when i got the news this afternoon, i immediately stopped and asked the first person i saw for their reaction. and this is what a security card did when i asked him about prince. >> purple rain purple rain >> reporter: it's sad, isn't it? [ purple rain purple rain >> reporter: the passing. short minneapolis rocker known as prince has unleashed memories many remembering him that 1984 movie purple rain. but there's so much more. [ music ] >> what's your favorite song? >> little red corvette by prince. >> yeah. >> reporter: makes you smile. >> yeah. it does. [ music ] >> reporter: news that the man born prince rogers nelson died at the age of 57 catches us off guard. a physically small man with a talent here at the -- here at the apollo theater in new york. is he your favorite? >> of all time. >> bigger than michael jackson? >> of all time. guitar. >> okay. >> a true musician. >> reporter: he was an unusual man changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol for seven years but remaining mainstream enough to blister the super bowl halftime show in 2007. [ music ] >> reporter: broad appeal for many of us seems to have been around forever. [ music ] >> it is shocking. and he was a great entertainer. weird guy but great entertainer. >> reporter: favorite song? >> raspberry [ indiscernible ] [ music ] >> i have grown up with prince. i saw him eight times. >> reporter: but i know your favorite song? >> yeah. purple rain. >> reporter: prince was an intensely private person despite his enormous public persona. [ signal breakup ] survived by one son who is 19. since 1975, he has released 39 albums and that does not include the bootleg, secret cds that one fan referred to me a moment ago and they expect more music will be released in the years to come that was unreleased. celebration and mourning will continue here at the apollo theater well into the evening. live in harlem, lou young, cbs 2 news. president obama and the first lady joined millions of fans mourning prince's death. statement saying: >> you can post your comments on facebook.com/cbsnewyork. now to some other news tonight. an update in a deadly ambulance accident on long island. it crashed into a highway overpass killing two people. we're learning about the victims and hearing from their families. sonia rincon reports from lakeview. >> reporter: the ambulance did not have its lights an sirens on before the crash at exit 18 of the southern state parkway at lakeview that killed driver larry fuller and patient james larson. he was 36 and recently had a second heart transplant. >> first one failed. and the second one was good. >> reporter: his sister says he was determined to live. >> nobody could have done what he did. he fought hard. >> reporter: he beat the odds? >> he did. strength from his girlfriend and their 7-year-old daughter and when she spoke with him last week she says he was craving the independence he missed. >> he worked and made his own money and did everything by himself and so definitely ready to get back out there. >> reporter: the ambulance hit this light pole before it hit the side of the overpass. it's unclear what sent it out of control. it only had 3.5 miles to go. it was taking james larson to his rehab center in uniondale where he was hoping to begin the next chapter of his life. the crash also left another daughter without her dad, 20- year-old girl from the bronx says her father larry was someone she loved to talk to. >> he was there for me like when i went through problems at home or outsides he was always there like he never left me hanging. >> reporter: witnesses told police the ambulance wasn't speeding as they investigate the cause of the crash, the tragedy of it is sinking in. >> it really mitt me that he is gone. >> i don't think there's anybody that can be explained. the back is recovering from nonlife-threatening injuries. sonia rincon, cbs 2 news. >> police say they are looking into the possibility that the driver had a medical emergency of his own behind the wheel. new at 6:00, sheldon silver and his family have submitted letters to the judge ahead of his sentencing. his wife asked for leniency saying the former new york state assembly speaker has prostate cancer. silver himself wrote, i failed the people of new york. no question about it. because of me, the government has been ridiculed. >> silver was convicted of 7 counts of corruption. prosecutors want a sentence of at least 15 years. also new at 6:00, a long island school district is facing another lawsuit claiming administrators turned a blind eye to abuse of special needs students. cbs 2's tony aiello reports. >> during the most awful time in our life which we thought was losing our house, doesn't >> reporter: tom and kim lost their home to superstorm sandy. now in the lawsuit, they say they have lost their faith in their school district claiming their autistic son bobby was abused in a special education classroom at long beach middle school. >> if he was in the car and he thought he was going that way he would try to turn the car off try to pull the keys out of the ignition. >> reporter: they are one of six families claiming abuse took place under teacher lisa whites man alleging whites man and aides sprayed the boy with air freshener saying this is how we get rid of smelly children. >> there was striking. there was locking up. there was restraint. >> reporter: thursday an attorney released a letter from the former teachers union president who said superintendent david weiss described this as the worst case of child abuse. but a district spokesman emailed me a response. the soup denies that statement. the teacher and her lawyer have allegations and say the teacher is a victim. quote, the allegations against miss weitzman are false and were retaliation for advocating for her students and to divert any scrutiny away from the district's refusal to give students support. even as they sue the district has brought the teacher up on disciplinary charges. in long beach, tony aiello, cbs 2 news. >> the teacher agreed to allow the public into her disciplinary hearing. her lawyer says that proves she has nothing to hide. a new jersey couple had to be rescued after their car flipped over trapping them inside. chopper 2 flew over the scene in rahway just before noon. emergency crews cut off the top of the car to get the two victims out. they were treated at the hospital and then released. neighbors say that the curvy stretch of road has become a danger zone. there have been eight similar crashes in the same area brush fire that damaged five homes on long island. police say an electrical problem in a wall mound air- conditioner set off the flames. it started on east santa barbara road in lindenhurst yesterday. the flames leaped over a canal and burned for hours in a nature preserve. some of the damaged homes were just rebuilt after superstorm sandy. >> i was supposed to move back in two weeks and now it's going to be another year. just dealing with the insurance company. >> i was in the fire department for years and never seen smoke like that in my life. you couldn't see in front of your hand. >> two firefighters had smoke inhalation. an update on the ninja burglar crime spree. suspect robert constance so has pleaded guilty to three burglaries. he is accused of pulling off 1 oo break-ins on staten island -- 10 break -- 150 break-ins on staten island. he is linked to other crimes in he could only be charged in the break-ins in three of them because the statute of limitations had run on the others. he is now expected to face 25 years in prison. new information in the search for a man wanted for attempted rape in prospect park brooklyn. the nypd released a sketch of the man accused of attacking a 23-year-old woman who was jogging early wednesday morning. police say videocameras caught the suspect walking away. the woman told police the man grabbed her threw her to the ground and attempted to rape her at knifepoint but she fought him off and escaped. what is happening to fire hydrants? coming up next, someone is tampering with them in one borough. should residents be concerned? >> it's fulfilling to do things outside of yourself. >> giving the gift of life to a stranger. three times over. >> and will we make it nine days in a row without a drop of explain it the drops of rain are getting close. >> and coming up on the "cbs evening news," more on the death and life of prince. >> scott pelley is here now live. scott. >> reporter: kristine, maurice, great to be with you in new york. one of the most inventive artists of modern times, we'll have the story of prince, what we know now about his death and plenty of his music all coming 6:30. where should you start when you're told you have cancer? start with a specialist. start where you'll find advanced technology, precision treatment options and truly compassionate care. start here with a team of experts who treat only cancer. every stage. every day. its not one thing we do. it's the only thing we do. start at cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more at cancercenter.com/e/experts sounding an alarm over fire hydrants in part of the city. caps on many of them disappeared months ago and now people are having growing concern of what it means if there is a fire. cbs 2's ali bauman checked out the situation in queens. >> reporter: open and exposed. according to a local state senator tony avella, fire hydrants all over queens are missing their caps putting residents in danger. >> it's like a hardy boy mystery. the case of the missing hydrant caps. >> reporter: he has been on the case since november sending letters to the department of environmental protection and the fdny that have gone unanswered. he says each day without a solution puts the queens community in danger because an open hydrant can be clogged so when the firemen go to open it the water can be delayed coming out. three-minute delay in hooking up the hose. somebody could die. >> reporter: the dep says it it responsibilities to any reports to three one within of missing fire hydrant caps and fdny inspects every hydrant in the city and replaces any missing caps. senator avella says he has seen this all over the neighborhood and we have counted at least five. and that's not sitting well with the people who live here relying on them in case of a fire. >> i don't want to die in a fire. >> if it's something that's going to, you know, delay from, you know, turning off the fire or something like that, you know -- >> reporter: some theorize thieves are selling them for scrap metal. >> the city has to function. we all know. but people are stealing it, it's really a shame. >> reporter: avella suggests attaching caps with a metal chain and neighbors say that would be a step in the right direction [ indiscernible ] anybody can >> reporter: they say the best way to report the problem is calling 311. in jamaica, queens, ali bauman, cbs 2 news. >> the fdny and the dep say they inspect hydrants across the fire boroughs. it's a kidney swap for strangers. they are calling this matches made in heaven. cbs 2's dave carlin has the story from nassau county. >> reporter: kidney donors proudly stood behind complete strangers who received their organs. these donors expected to give their kidneys to loved ones finding out they were not good matches for that. but operations did happen when these people took part in a three-way daisy chain kidney swap carried out at north shore university hospital. it began with don bates who it turned out was no match for a niece nicole johnson. a search of the living donor registry revealed someone else stranger katherine richards, was ideal. was tearful meeting the woman who now has her kidney. >> i did whatever i could to make sure that she could live her life. [ crying ] >> reporter: meanwhile katherine richards's mother-in- law who she had been incompatible with turned out to be a perfect match to receive someone else's kidney. >> i'm so grateful. i know it wasn't easy and they have a new life. >> reporter: elaine's donor terry was not a match for his wife tiffany. but the daisy chain was completed when it turned out dawn baits who started the whole process was an ideal match. >> i just planted seeds and now this is the garden and it's a beautiful garden. >> reporter: surgeons say the increasing numbers of living donors volunteering across the country using daisy chains is freightly improving the odds of finding a match for -- is greatly improving the odds of find a match. >> thousands of people waiting for transplants. more are urging anyone who can to become a living donor. in manhassett, dave carlin, cbs 2 news. >> and all the donors and recipients are doing well. doctors says the success rate is higher and patients live longer with organs from a living person. restores your faith. >> remarkable. >> special. >> six people now bonded by all of this. it's amazing. >> sucker for stories like that. >> i know. me, too. [ laughter ] let's get a look at the forecast with lonnie quinn standing by. another sunny day. >> beautiful day. top-notch. not going to be as great tomorrow but i don't want to paint the picture that it's just going to be just a miserable day. but there is a chance of rain. clouds over head but that's mostly blue sky out there. 70 degrees. your winds are calm. relative humidity at 28%. all the fire warnings have been allowed to expire but you're just barely below the threshold. still center to be careful with 73 was your high temperature. 10 degrees above where you should max out this time of the year. headlines look like this. it will be a warm friday. i think we make a run at 80 tomorrow. but i want you to take the umbrellas because there's going to be some rain tomorrow but not a washout. in fact, i would bump the temperature up. i thought the temperature would be 77 on friday. i have just seen more data that's saying we are going to see some peeks of sun on your friday and if that's the case even with the rain chance, i think you're going to hit that bigger number around 80 degrees tomorrow. how much rain? again, it's not a washout. half inch or more for some folks but not too much. here's what we see on your vortex satellite and radar. some of those clouds are starting to creep in places like hunterdon county with thicker cloud cover but not bad. any of the rain that's within the clouds, this is going to take a while to overwhelm our atmosphere and sort of saturate things so the rain gets down here. it takes a while because we have been so dry and it's still 28% humidity. you don't get rain with 28% humidity. vortex satellite and radar will show you where the cold front is. this is going to make its move into the area and it is going to give us that rain chance. so here is how it works out. tomorrow morning, maybe just a couple of breakaways. not too much. i think it's more so after 3:00. and here you'll see what it looks like so not everybody getting it and again, some folks with those peeks of sun out there. otherwise you could have some heavy downpours that are going to be scattered in nature. not everybody getting it at the same time. and then you get into your morning on saturday early 7:30 could be walking out to some leftover rain. then it clears from north to south as you go through the rest of the day on saturday. sunday is a bright looking day. so your weekend sunday is the brighter day. be 65. maybe 70. could be some of those leftover saturday. and then you clear later in the afternoon. first you clear north and then later clear south. tomorrow. there's going to be that shower chance more likely after 3 p.m. but it's not going to be nearly this morning we had some frost. tomorrow starting off at 60 degrees. 69 saturday. we talk about the weekend and then monday through thursday next week, good spring days with typical spring showers mixed in. >> we need it. >> we do. >> thank you. pivotable game for the rangers to -- pivotal game for sports is next. steve overmyer is in for otis. i tried to say that too fast. >> that's all right. >> the rangers are on the ice tonight. >> maybe we need to pick up the pace. the rangers need to pick up the paces because the idea of going down three games to one is not good. the rangers host game 4 against the penguins tonight at the garden and if they don't pull this together they will find themselves on the verge of elimination. the rangers offense has yet to find the rhythm. they have just one power play goal in three games. the penguins are using the backup goal. the blue shirts have certainly been in worse positions. this is far from optimal. >> it's now to show it now that respond in a good way. that's about this group right now what we can do. >> i think we have a good time. it's also about getting everyone here at the highest level possible. the islanders missed an opportunity to put a stranglehold in their series. john tavares scored a goal. florida ties this series at 2 and sets up a critical game 5. >> we'll go out and ready to rock. you have to turn around. you have to turn the page whether it's a win or loss. you have no time to dwell on it. yankees trying to avoid the sweep against the ace and even though it's still april, there are some trends that are a little concerning. mainly what they're not doing at the plate like aaron hicks whose batting average is 50. but he has a cannon from an arm. this is the fastest throw from the outfield ever recorded 105 miles an hour. in all but two games this year. self-inflicted wound. gregorius' base running mistake cost them a run and the skipper was not pleased. >> bottom line is we're not scoring runs. answers for you. it's bad base running. your run means. we don't get any runs. >> the nfl draft is a week from today. quarterback situation. giants in the middle of a defensive overhaul. several players met the immediate. >> harrison's nickname is snatch but jenkins is jack rabbit. >> growing up i always chased rabbits. and when i got to florida, um, i didn't really know the place, you know, and my coach saw that i was just moving everywhere an moving fast. jackrabbit. >> and he is not kidding. he is from the small town. pohokie in florida and they start chasing rabbits at the for $5 apiece. >> no way. >> better than rocky and the [ laughter ] >> who catches a ra be the? >> we'll be right back. you live life your way. we can help you retire your way, too. financial guidance while you're mastering life. it seems like a cold at first. you can't concentrate, can't sleep. before long it's all you can think about. you feel anxious and uncertain. until one day you realize, this could be it. you've done it, you've quit smoking for good. a little suffering now can save a lot of suffering later. stop before the real suffering starts. you can quit smoking. coming up okay hannah daniels, kpix 5 at 11:00, up in flames, coming up tonight on cbs 2 news at 11:00, meet' man who risked his life to risk a stranger from' burning car. from low backs to high slits are these dresses appropriate for the prom? experts weigh in on how parents must compromise with their children. up next at 11. remembering prince his life and legacy. thank you for joining us. "cbs evening news with scott pelley" is next. why do we scream at each other this is what it sounds like when doves cry >> pelley: he was music royalty. the death of the artist who will forever be remembered as prince.