >> reporter: it's going to be warm and humid 89 degrees is the high. a couple of showers this morning and then a lull and look out later today and tomorrow some strong gusty storms possible. i'll have the day planner forecast to get you set on how we'll get to that 89 coming up next.

>> time for a preview of "good morning america." >> let's go to amy robach and find out what you will see at 7:00 a.m. amy. >> reporter: hey, good morning matt and eva. of great to be with you breaking overnight the south carolina house voting in favor to remove the confederate flag from capitol grounds. that decision made after 13 hours of emotional debate. we'll have the latest on that next. more trouble for donald trump facing new backlash over his comments what the chairman. national committee is telling

trump right now. the dangers of leaving your children in a hot car more states are taking action to protect children from potential tragedy. we'll take a look at how quickly your temperature rises in a hot vehicle. and then deals and steals. tory johnson has huge bargains to help you beat the heat, 77% off. you don't want to miss it. >> not just 70. it's 77. >> reporter: matt pellman was on "g.m.a." yesterday. >> a quick silent appearance. >> the canadian geese from the schuylkill expressway the other day. the drivers hated it, we fun with the geese. today no geese. don't worry about that. we have construction on the super highway from woodburn road to oxford valley road. construction is with us on the

ben franklin bridge westbound around around the clock the right lane is blocked westbound traffic is heavy from the upside into 8th and vine. >> reporter: a couple of showers blowing through storm tracker 6 live down scan, some most of them are light. a little more light stuff to the west, after that we get into a lull. 671 degrees in pottstown. 70 in saint davids. 76 in center city. warm and muggy across the region. a lot of low 70s in south jersey mid 70s in delaware. here's how it goes today. it will start out with the errand planner showing the morning is the best time to get stuff done. 78 degrees by 9:00. 85 by noon. this afternoon it's a warm and muggy one high of 89. the big issue today late this afternoon and tonight when a line of strong gusty thunderstorms could blow through from the west. if you hear thunder or see the

skies turning ominous head indoors because he could it could be strong. >> a gator in the garden state is looking for a new home. state wildlife officials wrangle the the animal out of the pasaic official. officials believe it was someone's pet who didn't want it any more. the state is looking for a local zoo or education center to adopt it.

i'm whoopi goldberg and new york is my home. there's no place like it in the world and no better place to lean about the people who shaped who we are today. hear about the lives of slaves in colonial new york and about the fight to abolish slavery. pick a stop on the underground railroad and visit the home and grave of one of new york's most controversial citizens. a journey in new york is a journey through history. plan you next trip at iloveny.com/summer. there's something for everyone.

top stories and breaking south carolina state house gave overnight approval to take down the confederate flag from the capitol grounds. governor is expected to sign the bill today. the move comes weeks after the shooting at a historic black church. a teacher at mercy academy said she was fired for being in a same-sex marriage. the school said it is adhering to the teachings of the catholic church. >> reporter: extra slowing on 422 from 29 to 23. >> reporter: as we go through the day it's going to be a warm one. later today 5:00 p.m. into the evening hours we have showers

and thunderstorms coming in they could strong and gusty. the we have a chance of severe weather, it's light, but a chance of strong stuff. today's high, 89 warm and humid. >> good morning is next. for matt pellman, david murphy, eva pilgrim, karen rogers and tamala edwards i'm matt o'donnell. have a great thursday!

making news good morning, america. breaking overnight, south carolina law many makers voting to take down the confederate flag from statehouse grounds. >> take a symbol of hate off these grounds on friday. >> we'll have the emotional late night debate. also breaking overnight, fiery takeoff. an engine catches fire on a crowded southwest jet. 143 passengers on board. the pilots abort the flight. video from inside the plane as a passenger captures the scary moment. on edge the mystery meltdown that grounded planes and shut down the stock exchange. was it a coincidence or a malicious attack as the head of the fbi delivers another chilling new warning about another threat the secret messages from isis. >> kill kill kill kill. >> how the brutal