melissa russo, news 4 new york. >>> and that does it for us. we thank you for watching. stay with us as the news continues at 6:00. >>> live, from studio 3c in rockefeller center. this is news 4 new york. >>> now at 6:00, the first test of the attorney general's new powers as he takes over the investigation of the death of a mother of eight in police custody. >>> plus, after a weekend plagued by gun violence, the i-team finds the nypd is taking far fewer guns off the street than it used to. >>> and right now, the city is holding a town hall on the deadly outbreak of legionnaires' disease in the bronx. good evening, i'm chuck scarborough. >> i'm sibilia vargas. we begin with the investigation into the death of a 44-year-old mother of eight who died in police custody at mt. vernon police headquarters. >> new york attorney generic al eric schneiderman officially took over the investigation today. in the first test of new powers given by governor cuomo. rob schmidt is in mt. vernon with the latest. >> reporter: yeah, chuck and sibilia, cases like this are exactly why governo

new yorkers pick up the phone and call 311, mayor guiliani told a government affairs reporter melissa russo he marched into his local station house to demand more aggressive policing. here's her exclusive report. >> i myself two weeks ago had to go to a precinct to complain about a homeless person defecating and urinating. >> reporter: former mayor rudy guiliani told me a homeless man was doing that on a stoop on his quiet east side block. you know when people have lived on the streets and didn't use bathrooms inside. it was called the dark ages. >> reporter: neighbors begged him to do something, so he walked into the 19th precinct around the corner and got quick results. >> they removed him. >> reporter: but guiliani says at first the police pushed back, saying the man had permission to sleep there from the townhouse owner. guiliani said that's when he gave the cops a lecture about the more aggressive policing strategies he and bill bratton used to clean up the homeless, the squeegee guys and the prostitutes back in the '90s. >> you chase them and you chase them and you chase them, and the

news 4 government affairs reporter melissa russo is here with more. >> reporter: sibilia, supporters insist senator schumer's opposition will not scuttle the president's deal, but schumers voice is a powerful one and being heard across the world. after weeks of carrying a copy of the deal around in his briefcase, senator chuck schumer issued a diplomatically worded statement saying advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed. this has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor. and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul searching, i have decided i must oppose the agreement. republicans overwhelmingbly oppose the deal, but some democratic senators and states with large jewish populations are resisting. anthony weiner, who worked for senator schumer, says for his former boss, this decision was politics. >> but you can't say they're politics-free but members and senators really do try to do it on the merits. >> reporter: a white house spokesman said today the decision was disappointing, but not

news 4's melissa russo is live at city hall where the mayor is working with the cdc and the state to end the outbreak and lm people's fears. melissa? >> reporter: sibilia, city officials say while sadly some pe le who already have been infected with this particular form of bacterial pneumonia may continue to die from this, that, in fact, they believe they bhave successfully disinfected the source of the sickness and that the number ha new cases has been tapering off. >> the last day someone became sick with legionnaires was august 3.en >> reporter: mayor bill de blasio and his team of health ofdicials trying t assure new yorkers the unprecedented legionnaires outbreak is on the decline and there was no way to predict or prepare for it. >> there was no handbook or playbook previously provided by the federal government, state government or city government, because we had no such previous outbreak of this nature. we've all had to work together. >> reporter: but are the city and state working together? today, as the citydounced le pslation to regulate cooli towers, which we n know are bac

melissa russo has more on the story. >> reporter: pick a corner in midtown. chances are, you can find someone who calls it home. >> actually, i sleep right here. >> reporter: hannon says she has claimed this stretch of lexington avenue near grand central because there is a lot of traffic and a security camera nearby. and she says she feels safer here than in a shelter. >> i have issues. >> i work in midtown so it's pretty bad. >> reporter: most new yorkers we interviewed today told us they see more homeless on the streets. >> i'm not used to seeing so many homeless people. >> i tend to give money. >> reporter: some give money or food. others call 311. but today city officials are pushing back after reports that the number of 311 calls about the homeless jumped from 12,700 last year to more than 20,000 calls for the same time period this year. mayor de blasio spokeswoman says since the city has been publicizing their new 311 app, 311 calls about all subjects are up. and that the percentage of calls about the homeless is still relatively small, and unchanged. c

for bush, bush. >> melissa russo reporting.tly news" will have more on decision 2016 in just a few minutes. >>> the spotted lantern fly is causing another township in berks county to go under quarantine. this covers brookdale township. that fly is an invasive insect new to the u.s. it was first detected in our area last fall. the quarantine means there are restrictions on moving firewood, brush, yard waste, construction materials, even lawn mowers. the spotted lantern fly is one imp long and is black, red and white. it is native to china, india, japan and vietnam. >>> many katrina survivors have been calling philadelphia home for the last ten years. one of them is well known new orleans jazz drummer alvin jacques. he was flooded out of his home. he managed to get his mother to the superdome but they were separated and she did not survive. >> i love my mother. i still love my mother like she's alive in my heart right now. what happened, i didn't witness it. it was the story i was told. >> he says he misses the new orleans clubs

here's melissa russo with what the mayor said today. >> reporter: you could say ito me straight from the horse's mouth. the mayor's comments today come afte months of speculation he didn't have enough votes to ban the horse and carriage industry. but today was the first time the mayor actually admitted it. >> what i would say to every advocate, you already have my vote. go get the votes in the city council. >> reporter: mayor de blasio on the video today admitted he may have put the cart before the horse, vowing to ban the carriage industry without first getting the support of the city council. >> this is full of energy. she does not have enough work lately. >> reporter: the mayor's admission came as good news to carriage drivers, including pallo, who says he was worried about what a ban might mean for tourism, for his livelihood and for his horse, daphne. >> this is a bad idea to begin with. the horses, it's the end of their life. who is going to take care of these horses? >> just wanted tothry it. e girls w nted to try it. >> i think it looks nice, but if it's bad for the horses, v

. >>> chris christie taking his presidential campaign back to the garden state as melissa russo explains his stop at rut ger's focused on president obama's nuclear deal with iran. >> i'm not here to threaten might be anybody. we're here to persuade. particularly, to my friend senator cory booker. this cannot be about politics

melissa russo is here with more. >> it didn't take long for more than 100 people to get sick with legionnaires'. mayor bill de blasio signed onto a long-term battle against the bacteria that's sickened scores of bronx residents this summer. >> when it comes to new yorkers' health, we won't take any chances. >> reporter: the city's new legionnaires' law requires cooling towers to be registered and inspected quarterly and disinfected. city health officials estimate bacteria build up in cooling towers is responsible for 60% of the city's cases. >> they represent a source of particular concern because they are outdoors and can spread legionella to an entire community. >> reporter: the south bronx outbreak has affected 127 people. a dozen have died. 102 have now gone home from the hospital. beyond the bronx, the process begins of scouring the rest of the city to identify all cooling towers. >> yes, it is a huge undertaking. it is going to require hundreds and hundreds of city workers. >> reporter: the mayor says he doesn't know yet how much that will cost. we do know cleaning cooler towers could re

government affairs reporter melissa russo was at the table with the mayor when he made that announcement. >> well, experts in mental health and criminal justice seem to agree it's an unprecedented effort to get police and doctors and therapists all to dive in together to get help to new yorkers who could pose a risk to themselves or to the public. >> so many of these new yorkers are falling through the cracks. and that means the tragedy could be around the corner. >> the goal of mayor de blasio's new mental health plan announced today is to identify an estimated several hundred new yorkers who have the following things in common. a brush with the law in their past, mental illness that's been diagnosed but isn't being treated, and the potential for violence. to anyone who meets these criteria even if they're not homeless, the city will send treatment teams to them to help engage them in lasting mental health services. for homeless new yorkers, the teams could literally treat on the street. >> we literally have to revolutionize the way we provide care. >> the mayor's hope is to keep the tr

the i-team's melissa russo is here with tonight's development. >> chuck, that woman is facing charges of child endangerment the and aggressive pan handling tonight. she has been spotted by the i-team and photographed by outraged i-team viewers in recent months. and yesterday she was arrested by the mta police who felt like many other new yorkers do, that sitting on a sidewalk begging with a newborn just isn't okay. >> reporter: it seems to be her job. using babies, day after day, to beg for cash on the city streets. the i-team and our viewers have spotted her dozens of times, begging with a newborn during the recent heatwave, changing the toddler's diapers on fifth avenue last fall. now the i-team has learned her name is kasa lena mar gel. mta officials alerted the i-team that the mta police arrested her yesterday after a concerned homeless outreach worker pointed her out on the sidewalk with a 2-month-old baby boy near grand central. >> our officers were concerned enough to take action and ended up bringing a misdemeanor charge. it wasn't an appropriate, healthy place to have a 2-mon

oum r governor affairs reporter melissa russo is in the newsroom. >> mayor de blasio ran for office on a tale of two cities. but new yorkers are telling a tale of two de blasios, depending on who you ask. the racial divide in new york city persists. black voters support m or de blasio. 64% of black voters approving of his performance. 24% disapprove. but ask white voters what they think, it's a whole different story. just 32% approve of the mayor's performance, while a majority, %, disapprove. what does this mean for the mayor's re-election prospects, if anything? well, right noweoverall 47% of new york city voters say the mayor oes not deserve re-election. 41% say he does. one thing that could spell some antrouble for the mayor in this quinnipiac poll, the mayor's appr al ratings are 14 points lower than governor andrew cuomo's. cuomo is up to 58% from a recent slump, whiot some have attributed to all the corruption investigations in albany. from the mayor's pe pecto e, the disparity in these two numbers may hurt a little more, because, of course, the mayor has been feuding with cuomo

in queens, melissa russo, news 4 new york. >>> a lot of people anticipating this. you don't have to be a kid to enjoy the beautiful sea glass carousel. >> the one of a kind ride is oepen to the public and you can sit inside different sea creatures. the attraction costs $5 and will take you on an aquatic journey full of special effects. that is beautiful. >> i think it's time for a new 4z field trip. let's go. >> from what i understand, we all have to have a child with us. we just can't get on. >> we can find one or two of those. >> we will use your son. >> they can go so we can go on it. >> exactly. >> right now tracking more heavy rain moving through pennsylvania right now. it will reach the tristate area by midnight and we could see more flooding rains across the area for the morning commute tomorrow. let's go outside and see what's happening. this picture looks ominous. a live picture from our top of the rock camera looking south over mid-town and lower manhattan and it looks like it's about to pour any second. well, it's not about to pour any second in the city

melissa russo with the breakdown for us. >> he tells his fellow democrats he's making up his mind. joe biden weighing whether he could pour his heart and soul into a national campaign so soon after losing his son. >> he's had a great life in public service and had some personal trauma. why wouldn't you just enjoy the rest of your life? >> he can bring experience to the table with an ideology in line with the democratic view. >> he's been around enough already. >> the latest quinnpiac poll shows biden beating jeb bush by six points. the poll shows hillary clinton and bernie sanders also beating the republicans, just not by as much as biden. >> he should have the space and the opportunity to decide what he wants to do. >> joe would be a formidable opponent. >> political strategists say biden's numbers are not surprising. >> he's the sitting vice president, the name recognition is great and zero accountability. everything changes once you get in the arena. >> while the poll shows he would outperform them in a general election if it were held today, he's in third place among democratic

government affairs reporter melissa russo is here with more. >> reporter: sibilia and david, reporting for jury duty today went from dry, civic process to big media circus. but donald trump did not make it on to a jury. and not because he's running for president or controversial or a potential distraction. simply because courts really, really slow right now. donald trump pulled up in a sleek black limo and found himself surrounded by more media than you see covering most major trials. if trump wanted to appear like just another regular new yorker showing up for jury duty, that wasn't about to happen. >> i am glad i went through this experience. it was great. >> reporter: he did go through the metal detectors, like everyone else, and waited on line like everyone else, and had court not been so very slow today, might he have been selected? >> well, it's pretty funny that it co en sides with the campaigns and all the debates. i would be very surprised if he actually ended up on that jury. >> reporter: but, in fact, not only was trump not questioned for a jury, neither were any of the 180

government affairs reporter melissa russo is here with the latest. >> yeah, shiba and chuck. and former mayor rudy guiliani told me he went to complain about a homeless guy living on his block, he also said he thought it was mean for mayor de blasio to let homeless people live on the streets. the de blasio administration seems to think it's guiliani's approach to the homeless that's mean. >> you can't let them stay on the street. then you chase them. you chase them, and you chase them and you chase them and you chase them. and they either get the treatment they need or you chase them out of the city. >> reporter: former mayor rudy guiliani says that's how the city should deal with homeless people presenting a public nuisance. but the de blasio administration fired back today, saying, they're engaging in constructive solutions, focused on housing permanency, not chasing people from corner to corner. >> new york city is throwing in everything we've got to solve the homelessness crisis. >> reporter: the mayor has added $1 billion to the budget to help the homeless, including a n

melissa russo is here with the latest. >> reporter: city officials stopped short of calling the legionnaires' outbreak over, but they are calling it contained at this point. take a look at the latest numbers. a total of 121 people have now been diagnosed in this legionnaires' outbreak. that's two new cases identified since yesterday. the death toll remains at 12, where it's been since monday. and to the city's knowledge, there have been no cases of anyone getting sick, as in developing symptoms since august 3rd. no new contaminated buildings or cooling towers the today. the mayor was in the legionnaires' impact zone this afternoon at lincoln hospital, thanking health care staff for their work during this outbreak. and downtown at city hall, the city council was voting on a bill regulating cooling towers. the bill passed unanimously by a vote of 42-0. the centers for disease control called the city's response at this afternoon's news conference to the outbreak swift, diligent, and robust. >> we think that maintenance of cooling towers is extremely important. if they're not maintained properly

melissa russo is here with more. >> reporter: sibilia, mayor de blasio has been clear, he wants to shut down those bare-chested women or maybe at least get them to put on a shirt. he was not prepared to suggest solving this problem by ripping out the entire pedestrian plaza, but yesterday his police commissioner did publicly suggest that, prompting pushback from pedestrians and even some of the mayor's predecessors. just another afternoon with the characters of times square. the naked cowgirl, fun-loving tourists, some loving snowmen. >> just people trying to make a buck. >> reporter: but with a huge police presence today -- >> the nypd presence will be felt deeply. >> reporter: there was no sign of the painted, bare-chested women who have captured the city's attention. >> i don't like it, there is a task force created. >> he doesn't need a task force. >> reporter: rudy guiliani credited with cleaning up times square says he originally shared police commissioner bratton's feeling, that pedestrian plazas like this one are just a magnet for bad behavior. but then he changed his mind, unti

unfairly target families that are otherwise law abiding but who have fallen on hard times. >> melissa russo for "today in new york." >>> now, melissa points out that we have a first amendment right to express ourselves in public areas. according to legal experts, that does include panhandling, with or without a child. if you see a child being abused, mayor de blasio says you need to report it and he's asking the police to investigate these cases. >>> if you have something that you think the news 4 i-team needs to look into, call us at 866-news-244. that number once again, 866-news-244. >>> coming up, how would you like to get away for the weekend? >> if drama is your thing, big edie is waiting for you. there she is. we'll explain after the break. >> stern. >> very stern. dramatic. >> you're watching "today in new york." feel like a kid again with dunkin's new cookie-flavored iced coffees. for a limited time, dd perks members can enjoy any sized iced coffee for $1.99. >>> august kind of a perfect time to break loss from the hustle and bustle in the city and get away for a few days. if you're

melissa russo news 4 new york. >> she was released on her own cognizance last night. the judge ordered her to stay away from the child. her lawyers say arresting the mothers is not the way to handle this in these cases. >> new this morning, a dispute over a subway seat leadings to an attack in the bronx. police looking for this man. he and a 24-year-old woman got into it. the suspect allegedly pushed her to the ground, hit her with his company cane and stepped on her hand. if you have any information please call police. >>> 10 years ago today hurricane katrina rolled on shore. levies failed leaving # 0% of that city under water. 10 years and billions after dollars later officials claim that kind of breech won't happen again. >> it wasn't the storm itself that killed so many people and left 80% of new orleans under water water. it was the failure of the levies, designed and built to maintain by the federal government. >> this was built to interrupt that flow. today more than a hundred miles of new protection encircles the area at a cost of $14.5 billion and the army co

. >> that was melissa russo reporting.s vote next month on whether to reject the nuclear agreement with iran. president obama says he will veto any measure that derails the deal. >>> donald trump has something to say today about fox news channel's request for an apology. he's saying no. fox news channel called for the apology after trump took to twitter to resume battle with one of fox's biggest names. trump welcomed megyn kelly back from vacation with a series of tweets. in one he wrote that kelly must have had a terrible vacation because she's really off her game. he claimed kelly was afraid to confront a guest on her tv show, dr. cornell west. trump said kelly has no clue about immigration. trump also tweeted that he liked the fox show more before megyn kelly took it over. trump suggested she take what he called another 11-day unscheduled vacation. trump has been criticizing kelly ever since her questioning of him during the first republican presidential debate on fox. and calling for an apology today, the chairman of f

melissa russo for "today in new york."5>> melissa also tells us that >> tline will now open investigations into these panhandlers even if there's only in a visual description at a street corner. in an effort to change the law, she says the assembly is reviewing it: the head of the crime commission says it should be treated as a social problem, not a criminal one. >> great reporting though. >> absolutely. whitney a doubt. >>> coming up next at 7:30, the test on the top stories. including this. >> reporter: i'm lori bordonaro live in the jacob riis beach where a 5-year-old boy was swept away by a rip current and drowned. i'll have the very latest, coming up. >>> plus, the campaign trail stops at a state fair sparring in iowa as the race for president heats up. >>> we are heating up today again. temperatures back to the 90s. we'll take a look at the shorecast and tell you exactly what to expect if you're heading to the beaches. that's coming up next. looking for one of these? yoplait. smooth, creamy, and craved by the whole family. >>> the lovely tappan zee crowded with the barges. but one of