in fact, on monday as people drove by throwing a severed pig's head here on the front steps of this islamic center, fast forward to today, different kind of sentiment, everything from flowers to phone calls. the pig's head was taken as an affront as islamic law forbids eating pork. a red pickup truck is seen driving by the building, a pig's head being thrown out. >> it was definitely an attempt to humiliate and desecrate the mosque. >> as a philadelphia muslim and director of the development corps, the concern is antimuslim acts could escalate. >> i think the police and the fbi are taking this very seriously. the police have added patrols. >> reporter: but as the philadelphia police investigate who left the pig's head as a hate crime, the north philly mosque is seeing signs of love, from voice messages -- >> anger about this incident, and we're very sorry. >> reporter: to candy, cards, and flowers. the support has poured in from

all over the world. >> i'm just filled with so much love from my neighbors. >> it was good to know people care and have your back. >> reporter: more than 200,000 muslims in philadelphia, according to polling. some polls show philadelphia has the highest proportion of muslims in an american city, even as presidential candidates and people like those caught on this surveillance video spread what is being called islam phobia. in north philly there are signs of support and tolerance. >> things like that ramp up the hate and you have people like donald trump and other people advocating hate, it's wrong, it's un-american, it's not philadelphian. >> reporter: and we've seen this kind of support across the country as mosques or islamic centers have become the targets of some kinds of hate crimes. one here is being investigated. this islamic center plans to celebrate with the community for how the response has become this saturday with a cookout. live in north philadelphia, mitch blacher, nbc 10 news. >> and a show of support is

happening right now. this vigil in rittenhouse square where members of all faiths are gathering in support for muslims. drew smith is joining us live. are we seeing a kind of tipping point here? >> reporter: yeah, jim, the crowd really grew throughout the hour as people found out this was happening. the program has moved inside to this building where a capacity crowd is taking part in a second part of the program. we talked to these folks who said they were disgusted to see a muslim house of worship was defaced in the city and came out to show support for all faiths and people tonight. with songs, candles, and prayers, leaders of churches, mosques, and synagogues together condemned acts of terror and also called for an end to fearmongering. >> support the people of syria. >> reporter: a group of grandmothers echoed that message, saying they will not be silent. >> open your arms and let them come in. yes, let them and make sure they

are not terrorists. most of them are not. >> reporter: moore is a muslim living here. she thinks donald trump's proposed muslim immigration ban might just be campaign theatrics. the way it's catching on worries her. >> it's causing reactions and i think that's where the danger is, because it puts people like me, you can see are muslim, at risk. >> reporter: religious leaders say they will not stand on the sidelines now after someone threw a pig's head at a nearby mosque. >> we've come in a united voice to say this must stop. the muslim community, they are brothers and sisters. >> reporter: at the ethical society, volunteers got ready for a discussion on the refugee crisis tonight. >> fear is something kids have. adults have conscience things going on in your brain, you don't need fear like that. >> reporter: they hope this can be an educational moment, not a time to tear the community apart. >> we're not going to even tolerate this. >> reporter: and one of the messages we heard here

repeatedly tonight is that this fight does not end here with this gathering. some of the rabbis with the megaphone here urged people to embrace muslim friends and neighbors. live in rittenhouse square, drew smith, nbc 10 news. a new poll revealed how donald trump's comments have impacted the presidential race. we'll have the results on "nbc nightly news" right after this newscast. to our weather now, and from the jersey shore to the beaches in delaware, we are experiencing a december warmup. some places didn't even have to close for the winter yet. perfect day to shop outdoors. >> delaware bureau reporter tim furlong joins us from rehoboth. tim? >> reporter: perfect day to shop outdoors, night, too. some of the stores are only open on the weekends, but a lot of stores, most of the stores like this one, this tea shop, they are open every single day leading up to the holidays and you can see they are absolutely decked out for the holidays.

looks great down here and all these businesses and restaurants got a nice early gift from mother nature, a very warm weekend so they can lure holiday shoppers down here. >> we should be needing this by now. >> reporter: this time last year they did, but this year at the ace hardware in lewes, the shovels and rock salt sit and it's too late or too early to sell the summer stuff. >> hard to sell beach chairs this time of year. >> reporter: nobody else seems too bummed by the warm temperature, certainly not the guy with the top down on the jeep or people still enjoying the beaches mid-december. >> oh, yes, this is wonderful, this is a nice break. >> reporter: the restaurants are bustling, becoming an almost year-round spot. >> moved here 23 years ago and after labor day it was dead no matter what, and now until through new year it's awesome. >> reporter: extra warm days, especially warm weekend days like we expect this weekend, well, they are huge for beach businesses who love seeing people choose to come down to

their stores for their holiday shopping instead of their local malls. >> it's a good thing, it brings a lot of people to town, there's a lot more activity. >> reporter: there was that one washout weekend in early october when a nor'easter came through, but since then business has been awesome. >> we saw the increase in november, we were up, i would say, about 25% in november year over year. everybody wants snow for the holidays, but we would rather it wait until after the holidays for sure. >> reporter: and you see it's 6:08 on the slathrasher's sign. i might try to hit a couple stores on my way out of town. if you want to come down this weekend between the outlets outside of town and the nice stores in the beach towns, you can do all your holiday shopping and get a nice warm bike ride along the boardwalk and everything you buy in delaware, no sales tax. live, tim furlong, nbc 10 news. >> just remember your colleagues, tim, thanks so much. just how warm did it get today?

>> nbc 10 chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz is here now with that. glenn, i remember in your winter predictions you said it was going to be pretty mild until, what, february? >> yeah, december and january, very mild, and then reverses. we still have a good chance of that happening, so you snow lovers and cold weather lovers don't give up just because we've had this exceptionally mild weather so far. with more to come, of course, this month at least. 62 for the high today, compared to the average of 46. then we go up saturday to 68, sunday to 70. that's almost 25 degrees above normal. 55 degrees in philadelphia now, we're down to 46 in pottstown and millville. 48 degrees in mount holly. so we do have some clear skies now in parts of the area. that's the place that is cooling down, but other clouds, but not any rain coming in from any part

of the country. we continue to find the mild weather. it's going to be pretty mild tonight, 53 degrees by 8:00. later on tonight down to about 50 by 11:00, which is higher than the average high for the day, and 7:00 a.m. still kind of mild, but patchy fog around may be an issue in the morning. how long this incredible streak lasts with the seven day in a few minutes. >> all right, glenn. nbc 10 learned of a police investigation surrounding a coach at an exclusive philadelphia private school. >> officials say it cannot discuss personnel matters, but according to school officials, the coach is no longer employed by the school. a spokeswoman said the coach had no classroom duties. the school says it notified child line, a state hotline to report suspect abuse when it was notified of allegations and also sent a statement, "we are confident that our students know they have unfettered access to anyone in the school if they believe they are victims of any

type of inappropriate conduct." a glimpse at the defense strategy tonight in the trial of a local police chief's daughter accused of attacking two gay men in center city last year. a lawyer for knott insisted his client never touched the victims. she faces years in prison if convicted. prosecutors say knott and her friends were out on the town last year when they encountered the couple and started spewing profanity laced slurs and throwing punches. a break in the case of daytime burglaries in homes over the past six months. last night detectives tracked a vehicle involved in the crime spree. officers arrested two men, david lee and daniel frayosk at a home in chester county. police say the duo targeted jewelry boxes from bedrooms. a task force is reviewing evidence to get as much of the stolen property back to home owners. also new at 6:00, new

security measures in place at elementary and middle schools following a dcampus scare this week. earlier this week a 14 year old had a replica toy gun outside vanzandt elementary. the school was put on lockdown and the student was arrested. evesham's mayor hopes to have a long-term plan in place when kids return from winter break. tonight, sadness on the campus of rowan university. students and faculty learned henry rowan died last night. rowan gave $100 million to help transform the state college into rowan university in gloucester county. the entrepreneur started an international business from his backyard. he was 92 years old. comcast now has a long-term agreement with the city of philadelphia. the city council unanimously approved a 15-year franchise deal this morning. the philadelphia-based company now has priority over competitors to set up cable and

internet infrastructure across the city. comcast is the parent company of nbc 10. a few local families will get some presents under the christmas tree thanks to gloucester township police. police donated brand new dvd players, star wars hleggo kits the toys for tots campaign, all toys were recovered after criminal investigations. after several failed attempts to find the owners, the department decided to donate the toys and electronics instead. next on nbc 10 news at 6:00, wolfgang puck, bobby flay, another celebrity chef plans new digs inside the borgata. that's next. more than a dozen small south jersey communities are taking on a communications giant over what they say is unacceptable phone service. i'm ted greenberg with how the towns are now asking the state to step in. so how long are some of us going to be able to wear shorts? plus there's some rain in the forecast. first alert forecast is next.

patients across the country have spoken. they recently rated their care experience at over 3,500 hospitals nationwide in a survey conducted for the centers for medicare and medicaid services. fewer than 6% received 5 stars. among them was cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia. learn more at cancercenter.com slash eastern. cancer treatment centers of america.

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this is nbc 10 news. >> calling it a career, willie

fullwood gave 43 years to the children of philadelphia. today the 85 year old was honored for her work at a retirement ceremony at the 14th police district in germantown, the district where she helped children each day for the last 40 years. wii following this breaking news, a disciplinary court says it may suspend state supreme court judge michael eakin over the scandal. an ethics board filed four ethics charges against eakin. the board says eakin violated codes of conduct by exchanging lewd and offensive e-mails with friends. it's now in the hands of that disciplinary court. the court today issued an order that gives eakin a chance to respond before it decides whether to suspend him. a hearing is set for later this month. the investigation got under way after attorney general kathleen kane submitted more than 1,000 of eakin's e-mails. kane claims her legal troubles started when she released the e-mails and she's facing federal perjury charges and state

lawmakers are deciding if kane can keep her job. are you a foodie? a celebrity chef is cooking up a new restaurant inside the borga borgata. michael simon plans to open his first italian restaurant next fall. simon appeared as iron chef on the food network and on "the chew." now your nbc 10 first alert weather with chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. >> well, as exceptional as november was as far as warmth, december is outdoing it so far, and it's getting warmer all the time. temperatures have gotten into the 60s and it's just going to warm up as we head toward the weekend. some records are likely to be broken and showers coming in on monday. that's the most likely time for rain over the next week or so. we have dry conditions out there right now, visibility is good, patchy fog this morning. 55 degrees, winds southwest at six miles an hour. and the temperatures are generally in the 40s, and into

the 50s. pottstown's 46, but trenton's 55, along with philadelphia. bensalem is 53. same story in wilmington. millville is down to 46, skies mostly clear there, they cool down when it's clear and calm like it is right now. but if the clouds come in tonight, they will level off. well, we're only 50 on tuesday, even that was above average, and 62 today, going up to 65 tomorrow, then we're going to go off the scale as we head into the weekend because there's even warmer air back to our west. it's 55 here, 60 degrees in st. louis. records in chicago coming, as well. little rock, arkansas, 65, dallas 73. some of that air headed this way. we've got some clouds headed this way, too, but no rain associated with them. rain is way up there in canada, so it's going to be generally on the dry side. saturday looks like we could set

a record. the record is 65, predicting 68. sunday the record 65 set in 1923, and we may beat that by a good bit. generally beat records by a degree or so. if you beat it by four or five degrees, that's pretty exceptional. and we could do some more record breaking here, for example, with reading. i'm predicting five degrees above the record there. same thing in wilmington. so we've got a pretty good chance of setting some records there. and that will all occur during the big football weekend. the army navy game, 68 degrees at kickoff. of course, it's going to be dry. and on sunday for the eagles, even warmer than that. temperatures may actually get up to 70 degrees probably in the third quarter if it's going to do that at all. partly cloudy and mild tonight, patchy fog towards day break, 47 for the low. that's above the average high for this time of the year. and then during the day

tomorrow, the early fog and we get at least partly sunny skies out of it. it gets even warmer than today, highs in the mid 60s. not a whole lot of wind. saturday and sunday, record breakers, incredible days for outdoor activity. monday could threaten a record, too, but looks like that's the day to get the showers, especially later in the day. then it doesn't cool off all that much after that. verizon customers in south jersey say there are ongoing issues with service and they want the state to step in now. the problem, copper lines. people impacted live in four counties, atlantic, cumberland, gloucester, and salem. ted greenberg looks into the disconnect. >> reporter: new moon nursery in hopewell township relies on its land line phone service to do business, but the owner says when it rains -- >> there's interference along the line. >> reporter: communications become compromised, especially when using the fax machine. >> the transmission is

interrupted, it's not clear enough for it to go through, it kicks out as an error. >> we are extremely frustrated with the service that we've received. >> reporter: hopewell township is among 16 mostly rural municipalities in cumberland, salem, gloucester, and atlantic counties that recently filed this petition with the state board of public utilities calling on the agency to investigate what they say are serious problems stemming from verizo verizon's aging copper land lines. foo foo fiberoptic service is not available in these areas. >> they've allowed the land lines de facto to deteriorate. they have not maintained the land lines. >> reporter: numerous complaints during bad weather, they say the issues could also jeopardize public safety. >> you need a phone to call out, you need to call 911. >> reporter: people in these areas say cell phones aren't the viable alternative, because some spots have very poor or

nonexistent wireless service. >> we're in the 21st century here, and in order for us to compete, we need a level playing field. >> reporter: in a statement, verizon said it takes the petition very seriously and is reviewing the customer service reports of all 16 communities. the community says since january of 2014, it's invested tens of millions of dollars to improve its copper network in south jersey and maintain the reliability of its phone service. >> it can be a hassle. >> reporter: the bpu can only say it's received the petition and its staff has started to review it. ted greenberg, nbc 10 news. hey, i'm danny pommells from comcast sportsnet. coming up, as the running backs turn, the current running back tries to clear the air while chip kelly opens up about the former running back set to come back this weekend. details coming up.

this is the xfinity sports desk, brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports. >> hey, danny pommells with you once again. once again, we have more drama than a broadway play. drama galore surrounding this week's eagles game with the bills. the running backs grabbing all the headlines, lesean mccoy, chip kelly said the move to trade shady was about money. chip said he never got to talk to mccoy before the deal. kelly was very honest when addressing mccoy's feelings. >> i felt bad i didn't get a chance to talk to him. i called him, he didn't answer my phone call, i know he was pissed, rightly so. every one that's left the team i've talked to them personally myself, i talk to them, coordinator talks to them, position coach talks to them.

we have a way to do it that's the right way to do it and it wasn't exercised in that case and i understand why he was bothered. he was an all-time leading running back here, felt disrespected, and it was wrong. and because i was part of it, it's on me. >> as for demarco murray, the running back confirmed he did, in fact, talk to the team owner on the team's charter sunday night. murray did not disclose the subject of the conversation. murray said he 100% wants to be back next year with the eagles. >> i wouldn't say i was disappointed. obviously, you know, we won the game, so i thought i was happy for that, but i think every player, you know, wants the opportunity to contribute to the team. >> promises made to you that haven't been fulfilled? >> i'm not talking about anything like that. yeah, very happy here. these are my teammates, my guys, a lot of respect for everyone in the locker room, the coaching staff, ownership, and i love it here. i'm not worried about what anyone else outside the locker room is saying. obviously, you know, i think these guys got my back, i got their backs, i'm just here to win ball games. >> that's sports, i'm danny pommells. we'll be right back.

for all of us here at nbc 10, i'm jacqueline london. >> i'm jim rosenfield. news continues now with "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good night. breaking news -- fbi divers enter a lake near the season of a san bernardino terror attack and a family connection is revealed between the killers and the man who bought their gun. trump shock waves. the republican front-runner stands to lose big business over his plan to temporarily ban muslims from the u.s. and he's forced to back out of a trip to israel. what americans really think of the plan in our brand-new poll. breaking his silence for the very first time. former american p.o.w. bowe bergdahl reveals why he abandoned his post and ended up in enemy hands. a runaway train. passengers on a boston subway are horrified to find no operator