Erase another 130,000 owed to a consultant. Chaka fattah directed the consultants to aapply for a grant for a nonprofitentity and the consultant agreed to forgive the 130,000 debt owed to the campaign. As i previously stated i have never participated in illegal activity as an elected official for the last 21 years very represented the people of philadelphia in congress with honor and dignity, helping millions of families. Once the crimes were committed, fattah and his associated engaged in a coverup lasting for years to avoid detention. But they did not end there there was a scheme with lobbyist herbertviederman. He provided 189,000 to help him buy a poconos vacation house and then conceal the 18000 bribe payment they showed an exam car sale that never actually took place. Also charge said robert brand a consultant and nicholas and bowser who work for the congressman. Chad pradelli, channel 6 action news. Thank you lets switch live now to action News ReporterWendy Saltzman in West Philadelphia where fattahs charity was formerly based. Reporter the indictment says that 600,000 worth of the Charity Money was diverted from here to pay off the campaign loans they closed their doors in july of 2013 after laying off their employees but that did not stop them from applying for more federal money. This building on the 3300 block of Market Street was the head qurters where they say the crux of the government theft took place. Educational advance alliance a nonprofit entity run by fattah, were to pay the 600,000 using grant and federal funds. The president and ceo of the Advancement Alliance is accused of wiring money on various occasions from the charity to corpses that helped to repay the loan. The eaa took in more than 9 million in grants that were suppose to provide Educational Opportunities to underrepresented operations to sources like sally may and osha and nasa. To disgoes the source of these funs they arranged the payments to pass through two other Companies Including a company run by robert brand. And in one instance she is accused of applying for a 50,000 grab from noah for a grant for Higher Education at a time when the charity was shutting its doors. Nicholas used the grant funds to pay 120,000 to another member of the criminal enterprise and wrote several checks to herself from eeas operating count. Nicholas faces a maximum of 90 years in prison but most likely she will face much less than and facing wire fraud racketeering and falsifying records. Im Wendy Saltzman, channel 6 action news. Thank you. We stream the u. S. Attorneys announcements live this morning on 6abc. Com and that is your or coverage continues with more on the allegations and the investigation, again its 6abc. Com. Investigators in philadelphia are trying to figure out what sparked a large Early Morning fire in the citys kensington section, flames broke out at 5 00 this morning on the 300 block of east street multiple neighbors tell action news they heard an explosion beforehand but specters cannot confirm that a blast actually happened. Look at the damage several people had to be evacuated and fortunately nobody was hurt. A similar scene in trenton after a massive fire started in a row home, these flames started at 5 00 a. M. As well and one person had to jump out of a window to escape and Nora Muchanic talked to victim of that fire and has more coming up at 5 30, turning to the forecast today the temperature went above 90 again add the heat and humidity and it makes for uncomfortable conditions, when you dont have to tell this carriage horse how hot it is they fount rock being hosed off on a break. He has one of the hardest jobs in the city. And part of our city is under a heat warning tonight and that has opened the Philadelphia Corporation for aging heat line. It can help you find air conditioned places and tips on avoiding heat stress. Lets get to meteorologist adam joseph, from the latest from accuweather. Its a hot one out there. The same as yes with the temperature and heat index. 93 degrees in philadelphia and factor in the humidity it feels more like 98 degrees within the last hour and we look at other numbers, 97 in wilmington. The highest numbers are along i95 in wilmington and philadelphia but to the north and south of there its basically in the low 90s rights now and feeling like 93 degrees at the Atlantic City airport. That excessive heat warning remains in effect for the areas and the highly urbanized areas and the combination of heat and humidity make its uncomfortable to be outside and wears on the body, and take breaks in the shade and drink plenty of fluids look at double scan live radar in southern portions of kent and Sussex County and most of the action at this point is to the north and west along a cold front slicing through the western part of the ohio valley that front will be pushing through the day tomorrow and its going to bring the humidity once again but a lot of clouds and on and off showers downpours and thunderstorms. So what so expect here on thursday downpour will pop at any time and what is when we see a couple of thunderstorms. When i come back well talk about the timing of the storms sharrie and the drop in the humidity to come, following it in the accuweather forecast. Some good news maybe. Thank you adam. We invite you to keep visiting 6abc. Com weather as the excessive heat continues from the hourly forecast to the live Storm Tracker 6 radar. In other news tonight a 46yearold man had to have his leg amputated after being hit and trapped by a train in northeast philadelphia it happened at 2 45 on the 1600 block of grant avenue medics worked for three hours to save the man and surgeons were called in to amputate his leg. One person was hurt in this nasty wreck on the pennsylvania turnpike chopper 6 hd was over the scene in the westbound lanes of lower moreland township before 8 30 this morning, several vehicles were involved and one of the cars roofs was ripped oven tirely and it blocked all westbound lanes and still not clear what caused the crash and one person suffered a head injury time for a check of the action news traffic report midweek matt pellman is live with the latest. Are you getting the idea quickly it has not been the easiest day on the roadways and that pattern continues in the afternoon with a bunch of issues and traffic on the schuylkill expressway this is not so shocking but look at the taillights heading westbound on out towards gladwyne and eventually conshohocken the westbound travel time double what it should be in the neighborhoods, a bunch of accidents along franklin avenue in 420 and one close to Toll Brothers at saw mill lane and one in abington at eastern road and old welsh road and slowing near Fort Washington and overall the turnpike eastwest portion is not like this morning however on the northeast extension approaching landsdale we are have the broken down vehicle forcing slow speed theres. In east could have eventually a wreck at schuylkill road and one more in Gloucester County on the southbound lanes of 6 80. Well check it again coming up in the next had half hour. Thanks matt. More ahead on action news at 5 00, a new tool is making knee replace many surgery more precise one surgeons story coming up in health check lets go back to cecily tynan at the philadelphia zoo on this weeks Outdoor Adventure. Reporter hi rick and monica i have two cockroaches here but they are not just any cockroaches, they are mad madagascar hissing rock roaches, they eat the decaying insents on the ground and they have mites on them and they keep them clean. This go is active and they get active in the heat, ill feed tony the white rhino coming up live after this. Rosy looks nice. That is why i only fist bump cecily and never shake her hand. Hope francis will be in philadelphia in less than two months and you condition have the pontiff visit without a great big welcome sign, the basilica of saints peter and paul, without a banner welcoming the pope to the city. Pope francis will be here for two days in except for the world meeting of families he will celebrate mass at the cathedral and its an invitation only event. Just follow at 6 abc pope. Gps helps us navigate the highways and now they are using a version of gps or a combination knee replacement. Ali gorman is here with more on that. Knee replacement is one of the most successful operations and now a new tool is making it more precise and eliminating one variable. Its like breathing i trained and boarded horses and taught lessons and worked with the handicapped and brought a nonprofit to offer cancer patients, and it took 6 months to get in the saddle. It was very difficult, very difficult. Dr. David replaced her left knee and she was riding in three weeks, he believes he because he used an electronic tool and replacements are better than ever but 20 of people are not happy with them. Probably because the ligaments are not balanced properly. Doctors never had a good guide to balance them. You could jingle the knee and get a sense by feel to see if the knee was appropriately balanced and now as he prepares to put in the new join, he put it into the space and pressure sensors tell him how the implant should be adjusted and once he gets it right it comes out and the new joint goes in. Barbara says this recovery was a breeze and now she is focus on her horses. I can now squat to do a horses legs versus bend at the waste. There is a versense to work with most brands of implants dr. David is one of only to surgeons in the area using it. From our delaware newsroom, efforts are soon underway to check a roaming population of cats, they presented a check today for forgotten cats to trap and neuter and vaccinate the cats against rabies there are about 4,000 free roaming cats in bear and newcastle, they are hoping this action will improve quality of life by protecting citizens from rabies an annual drive that protects local kids is from valley youth health kicked off this backpack challenge, today. This years goal is to raise 21,000 and 5800 backpacks for foster children there are a number of Collection Sites across the city, if you would like the full list at 6abc. Com a very special day at the philadelphia zoo, for deserving children 100 kids with disabilities the variety club campers are 5 to 21 years old they got to meet superheroes and princesses. I have type 2 diabetes. I started with pills. And now i take a longacting insulin at night. I take mine in the morning. I was trying to eat right, stay active. But i wasnt reaching my a1c goal anymore. Man my doctor says diabetes changes over time. It gets harder to control blood sugar spikes after i eat and get to goal. My doctor added novolog® at mealtime for additional control. Now i know. Novolog® is a fastacting, injectable insulin and it works together with my longacting insulin. Proven effective. The mealtime insulin doctors prescribe most. Available in flexpen®. Vo novolog® is used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. Take novolog® as directed. Eat a meal within 5 to 10 minutes after injection. Check your blood sugar levels. Do not take novolog® if your blood sugar is too low or youre allergic to any of its ingredients. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medicines you take. Ask your doctor about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. The most common side effect is low blood sugar. Symptoms may include dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. Severe low blood sugar can be lifethreatening. Other common side effects include low potassium in your blood and injection site reactions. Get medical help right away if you experience trouble with breathing serious allergic reactions like swelling of your face tongue, or throat, sweating, extreme drowsiness dizziness, or confusion. Now i know about novolog®. Taken by millions since 2001. Vo ask your Health Care Provider about adding novolog®. It can help provide the additional control you may need. Time for accuweather at the big board. Adam joseph is here hot under the collar and elsewhere today. I could probably take the tie off. As we look at double scan live radar southern areas of delaware we are dealing with a couple of downpours now on either side of dover from dover to the north to smyrna these are slowly drifting to the east and no lightning as they head towards bay side and just no the north of the airport in dover and east now mainly route 13 and route 1 as you head south. As you look at the dew points its tropical out there dew points are running in the low to mid70s, a little drier to the north and still rather uncomfortable for trenton ands the Lehigh Valley the heat index 97 in trenton and 91 in millville and 98 in philadelphia. Still sluggish out there and it puts a little bit of lets say extra exertion when are you returning around today you will want to hydrate if are you outdoors for an extended period of time. Low temperatures are in the 70s no matter where you are specifically in philadelphia 77 degrees but to the west we are tracking a cold front this front is west of closed as well as north of lexington, passing through the day tomorrow this will bring a break in the extreme heat and humidity for the end of the week, this will also throw clouds our way tomorrow and on and off downpours and thunderstorms, that will fire up first thing tomorrow morning in a few locations, the front is still to the west and most of the energy is passing through at 2 00 to 6 00 tomorrow afternoon and that is when well see a greater concentration of those heavy tropical downpours and even gusty winds with a couple of the storms, most of the severe weather, the best chance is from new york city to new england and parts of the Lehigh Valley, you could get a quick gusty thunderstorm as they pass through. Your fiveday at 5 00 forecast we stay right around 90 degrees for the next five days, the hottest days are saturday and monday tomorrow if we see enough clouds and instability we may only be in the upper 80s but the big change is friday when the humidity drops and still a dry heat, before the sunshine sticks around on sunday into monday. A lot of hot air over the next five days and meteorologist, cecily tynan at the philadelphia zoo, speaking of hot air reading as a child about dragons can we blame that child for the heat today. This is called a bearded dragon and they do not breathe fire but they have col spikes on the side and it looks like they are really sharp but this is just visual protection to keep predators away, when they feel a little bit threatened they puff out their beard a little bit. This is interesting one thing they do is raise a hand up and wave it in a circular motion to say hey im not going to hurt you and apparently they make great pets, ill be feeding tony the white rhino he didnt like that. Back offices cecily. A long half hour, more to come on action news at 5 30 Authorities Say they have cracked the case of priest that was carjacked. And will cole hamels be traded before the deadline ducis has that coming up in sports. Well hear what his constituents say about the allegations coming up and smoke and flames tear through a trenton neighborhood forces residents to evacuate and save what they could. With big events coming to philadelphia septa is reminding riders to watch their step coming up. We are following new developments in the indictment of congressman, chaka fattah. Late today he released a statement saying he will stay in office and fight the charges again him. The 85 count indictment alleges that the congressman and four other codefendants participated in a conspiracy and that he used his nonprofit to pay back 600,000 to a wealthy supporter after he lost his bid in 2007. And four codefendants created phoney contracts and false tax returns. When the elected officials betray the confidence of the public, we will do Everything Possible to make sure they are accountable. Fattah stepped down from the house subcommittee that oversees spending for commerce and relates agencies. John rawlins is live outside of his office in winfield. Reporter well as you can guess we have a windy range of opinions on this question at one you extreme there is a school of thought that says this is all some part of a politically motivated witch hunt and then there is the school of thought that you cant trust a politician ever especially with money. He helped his parents develop the house of emosha. And people watcheded him move up the food change state rep and then senate and then congress. They like their congressman. But news of todays indictments unsettling some dont believe it and others afraid it will be true. Well have to wait and see what comes out of the investigation, because a lot of times politicians are accused of something negative initially and find out that there was Something Else behind it. Im disappointed i thought he was up and up in his rankings and fair and honest to the people. Disappointed and sad and sorry it happened. I wish it hadnt happened. Nowadays, you cant be surprised i hear something and say wow he did it too . All you hear is bad news about those that have the higher ups, they are the ones that are stealing money and they are the ones that got the money here we areeon s and we aint got nothing. Thank you john. Well we streamed the you attorneys announcement at 6abc. Com and that is where the coverage continues and more on the allegations and investigation. At the action news big board with more on a fast moving foyer that spread to several homes in trenton, chopper 6 hd was over the scene here this happening along the 300 block of south olden avenue firefighters rushed to contain the flames and residents raced to evacuate new jersey correspondent, Nora Muchanic is covering the story and is live at the scene with the very latest. Demolition crews are ready to knock down these damaged homes it started in 64 an abandoned house frequented by drug users and prostitutes a rude awakening when someone saw them banging on the door to warn them. I dont have time, someone give me they were sleeping when someone frantically knocked on the door and screamed fire. Had to go get the kids and it was big. Really big. There were flames everywhere. You ran back upstairs . I ran back upstairs and had to jump out the window. He injured his heels in that jump. They called in mutual aid for concerns that flames would spread and consume the block. They are semi detached houses, because there is an alleyway, but the fire jumped the alleyway and got into the house next door. Large flames just flying up in the air, hot weather made firefighting more difficult, two firefighter his to be hospitalized for dehead ration. And they are wearing 125 pounds of gear. Its brutal you have to try not to go too fast. Fire officers wanted me to try on the jacket of a turnout suit to understand what they are dealing with. I can tell you its heavy and cumbersome, and he describes carrying full gear and flames and blistering heat outside. Your ski jacket and muff over your mouth and run three miles that is how it feels in this heat today. Firefighters were cycled in and out during the fire to get something to drink the two taken to the hospital are treated and released and eight people are displaced because of this fire and they are working with the red cross because they have not only been put out and the houses are so damaged they will be torn down, im Nora Muchanic channel 6 action news. Okay nora, tough conditions for the firefighters from our delaware newsroom one man is dead and another is in the hospital, following an overnight shooting in newcastle this is the scene at the 3300 block of martin drive it started when a group of men broke into an unattached garage close to where the two victims were staying and a 29yearold man was shot and kills and his friend was hit on the lower part of his body and taken to the hospital for treatment. Dover Police Officers have arrested 21yearold jeff tollson in connection with two robberies and two attempted robberies, they cuts up with him after a reported Armed Robbery at the 7eleven that tollson acted as a lookout. Officers caught up with them and took them into custody. In other news, speed may have played a part in a serious crash in the kensington section overnight. Authorities say a driver was speeding when he collided with another car the driver and passenger in the other vehicle suffered broken bones but are expect the to recover. They are testing the other driver for drugs and alcohol. Lets check the commute home, matt pellman is here. Are you getting over the hump on the bridge on this hump day afternoon youll encounter this accident at 6th street with several vehicles involved. A lot of people would use the plat any way to you head to the arianna grandeconcert. And a crash just out of view on the schuylkill expressway, so lanes are extra heavy and the disabled vehicle on the northeast extension approaching landsdale taking out a lane, speeds in the 20s north of mid county. By verde salon look for a wreck at 724 and west goshen by the applebees a crash near five points road. Back over to you. Thanks matt. Still ahead tonight, authoritied have cracked the case of a priest with who was carjacked in south jersey last month, well have the update. And the clock is ticking for a trade deal for cole hamels douvier has the latest coming up in sports. We go to meteorologist, cecily tynan, live at the philadelphia zoo. Reporter hi i have peanut here peanut is a red footed tortoise, found in south america along the amazon basin because if you look at the feet they have the spots of red, and i want to show you the shell of the tortoise they are born with them and grow as they grow and have a spine with them. And he came to the zoo with a damaged shell. And they actually use dental equipment dental material to fix the shell now he is doing okay. I will be feeding tony the white rhino behind me and talk about an unsettled forecast tomorrow coming up live from the philadelphia zoo. Back to you guys. Those stories and much more when action news continues. female announcer you could win 1,000 a day for life. husband hon its Grover Cleveland female announcer . When you play the new cash4life, from the pennsylvania lottery. husband let me get this. female announcer that means you too could experience the joy of winning. wife look who went shopping female announcer every day. grover your chariot awaits announcer . For the rest of your life. wife jump on grover nothing like a new mower. wife what . grover see you tomorrow female announcer cash4life from the pennsylvania lottery. Play for fun. Cash for life. Police in haddonfield new jersey they arrested donald hart yesterday, they say he used a gun to steal adder all on june 17th and then carjacked a priest that happened to be in the parking lot he is now facing a number of charges, including robbery and aggravated assault. Septa representatives blitzed commuters at the city hall today with a message about safety, they say they have seen a spike of people getting too close to the edge of platforms and today septa handed out bright yellow wrist bands and were told to step back, they said that reading email and texting and listening to music could be difficult on train platforms and bus stops. Now sports, two days to the trade deadline and ducis rogers is live in the action news sports center. Hey goes we are inside of a 48 hours all signs point to cole hamels being trade bradenton fridays 4 00 p. M. Ted line, at least eight teams have showed interest but the dodgers and rangers are the front runners, hamels threw a nohitter in his last outing. Even though he had a couple of starts that were sub par for him prior to that, we all knew that is he one of the better left handed pitchers in baseball and that is a fact and i dont know that that effects his mystique or his value. Yesterday the phillies moved closer john han papelbon to the nationals for an aa pitcher, he made no secret he wanted out and he got his wish, he told reporters is happy to be free and playing in washington will give him new life, he accepted the trade only after the nationals told him he would be the closer. Despite the impending foyer sale last night they beat the blue jays and they hit the rbi double in the fifth inning with no papelbon joils was called in to close out the game, the phillies won 32 and won 9 of 10 games sin the all start break. Tom brady is digging in and prepared to fight the nfl in federal court the day after Roger Goodell held up the four day suspense the patriots quarterback says he is disappointed in the decision and the assertion that he destroyed his cell phone he replaced a broken phone after being told the league would not need it. He wrote on facebook i did nothing wrong and no one in the Patriots Organization did either, to subject i destroyed a phone to avoid giving the nfl information they requested is completely wrong. I want to apologize to the fans of the new England Patriots and tom brady i was wrong to put my faith in the lowing. Given the facts evidence and laws of science, that underscore this entire situation it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all time great players. Thankfully the eagles dont have trauma like that, they begin Training Camp this sun and ill be live at nova care providing reports. Horse racing royalty arrived in new jersey American Pharoah is set to run in the haskell invitation in monmouth park, can we call that plane air horse one. This is American Pharoahs first race since capturing the triple crown last month. Sharrie over to you. Thank you, National Guard troops from our area serving oversee overseas will get a taste of home. They held their christmas in july sendoff at the casino in fishtown, they are sending 400 kaur packages to National Guard troops from pennsylvania and new jersey its boxes were donated by the casino and includes snacks and energy drinks. For anyone that opens a car package there is a reminder that there is someone halfway around the world to took time out of their day to collect a few items and send them on their way. No doubt the packages are being sent to several Different Countries including afghanistan and kuwait. Oh my gosh, its the guy from last night. What . can i jump on your wifi . Yeah, you can try it. Hey i had a really good time last night. Yeah, me too. The only thing is that. The only thing is what . Whats the only thing . Oh my gosh hes married. Hes a kleptomaniac. Hes a pyromaniac. Hes a total maniac. Hey hey go back to your wife you sociopath leave slow internet behind. The 100 Fiber Optics Network is here. Get out of the past. Get fios. Now 79. 99 a month. Go online or call now. Call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities at 800. 974. 6006 tty v music etta james at last plays throughout sometimes, at last doesnt happen at first. Your dad just kissed my mom. Turning two worlds into one takes love. Helping protect that world takes state farm. Back we go to the zoo, cecily tynan is live there for the Outdoor Adventure almost feeding time. A lot of animals at the zoo are food motivated but tony the white rhino is not motivated by food but a grill brush he likes to get past the brush tell me about tony. He is the largest animal here at the zoo. An animal that is not food motivated he he weighs almost 15,000 pounds he is found in south africa and has a horn made out of kerr tan, the same thing that makes up fingernails and he likes to be pet. Come here tony does whatever tonight tony wants to do. The rhinos in the wild is a serious situation. There are five species of rhinos left and they are all in danger, and the western black rhino went extinct in 2011. Is it for habitat . Or the horns. Its habitat but mostly poaching for the horns. Yes. Its interesting, he seems trainable. You can get him to do things. For his protection. Kelly is you one of our wonderful keepers, they train the animals to go into different positions to help us observe them and see if they have medical needs and shift to another area, and a lot work goes into training. Tony loves the brushing there. He is really a gentle giant. He is and a big fan of watching tv and comedies so a laugh track. We wont say what his favorite show is. Lets keep tony here while we talk about the forecast stormtracker 6 live double scan shows some storms around and they are really isolated over delaware, beginning to move across the delaware bay and head into Cumberland County in the next few minutes, there are heavy downpours associated with this and it looks to be more active tomorrow highs today match yesterday 93 degrees in philadelphia and felt like 99 because the heat index is higher than yesterday. Allentown 93 and margate at the shore felt a lot better afternoon highs in the upper 80s, the current heat indexes show that it felt uncomfortable out there 98 in philadelphia and 97 in wilmington and reading follows like 95 and wildwood currently feels like 88 degrees, satellite 6 along with action radar showing a cold front that is west of toronto heading towards cleveland and lexington, kentucky and that moves our way tomorrow and well have a very active day future tracker 6 showing some showers down the i95 corridor and in the afternoon a few spotty downpours and 5 00 is when well likely see a line of storms ahead of the cold front moving through and this could have heavy downpours with it. The risks with this line lightning and heavy downpours, very high and a low to moderate risk of winds and low risk of hail and tornadoes. The exclusive accuweather sevenday forecast shows the heat continues with a high near 90 degrees and strong thunderstorms moving in and as we head to friday it will still be hot but the humidity will be lower and then heading through the weekend, the heat and humidity will be building and it looks like a cold front is moving through on tuesday night and that breaks the heat wave, finally some relief from the heat and well be hopping again on friday, and live from the philadelphia zoo, im getting a workout petting tony, this is fun back to you guys. Much more action news when we come right back. Be right become. Jim gardner is next stay with us. Action News Delaware valleys leading news program. With ducis rogers meteorologist, cecily tynan and jim gardner. Wednesday night and Delaware State Police investigate a shooting at a racetrack and philadelphia First Responders test their Emergency Response to a chemical attack. But the big story on action news tonight is philadelphia congressman, chaka fattah he and four other people have been indicted by a federal grand jury and the charges read like a primer in political corruption, racketeering, conspiracy, bribery mail fraud Bank Fraud Money Laundering and more. And last september with speculation about charges against fattah percolating he told action news he was never involved in wrongdoing. I have throughout my years through an elected official never been involved in any illegal conduct and i would never embarrass my family or constituents. He says he will continue to serve his constituents and is confident he will be cleared. Chad pradelli lets begin with you tell it us more about the specific allegations today. Jim this 85 page indictment has a little bit of everything from Campaign Funds to homes and Student Loans he is accused of being involved in five different illegal schemes. Federal authorities called it