the search for survivors. live pictures from italy where at this hour, emergency crews are searching for survivors of a the latest on the situation just ahead. and donald trump is coming to tampa. we will tell you about the rally today and why the presidential candidate wants a prosecutor to target hillary rodham clinton. tracking the tropics. tropical storm gaston cons to gain strength in the atlantic -- gaston continues to gain strength in the atlantic and could become a hurricane later today. good morning, welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gayle guyardo. >> and i'm gene ramirez.

>> governor rick scott announced the first non-travel related case in pinellas county. we will have much more on the efforts to contain the spread of the virus plus governor risk scott will be in-studio this morning to talk about zika virus. it's an interview you don't want to miss. but first, let's check in on the tropics and tropical storm gaston. yeah, good. we're still waiting on if latest information from the -- on the latest the hurricane center. at this point, tropical storm gaston but it could strengthen the a hurricane today. and then we have this area near the caribbean islands. right now, just an invest area, called 99l. and there's a 70% chance it could be the next named system. you can see the latest advisory for gaston was 11:00. at any point, it could be a hurricane. and the thing about gaston,

if it becomes a hurricane. and now 99l, this has the best potential of impacting us at all. notice all the models take it toward the bahamas. this is the time when it could really strengthen. and then we have two modes of thinking. the european model, very reliable for hurricane forecasting, notice still area heading through the bahamas. and then actually through south florida and into the gulf mexico. that's one potential long-range forecast. the gfs is the american computer model, same thing, toward the miami area but takes a turn up towards the east coast. so we will watch that long- term. in the meantime coming up in weather and traffic on the 8s, near record heat locally again. i'll tell you how close we get. but first, out the door. it's an air conditioning day, that's for sure but a good

looks fantastic. let's take a quick look at the other bridges. six minute to cross the howard frankland bridge. 10 across the courtney campbell causeway from pinellas all the way over to memorial highway. and also check it out, a look through lakeland and wesley chapel, up to speed, i-4 between each entrance, 14 minutes. and state road 52 to 275 on 75, 11 minutes. overnight construction tying up portions of 75 in sarasota, more on that coming up in the next report. and now back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. we are following breaking news this morning out of italy. while you were sleeping a 6.2 earthquake rocked the central part of italy. the earthquake's epicenter was located about 150-miles from rome. now this is new video just coming into the newsroom. and you can see the streets torn up, residents standing about. some of them looking still for

and first responders working this scene there. and it shows some of the damage causedded by the earthquake. buildings leveled. and at this hour, reports of at least and people dead. several aftershock, one measuring 5.5. and the earthquake was felt as far as rome. this is damage inside a home there. this was a bathroom. it's now destroyed. and in this picture, you see the cracks on the ceiling, on the wall. and we want to the town as the search continues right now. you have search crews digging through rubble, looking for people. again, we know now that several people have reported that love ones are not accounted for. and just a live look into this town as that search continues. when disasters like this happen, more and more people turn to social media and to share their grief. this morning, facebook

service. >> and those experiencing the earthquake are sharing their stories online. meredyth censullo is following the breaking news. what do you see on social media? >> reporter: well, in the hashtag being used is earthquake in italian. this is an overhead shot. an overhead video perhaps, a drone video of the town just devastated. the middle of the town, a lot of in. and keep in mind, this happened 3:30 in the morning italian time. folks were woken up by this. it's a really scary situation to think about. starting to see more videos again from news agency,

people who may be inside. and then a lot of folk, this is what is really just sad to me, a lot of people are posting pictures of towns before and now after the same angle. and you can see a lot of those completely destroyed. a lot of information, gayle, still coming in. i'm here in the newsroom and i will update you throughout the morning. >> so sad to see the destruction. >> thank you. to the latest developments on the zika virus in your ya scott is in tampa to continue his local round tables on the state's response to the zika virus. today's appearance comes after announcing a local case of the mosquito-borne illness in pinellas county. the governor will meet with leaders in just a few hours. jamel lanee' is live from downtown tampa with the very latest. >> reporter: good morning, gayle. again, the governor, he will be here at the florida department

host another round table discussion. obviously this after a pinellas county man contracted the zika virus. county leaders over here in hillsborough, they are under pressure to do what they can to stop the spread of the virus. the virus is now in our own backyard. and now pinellas county leaders stepping up their efforts to spray and kill any mosquitoes that could potentially carry zika virus. yesterdave related cases, one in pinellas county. the person was recently tested and officials aren't saying where in pinellas county the person with this zika virus livers or how they got the virus. the governor told us, they are still working to find that out. >> just because we have one case here doesn't mean we have local transmission. the next step is, the department of health working with the mosquito corral

aggressive mosquito control and aggressive testing. >> so far, the state has pumped 26 more additional dollars to help fight mosquitoes that could potentially carry the zika virus. and a lot of that money has gone towards spraying. >> gayle. >> i know the governor will be here answering our questions about zika virus in about an hour. so it's going to be interesting to see how it unfolds. thank you. >> it's hot out there, leigh. >> yeah, it is already hot at 4:38 but it was very hot yesterday. in fact, we broke some records in sarasota. it was 99, the old record was 96. in tampa, it was hot too. tied the record there of 95 rose. what about today? well, it's 7:00 a.m., the sun just coming in, we're at 80. the mid-80s by the mid-morning. and then 90 by noon with an afternoon high of 93.

3:00, 4:00, only two degrees from today's record of 95. rainfall potential out of the forecast through noon. we will get the first few dots of rain in highlands county and polk county at this point. and then as the evening progresses, storms push toward the coast and there could be isolated areas where you get an inch of rain. eight-day temperature trend, we trend down. we start at 93 todays and tomorrow. and get down to 90 by tuesday. we will check in now with traffic on the 8s. and it's a good drive. overnight construction, but overall, it's nice. let's take a look at travel times. and overnight construction on 75, a couple lanes taken away. really the biggest issue is, if you want to hop on 75 and head northbound, that on-ramp reportedly blocked. southbound is okay. and then underneath the interstate, we have lanes closed on university but you can still get by.

through ulmerton, up to speed here. seminole to 275, 14 minutes. and over in the southern part of sarasota county, in venice, to the lee doe blade boulevard to river road, only -- toledo blade boulevard to river road, only 10 minutes. the autistic man who made headlines after a police- involved shooting in miami is now living in central florida. also, how much time should children spend the new recommendations in this morning's medical report. first, republican presidential candidate donald trump will be in the bay area today. details about the rally in a live report. it's 4:40. you're watching news channel 8

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in your vote, republican presidential nominee donald trump is on his way to the bay area. he will speak at a rally this afternoon at the florida state fairgrounds. this comes as hillary rodham clinton is up in the polls in the state. one has her ahead by two points and another by 14. big difference there. news channel 8's ryan hughes is live many tampa. good morning. trump is ready to take aim at

to you as well. the attacks have been pointed and he pounced on her once again at a rally if texas last night. listen. >> she wants to let people overstay their visas without removal. one, lawless order after another. we must not let that happen! we president donald trump and we're going to stop it. >> reporter: and donald trump used texas, a border state, to outline his thoughts on immigration and also criticized hillary rodham clinton on hers. he avoided clarification of a possible shift away from his hard line immigration proposals, simply stressing the need for heightened border security. and he told the crowd, clinton wants an open boarder and said she will do anything to provide

immigrants. we expect to hear a similar message in tampa for the 1:00 rally. and back here live, it's sure to be a packed house here at the fairgrounds and trump is expected to attend a private fund raiser but details haven't been made public. >> we will be listening to any mention of immigration and have we have a state that has a lot of people from other countries. very much of interest here. thank you. we will check back. democratic presidential candidate hillary rodham scheduled today. she attend a private event in california tuesday night at the home of justin timberlake. her running mate will be in florida friday. a construction project in sarasota county is upsetting some business owners this morning. the $17 million project along bee ridge road started back in january. fdot has not blocked businesses

time finding parking places. one business says they have already lost 25% of their annual revenue. we are learning that the man with autism at the center of a con proverbal police involved shooting in north miami is now living in central florida. the 26-year-old was moved from a psychiatric ward to a facility for people are disabilities. you will remember that he s transported to a state facility because of a lack of group homes in south florida. the fsu student accused of a gruesome double murder in palm beach county is in critical condition this morning. his lifer and lungs are failing, possibly from chemical poisoning. investigators believe it comes from whatever he drank in his victim's garage. you may remember deputies had to pull him from one of the victims as he bit off pieces of flesh if the victim's face.

working for thousands of people in miami-dade county yesterday afternoon. thanks to this fire at a substation. police say just after the explosion, 27,000 people lost power. most of them had service restored within an hour or less. luckily, no one injured. a california officer killed a man when he fired i-75 time, all of it caught on camera. the investigation continues as the sheriff's department tries to figure ou fired so many rounds. the victim who is still unidentified apparently threatened people with a knife just outside a market. the officers involve ready all on administrative leave this morning. and an atlanta gas station shoot-out with a victim caught in the cross fire, again, all on camera. first a confrontation, the driver of the bloc black dodge and then a second suspect and then bullets start flying. the driver goes inside, calls

police have made no arrests just yet. olympic olympic gold medalist trades her swim cap for a baseball cap. they'll throw the first pitch in tonight's game against the nationals and orioles. it will be the third time she has toss out the first pitch for the nationals. she has quite the arm. and everybody is encouraged to go out and give her a big standing o. >> yes, she swimmer. this morning, already steamy. we will see plenty of sunshine. 82degrees at 8:00 a.m. and then 90 at noon. and a stray shower in the polk county and highlands county area not out of the question but a small rain chance at lunchtime. and better rain chance at 40% at 4:00 p.m. and you will be near record heat as well at 93. right now, lakeland you're 77. and still 79 in bartow. 75 in arcadia.

flow. and obviously things are dry now but the rain starts on the east coast, watch what happens. the northeast wind brings those first few showers and 11:00, 12:00, and as the day progresses, the storms get closer and closer to the coast. this computer model is not putting in as many storms as i think we will see. about 40% coverage for the day. just got the latest on tropical storm st and 2 friday and saturday. how about traffic on the 8s? we're flowing at great speed, 275 in pinellas county right around gandy boulevard. no delays there. quick look, st. pete 175 to hoc, nine minutes. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. and now back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. time now for the morning's medical report. heart disease continues to be

america. but there are some exceptions. in 2014, cancer was the top killer in 22 states, up from two states in the year 2000. new data shows cancer now causes more deaths among asian and hispanic americans than heart disease. heart disease is still the leading cause of death for african-americans and caucasians. smart phone, tablets and television, young toddlers love the screen time but how much is too much. pediatricians recommend children under the have no screen time. and after that, no more than two hours in any 24 hour period. one thing is for sure, less is always best. >> always astonishing to see the kids with ipads at restaurants. even the little ones. >> it's hard to break it. hot wheel, the super fast car, wonder what it would be like to ride one?

? ? ? e best way to get together, is with the treat you make together.

how cool is this? it's a gopro camera mounted on a hot wheels car and giving us an opportunity to see what it would feel like to be in the driver's seat of those cool hot wheels the. video has gone viral on youtube. you can see the car going backyard, down the roads, and even under water.

and it's cool because you can hear that great sound it makes on the track. >> nice, nice. >> and there's the loop. what began with glass tiled flowers blossomed into a mosaic masterpiece. this brown stone is bedazzled and neighbors say the owner is as careful as her home. she began it since the 9/11 attack. and since then, it has become a she is working on a statue for the front stoop. >> interesting. unique. instagram, snapchat and facebook, they have perks but also the downfalls and the downfall cans be serious. >> we look into the world of social media cyber bullying and how schools are cracking down. next, a live look at tampa this morning. beautiful early morning for you.

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time nor weather and traffic on the 8s. the skies are clear when you look out of the wfla towercamera in downtown. what you can't see is how steamy it is. 79degrees with 90% humidity. and with this heat and humidity, we will warm up to 93, creating a storms, about 40% chance but the heat index is going to be at or above 100 for many hours today. and the clearing skies and lows around 78. how about traffic? looking great on the sun coast parkway. and a good drive 7 minutes here, state road 54 to ehrlich road. and that's southbound. and ehrlich to 275, that's a nine minute commute. either direction looks great. and most traffic moves south for your morning commute. and all right, a look at 275, i-

away from bearss, pasco county into hillsborough county, into downtown tampa, just nine

breaking overnight, central italy rocked by a powerful earthquake. new information just coming in and those lost in e backyard. what local and state officials are doing to protect you. and we continue tracking the tropics. tropical storm gaston is expected to become a hurricane today. but it's a different system that could impact our weather. more in a moment. good morning. welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gene ramirez. >> and i'm gayle guyardo. >> let's find out what's going on with the tropics with leigh spann. welcome back. >> yes, it is busy in the tropics. let me spread this out for you.