josh einiger talking to those who were here tonight. josh? >> reporter: yeah, bill, behind me is an area for very special people, about 80,000 people that got special tickets to sit up close to the stage. as you said, hundreds of thousands were behind this spot lining philadelphia's grandest boulevard as they witnessed history. over the past six days pope francis has rolled through three cities, kissed countless babies, kissed thousands of a dooring followers. his entire visit came to this, an open air mass on the majestic ben franklin parkway. hundreds of thousands flocked here and drank it in. >> this is wonderful, wonderful. it's like outside mass and be everybody is here. >> reporter: throughout the weekend, philadelphia has been in celebration mode. pilgrims like this group from to witness history. >> we are hear for the great cause, love and peace, it will be great. built this afternoon there was a bit of a snag at the front of the parkway. pilgrims that waited hours for the best view angrily protested a white large tent built to protec

myself and josh einiger and beginning at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, eyewitness news anchor shirleen allicot is also here getting reaction to what's going on. organizers expect a million people here tomorrow for the big mass. estimate today. we'll see how it holds up tomorrow. for now i'll see you tomorrow, joe? >> bill thank you. nonetheless a special day. >> certainly should. bill thank you. >>> well, pope francis woke up here in new york city before heading to philadelphia. he stumbled just a little bit as he was boarding plane at kennedy airport. you can see it right there. meanwhile, on the helicopter ride to jfk, he specifically asked to pass over the statue of liberty. and while the pope's fiat was parked at the heliport. the nypd tweeted the car wouldn't be an official nyc visit without a summons issued to the popemobile. and we invite you to stay with eyewitness news and abc news as the pope will wrap up his trip to the u.s. with a big mass tomorrow. bill was just talking about it and you can seemages from video -- see images

we're live in philadelphia, josh einiger, channel 7 eye witness news. >> josh, thank you. some great perspective for our viewer this is weekend. hundreds of thousands of people stuck in the secured zone, for them getting out was a long haul. for many it meant heading to camden and walking two miles across the bridge. the span connecting pennsylvania to new jersey, sefan kim on the jersey side of the bridge with their long commute home. >> reporter: well, bill, it was a long trek for fans of the pope that headed in. several miles from this side. for the faithful it was so worth it. i just felt an awe and just felt the holy spirit, man. i felt emotional and it was wonderful being there with so many people. such a cool vie. >> reporter: for the hundreds of thousands who turned out to the city of brotherly love to visit the pope in person, the long journey through a city on lockdown was pay. >> it wowed me. my family was here and it was so much fun. >> reporter: with philadelphia a frozen zone it was no easy task. ben franklin bridge was one way to get there. shut down to vehi

eyewitness news reporter josh einiger at police headquarters to explain the increase. >> when it comes to this, video really has changed the world. barely a day goes by when we don't see another video clip of allegedly disturbing encounter with police. and many of those video clips as you say have led against police. they say it paints a distorted picture because in all, complaints against cops are down. >> reporter: the video begins like so many other police encounters captured midway through in all their grainy glory. in this case a suspect was on the run. cops chasing and yelling when the suspect's mother, at the time five months pregnant, tried to defend her son. it did not well end for her or for the woman who tried to defend her. months later the civilian complaint board substantiated claims of excessive force, a finding that would have been impossible without that video.

josh einiger on the upper east side tonight. >> reporter: there is no hyperboly here. this is a barricade and when the pope arrives, it'll be moved into position right there at the end of that block between 5th and madison on 72nd. that's where he'll be sleeping when he's in town. a visit that will kick off days of traffic nightmare for people all around the city. throughout the city the signs of next week's chaos have started to appear. no parking sign, there are millions of practical questions. >> will we have our orders? i'm not sure. will my staff get here? probably late. >> reporter: they wonder what will become of their fresh food deliveries in a town known for clogged streets experts say his historic visit will lead to traffic of biblical proportions. >> it will be a nightmare. >> reporter: sam swartz knows a thing or two about gridlock and next week could be the worst you've seen. officials will lock down streets around several locations. don't forget it's not just the pope in town. it's also the president and 170 foreign heads of state for the annual meeting o

josh einiger is at the zion manhattan. >> reporter: we're standing outside the grand hyatt, the very spot where james blake said he was standing at 11:00, waiting for a ride to the u.s. open when suddenly he was tackled by new york city police officers. >> it shouldn't have happened. >> reporter: tennis star james blake, once the fourth ranked player in the world, tonight fuming over his treatment by new york's finest as he waited in front of his midtown hotel for a courtesy car to take him to the u.s. open. >> it's something we'll deal hear from them? >> an apology. >> reporter: back links hard to imagine there is not video of this incident here shot by the grand hyatt's own security system. the hyatt did not respond to our request to see the video. we can imagine the police have now seen it themselves. interesting to point out, important to point out that police were told by an informant that blake would be a suspect in this case, and that, they say, did give them probable cause at least to detain him. they also did make two actual arrests in this original id theft case. live in mi

josh einiger, channel 7 eye witness news. >> josh, thank you. we'll see you tomorrow. the pope heads to philadelphia and we invite you to stay with for the last leg of the pontiff's u.s. trip. our coverage begins tomorrow morning. >>> the pope shouldn't have problems getting off the ground tomorrow. lee goldberg in the weather center. it's looking good? >> yeah, i'm predicting on time departures tomorrow. he'll fly through the clouds that produced the sun dog. more high clouds tomorrow. will the pope see rain in philadelphia and we get wet by tend of the weekend? accuweather is coming up. >>> a baby born four months early on a wow, time warner cable really upgraded their network. 300 meg internet, clearer picture. i know, we get almost 20,000 movies and shows on demand. our new dvr records six shows at once. why didn't we switch sooner? right? everything's better. [bad violin playing] well, almost everything. we're making things better. enhanced dvr, nearly 20,000 on demand titles, and up to 300 meg internet. including free wifi at home and on the go. switch today and

josh einiger was there. i just talked to mr. blake? >> reporter: yeah, bill, we spoke to him about 20, 25 minutes ago as he returned to the grand hyatt after his miss adventure a few hours earlier. he wants an apology to the nypd. we will get to what he had to say to me in a moment. first video as he was walking in here on the very sidewalk where around 11:00 this morning he says he was jumped by five nypd officers and briefly placed into handcuffs for about 15 minutes, forced on the ground and placed into custody. the police confirm that this was the work of the identity theft task force working with an informant regarding a shipment of stolen or fraudulent cell phones. that informant apparently identified blake and one other person in the lobby of the grand hyatt aspects in that case then they took him down. he was just standing here on the sidewalk waiting for a courtesy car to take him to the u.s. open, to the tennis center in flushing where he was corporate appearances. we talked to him when he arrived at the grand hyatt a few min

josh einiger at bryant park with new exclusive video and details about what happened. >> reporter: bill, almost as quickly as the tree toppled to begin with, tonight it's gone. you have to know what you're looking for to find the stump workers left behind after they chopped down what was left after this truly terrifying day at the park. for a few minutes on this late summer afternoon it was pandemonium. >> everybody tried to help. everybody was running to the aid. >> reporter: bryant park teaming with people at the beginning of a holiday weekend. >> sit around and enjoying themselves. >> reporter: when the trunk of this enormous tree just snapped. >> nobody seen it coming. >> all you heard was the tree cracking. >> tremendous really loud crack. >> no warning. couldn't get away. there was no stopping it. >> it was too late to yell. >> people were screaming. >> reporter: when it was over five people were hurt. onlookers rushed to help them before paramedics could arrive. the victims' heads in some cases inches from the tree trunk. >> somebody could have got killed. >> reporter: all five v

josh einiger, channel 7 eye witness news. >> josh, thank you. we'll see you tomorrow. the pope heads to philadelphia and we invite you to stay with eye witness news and abc news for the last leg of the pontiff's u.s. trip. our coverage begins tomorrow morning. >>> the pope shouldn't have problems getting off the ground tomorrow. lee goldberg in the weather center. it's looking good? departures tomorrow. he'll fly through the clouds that produced the sun dog. more high clouds tomorrow. will the pope see rain in philadelphia and we get wet by tend of the weekend? accuweather is coming up. >>> a baby born four months early on a that's a big bull. i think that's old cyrus. 1800 pounds of do whatever the heck i want. take the long way, huh? thank you cyrus. lease an mkc for $299 a month only at your lincoln dealer. yeah, we know that feeling. you're so bloated you've started wearing sweatpants ...everywhere. when it finally happens, it's always the worst possible time. and when you're finished, you realize you've been in there for a very, very long time. being irregular is

josh einiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> meanwhile, breaking news in queens right now. several pedestrians hit by a vehicle in lakewood township. we're told at least one of the victims is a child in a stroller. no word on the extent of their injuries. at least one medi vaced to a hospital. >>> another cooling tower testing positive for the legionnaires' bacteria. the school says it's already disinfected its cooling tower. it only found the bacteria that causes legionnaires' disease, no reports of anyone getting sick from it. >>> the operator of a catamaran facing charges accused of leading cops on a wild chase on the hudson river. accused of speeding up to 100 miles per hour near the tappan zee bridge on a catamaran. >>> turning now to an accuweather alert. it was sticky today but get ready, tomorrow is going to be a scorcher. a heat wave expected to last through much of the week. meteorologist lee goldberg at the weather wall with how hot it's going to get. >> less than an hour left in what was a beautiful month. 25 out of the 31 days dry. plenty of warmth as we head i

josh einiger tweeting this picture of all the cops protecting the pope tonight. josh is outside the 11,000 square foot residence. josh. >> it's not the kind of digs he's used to staying in. he's resting up in a mansion just off the block at 72nd between madison and 5th. we've seen an extraordinary display of force by the nypd and secret service as they lock down a neighborhood and lock out thousands who wanted to sneak a peek. >> reporter: after an undoubtedly exhausting day for the 78-year-old pope francis, his motorcade rumbled down 5th avenue past hordes of do you recognize fans, some of them since noon, all to catch this priceless glimpse. >> my heart is pumping. >> i was thinking i was going to have a moment to look at him. it was so fast. >> even if it was like 3 seconds we saw him inside the small fiat, it was worth it. >> first time to see him in person. i was excited. >> reporter: his fiat flanked by dozens of armored vehicles turned off the block of 72nd between 5th security so laser tight, even these nypd officers were kept behind metal barricades as ot

josh einiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> happening right now in long island, crews are working to clear the wreckage of a freight train derailment. regular service has resumed but clearing this mess could take all night. the two-car derailment happened this afternoon, putting one the lirr cars out of service, triggering extensive delays. >>> an act of unilateral violence. a player ripping off the helmet of a player, and using it to hit that player in cops are investigating. it happened in the union county city of linden. aj ross is there with the latest. >> no question, this gridiron clash between immac i'll oughta tem -- item -- immaculata. tempers flared and flags were quickly thrown between the showdown friday night when a dead play at the line of scrimmage led to this vicious unprotected blow to the head. watch as number 73 and 21 get tangled up with the play. his helmet is ripped off by the linden player who swings and strikes him across the head. although the linden player was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, he wasn't ejected from the game, and now school officials are

we're live at police headquarters tonight, josh einiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. >>> still to come on eyewitness news at 11:00, a simple blood test to determine your real age, not the number of cand les on your birthday cake, but how much longer you have to live. so does it work? >> plus, the one handed catch at the u.s. open that has gone viral. you'll meet the ball boy with the magic hand next. >> and taking a live look outside, record heat tomorrow. how long will summer hang on? [ cheers and applause ] a wave of game-day excitement is rolling into dunkin'. taste the new tailgater breakfast sandwich, stacked with smoked sausage, fire-roasted peppers, and onions. america runs on dunkin'. dunkin' donuts' dark roast coffee is deliciously roasted for a bold start and smooth finish. for a limited time, ddperks members can get any size dark roast coffee for 99 cents. ddperks. that's loyalty. america runs on dunkin'. >>> breaking news out of new jersey where firefighters are battling a wildfire. the fire is inside a forest and woodland township, not far from route 72. it's burned about

eyewitness news reporter josh einiger is at penn station with details. >> with difficulty is the basic answer. when the nypd takes the enormous cement blocks and shuts down vehicular traffic on 7th avenue. they tell us tonight for the first time they're going to leave the entrance to penn station open, the main entrance there on 7th, meaning even when the pope is celebrating mass in the garden you should still be able to get to your train but it will still be anything but easy in a part of the city where getting around is no picnic on a regular day. >> reporter: there was nothing out of the ordinary about this 7th. it wasn't a holiday, not a gridlock alert day. known for the thousands of commuters running a gauntlet of thousands just like them on their rush home, for them, it really was just monday. just wait till friday. >> what do you think it will be like on friday? >> i don't know, what's happening friday? >> reporter: on friday at 6 p.m. pope francis will celebrate mass with nearly 20,000 people at madison square garden. >> the garden. oh, it will be fun here. >> reporter: which c

. >> josh einiger live at the scene. >> let me show you what's going on back there as investigators start to crawl over this scene. cataloging it for clues and searching among other things for shell casings. i'll show you video we shot in the last couple minutes after we first arrived here at this housing project off at around 9:30 we are told there were multiple gunshots. four people shot. fortunately non-life-threatening injuries. one eyewitness told eyewitness news on the phone he heard as many as nine or ten shots and coming back to a live picture from our camera, you can see as officers with flashlights search this parking lot for evidence that they can find that can link them to the shooter or shooters in this case. we have been told they've not recovered a weapon on the scene and the four people who were shot, it's not clear right now if they were intended targets or innocent bystanders or a combination of the two. all of them taken hospitals where we're told their life-threatening. as the search for the shooters and to why this happened in the first place gets underway. josh einig

josh einiger will report live. stay with us for the complete coverage of the lass leg of pope francis's trip. >>> switching gears. apparently the prayers of mets fans have paid off. the team beat the cincinnati lock up the national league east post-season nine years. we have a look at how the mets secured the division championship. >> reporter: there will be no epic collapse this year, mets fans. there won't even be any drama. regular a spot in the post-season. they took care of business cincinnati. with their magic number at one, duda slam. the mets cruised from this. 10-2 is your final. the mets are the national league east winners for the first time in nine years. >> to be able to celebrate again with this organization, with this team, i've said it from day one, i bleed orange and blue, i mean, that and i can't be more proud of this team, this organization, the city of new york, and the new york met fans mets just yet. coming up in sports, full highlights from yesterday's clincher. the yankees had a game to play

live in midtown, josh einiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> thanks. that is a serious mix-up there. he is here in town for the open, good guy, does a lot of charitable work, so popular. great tennis player. >> yeah. >> we will hear more. >> tell us about the weather. >> we saw the flooding in staten island. is it down for now before we get another clip of that tomorrow. >> the worst is done. there is one other cell over monmouth county right now. so far new york city, long island, things are quieter now. monmouth county we will watch this afternoon and early evening. we will turn our attention north and west in a few hours. as you look at central park and the east side, darkers skies looking east. there is light rain in brooklyn- queens. we are at 80. letter partly cloudy. a south wind at 13. you see what happened after we had the pulsing of big thunderstorms over staten island and brooklyn. now lighter rain over long island. you get the heavier cell sitting over northern monmouth county from has let to holmdel, centreville to leonardville and everett

eyewitness news reporter josh einiger just arrived on the scene and, josh, what can you tell us? >> reporter: still pretty active scene here, dave, around lex between 88th and 87th, this car was coming down lexington avenue, side swiped a parked car and then wound up right here slamming into the back of a con ed work site. this was a work crew doing work on underground gas this car they say came out of nowhere, they actually watched it coming and they had to dive out of the way. one of the workers actually wound up pushed by the car under the back of this work truck which actually might have saved that worker's life. at least two of the workers already taken to cornell medical center a few blocks away, along with the driver of the car. we can show you video as that driver of the car and two of the workers were taken to the hospital. police have been here on scene for much of the past hour trying to piece all of this together. the workers tell us that the driver was -- seemed to be foaming at the mouth, seemed to be having some sort of a medical condition when he lost control and

. >> eyewitness news reporter josh einiger here with the breaking news. >> reporter: 159 passengers and 13 crew were aboard that 777 bound for london. we're hearing from a passenger about that terrifying take-off attempt. >> we were just getting speed to take off and heard a big thud. i opened up the cover of my window and saw flames from the engine. we suddenly stopped, sat still for about a minute, waiting to hear what to do, then we just heard the pilot say to emergency evacuate. >> reporter: it was thundering down the vegas run way at more than 90 miles per hour when the pilots aborted their take-off. and within moments the 777 was engulfed in flames. >> heavy fire services are on the way. >> reporter: passengers on nearby flights uploaded the terrifying images to social media while for a full minute the fire spread. >> we were all glued to the side of the plane watching this unfold. we could clearly see flames coming out of the left engine. obviously black smoke was engulfing the area. >> we are evacuating. we have a fire. i repeat. we are evacuating. >> when we saw the doors fly o

. >> josh einiger tonight speaking with the victim's sister. >> according to the criminal complaint, jimmy snuka told seven different versions of how his girlfriend died in just the first day after her death. the da finally submitted a case to a grand jury who voted to indict him for murder. >> we couldn't believe it. we waited so long. >> reporter: you wouldn't either if you waited 32 painful years without justice for her sister. >> when she passed away, something in my mother died with her. optimism and hope. >> reporter: nancy argentino was just 23 when she was beaten to death in this pennsylvania hotel. her boyfriend, professional wrestler jimmy superfly snuka, the only person of interest. the family sued him for wrongful death and won. authorities never charged him criminally until now. the da in rural lehigh county today announced snuka's indictment on third degree murder. the now disabled cancer-stricken 72-year-old turned himself in from his new jersey home this morning. the case revived after the local allentown newspaper uncovered a never autopsy report labeling the death a

josh einiger found it worked well but he had to wave off three cabs and an uber driver while he waited for the arro driver to arrive. >>> an unbelievable journey for a bassett hound named gabriel found a month and a half after he disappeared. something spooked him during a walk in manville and he ran off. fast forward an amazing 42 days later, he is found miles away in martinsville. to get there, gabriel had to cross two of central new jersey's busiest highways. the weeks were rough on him. he lost at least 20 pounds. he is being fed and well treated for dehydration. he will be okay. >> this is warm weather for something like that. amazing. on top of that, hot when the kids head home from school. meteorologist amy freeze is in for bill evans with the after school forecast. >> in connecticut, they did an early release because of the heat. as the kids go back to school the next week or so, some don't have air-conditioning. watching the numbers carefully, 92, hot, humid, steamy around here. while we will get a break the next couple of days, we return to the heat and humidity by sunday and

. >> josh einiger just arrived on the scene. he is there about with the latest. >> reporter: we are at the corner of smith and mlk in downtown perth amboy. on. crime scene detectives are here on scene trying to make sense of this. the sidewalk on the right side stabbing took place. insurances say a man who lives in an apartment building here around the corner stepped out of his building just up mlk boulevard, in that direction there, stepped out of his building with a knife and stabbed two people here on the street. let's show you what one eyewitness had to say about what he saw here a couple of hours ago. >> suitly there was weird movement. then i saw the guy grabbing a knife, big knife, 12, 13, 15 inches long and stab it in the chest. he did it two, three times, i guess, to the chest. then people got freaked out. there were ladies and children over there. everyone got panic can i including myself. >> reporter: scary scene to be sure in the middle of downtown perth amboy. investigators try to figure out what the motive was. the

we are live at bryant park, josh einiger, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> josh, before you let you go, a quick follow-up question. the person you were talking to mentioned the wind. has anyone else -- any indication? because it doesn't look so windy now. was it a gust that came up that might have taken the tree down? >> reporter: well, you know, that's a good question, dave. why don't you show them the tops of the trees and the leaves. right now. so, you know, maybe it was a little breezy. i was out and about today, didn't seem to me to be all that windy, so it's not really clear if this was wind related or if that tree -- you know, we really can't see, mark. can you see the top of that tree where it broke off? you know, a lot of times these things -- you know, there's rot inside a tree like this that's sort of hard to see from the outside. of course the parks department is going to have to come figure out why this happened and maybe they are going to have to inspect the other trees here in bryant park. you would expect that they would have a pretty, you know, serious regime of inspect

. >> eyewitness news reporter josh einiger is in queens with the story. >> to shoot him and then burn him. i can't get the image. >> her son gunned down and set ablaze in a back alley in queens by a woman cops describe as his girlfriend. she calls her a stalker. >> i said if you come back again, i will have you arrested. >> reporter: cops say she murdered shawn mcwhorter in a jealous rage before dousing him with lighter fluid. investigators found a woman's finger nail on the body. when we talked to his girlfriend, she is missing a finger nail. we take her back into custody, start speaking to her. she makes admission she killed him. she said shawn mcwhorter was cheating on her and owed her money. neighbors woke up to the gruesome scene. >> bloody. a bloody head, hands. our children play in the community driveway. now everyone is terrified to let their kids out to play. >> reporter: as for the suspect, she is facing a variety of charges including murder, criminal possession of a weapon. police were still searching for the gun. >>> breaking news. a fierce fire in the bronx. it went to th

. >> josh einiger found it worked well but he had to wave off three cabs and an uber car while he waited for his arro driver to arrive. >> they all come. >>> you are never more than seven minutes away from weather and traffic and amy freeze is in for bill. >> good morning, everybody. we are starting off with temperatures in the upper 70s in the boroughs. another hot day. the hottest yet of this hot stretch. the heat wave does continue. 93 expected. the accuweather seven-day forecast, relief tonight as a cold front comes through the area. tomorrow partly sunny and cooler. low 80s to kick off the holiday weekend. sunshine, a nice start on saturday. 82 in the afternoon. holiday heat returns sunday. labor day high of 90 degrees. wednesday a high of 88. that's a look at weather. here is traffic with heather o'rourke. >> i like the car on your labor day. >> remember that. mom and dad and the station >> absolutely. and the backpack. >> let's go to the maps. g trains once again, the trains are suspended between hoyt and church avenue. that should change by 5:00 a.m. l.i.e. service road patchogue