family calling in? has all that been verified? >> reporter: you know, we were saying the same thing, michael, this morning. you would think at this point someone would say hey, someone didn't come home last night. at this point we don't know what reports are coming in. just possibly that boat sachk. back to you. >> brynn, thank you very much. new this morning, police need your help. trying to find three people behind a violent robbery in brooklyn. "today in new york" katherine creag joins us with video that police need you to see. right. one of the victims in this violent home invasion, a younger teenager. a 13-year-old girl was tied up and threatened with a gun. this happened in this neighborhood. police released images of the suspect just hours ago. they're pretty clear images. the three suspects made their way into the vestibule of an apartment building here on sutter avenue and union street. they went into the apartment, pushed their way in through the

door and tied up that 13-year-old girl. a 31-year-old woman, also a 34-year-old man who lives there. this happened in late july. 8:00 in the morning. the suspects attacked a man who was there, punching and kicking him. the victim ended up in the hospital. that male victim. the suspects got away with $3500 in cash, jewelry and electronics. just talking to some of the neighbors around here, pat, they hadn't heard about this. the home invasion. they were shocked that a 13-year-old girl was part of t there are police officers on this block all the time, on sutter and union street. hearing about it. >> thank you, katherine. it happens anywhere any time. time for a czech heck of weather and traffic now. >> what a nice weather feeling day to get technical. >> that's what we're saying. the humidity is down. it's going to feel good.

it feels good throughout the day today. very low humidity levels. a nice breeze kicks in this afternoon. in the city, at 70 degrees. however. the burbs quite a bit cooler. 80 by noontime with sun. a few fair weather clouds. expecting a high of 84. we'll talk about the news in a bit. how is it rolling along on the commute. >> astoria, n trains are running from queensboro plaz to -- you can expect delays in both directions on the n and q. fastrack maintenance on the 1, 2 and 3. delays and service changes overnight there. adfgq and shuttle trains affected. and alternate side of the street parking rules in effect. more weather and traffic on the 4s. >> thank you, lauren. presidential politics.

donald trump goes to war with two tv journalists. trump ejected jorge ramos on tuesday. he's from the spanish network uni-vision. he claims ramos was asking questions out of turn about trump's stand on immigration. >> excuse me, sit down. you weren't called. sit down. sit down. go ahead. no, you don't. you haven't been called. go back to uni-vision. >> you hear that exchange there. later, jorge ramos was allowed back into the news conference. he was even allowed to question trump. trump reignited his feud with fox anchor megyn kelly. he felt he was treated unfairly during the first gop debate. the fox network now demanding an apology. you can hear what he has to say about the white house bid when

he speaks to matt lauer on the "today" show at 7:00 a.m. there's growing speculation about joe biden possible run for the president's office. he's going to hold a conference leereders. the purpose? to brief them on the iran nuclear deal. some are calling it unusual. cnn is reporting that president obama gave biden his blessing to run. the vice president's office is down-playing those rornts. in france, the suspect in a foiled terror attack on a paris-bound train was part of a planned project. they say he watched a video on his phone before he strapped on a rifle and headed on to a passenger car. he claimed to be homeless but he had a first class ticket. 23-year-old anthony sadler, one of the americans who tackled the suspect, meanwhile, returned home to california. 4:37 now. a long island man is facing charges for allegedly tampering with red light cameras and wait

until you hear how he got busted. suffolk county police say steven ruth used a long pole to poke several cameras in ronkonkoma. he then tilted them towards the sky so they can't photograph red light runners. >> we save taxpayers and innocent people a lot of money. see what i just did? all it took was a pair of -- and a painter's extension rod. >> obviously didn't hide his identity, pat. they tracked him down after this video was posted on his facebook page. >> brilliant. act. he was arrested yesterday at his home in center reach. passengers are now describing the chaos after being trapped inside a bus that queens. the casino bus hit the building on 63rd avenue in regal park monday afternoon. it was cut off by another vehicle.

six people were hurt, including the driver. you see him trapped in the rubble. that cell phone video shows neighbors rushing to help passengers who were just panicking as they tried to get out. news 4 spoke exclusive to one of those passengers. >> all of a sudden i heard everybody start screaming and yelling. you think the building was going to come down on the bus. them people really did a great job assisting, getting us off the bus. >> mr. whitfield wasn't seriously hurt. the driver of the car accused of cutting off that bus has been hit with a summons for making an improper turn. the mta is condemning three separate attacks on subway workers over the weekend. it the first one happened saturday night at the delancey street station. a man hit a train operator in the face and ran off. within a span of two hours, someone else hurled a beer can at another mta worker. the third person spit on the

worker's face in queens. one of the country's largest male escort websites is off line this morning, the owner facing federal charges. the sy is called rentboy.com. federal agents raided the manhattan office was yesterday. the website ceo and six employees were arrested prosecutors say their website promoted prostitution worldwide. they deny it saying we bring good people together. the cheating website, ashley madison is upping the reward to find the hackers responsible for the attack on them. the site is offering $500,000 to find those behind the massive data breach. a jersey shore star, nicole snooki polizzi says her husband never signed up on site and calling the allegations absurd and josh tateman of the real housewives of new york admits he had an account but signed up for it foolishly with a group of friends.

th life are drug sniffing dogs and bomb sniffing dogs. there are actually five specially trained porn sniffing uh-huh. one is heading here to new york. another one named bear, the black lab who helped to crack the case of the former subway fogle. bear found a data storage device in fogle's home and he was later charged with possession of child pornography. they distinguish the odor given off by thumb drives and external hard drives. fascinating. >> that is fas fate cinate ing fascinating. what shut down a popular beach spot and will it reopen before our summer winds down? this special blessing at st. patrick's cathedral as preparations continue for the upcoming visit of pope francis. we'll have weather and traffic on the 4s as we look at the hamilton bridge. you're watching "today in new york."

here are four things to know this morning. a prosecutor in west virginia will charge a 14-year-old boy who held 29 students and a teacher at gunpoint at a high school. the teen surrendered after hours of negotiation. nobody was injured. a judge will formally sentence colorado movie theater shooter james holmes to life in prison without parole. he was convicted of killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others in that attack in 2012. the head of fema heads to the gulf coast for the tenth anniversary of hurricane katrina. craig fugate will begin a tour of the region impacted by the storm in mississippi today. a consumer alert this morning. before you cut your grass, about

4400 liberty zero turn lawnmowers, if you have one of those, it's being recalled due to potential gas tank leak. please stop using it immediately and contact the manufacturer. time for a check of weather and traffic. pat, i have to stop right here and say chris, what is going on with the mets? they won again. do you have your world series tickets? >> i'm waiting. my hand is out. anybody listening. five games, what happened? it's a whole new team. let's keep it rolling into september. we want to keep the good weather rolling too. it's on a roll. certainly today, notice the flags flapping around. new air mass in place. front came through getting the humidity down. temperatures still warm this afternoon. but, again, with low humidity and a bit of a breeze, it will feel delightful out there. 70 degrees. mostly clear skies. weather headlines, talking about near perfect today. heat building into the weekend along with the humidity. we're tracking tropical storm erika very closely.

it may approach southeast florida in particular by the end of the week and early next week. in the park, mill basin, upper 60s across floral park. 50s in morristown. same in bridgewater. 54 in sussex and monticello. that's cool weather to start this morning. pollen report. something in the air to be an irritant. weed pollen very high and the ragweed moderate. grass pollen low and mold spore count low. we cleared out nicely the showers and thunder showers to the east of us. high pressure building on in. high pressure builds over this. we hold on to it throughout the day today. clouds north and west of the city. but a nice looking and feel day. clear to partly cloudy skies tonight. clearing out overnight. nice and comfortable. a cool night. tomorrow, sunshine, just a few high clouds mixing in from time to time. the humidity stays down low.

the humidity creeps back up towards the weekend. high temperature today of 84 degrees. that's right on the nose. tonight, generally clear, cool, 66 in the city. a lot of 50s in the suburbs. a few upper 40s in the distant burbs north and west. 82 tomorrow, 83 on friday. couple of nice days. upper 80s with more humidity and clouds over the weekend and close to 90 the start of next week as well. still lots of summer to go, lauren scala. you should be happy about that. >> yes, very happy about that. we still have an accident on the major deegan. this is by the cross bronx expressway. it was blocking two lanes now it blocks the left lane. it's a slow ride through here. the staten island expressway, we have overnight paving work there. the eastbound lanes between richmond avenue and slosson avenue, two lanes shut down. a live look at the brooklyn bridge and of the bqe, it's bumper to bumper already.

ongoing roadwork. by cadman plaza west, two lanes shut down. things aren't moving right now. alternate side of the street parking rules in effect today. the next update on the 4s. thanks so much. the massive wildfires out west are so bad now. people having trouble breathing. the air quality is poor where the fires are burning out of state. people are worried about the smoky air as far east as colorado and wyoming. on long island, a village ravaged by superstorm sandy is getting a new emergency center. next year an empty field will be turned into an emergency center to provide temporary shelter, food and other supplies in the event of a hurricane. in new jersey, officials are awaiting test results to see if a beach can reopen. it's beach d in sandy hook. it was closed for the first time

in 17 years. it found unsafe levels of bacteria in the water. however, just a few hundred yards down the shore, the beach was packed. the water is safe there, but there's still people worried. >> i'm a little nervous now to go in the water. >> they're very good tests, they know what they're doing. if one beach is closed but the other is open, we go along with the tests. >> officials say the testing found all the other sandy hook beaches are safe. the group, clean ocean action, says the beaches are cleaner but are calling for more frequent and better testing. receives just 5 years old, about to start kindergarten and a little girl has died of meningitis. she complained of an ear infection two years ago but then needed emergency surgery and was in a coma when she died on friday. her mother says she was vaccinated against meningitis, but the vaccine was not effective against the strain that killed her.

it is 4:49. yonkers stepping up efforts to combat legionnaires' disease. they're inspecting and cleaning cooling towers in all city-owned buildings. the mayor ordered the inspections after riverside high school tested positive for legionella bacteria last week. the school's cooling towers are clean. the recent outbreak in the bronx that killed 12 people and sickened more than 100. work crews putting the finishing touches on the renovations at st. patrick's cathedral just in time for pope francis' visit. it's also a chance for a special blessing sniemts cardinal timothy dolan blessed the hats at the church. they hung over the top of the sanctuary. they were taken down during the renovation. the ceiling is now restored and the hats are hanging once again. the outside looks fantastic as well. >> amazing. there is a sigh of relief for the family of a 15-year-old

boy who put a hole in a century's old painting. doesn't have to pay for it. it shows what happened. he stumbles holding a drink. he punched a fist-sized hole in the painting. it's by a 17th century italian faster. the museum officials say it's part of a private collection. insurance will pay for the restoration. i never heard of anyone being able to carry a drink. >> that's what i was saying when i saw that video. what is he doing with that in a museum? two giant pythons were apparently too big for a vermont collector to handle. one of the snakes, about 17 feet long, weighed in at 220 pounds, michael. the little one, the smaller one, 150 pounds. the collector got him from a new york man but quickly called animal control to come and get him. they're on the way to a sanctuary in massachusetts. a game warden believes it's the biggest ever seen. look at the markings on that

thing. 4:52 now. a firsthand look at a prison break escape route. >> new video shows us exactly how two new york convicts made their way to freedom. we'll take a look at the local talent battling it out for a spot at the u.s. open.

live look there at the grand central parkway by the l.i.e. everything moving nicely right now. >> it is a beautiful morning. lots of windows down, i bet. >> yes. >> out there on the roads. chris is here with a look at weather and lauren will have traffic in a moment. let's start with you. >> weather feels good.

big change. i'm out. how many days over 80 degrees. 47 days so far. >> wow. >> today, another 80-degree day. but a comfortable one. 84 the expected high. sunshine will be out. nice, pleasant breeze with low humidity. tonight, a clear sky, 66 in the city with 50s in the suburbs. good stuff. >> love those nights. lauren, what's going on? >> we have issues on the subways right now. signal problems that are affecting the n and the q lines. running express from queensboro plaza to astoria boulevard. you can expect delays in both directions on the n and q. fastrack maintenance out there all week long. should be wrapped up shortly. no service on the 1 between 34th street and south ferry.

then 29 is running on the 5 between dyer avenue and east 180th street. >> thank you very much. a special celebration under way at astoria in mexico city. it's the salon cantina and the home of mariachi. it's marking the 90th anniversary of when the doors first opened in 1925. trumpets, guitars and baritone voices of a mariachi band while enjoying some of mexico's national drink, pat. that would be nothing else but tequila. we are getting a new look at the escape route that david sweat and richard matt used when they broke out of that upstate prison. it shows a walk-through on the route that they took. after the convicted murderers exited their cells in june, they walked across foot bridges and went down ladders and squeezed around pipes and look at this. through the wall and through manhole covers, climbed up through the manhole covers.

matt was eventually shot and killed. sweat was captured two days after that. president obama expected to today. the phoenix mercury will be at the white house. they defeated the chicago sky sweep. they won their third championship. white house says the president is not only honoring them for their success on the court but also for their efforts in giving back to their local community. the u.s. open starts next week, michael, in queens. tough competition is already under way to determine who takes the court. >> news 4's john chandler gives us a look at one local hopeful. >> there's no easy path to the u.s. open. something long island's noah rubin is finding out the hard way. >> he's one of 128 men and 128 women competing for 16 spots just to qualify for one of the biggest tennis tournaments in

the world. >> there's so much pressure. the other thing, if you look at this draw, there's 128 really good players. it's not like they can't play. >> the ultimate goal, of course, is to someday reach center court. it's yards away and it's a big dream for any tennis player. they have to grind it out on thein smaller courts first. he was feeling the heat on court 17 and cramping in the relentless sun but it was advantage noah rubin. he rallied to win and revved up the home fans. he calls the u.s. open his backyard, after all. >> it was a nice lively crowd for the new yorker. >> 9,000 people. but i don't know one of them. it makes it easy to impress any of them. everybody here, i don't know, couple hundred or whatever it is, i know every single one of them. it makes it tougher. >> pressure is something noah welcomes. he just turned pro in june.

he hit balls with president obama in april. >> the president of the united states. i crossed that off the bucket list. that's pretty good. >> reporter: next item to cross off, qualifying for the u.s. open. he has two matches to go. john chandler, "news 4 new york." >> good luck to him. coming up on 5:00 a.m., if you're about to head out, take us with you. >> keep watching "today in new york." download the app on your mobile device. our next hour starts now. new information about the moments before a terror suspect launched a thwarted attack on a paris-pound train. plus, the search continuing for a boat spotted sinking near sandy hook. this video that could help police track down a trio of violent robbers. "today in new york" starts now. good morning everyone. 5:00 a.m. on this wednesday, august 26th. i'm michael gargiulo. >> i'm pat battle in for darlene taking the week off. >> chris is here with a look at the forecast on one of the nicest mornings, chris, we've

had in a couple of days. >> now into the 60s. 69 degrees. the humidity is dropping. 70 at sheepshead bay. staten island 65 degrees and 50s showing up north and west. that was 53 at this hour in sussex. 55 in morristown. the northern half of the jersey still nice and cool. start out with a clear sky and hold on to it for the most part. lunch outside, perfect 80 degrees. look for a high of 84 degrees. let's see how the commute is moving along so far. lauren, what do you have? >> we have improvements. we have an accident on the major deegan by the cross bronx expressway now cleared. we have roadwork on the staten island expressway eastbound between richmond avenue and clos en avenue. two lanes are shut down. you can expect delays as they pave the roa a out there. we have delays on the bqe heading into the brooklyn bridge. plaza. more weather and traffic coming up on the 4s. happening today, the search efforts get back under way for a

o,fishing boat seen sinking off the new jersey coast. "today in new york's" brynn gingras joins us from sandy hook with what we know this morning. brynn, i know you're trying to figure out what's going on with this boat and what they're looking for. >> reporter: michael, there's so many questions that remain. one of them, did a boat actually sink. in a few hours, authorities are going to be back out here with divers using sonar as well to try to locate really anything at this point. and the coast guard is saying it really can't confirm this morning if a boat sank. reports are, though, that a 40-foot fishing trawler went under around 4:, tuesday afternoon. itst's unclear if anyone was on board ond who it belonged to. the sheriff's department tweeted a picture of possible debris in the debris field. that's the only glimmer of evidence that the authorities have seen. those who know the area well understand the difficulties that rescue workers face.

>> right there, it goes from like 4 feet to 60 feet in a matter of a few feet. >> reporter: yeah. you can imagine how fast that water is moving. that is something that these rescue workers are facing as they head back there, michael. going to leave here later this morning. coast guard, nypd, a number of agencies helping out. >> brynn, thank you very much. new this morning, police need your help trying to find three people involved in a violent robbery in brooklyn. "today in new york's" katherine creag joins us. she's got video of the suspects that they want you to see. katherine? >> reporter: pat, the three suspects got away with thousands of dolla and they victimized three people in that ar tent,e including a teenage girl. the crime happened in this neighborhood. as you said, police released video images of the suspect hours ago. the three suspects made their way into an apartment building here on sutter avenue an and union street. they went to the victim's