Rocked by a gas related explosion. Three construction workers are being treated this morning. We have more live from the scene of the explosion in marble hill. Reporter well, chris, the damage is just on the other side of the building behind me. The three construction worker, two of them in serious condition and another one critical at the hospital. Meanwhile, investigators trying to pin point the cause of that blast. The blown out facade and mangled debris at jfk high school inspected by fire investigators overnight. A lot of work being done right now to decide what were going to do going further to stabilize the building. Reporter a powerful blast that left the neighborhood shaken. We thought it was a terrorist attack. Reporter happening just after 8 00 thursday night was so loud, the blast from jfk high school jolted people nearby not knowing what was going on. Oh my god, we we want outside and my neighbors were like, do you feel that . What was that . And right away, we heard the sirens. The school sustained very, very serious damage. This was part of a project being run by the School Construction authority through a private contractor. Reporter three of the construction workers rushed from the scene with serious burns. Investigators say the explosion came from the sixth floor of the building where work was being finished in science classrooms. Like a typical science lab, has a bunch of burners so they have a gas supply. And no one mentioned smelling gas. The contractors did not mention smelling gas, no. We do not know what caused the explosion yet but we will get to the bottom of it. Reporter now the mayor says 4,000 Students Attend School in this building. Its not clear whether theyll start on schedule on september 9th. Reporting live, cbs 2 news. Thank you. Time now for traffic and weather on the 2s. Thank you. Good morning everybody. Yeah, thats right, you hear thunder. Parts of the area dealing with heavy rain in the city. And low clouds and fog and we have comfortable temperatures. We are at 76 degrees. And winds variable at 5. And you can see heavy rain pushing into brooklyn. And bisecting Staten Island. And farther to the east, you are some pushing through. And check out Orange County and look at parts of rockland, west chester and putnam. Numbers for you today, still a little bit above normal. About 84. And that is an improvement. We will see the skies improve as well. So dynamic weather this morning. Pace yourself. But Better Weather later on your friday. How about early on your friday morning for a commute . Lets see what meg baker has to say. South river road is closed in both directions at Prospect Plains road due to an accident with a downed pole and wires. The span on the rfk bridge is closed until 5 00 a. M. For construction. Kick with the queens midtown tunnel. And on the map, west 3rd street remains closed at 6th avenue. Thats due to yesterdays water main break. And alternate side of the Street Parking rules are in effect citywide. Thank you. This morning, police are still searching for the man who left a woman badly burned after he threw chemicals in her face. She is being treated at the hospital. Sources say a man she did not know approached her on skillman avenue in queen queens. He said, can i ask you a question and then threw a cup full of chemicals in her face. Very bad. Hes very too much. In two, three weeks she dont do good, they maybe have to the operate on the eyes and the face. South korea says its on high alert after a move by north korea leader kim jongun. He has order toed military units to move. No casualties were reported. But south korea is now warning the north to refrain from what it calls rash actions. South korea is a key u. S. Ally where roughly 28,000 u. S. Troops are based. Theres a sure fire way to get rid of the topless painted ladies, just get rid of the pedestrian plazas that are there. But thats not sitting well with the ladies or a times square tourism group. Reporter one of the topless painted ladies the of times square says posing for pictures pays the bills and say police dont hassle her. She says she isnt feeling lover from new york citys top cop who wants to rip out the pedestrian plazas to curb the harassment of tourists. We have rights. Reporter during an interview, the Police Commissioner said we just take it up and put it back as a street again. The advantage is it would people hang out. Reporter the mayor created a task force to study the problem and the police force. And when asked about the idea during a News Conference now thats a big endeavor. And like every other option comes with pros and cons. Reporter tim is fuming over the idea. He says the city created the pedestrian plazas for safety reasons because overcrowded sidewalks were forcing people into the streets. Do you know how much it will cost to rip them up . What a disruption it will be to times square . It makes no sense. The Mayors Task Force is scheduled to release findings by the 1st of october. Relief in the bronx this morning. The city says the outbreak is now over. The Health Department has identified a cooling tower as the source of the outbreak. Cooling towers can serve as breeding grounds for the bacteria. It sickened more than 120 people since early july. Jimmy carter says hes scaling back on his work schedule. Hope for the best and accept what comes. I think i have been as blessed as any human being in the world. The 90yearold was reflective but upbeat as he spoke public for the first time yesterday about his battle with brain cancer. Doctors found four small tumors on his brain. The the former president started treatment yesterday. And doctors are using a new drug. A federal judge says former secretary of state Hillary Clintons email arrangement at the state department violated government policy. The judge called for cooperation between the state department and the fbi to determine what documents can be recovered from the server and mail. He gave the agencies 30 days to figure out what data can be recovered. She claims she didnt break the law by using email on her own server rather than a government account. Results. It shows joe biden doing better against republican front runner donald trump. The poll has biden outdoing trump in three key state, florida, ohio and pennsylvania. Those are key swing states although in florida the advantage is within the margin of error. And it shows trump ahead of clinton 33 to 31 . Pennsylvania. Biden is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether he house. Well, with less than three weeks to go before the network debut, Steven Colbert is putting his stamp on broadway. A late sign was put up on the corner. The late show with Steven Colbert debuts september 8th right here. Ask the time is now 4 39. A sight one family will never forget. Plus, Caitlyn Jenner is in trouble with the law. The charges she could not be facing from a fatal crash this year. And this they get to eat something as opposed to eating junk food. A new jersey Restaurant Owner leaves it up to good faith. And if drew carey has taught us anything, the price is right. Less humid today and less rain ifer the weekend. Traffic and weather on the 2s coming up. Looking live outside on this friday morning, the 21st of august, 76 degrees out there. Okay, hurricane danny expected to weak on the a Tropical Storm tomorrow. This is a photo of the hurricane taken aboard the International Space station. Dannys maximum sustained winds decreased to 80 Miles Per Hour. The hurricane is about 970 east of the win ward islands. Right now, the its not threatening any land. But, dont take their word for it, take this mans word for it. Heres traffic and weather on the 2s man john elliott. Its going to weaken but it will affect some of the islands the first part of next week. And then we will wait and see. Theres still plenty of fuel for danny with the warm waters. Lets talk about warm air and humid air and stormy weather. In fact, checking in with the weather watchers. Michael and linda tyler, theyve had heavy rain. And i know someone waiting for rain right now. This is ray paulson, and anticipated rain and is happy for that. Long island around the area was dealing with more of a drought condition profile for more of the summer. So this is good news for you. But it could slow you down. In the city, parts of the city rain, parts of the city just low clouds and fog, 76 the reading in central park and winds variable at 2 Miles Per Hour and relative humidity 91 is . Sample of the number, 76 here in the city all the way out. And out to the hampton, 76. Whats interesting is look at the change in due the points. Very high for connecticut and long island. But that dry air starting to filter in north and west. We are going to see a change. And actually some sun into the middle part of the day. 84 will feel a little warm we are the left over moisture in the atmosphere but not the kind of spread we saw last week. So this is the line. And now into west chester, big boomers and brief heavy. Pushing through and just added another advisory for parts of the county. Some heavy rain into Staten Island, jersey city and the financial district here. And we are getting a break here on the west side. And a bigger view, hey, look at this, its great. Things pushing through and conditions are shaping up for the weekend. Parts of the weekend. Flood advisory into the Hudson Valley. And its still a Flood Warning to the west. And earlier rain in the week exacerbating that situation. And by 9 00, we see breaks to the west. And into the afternoon, look at this, its really going to start to improve. Saturday is now shaping up. Theres a possibility of a wrap around shower on sunday. So it looks like saturday is the better of the two weekend days. 84, 84, close to it sunday with a popup shower. And more heat and morning rain on monday. Theres rain right now, so take it easy. And there are other things to look for, right meg . Thats right. In queen, one lane is blocked on the ramp if the eastbound lie to the bqe due to an accident. And the span on the rfk bridge is closed until 5 00 a. M. Due the to construction. Stick with the queens midtown tunnel. And also on the map, west 3rd street remains closed westbound between sullivan street and haveth avenue due to a water main break. And amount park. Thank you. If youre just waking up, a quick look at some of the stories making news this morning. Los angeles county Officials SayCaitlyn Jenner could face a manslaughter charge in a fatal february car crash. Investigators determine thed she was driving too fast when she rear ended a lexus and pushed it into oncome traffic. The driver was killed. And detectives will present evidence to prosecutors next week. President barack obama is promising democratic lawmakers that the u. S. Will maintain economic pressure on iran if the nuclear deal with iran goes through. In a letter to the new york congressman, mr. Obama says military options remain open and emphasizes u. S. Support for israel. The Prime Minister of gross has resigned and is minister of greece has resigned and is calling for early elections next month. On your money watch report northern, stock futures down today major losses on thursday. The selloff is an indication that the china market is causing problems globally. The nasdaq lost 141. Almost 3 of the total value. The s p lost 4 3. Twitter dropped below the initial offering public price after concerns about his focus. While 23 of adults use twitter, the growth hit a stand still. Twitter is looking for a new chief executive. And apples new Product Introduction comes september 9th and theres speculation about whether new, larger ipads will be part of it. Others say the pad will be large enough to run two applications at once and a split screen but as usual, apple will not confirm any rumors. Eating out can put a dent in your wallet but one restaurant has no prices allowing you to name your own price. Reporter the owner and chef of blue and its more casual adjoining restaurant next door in new jersey are set to close on august 29 when the the lease expires. He wanted a unique way to thank his customers for 10 year of business. So for the whole month, he has been letting them pay whatever they want. Everyone said, dont do this because people will take advantage. Reporter but he says hes been the opposite. People are leaving good money. As long as they get the good food, they get to eat something as opposed to eating junk food. Reporter entrees at the fine dining restaurant that usually cost 28 to 35 have been sized down to smaller portions. A few customers who left, had maybe four or five and only left 4 or 5. And a few had four or five dishes and left 200. Reporter and for most, the toughest decision wasnt what to order but how to make sure they were paying fairly. I wish they would give us a bill. Way. Thats interesting. You can decide. Reporter the chef tells us that the concept has been so popular with the customers that he is considering extending the lease of his restaurant for another month or two. Reporting from new jersey, cbs 2 news. Okay. The time is now 4 49. A wild sight in a backyard pool. And a group of students are getting opportunity of a lifetime. How theyll get a chance to meet the pope. And another traffic of traffic and weather on the 2s when we come back. Good morning. Welcome back. Mobile 2 out on the road right now. A live picture showing rain falling. Hopefully it will taper off today. John will have more details on that coming up. But first, a major surprise for a new jersey family. The family shot this video as a momma bear and her five cubs decided to cool off in the familys backyard pool. The bears spent several minutes splashing around, playing with scene. Nice job. Going down the slide. Good job they shot from the second floor of the home there. All right. Time for traffic and weather on the 2s. We will talk more about that all morning because thats probably the video of the day right there. Theyve got sharp claws. You would think it would collapse but its going to be a better pool afternoon. And we will see Better Weather for your saturday. Very mild out there this morning. But rain, heavy at times and pushing through. And catching relief from the humidity tomorrow. And theres a chance of showers and a better bet on sunday. Wheres the heavy rain right now. You can see that pushing into brooklyn and over the sound and farther into Putnam County as well. So you have this line of s howers. Behind that, brighter weather for the afternoon and looking better for the beach on saturday. Just a 10 chance of a popup shower. Up a bit on sunday. But overall, weekend forecast is improving. Yeah, not too bad. Just let the rain get through. Yeah, after lunchtime, better for almost everybody. I know i had the rain coming into work. Every time we have rain, theres also a little slow down on the roads and we have a few issues. In queens, one lane is blocked to the bqe due to an accident. A tow truck is on the scene. And hopefully they have it cleared out soon. South river road is closed in both directions at Prospect Plains road due to an accident with a downed pole and wires. And amount park. Thank you. So after the break, meet an Exciting Group of students who are getting the chance of a lifetime to meet the pope. And in the next half hour, check out the size of the snake where the nypd confiscated this giant reptile. They are among 24 students selected to meet pope francis. And we have more from east harlem. I feel really excited. Butterflies in my stomach. Flying around. Reporter allison may only be 8 years old, but shes about to do something many catholics could only dream of doing in their entire lifetime. Shes going to meet pope francis. I pray to god and said, thank you god for giving me this kind of opportunity. Reporter the brighteyed third grader in east harlem is among 24 third and fourth graders from her school and three other Harlem Catholic schools who will sit down and speak with his holiness when he visits this school on east 112th street at the end of is september. I felt very excited because he is the head of all catholic churches. Just incredible because its a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its pope. Hes like a, hes very high. What did i get myself into in. Reporter this fourth grader and the other students will sing and pray with the pope and share their school projects, showcasing how Catholic Education puts their faith in action. The kids say they have some questions too. How does it feel to be so much famous . And how does it feel to be like the pope . And like what channels are you watching on tv . Reporter the principal says this will be a sacred moment for the children and for her. I get the opportunity to thank him first of all, but then to assure him that gods work is being done. What i would share with the pope is i have an amazing family. And that god has always been in my heart and i love him so much. Pope francis will be in new 26th. And he will address the un general assembly, ait happened a service at the 9 11 memorial and museum and hold mass at Madison Square garden. And we will bring you complete coverage of the events right here on cbs 2 news. That and he loves real housewives of new york. Your holiness, netflix or hbo . We have rain. Were being blessed by rain. We need the rain and the timing camelotesque and we should be able to wrap this up early right now. And issues on the lie, the bqe, all those coming up. Still ahead, the days top stories including an explosion people. What happened moment before the details. And caught on cam are, a couple gets away with thousands of dollars in designer bags. How they made it past store security. A single serving for myself, its pretty special. It is like having a dunkin store in my home which is what ive always dreamed of. Good morning. It is 5 00, 76 degrees on this friday, august 2 1st. We have pockets of rainout there but hopefully its