Transcripts For WABC Eyewitness News First At 4 20160804

Seized the suspects cars and raided gottis business in ozone park, along with his home, which is the same house that belonged to the late john gotti. This is a photo of the mob boss taken back in 1987 in front of the howard beach property, where his grandson was arrested this morning, marking the first time Law Enforcement agents were able to execute a search warrant on the property. Right off his room we found a safe with 500 oxycodone and about 40,000. So it is the same home you have news all these many years. Reporter we expect gotti and the others to be walked out of the precinct anytime now. Well tell you why police pulled over gotti a month ago, found drugs in his car and left him go. Stephen kim channel 7 Eyewitness News. Well in a separate bust, police and federal authorities crack down in several states. The arrests were made in new york, new jersey and connecticut as well as massachusetts and florida. Total of 46 people are accused of extortion, loan sharking, gambling and credit card fraud. Now to the murder of the young jogger in queens. The nypd now offering a 10,000 reward for information leading to her killer. Karina vetranos body was discovered by her father, a retired firefighter in an undeveloped area of the jamaica bay. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Stacey sayinger is in howard beach with the latest on the investigation. Reporter well what leads, if any, can still be uncovered in this case. What evidence in the thick grass surrounding this crime scene. The chief of detectives just got through briefing reporters yet again, explaining they are surrounding the murder scene and they are machetes in thick grass you are rounding the murder seen and also they are increasing the reward. Reporter it has not been an easy job in howard beach, but investigators say they are still searching the thick marsh here in spring creek park. Very important what we are doing. We need to locate items of interest. Reporter since jogger Karina Vetrano was strangled unpaved path within the confines of a federal park, even more questions tonight over who should be securing this right now only two federal parks officers patrol it, but mostly the perimeter, not the area where 30yearold vetrano was killed. Today police posting flyers all around the neighborhood, hoping someone who saw something steps forward. We are not getting a lot of crime stopper tips. We have three and they are all pretty generic. So we have since raised the reward up for 10,000 for any reporter meanwhile, residents in the area still cringing at the possibility that this was, indeed, a random killing. You hear about it, but it is never close to home. This hit home. This is right in our backyard. Reporter right now the only reallied is vetranos cell phone. Investigators know she was texting a friend during her run, which tells them she came in here alive. Theyll need to piece together the rest. They will be able to ping down certain times and places where she was as she was moving along the path and maybe work wi to narrow it down to the tower to see if there was any other cell phones within that area. Reporter now of course apart from any digital evidence, there is the forensic evidence that they have been searching for and searching for in this marsh area. Well be awaiting any sort of dna evidence in this case. Also the chief of detectives telling reporters that vetrano was, indeed, sexually assaulted. That she fought back up in another live report at 5 00. For now we are live in howard beach, stacey sayinger channel 7 Eyewitness News. Police in new jersey say a man on the run may be dead after he jumped into the pasaic river and climbed into a storm drain to avoid being captured. New york Police Suspect the man may have drowned in the drain as waters were rising there. The wild teen started yesterday when, after a traffic stop, the man ran across the bridge and jugumnd into pasaic river. He was jumped into the pasaic river before going into the storm drains. Pasaic valley came with a robot device that went into the manhole and it searches. There was no sighting of the individual. It was a rescue effort unless he got out, no one has seen him get out. Right now it will be a recovery effort. Part of their effort police pulled open Manhole Covers and him. A gruesome murder on staten island. A man found stabbed to death on a bench. Police discovered the 30year old body near the ferry. He may have gotten into a drunken dispute this morning. A 49yearold man is being treated for stab wounds and at this point he is being called a person of interest in the case. British authorities confirming now an american tourist was stabbed to death during an apparently random knife attack in london yesterday. Police say a 19yearold man in Londons Russell Square before being stopped by an officer with a taser. Darlene horton, a resident of florida, was killed. Five other victims survived. Police say the attacker has Mental Health issues and there is no evidence the attack was related to terror. It could happen anywhere. It really could. I dont think it would stop either of us coming back. It is just a case of we were lucky last night. We were going to walk, we took a cabin stead. Who knows . Norwegian of somali origin. Down to the race for president. At a Campaign Rally a short time ago donald trump waded into the iran payment issue once again, claiming he saw video showing the u. S. Making a 400 million ransom payment to iran in exchange for american prisoners. He did it yesterday as well. However, no such evidence of that video exists, and his campaign maintains trump never saw any video. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is Campaign Rally right now in las vegas. You are looking at live pictures of this. Before she stepped onto the stage she lashed out at her gop nominee. Reporter hi liz. Donald trump right now also speaking before a group of supporters in portland. As they are chanting lock her up, there is absolutely no sign his recent comments have dampened their enthusiasm at all. He has cheated contractors. A comparison between her father, as a small businessman, and Donald Trumps foreign manufacturing and bankruptcies. I have met people who were destroyed by donald trump. So take a look at what hes done, not what he says. Reporter while clintons vp pick, tim kaine, launched a new attack. Saying while clinton was working to expose racism. In 1973 the New York Times reported the Justice Department had filed suit after donald father for refusing to rent apartments to africanamericans. Reporter speaker of the house paul ryan indicated he was also not 100 on board with donald trump. He has a pretty strange run since the convention. You would think he ought to be focusing on Hillary Clinton. Ryan did not pull his previous endorsement but indicated it is not revokable. Im a marine. For me country comes first. Reporter this is an ad for donald trump as ill stand up to it. And out of the mouths of babes, a question for mike pence. I have been watching the news lately and i have been noticing you have been softening up on mr. Trumps policies and words. Sometimes things dont always come out like you mean, right . Reporter and president obamas Approval Ratings are in, 54 , the highest of his second term. That puts him on par with president Ronald Reagan at so much political news to digest, channel 7 Eyewitness News. An Encouraging Development in the battle against the zika virus. Three experimental vaccines have been shown to protect monkeys against the infection. Preliminary testing is expected to get underway in humans this year. Meanwhile, officials in florida began the air attack on mosquitoes this morning with addition to the ground spraying. Officials say the number of locally infected people in miami remains at 15, with no new cases in recent days. We are not seeing more cases. We have tested 20,000 mosquitoes in our state and one mosquito had zika. Meanwhile, here, another beautiful day. But there are changes in store for the weekend. Meteorologist lee goldberg is weather center. Lee some. Reporter a great afternoon. Temperature 77. The humidity is so great. This time of year only 56 . Feels really nice. Temperatures around the area within a few degrees of 80, the wall street temperatures keeping the coastline in the upper 70s. Nice day. There is the culprit, a front coming through the great lakes. The exact timing of the storm threat on saturday. In the meantime, headed out this evening, a nice evening. Just a few minutes. David and liz back to you for now. Still no word on what caused a massive fire in a woodworking factory yesterday. Flames broke out in the new york custom mill Work Corporation on 37th street just before 7 30 last night. Wood, lacquers, thinners and paint fueling the fire. Heavy flames destroyed that woodworking shop. Firefighters said they were able to save three adjacent businesses. Not seriously. Outgoing Police Commissioner bill bratton presiding over one of his final crime briefings. Compared to last year nine fewer murders this year. 131 fewer shootings and 439 fewer robberies. Earlier, the commissioner told us about his biggest regret, as he prepares to resign. Regrets that the racial tensions in the city, while i think we are on the path to issues, that i would like to have been farther along. Regrets about the public understanding and the understanding of my cops about the mayor that i know and i get to work for, not fully appreciating and understanding him. And you know, all hes trying to do for the city and for them. And you can see much more of bill ritters oneonone interview with the commissioner this sunday morning at 11 00 on up close. A hidden danger, coming up news first at 4 00. A new warning about dangerous traps placed on a popular walking trail in new jersey. Well tell what you you need to be looking out for. Plus look at the damage after two hoverboards went up in flames. But the other story is, wait until you hear where this happened. And president obama is expected to speak in the next few minutes at the pentagon. We are going to bring you his comments live. By the way, this is the Vice President biden posted a long island expressway in queens, some congestion eastbound near 75th street. Over at the hudson river crossings 20 minutes inbound at the lincoln tunnel, 10 minutes outbound at the holland and no the man charged with killing nine black parishioners at a church in South Carolina was assaulted in prison this morning. Authorities say a black inmate attacked dylann roof in the shower bruising his face and back. Roof was examined by medical person and returned to his cell. He and his attorney do not wish to press charges. Officials are investigating how the other inmate managed to get through a cell door and reach roof. A former ntsb investigator planes fiery crash landing in dubai. The emirates plane lit the ground belly first and then burst into flames. All 300 people rushed to get out in time. Cockpit conversations with air Traffic Control revealed there did not seem to be any sense of emergency from the pilot during approach. So far investigators have not said what caused the crash landing. Ahead of tomorrows Opening Ceremony for the summer olympics from rio, there are growing concerns about the risk their health to compete. Brazil promised a massive clean up of the bay, but debris continues to float just outside the olympic venues. That contains a layer of scum and bacteria and last week a corpse was found in the bay. Marathon swimmers are being warned not to open their mouths, to coverup wounds and wash immediately after competing or risk potentially affect people exposed to these type of pathogens could be an acute respiratory disease, things like typhoid, hepatitis, gastroent rights, discentury, and even ear infections. Abc news conducted tests on rios water yesterday, the testing shows virus and Fecal Bacteria levels in one sample far above what would get a beach closed in the United States. Wow. This whole thing. It is like the disgusting olympics. A pity. Such a cloud over it. And it puts such a terrible situation. For many of them this is the only thing they have worked for, for such a long time. So we shall see. Meanwhile, hi lee goldberg. How is it out there . Reporter i mean, it is amazing. It is amazing. I mean, august is just on a roll here. We have great welt, with like obstacle weather, with like one little obstacle over the weekend and then we are right back on track. Well look at the manhattan skyline it looks hazy from this camera but really a deep blue sky out there right now. Temperatures in the upper 70s. The humidity at 56 . We started out the week with humidity closer to 70 . A south wind around 7. The pressure is on the fall and a couple of Degrees Higher than yesterday. Water temperatures in the upper 70s the beaches are nice and warm too. In west hampton. Inland numbers coming in just a tad higher. These dew points around 60, i mean that is bordering on pleasant levels and it looks like the real spike in humidity will be delayed. I thought maybe by tomorrow afternoon a low humidity until tomorrow night when the humidity spikes. During the day tomorrow, lots of sunshine, a few patchy, high clouds around, once again lower to middle 80s and humidity increasing through tomorrow and clear. With a high east of cape cod now, we continue this persistent onshore flow. So this has been a couple of days of this, and that means the surf builds along the coastline, even though the flow is light, so rip current risks are moderate. So it can be dangerous there if you are headed to the beaches. It is such great beach weather but be careful, especially near a jetty or a pier where rip current risks are more enhanced. There is the front that brings storm threat. Consistent on the timing, isolated morning to mid afternoon. More on that in a moment. A look at Tropical Storm earl. This is an 18hour loop showing its landfall in belize, and now going over northern guatemala. This is a cool wind map. You see how the core of it is still organized, a big rainmaker, 6 to 12 inches of rain. It is not going to go unlikely near the gulf of mexico and regains Tropical Storm status by this evening into tomorrow morning. Just a big rainmaker for southern mexico. A fine finish for the work week great sunshine, low to mid 80s. Saturday youll start out with sun and high clouds and i think as early as 11 00 in the northern suburbs, maybe closer to 1 00 in new york city, mid afternoon on the island and down the shore, and then out of here. Gotten a lot of tweets, a lot of requests. We have weddings this weekend late day and early evening, i think by then you are probably ok. Clear and comfortable tonight. Tomorrow lie of 83, mostly sunny and dry. Tomorrow night, increasing clouds, little more humid, about 72 degrees, but we remain dry tomorrow night. It is saturday late morning into midafternoon that we have that thunderstorm threat. Looking ahead at 4 30 right back on track on sunday. The sunday map is going to be this great breeze. Maybe a little bit of a september feel. The 80s but so low humidity. If you are on vacation next week, you have some time off well let you know about the work week forecast into next week. Meanwhile it is just spectacular out here. Gorgeous. Thanks lee. We are following breaking news right now out of new jersey. News copter 7 over the scene. This is on route 287. You can see how bad this is. Firefighters there putting water and other firefighter retardants on that truck. It is closed. Part of the lanes here southbound lanes of traffic diverted now off exit 58 because of that. No word yet on the condition of the driver or anybody else that might have been injured in this. Well continue to follow the very latest of this really bad accident occurring on route 287 in oakland. Well continue to follow. Certainly hope that driver is okay. Still to come a danger parents dont want to overlook. What may be lurking under your sink that is sending Young Children to the emergency room summers biggest movies. Now the stars of suicide squad take a look at these bbq trophies best cracked pepper sauce. . Whoomp there it is . Uh, yeah. Well, uh, well theres this one. Best insurance mobile app . Yeah, two years in a row. Well ill be. Does that thing just follow you around . Like a little puppy the awardwinning geico app. Breaking news right now. Live pictures from news copter 7, where its over right now there truck accident and fire. This is on route 287 near exit 58 in oakland. You can see police and lanes still closed while firefighters work to get the fire out there. But again the southbound lanes both of them, all three of them, i should say, are closed right now and traffic is being diverted off that area and traffic as you can see from news copter 7, is a mess. We are going to continue to stay on top of this. We do not know of any injuries right now. And caught on camera, a smash and grab robbery of a Jewelry Store outside of philadelphia. Police say three men stole 10,000 worth of julie. They say the thieves used a special hammer shatterproof glass. The brazen theft took place while the store was open around 11 30 tuesday morning. Thankfully no one was hurt in that situation. Lots ever anticipation surrounding the lots of anticipation surrounding suicide squad, teams up some of the baddest people on the planet for a secret mission to jared and viola davis. Lets go save the world. Reporter the members of this suicide squad are described as the worst of the worst criminals. Bad guys, freed by a ruthless intelligence officer, played by viola davis. Amanda waller is even less compassionate than the professor who teaches her law students how to get away with murder. To play her the star recalled how she had been bulli child. I mean, i would be chased by 8, 10 boys. I would run now. But then i would stop at you know, an op pour tune moment, chuck them the finger, put my booty in the air, tell them to kiss it you know . Reporter harnessing a crack killer named dead shot and a psycho shrink and the rest of this crazy crew is this guys job. In this universe, where batman the joker, played by jared. In fact, will smith got hurt for real while training for his role. It was a serious muscle tear. Reporter director david insisted all his actors undergo intense physical training and a month of rehearsals that resembled group therapy. Doing the physical stuff makes you feel strong and doing the psychotherapy stuff makes you feel like you could fall to feeling vulnerable and weak. It was tough. We have grown as actors and people. Reporter what did this bonding process we have been describing, what did it do for the movie . I think it helps people be able to feel it. You watch what you see on camera you can feel the camaraderie. Reporter Eyewitness News. Cant wait. What did sandy think of the review tomorrow right here on Eyewitness News first at 4 00. Well danger on the trail. Booby traps placed on paths, walking path in his new jersey. So where did they come from . Concerns the popular game pokemon putting kids at risk. Plus hoverboards suddenly go up in flames. Wait until you hear where it happened. And live pictures from the pentagon. Fios is not cable. Were wired differently, which means we can fix things differently. Thanks for calling fios. This is ryan. You cant tell me this cord isnt in. I know its in. Its in, but its not working. Im sending you a link to the my fios app that going to let me see what youre seeing. Really . Yes, mr. Mcenroe. See that cord . Just plug it into the connector on the right. So you can clearly see whats in and whats out . Oh absolutely. I like that. Only from fios. . . Approaching medicare eligibility . You may think you can put off checking out your Medicare Options until youre sixtyfive, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. Keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. The rest is up to you. Thats where aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plans mpany come in. 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Call now, request your free decision guide and start gathering the information you need to help you keep rolling with confidence. Danger on a trail in new jersey. Someone is going around, placing booby traps at High Mountain park in wayne. These devices obviously could be a threat to likers and bicyclists. The question . , who put them there . Tim fleischer has been putting updates on social media all about this story and is joining us from wayne with more. Reporter dave and liz, a beautiful area. One of the most popular parks in this area. Miles of trails here. But now they are finding a clear and present danger. Lewis what woulden is walden is setting out to walk his dogs. Now he is learning of a new danger. Is this somebody against animals or against people or both . Reporter he is seeing these pictures of booby trap hazards like this large shard of glass th set here on purpose. These are screws driven through a board and hidden with dirt. About an inch, inch and a half, the screws, somebody could have driven a bike over it, walked over it. Reporter but most alarming the strand of barbed wire. Strung between two trees . Yes. And that is disturbing. That in itself is going to cause serious, serious injury. Reporter all of the items collected them and brought them to police can concerns. When they start to purposely put it down to cause injury. This is rep pencil reprehensible behavior. They could get seriously hurt or maimed. Reporter you could too. Yeah. Reporter there are 11 and a half miles of trails in this 1260acre park that straddles wayne and franklin lakes. I know it. I used to walk in the park a lot. By the lake. Reporter frank cant believe someone would endanger people and animals this way. It is disgusting. Put it right on the trail. For what . Reporter wayne police would like to you call them if you have any information, or may have seen something here at the park. You can find their number and also take another look at those Eyewitness News. Staten island assemblyman ronald cast is set to introduce a Blue Lives Matter bills. It would make it a hate crime to physically attack a police officer. The new legislation would strengthen penalties for those who punch, throw rocks or bottles or Assault Police in other ways. A business in new jersey suffering significant smoke damage after two hoverboards at its site. This happened inside the mega usa store in garfield yesterday. Workers say batteries were charging on top of the desk when they exploded, sparking a fire. Firefighters were able to put the flames out quickly. As we have seen recently, this type of thing is not uncommon for hoverboards. Most hoverboards will catch fire if they are left unattended due to them overheating. Concerned. They do need to be monitored. Reporter the National Fire Association Website offers tips on how and where to charge hoverboards. Speaking of fire, firefighters in california have their hands full battling two separate fires near big sur and napa valley. Lauren lister has the latest. Reporter flames continuing to grow as smoke billows over wine country. I didnt think it was going to spread that fast. When it did i was shocked. Cold fire, but the heat has been spreading. After doubling in size overnight, earlier this week the fire has now burned at least 4700 acres. And thursday morning was 15 contained. Campers in the rural area told to get out. I saw the smoke, i was like no. Reporter this campsite practically a ghost town with the traces of people fleeing in a hurry. You can still see the smoke, wife was pretty sticking it out. My wife was pretty skittish. She was want to go leave. Reporter wanting to leave. Reporter aircraft dumping water from above. We plan get our tactics together and adapt accordingly. Reporter those resources getting stretched in california because of multiple wildfires, including one near big suv that burned 57 homes and 51,000 cause an illegal campfire. And crews battling the fires here in california may get a little help. The weather is expected to improve. With cooler temperatures and a rise in humidity moving in in los angeles, im lauren lister, channel 7 Eyewitness News. The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles says it has successfully lowered wait times one year after a botched Computer System overhaul. Dmv data low as the average minutes last august. Despite the drop, the agencys commissioner says the wait times are still too long. Officials say the department is still looking for ways to improve customer service. A New High School graduation requirements in new jersey means additional tests for students beginning in 2021 High School Students will have to pass two standardized tests to be eligible to graduate. Officials announced new tests for students entering the as well. Doctors say a little girl who underwent life changing surgery yesterday to remove a mass from her neck is doing extremely well today. 1yearold sandy diaz is recovering after a successful surgery. Officials say the girl underwent an 8hour procedure yesterday that removed 95 of the mass on her neck. Doctors were able to preserve all of her facial nerves. She is currently in the with her parents. Doctors say she looks dramatically different and will function normally. Today the u. S. Coast guard celebrating its 226th birthday and the hit Broadway Musical hamilton joined in the celebration. The cutter eagle arrived, docking at the pier on the upper west side. Some members of the hamilton cast riding along. The connection you say why . Alexander hamilton commissioned there you go. The eagle will be open for public tours through the weekend. Bet he never imagined this day. At all. No. Still to come, a warning for parents, a danger under the sink that has sent thousands of children to the hospital. And a mothers love. Faced with heartbreak over her baby boys sudden death, the touching gift that is now making a difference in the lives of other infants and families. Im meteorologist lee goldberg. The beach weather is great the next couple of days. Something like that, dont panic, swim parallel to the shore. The risk is high through saturday. The rest of the forecast, looking like this. Really nice beach weather. As we head through the next couple of days, we are going to have a south, southeast wind goes to southwest, waves 2 to 3 feet. The water temperatures are in the 70s. Again that rip current risk is hey, what are you doing . Getting the coats. For a half hour . More what . More than 30,000 movies and shows on demand, most for free. Look, hes dvring like 6 shows at once. Lets go. Ah, this grass is so much greener than on our tv. Why are your shoes off . Because im on their bed. I dont want to be rude. Discover how much more is included. Are those meatballs still circulating . Get tv, internet and phone for 89. 99 per month. Another look at the truck fire causing big delays on interstate 287. Firefighters still pouring water on it. News copter 7 over the scene. All this happening near exit 58 woundty. The fire is out, driver seems to be okay, according to the preliminary report so that is something. Right now southbound lanes are closed. Heavy delays on the northbound side, look at that how far back the traffic stretches, and we are told the traffic is so bad it is impacting nearby route 208 as well. We are still waiting for a briefing from president obama. You are looking at a live picture from inside the pentagon. Mr. Obama is meeting with his as soon as the president steps to the podium we are going to bring you his comments live. A dangerous product could be lurking right under your own sink. Household cleaners can cause serious eye injuries in children. They went through emergency room records and found 1 and 2 yearolds are at the highest risk for chemical burns to the eyes from cleaners. The injuries happen more often in low income homes and homes in the Southern Region of the United States. In case you did not know, is world breastfeeding week and one come in nebraska is going above and beyond to doler part. Debby doler part. Debby franzs son leo spent 10 months in the nicu and passed away late last year. His mom said the only way she felt she could help her baby was breastfeeding. Since leo could only handle so milk. I donated 131gallons. So dairy aisle, basically. He was worth all of this. His life in 10 months was the best 10 months of mine. Wow. She was the largest donor ever at a boy with awe tis name california wants to make sure his bad experience at a school for special needs doesnt happen to others. The u. S. Department of education says stewart candle was the victim of discrimination after he was physical r 100 times in just one school year. He was 9 at the time and he is now 12. During 11 months at the school he was physically restrained, often held face down on the floor for up to 90 minutes at a time. They took me out of the classroom into a restraint room and held me down there. An adult held you down . It was two, three or four. An agency found the Oakland School district was responsible a school for high functioning children with autism. The u. S. Department of education offered the School District to severalties. Ordered them actually to severalties with schools that use restraint practice snooze researchers say thieves have found a way to rewrite the code on cards magnetic strip. The strip is supposed to tell a payment machine to use the chip, but the rewritten code to be chipless. It allows thieves to keep counterfeiting the cards. Retailers say fixing the apparently flawed system could cost them about 25 billion. Along with the popularity of pokemon comes new concerns. We have been talking a lot about them. The fear that the search for characters could put children in the path of dangerous. Find out what a new report is revealing and a live look outside on this gorgeous thursday afternoon. I dont think i see a cloud out be some wet weather this weekend. We are still await august briefing from president obama. A live look at the pentagon. Mr. Obama meeting with his National Security team. He is expected to discuss the fight against isis. We will bring it to you as his comments are live. That is coming on the heels of two pretty big arrests that happened, one earlier today, with the arrest of a dc metro who was arrested for his connections with isis, and also there was another arrest earlier today, in north carolina. We can see the president stepping to the podium. Lets go ahead and listen in. I just met again with my National Security council on the campaign to destroy ice. I isis. Thank you for hosting us and for continued leadership of our men and women in un American People on our campaign from june, shortly after the horrifying attack in orlando. In the weeks since, weve continued to be relentless in our fight against isis, and on the ground in syria and iraq, isis continues to lose territory. Tragically, however, we have also seen that isis still has the ability to direct and inspire attacks. So weve seen terrible bombings in iraq and in jordan, in and afghanistan, attacks on an istanbul airport, a restaurant in bangladesh, bastille Day Celebrations at a church in france and a Music Festival in germany. In fact, the decline of isis in syria and iraq appears to be causing it to shift to tactics that weve seen before, and even greater emphasis on encouraging high profile terrorist attacks, including in the United States. Homeland security and Law Enforcement professionals are working around the clock with other countries and with communities here at home to share information and prevent such attacks. And over the years, they have prevented many. But as weve seen, it is still very difficult to detect and prevent lone actors or small cells of terrorists who are determined to kill the innocent and are willing to die. And thats why, as we discussed today, we are going to keep this campaign. Our air Campaign Continues to hammer isis targets. More than 14,000 strikes so far, more than 100,000 100,000 and in stark contrast to isis which uses civilians as human shields Americas Armed forces will continue to do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties. With our extraordinary in history. After all, it is the innocent civilians of syria and i are rack who are suffering the most iraq who are suffering the most and who need to be saved from isiss terror. When there are allegations of civilian casualties we take them very seriously. We work to find the facts to be transparent and to hold ourselves accountable for doing better in the future. We continue to take out Senior Deputy minister of war, Mohammed Alba jarry, a Top Commander in mose sull and yet another significant loss for isis its minister of war omar al sha any. In a major success iraqi finally liberated fallujah. Now they are clearing fighters for more areas up the euphrates valley and iraqi forces retook the Strategic Air base just 40 miles from mosul. The u. S. Support personnel i ordered to iraq last month will launch pad for iraqi forces as they push into mosul. Meanwhile in syria backed by our special operations and air strikes continues to take the fight to isis as well. The coalition is fighting its way into a gateway for isis fighters coming in and terrorists heading out to attack europe, which is why isis was fighting hard to hold t as isis is beaten back we are gaining thousands of documents, thumb drives, digital files, whic we will use to keep destroying networks and stop foreign fighters. We also continue to intensify our as far as against al qaeda in syria, which no matter what name it calls itself cannot be allowed to plain stain a safe haven to train and plot attacks against us. I do want to note the broader progress that has been made in this campaign so far. Two years ago isis was racing isis looked invincible. Since then in iraq isis has lost, the dam, at tikrit, at sin jar, at ramadi, and flew fallujah. In syria, isis lost coban any, and the dam and al sha dad. Isis has lost territory across transit routes and in both iraq and syria isis has not been able to claim any significant material they have lost. So i want to repeat. Isis has not had a major successful offensive operation in either syria or iraq in a full year. Even isis leaders know they are going to keep losing. In their message to followers lose them. Well keep hitting them and driving back and pushing them out until they do. Isis turns out not to be invincible, they are in fact inevitably going to be defeated. But we do recognize at the same time, that the situation is complex. And this cannot be solved by military force alone. That is why, last month, the United States and countries around the world pledged more than 2 billion in new funds to help iraqis stabilize and rebuild their communities. It is why we are iraq so that the military campaign to Liberate Mosul is matched with humanitarian and political efforts to protect civilians and promote inclusive governments and development. So isis cannot return by exploiting divisions or new grievances. In syria, as i have repeatedly said, defeating isis and al qaeda requires an end to the civil war regimes brutality against the syrian people, which pushes people into the arms of continue to violate the cessation of hostilities, including with vicious attacks on defenseless civilians, medieval sieges against cities and blocking food from reaching families that are starving. It is deplorable and the depravity of the regime has rightly earned the condemnation of the world. Russias involvement raises serious questions about their commitment to pulling the work with russia to try to reduce the violence and strengthen our efforts against isis and al qaeda and syria, but so far russia has failed to take the necessary steps. Given the deteriorating situation, it is time for russia to show that it is serious about pursuing these objectives. Beyond syria and iraq, well keep working with allies and partners to go after isis wherever it tries to spread. At the request of libyas we are conducting strikes in support of government aligned forces as and we continue to support the governments effort to secure their country. In afghanistan, one of the reasons that i decided to largely maintain our current force posture was so we could keep eliminating isis there and we delivered another blow last month when we took out a top isis leader after. Even as we need to crush isis on the battlefield, their military defeat will not be enough. And groups like isis will keep emerging and the International Community will continue to be at risk in getting sucked into the kind of global whack a latest threat or lone actor. Including the social, economic and political factors that help fuel groups like isis and al qaeda if the first place. Nothing will do more to discredit isis and its phony claims to being a caliphate than when it loses its base in mosul and we are going to keep working with partners including muslim countries and communities, especially online to expose isis for what they are, murderers who kill including muslim families and children as they break their ramadan fast and who set off bombs in medinah. Moreover we refuse to let terrorists and voices of division undermine the unity and the values of diversity and pluralism keep our nation strong. One of the reason Americas Armed forces are the best in our citizens, including patriotic muslim americans. I think the entire world was inspired this past sunday when muslims across france joined their catholic neighbors at mass and in a moving display of solidarity, prayed together. The greeting they extended to each other has to be the message we echo in all of our countries and all of our communities. Peace be with you and also with we have seen 15 cases in the miami area. We are taking this seriously. Shoulder with the state. Pregnant women have been urged to stay away from the particular neighborhood were focused on. We will keep working as one team, federal, state and local to slow the spread of the virus. I want to be clear, though, our Public Health experts do not expect to see the kind of widespread outbreaks of zika here that we have seen in brazil or in puerto rico. The kind of mosquitoes most likely to carry zika are limited to certain regions of our cotr we expect to see more zika cases. Even though the symptoms for most people are mild, many may never even know that they have it. We have seen that the complications for pregnant women and their babies can be severe. So i again want to encourage every american they can do to stop zika by going to cdc. Gov. In addition, Congress Needs to do its job. Fighting zika costs money