Hour of our tuesday already above average in many locations and heading up near records this afternoon. 77 degrees right now. Beautiful out of the lakeland auto mall in polk county, just a few high clouds and fair weather clouds welling on up. The predominant wind direction is out of the southeast pumping up some of that warm humid area. 80 in bartow. Venice check out the dew points low 70s already thats muggy stuff especially for this time of the year and youll notice that moving on through the afternoon hours. Theres your wind direction at about 10 to 15 Miles Per Hour. Already seeing gusts this morning up around 20 Miles Per Hour, so it will be breezy through the second part of the day. Max defender 8 is completely clear, breaking news this morning as the sun has risen over the Great Smoky Mountains in east tennessee you can see wildfires moving dangerously close to the resort towns of gatlinburg and pigeon forge. Both of those towns under mandatory evacuation orders. More than 30 homeses and businesses burned to the ground overnight and fire officials believe this could be a case of arson. Oh my god its so hot. Overnight desperate attempts to escape a Massive Wildfire sweeping cross the communities of gatlinburg appeared pigeon forge tennessee. Motorists fleeing intense flames. Residents thankful to make it out of their homes alive. They let me go back in for a few minutes to get my animals reporter while terrified guests were trapped inside a hotel surrounded by flames the fire too close and dangerous for them to leave. These pictures taken by an employee of the hotel showing the fire burning right outside. Local Officials Say 30 structures were damaged by flames including an apartment complex. More than 500 acres burning in the small town several roads through the National Park have been closed. Officials say 70mile an control fires near several popular tourist destinations including dollywood. Just days ago dolly parton releasing this Public Service announcement. Please help firefighters. Reporter police asking residents to obey burn bans. No structures inside the theme park dozens of guests were evacuate from the resort as a precaution. National park employees were evacuated from the area too. Ive been in federal service for 25 years, and nothing that weve experienced as prepared us for what we experienced here in the last 24 hours. Been just an unbelievable. Thousands of tourists and residents spent the night in shelters there and local schools in that area cancelled classes for today. Forecasters are predicting some significant rainfall today whi s and some new information now a former polk county english teacher is in court asking a judge to reduce her sentence. Were talking about Jennifer Fichter currently serving a 22year sentence. She claims she needs to be out of prison to get treatment. Its been testified that she has a good prognosis for treatment because she took responsibility. Boys one of the students 20 to 30 times in her truck. Developing this morning dozens of guns were stolen in a matter of minutes early this morning after thieves used a track as a ram to crash through the front of the tampa gun store. Now, dangerous weapons are in the hands of criminals and we explain how Law Enforcement is responding. Dozens of firearms were stolen in a matter of minutes from this gun store smashed through the front window cameras caught a large group of bold criminals leaving behind broken glass and a big mess at the Tampa Arms Company early this morning. Vehicles smashed through the front entry of the business, at numerous individuals numerous individuals entered the store cleared off the walls and cabinets and removed the firearms. With approximately 40 firearms including handguns and long guns. We think that this was a very quick operation, less than 2 minutes. Obviously thought out and organized. One of the stores owners is thankful for one thing the security measures the store already had in place. Fortunately we did have stateoftheart security we did have bars on window of course its not going to stop a 6,000pound truck but we had cameras alarm systems, hopefully the police will be able to use that and find something. Now, smith is tasked with pouring over the Stores Inventory so they can pinpoint what was stolen. Wee a small store. We dont carry a large amount os which i guess in this case is fortunate. That many less guns on the street. And in addition to the stores owners the shop has 3 season they are all out of jobs as the owners regroup and rebuild. Right now federal investigators are trying to figure out what drove an Ohio State University student to go on attack. This all started about 24 hours ago. Abdul artan is who investigators say sent 10 people to the hospital. Federal investigators say theyre looking at facebook posts of artans plans. They are also complaints about muslims and a reference to [indiscernible]. The radical american born alqaeda letter rick. New overnight president elect donald trump announcing he will not name georgia congressman tom price to head the department of health and human services. He is an Orthopedic Surgeon has been one of obama cares most outspoken critics. He is expected to diction mantle the Affordable Care act and help implement their own blueprint for Health Care Reform and hes also chairman of the house budget committee. Meanwhile sla role of secretary of state. There are 7 people scheduled to meet with the trump team today. Insiders clash other mitt romney for the job. Hes in new york with a second meeting with the president elect today as well. Breaking news just in cnn reporting president elect donald she served as labor secretary under president bush during his 8 years in office and the wife of mitch mcconnel. An official announcement is expected to come this afternoon. At and t is getting in on the Live Streaming game. And its new Service Goes Live tomorrow. Well have the details coming up. Plus protesters from fast food restaurants take to the streets of tampa this morning demanding higher minimum wage but its more than just from mcdonalds or wendys wanting 15 an hour. And costly costumes disappear from a laundromat. She knew shed better call behnken. Coming up she sorts out the dirty laundry. And a beautiful shot sent in from robert this morning. Some rain would be as good as gold and weve got the chance for some in the forecast. The details coming up. Z26htz z16fz we are getting an update on those awful wildfires in tennessee. Speaking right now the mayor of gatlinburg tennessee. Lets listen in. Ive got the fire chief here and were going to go over more details in a minute and have him speak with you. But i wanted to let you know that gatlinburg is a very strong very resilient community, weve got people that are reaching and we just want to let people know that we will rebuild, and we will remain the premiere resort community that we are and our guests love gatlinburg and it will be okay. I told my kids this morning ive got 7 kids and ive told all of them, you know, whatever whatever happens material things they can be replaced, but as gatlinburg will rebuild. And everything is going to be fine. And at this time im going to introduce our fire chief gregg miller. All right. Yes, youve been listening to an update on those wildfires in tennessee did he say mating areas there. Arson suspected. And they were about to listen from the words from the fire chief. Were going to listen to that offline. Definitely lots of focus on this being a big tourist area especially during the holiday season. So were going to check in on our weather locally. Thankfully they received some rainfall this morning across east tennessee more rain in the forecast or tonight and wednesday helping out those fighting the wildfire there. We need some rain too and theres a little bit in the forecast none today though, just warm muggy already up to 78 degrees and you see that wind out of the south, thats whats pumping up some of that warm muggy air from the south. Max defender 8 had sprinkles on it yesterday. Just a tiny shower chance by tomorrow afternoon. Best rain chance thursday with a front moving through. This is a look at the visible satellite, just a few high thin clouds. Theres some of that rain wng advance of a cold front. Thats the one that will be moving through the tampa bay area come thursday, bringing with it some small rain chances an again we need it. A hundredth of an inch of rain so far. Currently tied for the second driest november on record for tampa st. Pete is top 3 dry november too. This afternoon a mix of sun and clouds, breezy and warm and very sticky. Theres your front that will make it way here bringing it with it showers chances. A good fly over by the International Space station visible for 6 minutes at 5 55. Of course the teddy bear round up well be collecting those through december 19th, and giving those out to kids in need across the tampa bay area heading on into the holiday season. Its a great program. If you can donate a brand new this answer breezy, warm and muggy a High Temperature of around 83 degrees extended forecast there is your rain chance on thursday. Then were drying out towards the weekend. Well, happening today all over the country thousands of fast food workers are protesting their wages demanding they be paid 15 an hour. Nearly 100 people showed up. The fight for 15 is a 4year old fight to. Im struggling to survive working at the amount that im making and the hours that im putting it dont pays the cost of living. Now, it pro test endederer this morning. And on its website mcdonalds released a statement in response to the fight for 15 movement take seriously our role in helping strengthen communities. Every year we separately employee hundreds of thousands of people providing many with their first job. Last july we raised wages for all employees at our Company Owned restaurants to one dollar above the local minimum wage and give them the ability to end paid time off. Well it is not just fast food workers protesting today. Part of the fight for 15. They say uber drivers will idle their cars and march with other industry workers. Uber has said in the past they average more than 19 an hour but drivers complain of aggressive fair cuts and no accounting for things like gas and insurance. Special performance clothes gone of clothing at a laundromat and got back only 4 pounds worth of her items when she says the Business Owner blew her off she knew she better call behnken. These are my clothes here. Cindys closet is a collection what she considers costumes for her work as a musician. Most everything she from her travels as a singer, now, half of her clothes are gone after she dropped off clothes to be cleaned at manatee laundry. I have a lot of entertainment type of clothes that, you know, i travel around to find that i just couldnt replace and i was devastated. She has used manatee laundry numerous times with to problems but when she dropped off her expensive performance clothes she had an uneasy feeli. Items. They just put it on a scale weighed it gave me a ticket. She insists she dropped off 38 pounds of clothes. Though when they picked them up. 90 of the stuff was not mine. She claims only 4 pounds of her clothes were returned. I ended up talking to the owner, you know, to start to go over the things and he was like, you know, you have nothing in writing, you cant prove it. So i paid them a visit and out. Is the owner here . No. Can you just give us some information. Come on, you cant talk to me. The owner did call me back. He was polite but insisted he just doesnt believe her story. Why would anyone make autopsy story like this and go to this extreme . That leaves her with little hope shell ever perform in her special outfits again. But a big lesson you should not drop off any expensive items to be cleaned without an itemized list that way if Something Like this does happen youll have some kind of proof of what you dropped off. And if you have problem that needs solving you better call behnken. The number is on your screen. And now a consumer watch for you this morning, at and t will launch its new direct tv now for 35 bucks a month and more than 120 for 70 a month. Its available on all internet connected devices. At and t bought direct tv and counting on mobile video to generate new revenue for the company. Well, the film breakfast at tiffanys is making a return to theater this is week. Find out when and how you can get your tickets. Plus tickets for a 4day party in honor of price are on sale. Ticket is going to cost you and. Lots of people excited about this bit of entertainment news. Princes paisley park will host a 4day celebration of the stars life next year. The event of celebration 2017 will be held april 20th through the 23rd during the anniversary scheduled to perform including the revolution, morris day and the time and members of the new power generation. Tickets are already available online. General admission tickets are 500, vip tickets are a thousand but they include onsite parking, photo, autograph opportunities and a male pass. Well, classic movie fans you have a limited opportunity to see a classic on the big screen again. Turner classic is rereleasing breakfast at tiffanys in theaters tomorrow. It will screen in selected theaters. We logged onto see where its playing in the bay area. Its playing lots of places, brandon, tampa, palm harbor, st. Pete and lakeland. Which means you shouldnt have trouble getting a ticket if you want it. Metalica proving once again they debuted at the top by selling 291,000 units in its first week of release. This marks the bands 6th straight studio album to reach number 1. And a 10year old is receiving high praise for his cover of a song off that new album. Im sure the neighbors and parents love this. Hes performing the song atlas rise. The post the band telling the boy quote nice work dude. How cool is that . For him to hear directly from them who obviously he loves. Pretty amazing. Good stuff. Well, the band okay few is making a lot of waves on social media right now. You may have seen it on your feed. Group known for their super creative music videos of course. Check out how their video for believe it or not that was the entire video. And it only took 4. 2 seconds. Of course what youre seeing now is that video slowed down. Its pretty cool even if youre not a fan of this band. You might want to check out the song just to see that video slow. This is a slowed down version actually the full version of the song. Yes. So they sped up the song to make that video. Right. That is cool. A Delta Airlines passenger is banned for life for ranting on a recent flight. Plus an awful scene in columbia, the country that is a plane crash killing nearly everyone on a popular brazilian soccer team. And the mourning of the death of former president fidel a man behind the wheel of a Deadly School bus crash in tennessee appeared in court this morning to face charges. Details coming up. The world still reacting to the death of former cuban dictator fidel castro. And good morning. Thank you for joining us on we want to check in on the weather. Not even noon and quickly warming up across the area. This is a live look on Crystal River where the temperature already up into the low 80s because of this south wind 15 Miles Per Hour pumping up some warmer air from the south but also some muggier air. If youve gone outside today you probably noticed that already. 81 right now in apollo beach. Its warm across the area. 79 right now in arcadia. Then you throw in the dew points upper 60s to 70 right now in north dad knew she was coming port and venice. Thats sticky stuff. Theres your southeast wind 10 to as much as 20 Miles Per Hour. So you can expect a breezy and very warm afternoon with these temperatures running close to 10 degrees above average for this time of the year. Max defender 8 is quiet, expect a mix of sun and clouds mid80s, back to you. Right now schools and government buildings are closed again in cuba for another day for fidel castro. Tonight hundreds of thousands will gather for a memorial service. Reporter with tears in their eyes and flags in their hands thousands wait in line for hours to pay respects to the at the top of each hour the boom. Tonight many of those people will be joined by thousands of others for a special tribute at revolution square. In power now for 10 years his brother will speak tonight reflecting on his life and legacy. We all feel very sad with the loss of our commander. Reporter as the line snake to say get a memorial. Government and state workers asked mourners to sign oaths pledging loyalty to his ideals. He did many, many things for cuba. Reporter after tonights service his ashes will travel on a 3day journey across cuba now, looking ahead for many lies an unconcerned future. We grew up always i dont think anyone can say whats going to happen. As cubans in miami celebrate his death hoping for a chance of democracy many in the home land wait to see what happens. A public funeral for cost row will be held near his hometown on sunday. Meantime in miami cuban organizations are planning a large rally tomorrow night hoping to put pressure on governments to bring about democracy. And around this world this morning only 6 people survived this awful plane crash. It happened in columbia. 75 others are confirmed dead this morning. Most of them belonged to the brazilian soccer team, one of the best teams in the country. They were traveling to face a team for a tournament. Not much is known about why the plane crashed only that there was bad weather in the area when it declared an emergency before it went down. A scientist say warming oceans this year have caused the biggest die off of corals. An average of 67 were lost in the past 9 months. This is about 400mile stretch of the 1,400mile chain of reefs. The center based its findings on dive surveys. Across america the driver in a School Bus Children appeared in court but did not make a plea. The judge graduated his request to continue the hearing at a later time. His next appearance will be december 15th. Walkers Attorney Says her client will plead not guilty in if a grand jury does indict him. And a memorial to the 19 firefighters who lost their lives fighting a wildfire near arizona in 2013 will open this being held today for families, friends and the immediate y. The memorial will open to the public tomorrow. The hill fire was the great objection loss of life for firefighters in a wildfire since 1933. And along the hot shots trail 19 plaquing share a story. Governor is ordering the nearly 3,000 protesters to leave. Hes citing winter weather. The governor says the shelters on the army owned land quote are not suitable for winter had been takes in accordance with building codes. The governor says he has the power to make this executive order as it is in the best and a passenger who launched a protrump rant at fellow travelers is banned for life from flying Delta Airlines. His comments went viral on social media. Take a look. This happened on a flight from o pennsylvania. You can see the man taunting, cd yelling at passengers who are clinton supporters. You cant hear me donald trump, baby. He wasnt off the plane for like 15 minutes delaying this is what you get for being a patriot loudly for the whole flight to hear. Well the video has been viewed more than 2 million times. At first delta did nothing about the situation and that video earned the Hashtag Boycott delta. Well now the ceo is apologizing promising to give every passenger on the flight a refund. Clearwater city council will plan. Its designed to revisit talllize the downtown waterfront. They hosted several Community Meetings this past summer asking for feedback as to how they could make downtown clearwater a destination for both residents roadwayses. And new this morning cars that talk to other cars and even talk to the roads seems like a thing of the future yeah, butod Technology Giant semens put their vehicles on disdisplay. Reporter connected vehicles could soon be on bay area roads. The vehicles have software inside that connects with technology on the road side making driving easier and safer for everyone. The company is using tampa as a test city. Infrastructure is already in place to link vehicles with the theyre working with the Expressway Authority to realize the project in the united states. Reporter Company Leaders are in tampa this week giving the new system a whirl. We went for a test drive. Technology in the car determined in Traffic Signals ahead were red or green. That helped the drivers slow down or speed up as he approached. It allows to give some speed recommendations in order to lets say have the traffic flowing in a smooth fashion throughout the city with a built into future vehicles. The technology will have the capability of warning drivers. Its a technology that the us dot says that can prevent accidents. Leaders like the idea of using the technology instead of constantly rebuilding and redeveloping. Youll see more of the Intelligent Transportation want to widen roads in 18 months 40 intersections in the city should be equipped with the technology. The test project is funded by the u. S. Department of transportation. After days and days of shopping and buying lets take a break. Yes, shall we . Today a day of giving hence the name giving tuesday. And it feels right to give. Coming up well show you why you getha brightening someones day with a gift. Plus many parents struggling to pay the cost of child care. Z. And just a couple days left in whats been one of the driest novembers on record, thankfully some small rain chances in the forecast. We are back something we to the wild. This overnight in clearwater this is he park. The bird is now fully recovered were happy to see it back in the wild. Good day for flying. Yeah kind of feels like october is a couple days away as opposed to december, but well take what we can get. Plenty of sunshine. The eagle will be battling some wind this afternoon. The wind is bringing with it warm must go guy air for how about this for a beautiful look as we head towards noon 78 degrees at hula bay restaurant. Plenty of sunshine theres your south wind though 15 to as much as 20 Miles Per Hour. So its pumping up that more humid air from the south. Max defender 8 had some sprinkles yesterday but small rain chances in the forecast over the next couple days. Some tampa bay area a little bit of extra cloud cover. Rain well out in advance of a cold front cross the south east. Exceptional drought so that is much needed when it rolls through tampa bay on thursday thats when we finally see small rain chances. Were at a deficit of almost an inch half that has us tied for the second driest november. Dry november. Humid conditions across the area this afternoon. Breezy and warm with High Temperatures close to 10 degrees above average. Once this front arrives on thursday well see the chance at least for a few showers around and dont forget we have kindness day coming up on december 9th right here. Kind of a one stop shop to get in the holiday spirit. Well have a collection for the teddy so if you can join us please do. High temperatures low and mid80s, close to 10 degrees above average only a few degrees shy of the record this afternoon. Overnight low temperatures stay very mild tonight. Well be in the upper 60s and the extended forecast a tiny chance for a stray shower wednesday best rain chance will be with that front coming through thursday and dry out headed towards the weekend. Well, 8 is on your side this morning with something that we k the staggering cost of child care some say its as expensive of sending a kid off to college or paying your rent. Working parents will tell you that quality child care the cost of it is skyrocketing. But i found a place in Hillsborough County thats helping families find Affordable Care. Today children at the Learning Center in tampa are making stone soup. Quality child care facility is something single mom marissa thought she would never be able to afford. This is an amazing child care facility. So im really lucky to be able to afford it because its helped out tremendously. But now parents can find affordable quality care thanks a partnership with 13 facilities fall under the agencys umbrella and receive support right down to training teachers and staff we have the quality accounts program they helped us design this Quality Program we have here at the Learning Center. But the Early Learning coalition is running on a 2001 state budget. Theres a push to find support from corporate sponsors weve been beating the to educate people that investing in Child Care Center will not only lift the buffered for parents it will help children from one day falling through cracks of the Public School system. Will they lag behind in reading skills, math skills, its just its a deal breaker for a lot of families. So if you want to find out how to help weve put information on our website wfla. Com. Log on and check it and cyber monday are over today is giving tuesday. After that long Holiday Weekend of shopping appeared deals giving tuesday is a day that americans are urged to volunteer or make donations. The one day giving promotion launched in 2012 and since most charities generate a vast majority of their contributions at the end of the year giving tuesday has opened the door to a more organized effort on a specific day. It is great. You feel like and somebody, especially who is in need yeah. But most importantly youre helping them out. Even though the heart walk is over i had 3 viewers donate today because its giving tuesday. I saw them popping up in my inbox and realized thats what its about. We have our own kindness day here. It doesnt get any easier than that. You dont even have to get out of your car so we hope to see you there. All right. And of course on a day like tody that old saying that it is better to give than to receive. And it turns out thats more than just something your mom said to you as a kid. Theres Science Behind it. A study looked at the mris of people to gave to various charities they found giving stimulates the reward center of your brain. The results this results in releasing chemicals called a sometimes lead to blower blood pressure, less depression and lower stress levels so giving is good for your health, but not all giving is created equal. Listen. If were forced to make a donation it doesnt feel as good. Its not in our control. And when we pay taxes were como pay taxes so the control ability factor i think has a lot to do with it. If its in our heart if its a want to and not a have too i think the really good feelings. It may help us living longer too. Research suggests that folks 55 and older who are regular volunteers are more likely to live longer than those who dont. You know what else sounds good appeared feels good is giving hugs come over. All right. Who doesnt love a nice embrace from time to time. One guy in canada gave them out for free to subway riders explain what happened here coming up. Ive been thinking. This might be the one thing in the world you pull apart to come together. New papa johns cinnamon pullaparts covered with cinnamon crumble and sweet cream cheese icing. Try our new cinnamon pullaparts for just 6 bucks. A application detective credited can saving a man from a burning car police say a 63year old suffered an apparent medical problem and crashed into another car. Both of those cars burst into flames and the accelerator jammed. Officers one officer and get him to safety. He says of course hes lucky to be alive. I would have never seen my family or another thanksgiving again. Something department have to do. He put this individual first. Incredible video and a great job. Absolutely. Well, the man in our free hugs tshirt was handed a 101 offering this friendly gesture to people at a subway station. What did he do . He hugged them. He wore a green tshirt with the words free hugs on it in english and french. Well last week a transit officers didnt see it that way. He asked him to show him a permit for this activity. Well, he didnt have a permit, so he said the officer flipped through his booklet until he figured out a way Services Without permission. The city sayings its illegal to hug people. I remember one time i was at the station and i met a woman and cried on my shoulder for 15 minutes. And it was great finally because i was just sharing that great moment with her and she talked to me with what was bad at that moment. It was not something bad. The citys transportation instead. A little more reasonable, but the man is still warned to stop offering free hugs in the subway system. I guess my question is does he ask before he hugs you . Im guessing he asks. He seems like a gentle soul. Maybe he needs to take it out to the street i guess. Are you into free hugs. Sometimes a little hug can go a long way. Change your whole day. Decemr away now. Due point close to 70, low and mid80s for High Temperatures this afternoon. Cold front rolls through on thursday, thats our best chance for rain through the work week. Thanks for joining us. Ill see you back here on first at 4 and tonight at 6. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Kathie Lee Gifford and hoda kotb live from hello, everybody. It is booze day tuesday. Spanky tuesday, november 29th, but also much more importantly known as giving tuesday. That is rhythm inside by callum scott. Got a great, great show today. Talking about it for months. Its finally arrived. Youve been waiting. The Gilmore Girls series is on after nine years