right now, at 11:00, pope francis is in havana tonight bringing a message for hope for better relations between the u.s. and cuba, as the stage is getting set in philadelphia for his visit to the ben franklin parkway. he'll arrive in just seven days. good evening, everyone. i'm ted greenberg. that stage has built frustration for philadelphia drivers, is also growing. drew smith is live along the parkway where road closures are making it difficult to get around. drew, this is just the start of the headaches. >> reporter: just the beginning. the general consensus is that there isn't an easy way to get around this closure. in this entire part of the city,

there were jam ups on the alternate roads. the jumbotrons are beginning to go up on the grounds here. already on the side streets, there are signs up. they say you can't park here. as this construction expands, there will be more places you can't park or drive. it's the last weekend before pope francis' arrival in philadelphia, and people trying to enjoy a night out had to rely on luck to find one of the few remaining parking spots in the museum area. >> the preparation is starting a lot earlier than i expected. >> reporter: others approached the traffic tieups with humor. >> i heard they would be closing the zoo during the papal visit. and they're putting fence around the parkway. is it true they're moving the zoo to the parkway? >> reporter: lisa added a prayer here for her son enlisted in the navy. >> i won't make it down to the pope because it's too crowded. i just wanted to put on a prayer to pray for him. >> reporter: there are plenty of

people who are happy to be here, to kick off a week of historic events. young catholics hosted this prayer celebration open to all, called night fever. >> whether it be volunteering or people coming back to the church, or people in general that want to be involved. because they seem to love this pope. >> reporter: they added some special lighting for this kickoff event. and some people said a prayer asking that this huge week for the city and the church goes off smoothly. >> it's a once in a lifetime thing. i think it's going to be awesome. >> reporter: a reminder, towing does begin tomorrow evening in some parts of the francis festival grounds. plus, more and more of the barricades they're setting up along the parkway will be coming in. we saw some of these trucks today. they're pretty big. they've also been blocking some of the side streets. best to avoid traveling in this avenue. drew smith, nbc 10 news. pope francis hailed the diplomatic reconciliation between the u.s. and cuba as a model for the world.

he made the remarks after touching down in cuba this afternoon. cuban president raul castro welcomed pope francis to his country and thanked him for mediating the negotiations between the u.s. and cuba while the pontiff called on presidents castro and obama to build normal ties. this came despite the vatican promising that francis would not discuss politics during his visit to cuba and the u.s. from cuba, pope francis will head to washington, d.c., and new york city, before he ends his trip in philadelphia. volunteers will play a crucial role in the world meeting of families which begins on tuesday. and today, thousands showed up at the pennsylvania convention center to pick up their official uniforms for the week. the bright orange shirts will make the volunteers easy to identify in the crowd. some called the experience a unique way to give back. >> i think everybody deep down wants to be part of something bigger than themselves.

this is a big event. this is a rare occasion. >> volunteers will help with a variety of needs later this week, including language translation, greeting visitors at the airport, and giving directions around center city. if you're still looking for a way to get around while the pope is here, septa will be selling papal passes again tomorrow. the $10 one-day passes will be available at most of the 18 stations that will be open during the papal visit. coming up at 11:15, a closer look at the big job under way to build the stage where the pope will speak, and what it will take to change that stage between the festival of families saturday, and the papal mass on sunday. and to keep up to the minute on the pope's visit, just tap the nbc 10 news app. we will bring you any changes as we learn them. a big change in temperatures is coming tomorrow. nbc 10 first alert meteorologist whit brittany is here. it will feel a lot more like

fall, right? >> that's right. we'll see a cold front sweeping through. by the time we wake up tomorrow, we'll still be in the 60s. you'll feel the difference as we head into the afternoon. by 8:00 a.m., 66 degrees in philadelphia. 60 degrees in allentown. in the 50s for the poconos, as we progress the model by 2:00, we start to warm into the 70s. the high tomorrow for philadelphia, closer to 77 degrees. so the cooldown is finally here. our average this time of year, 77. today we were at 84 degrees. as we head into tomorrow, 77. back to average we go. fall is right around the corner. i'll let you know how long the cooler temperatures will stick around and what's in store for the eagles forecast. >> brittany, we'll see you then. frankfurt neighborhood, people still searching for the person who killed a man while he was getting out of his car this afternoon. authorities tell us a man was shot multiple times.

he was later pronounced dead at the hospital. unclear what prompted the shooting. in kensington, two grenades were found in a bag of clothing, delivered to a thrift store. witnesses shared this cell phone video of detectives evacuating the area outside the village thrift store on the 2900 block of kensington avenue this morning. after investigating, the grenades were found to be hollowed out, with no explosives inside. best-selling author jackie collins passed away earlier today. her family released a statement saying the beautiful dynamic mother died of breast cancer. collins was adored by her family, friends and the millions of readers who she's been entertaining for over four decades. collins wrote more than 30 new york times best-sellers. she was 77 years old. the man at the center of the sixers' last championship was laid to rest today. funeral services were held for moses malone in houston.

former teammate charles barkley was among those in attendance. malone died sunday of heart failure. a three-time league mvp, malone was the first player to jump straight from high school to the pros and was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2001. moses malone was 60 years old. we are less than 24 hours until kickoff of the eagles home opener against the cowboys. many of the birds' faithful are getting an early jump on the festivities. dozens of fans took part in today's eagles pep rally in roxborough. the perfect opportunity for everybody to get rid of that nervous energy ahead of tomorrow's nfc east clash with the cowboys. nbc national correspondent tamron hall was at philadelphia city hall tonight hosting an event to shed light on the state of education across the country. hall is a temple university

graduate. she hosted the gala to highlight the work of the stepping stones scholars. the group helps prepare urban students for acceptance at top college prep schools. prices at the pump still falling. ahead tonight, where we found some of the region's cheapest gas. and cars kept off a local bridge, so folks can kick up their heels. where they're dancing the night away. i'm john clark. the owls could be doing something they haven't done in 36 years. what a finish to their win today. thewi boys are back in town. getting ready for the showdown in dallas.

fuel prices continue to fall. and as usual, the cheapest prices are in the garden state. our camera found several gas stations just minutes from philadelphia. charging less than $2 for a gallon of regular. this citgo is selling regular for $1.79 a gallon. according to aaa, the average price in south jersey sits just above $2 at $2.03 a gallon. delaware $2.22. in the philadelphia region, regular is $2.37. back to school for the united way in north philadelphia today. volunteers stopped by the general george g. mead school. they touched up paint and refilled supplies as part of the organization's national day of caring. setting the stage for the pope. we get a behind-the-scenes look at what's going up, and down. ahead of the pontiff's visit to philadelphia. we're cooling things down as

we head into your sunday. i'm tracking what to expect. plus your eagles forecast. that's all coming up right after the break.

there's a reason the ben franklin parkway is already shut down a week ahead of the pope's visit to philadelphia. getting the ready for the pontiff is a major undertaking, requiring a ton of manual labor. monique braxton got a close-up look. >> reporter: heavy equipment is transforming aiken's oval. ricers are going up for the media. so the world will see the pontiff when he steps on stage. >> we have 100-foot-wide arch by

about 85 feet deep roof that we're constructing right now. >> reporter: scott is in charge of this multi-million-dollar massive production. he took us behind the scenes as the stage components are being put in place. >> just about every inch of that real estate occupied. we have the philadelphia orchestra, there's about 85 members of the philadelphia orchestra. we, of course, have the holy father and archbishop. >> reporter: and there will be room for families, dancers, bands. the art museum serving as the back drop. with less than one week to go, 2,000 contractors are working around the clock. >> we're running miles and miles of fiber optic cable that will provide the audio and video signal to the 40 jumbotrons around the footprint. >> reporter: after the festival of families, he said they have less than 12 hours to convert the stage into a sanctuary. >> if we were in a convention hall, we would be completely pulling out an entire exhibit.

and then loading another one in overnight. >> reporter: but here, everything will be unloaded outside. 8,000 seats for mass. looking ahead to next week, the production company tells us, by thursday, the stage will be completed. the altar in place. and crews hope to begin sound and camera checks. on the sets of the art museum, monique braxton, nbc 10 news. local dance enthusiasts are strutting their stuff under the stars tonight in east falls. this is the fifth annual dance on the falls bridge. the span is closed to traffic for the event, which goes until midnight. the sofa kings are providing the sound track for tonight's dance. now, your nbc 10 first alert weather. with meteorologist brittany shipp. >> it was the perfect night for an event like that.

temperatures today stopping at 84 degrees. we're going to cool things down as we head into tomorrow. we'll drop into the 70s. we're tracking a little bit of patchy morning fog similar to what we saw this morning, so keep that in mind. i'll have your eagles forecast. cape may right now 74 degrees. clear skies. our humidity is at 88%. at 69 degrees in the poconos. 73 in allentown. 70 degrees in pottstown. 74 in philadelphia. 72 at the atlantic city airport. and temperatures in dover at 71. our average for this time of year, 77 degrees. today we saw humid conditions, and a high of 84. as we head into sunday, we'll start to drop back down closer to average, especially as we're in the final days of summer. we have changes on the way. satellite radar shot shows actually there's a cold front, you can see the rain associated with that cold front, it's moving closer to us. we don't expect to see any

rainfall. you can see most of the rain stays far to the north of us. we'll see cooler air moving in. our wind direction is going to shift out of the north as we head into tomorrow. and we'll see breezy conditions throughout your sunday. so as we head into sunday afternoon and evening, keep in mind that you'll see wind gusts up to about 25, 27 miles per hour. that's cooler air coming in from the north. so closer look at our eagles forecast tomorrow. kickoff is at 4:25. right before tailgating, expect temperatures closer to 73 degrees. once again, breezy conditions. by kickoff, 77. by the fourth quarter, 72 degrees. and nice. beautiful conditions for football, to watch football or tailgate. highs around the region tomorrow will stay in the high 70s. 76 in pottstown. 77 in allentown. 67 in the poconos. heading into tonight, 65 for philadelphia. 62 to the north and west. cooler conditions expected. that range, once again, between 74 and 77.

seven-day forecast shows more of the same. 70s for us as we welcome in fall on wednesday. this is the xfinity sports desk, brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports. i'm john clark. eagles-cowboys less than 18 hours away. chip kelley lost both his games. they do not want to start 0-2 in the nfc. the cowboys arriving in philly this afternoon. longest winning streak on the road for the nfl. throw in the cowboy rivalry. >> it shouldn't take much to get hyped for this game. everybody wishes they could trade places with us so they can play in this game. >> love it. join us on nbc 10 before and after the game for exclusive coverage.

kickoff tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. if donald trump could be president, why can't the temple owls be ranked? they just may be in the top poll for the first time in 36 years. what a win today. fourth quarter, umass, kicking the extra point. but it's blocked. will hayes takes it the other way. so that is two points for temple. that is huge. so they trail by one. and that clears the way for this. hou how about a 32-yard field goal by austin jones. temple wince 25-23. 3-0 for the first time in five years. over 103,000 happy tonight for the stripeout. penn state hosting rutgers. second quarter, lynch, 75 yards for the touchdown. penn state with over 326 yards rushing. barkley close to 200 rushing

yards. right now, penn state is up 28-3, with under two minutes left. nova's star quarterback leaves the game with a knee injury. he's going to have an mr is on monday. nova is down. the red-shirt freshman does his best robertson impression. he brings them back with a couple of touchdowns. nova wins 28-21. and lost to lehigh. day two of flyers training camp. lots of fans in voorhees, new jersey, today. the new head coach with dave. ed snyder believes the flyers will be back in the play-offs this season. >> i have a lot of faith in ron, who has a lot of faith in hackstol. quite frankly, i'm looking for big things. i think we're going to turn this team around and be a play-off team this year. >> let's hope so. phillies taking on the braves. jarrett gets mike along borne in

the fourth. freddie freeman hits one deep to left. look at this. can't make the camp. two runs are going to score. phillies lose again in atlanta 2-1. i'm john clark. we're right back after this.

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a cooler change coming tomorrow. >> that's right. it will feel more like fall. we go from the 80s, down to 77. tomorrow 75. by the time you head back to work. if you have tickets to the eagles game, or plan on tailgating tomorrow, beautiful conditions expected. >> all right. thank you, brittany. thank you for being with us. from all of us here, i'm ted greenberg. "snl" is next. have a great evening. ♪

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[ cheers and applause ] >> welcome back to "the kelly file." later in the program, undeniable proof that the historical figure blackula was in fact white. but first, it was a long week for new jersey governor chris christie. first he placed nurse kaci hickox into quarantine even