5:00 starts now. >> adam: we begin with breaking news. that is affecting thousands of commuters. track switch issue is leading to major delays. you can see all those people waiting. this is at boston's back bay. the problem started at the height of rush-hour. commuters left waiting on platforms, on escalators waiting for trains that never came. the evening commute, sorry to be the bearer of bad news is not looking any better. >> hopefully the news will help people avoid the situation because the switches are being operated manually now and that limits the number of traipse that can run. -- trains that can run. dan hausle is at south station. wow, i don't see a lot of people behind you. are they giving up? >> reporter: some of the crowds and customers are over there. they're hoping to be some of the lucky ones on the providence or stouton line. that is the only line leaving here. everybody else is finding they need to go elsewhere to catch their trains because

going to be fixed tonight. amtrak crews continue to work frantically on the switching system here that failed. governor baker said it failed when something crashed in this gray building called tower one. that shorted the switching system that handles all commuter rail and trains coming into south station. >> it's just like a traffic signaling system or an air traffic control system. it tells you whether it's okay for the trains to safely travel along the when this system particularly one goes out it has an enormous impact because trains can't get in and out of south station. as we all know, that is the main station for the southern part of the mbta commuter rail system. >> reporter: with amtrak switching systems the issue, some computers were willing to give the company a pass. the state. on the feds. >> reporter: workers have been manually operating the signals here but that is only happening a fraction of

officials have given up on fixing the problem for tonight's commute. hoping to fix things for the ride tomorrow morning. >> when you have a big outage like this, and we are not even in control of it, it's especially frustrating. passengers are telling us laundry clear how unhappy happened this morning. we get it. >> reporter: live from sky 7 h.d.they're continuing to work on the tracks. some of them working on signaling the few trains here. others trying to fix the problem at tower one but it's electrical problem. it's proving very frustrating to try to trouble shot and fix. that is leaving customers limited on how many can come through. you see customers standing here watching the trains. some of the amtrak trains which do seem to get through because there is many few are of them. the stouton and providence line. everybody else looking to catch their train is being told you've got to go somewhere else. the back bay, forest his and

t. which is very crowded because they're joining the regular t. riders so they're facing a crowd and delayed t. to get to the train which will pick them up elsewhere. so just a terrible tough ride in and now a terrible tough ride home as well. live in south station, dan hausle, 7 news. >> adam: i think you made this pretty clear as we look at live images of the workers. fixing the switches from sky 7 h.d.but this is affecting amtrak and commuter rail service. you made it clear people are now getting on t. on subway access to get to their point. so subway t. lines are not effected under ground tunnels for subway trains are not affected at this point. >> reporter: so they're not but they're overcrowded because you have the commuter rail people jumping on so the t. tried to add extra trains but they're overcrowded. you've got extra people on the platforms. they were' packed with people who said they had to wait longer and longer to

them to south station. many people getting up and walking through downtown if they're walk was short to south station where they would watch their train or destination. so if you are not a computer rail rider you are stale in trouble because you are on the t. which is crowded with all the riders. the trouble with commuter rail crowding all the trains. >> adam: dan hausle reporting live. we've more on whdh.com including the schedule changes for the commute. we have video from sky 7 of the repair work. you are seeing this live. and reaction from commuters all on whdh.com. >> following breaking news out of wellesley. police recovering that gun from a mass bay community college student after reports that he pointed the gun at another driver on route 9 on his way to class. the other driver got his license plate number and gave it to application they

he is charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon. a war of words between donald trump and the pope. today pope francis opening up about what he thought of anyone who would build a wall on the border between the u.s. and mexico. trump fired back with harsh words. ideaian is here with more. >> reporter: last year pope francis joined in on political conversation during his trip to united states when he weighed in on poverty and climate change. but a lot of people say they do not see this one coming. >> great people. >> reporter: in south carolina, donald trump sounded surprised when he learned pope francis had questioned his faith. >> pope. [laughter.] what did the pope say? i like the pope. >> reporter: when asked about trump francis said . >> a person who thinks only about building walls and not building bridges is not christian.

u.s. mexican border to support migrants. trump fired back. >> for a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. i'm proud to be a christian. >> reporter: trump slammed mexican leaders who oppose a wall. >> they're using the pope as a pawn and they should be ashamed of themselves. >> reporter: the condemnation to apply to the race of republicans who become a wall. >> that is not an up christian thing to do to make sure that people don't come across our border illegally. catholic. >> vatican city controls who and as a result the united states has the right to do that as well. >> reporter: bernie sanders who opposes a wall courted black leaders in washington. hillary clinton in las vegas last night with union workers and immigration fight is again putting a spotlight on donald trump. as to how this may affect the race about one quarter

and in a poll, three quarters of them said they admire pope francis. in the newsroom, ideaian thomson, 7 news. >> get back to the breaks commute. we were at south station. wow, back bay stay, brandon big mess. there must be a lot of frustrated people there behind you. >> reporter: huge mess. congestion is an understatement. the patience is being tested by a lot of people. i'll step out of the way so you can see how many people, hundreds of people here. you can see people pushing people out of the way trying to board trains or they're waiting on when their train is going to arrive because of the problem at south station dan was talking about. at times congestion gets better when all the people go to the train because they're keeping the platform empty for the most part and then when the trains arrive police is letting all the people -- you can hear one of them letting everybody know what trains are here. then everybody just goes in and quick as they can.

everybody is trying to get where they're going but you can see, look at the congestion here. it's the mess. if you can avoid the area, probably a good idea. that is the latest from the back bay station, brandon gunnoe, 7 news. >> adam: now on just one station -- >> he took advantage of a guy who was trusting. >> adam: the actions of a nature senator called in question. brian joyce at the center of an investigation involving the f.b.i. and the irs. today 7 news spoke to the son of joyce's former dry cleaner who claims that the law maker took advantage of his father. kimberly bookman live in milton for us. >> reporter: we're live outside of the senator's home. he was last scene here about 12:30 in the afternoon and didn't say a word, but one of his alleged victims is talking to just one station tonight. driving away from his milton home this ised first

since f.b.i. agents and irs investigators raided his law office wednesday. >> after a while you see people get away with it and accountable. >> reporter: speaking to just one station harry richardmond says his father, the former owner of woodlawn cleaners was taken advantage of by the senator. >> he had a deal going with my dad where he was able to get free services for his dry cleaning. >> reporter: richmond says what started as a favor turned into more than a decade of free dry cleaning. >> i think he took advantage of a guy who was trusting. >> reporter: it's one of a long list of questionable actions the senator has allegedly engaged in. one he defended by saying the cleaning was in return for legal services. something the richmond deny. >> it was never about a system. he did perform a couple of legal services for my father and he was paid for those. there was billing and he was paid for those. >> reporter: now the massachusetts fiscal alliance wants joyce expelled from the senate. >> when is enough enough?

president to say this should be be permitted in the billing? >> reporter: whole a state ethics committee continues to investigate the senate president won't force the lomb out of office yet. >> we're taking it extremely seriously. we'll cooperate fully with the authorities. if anything is requested of the senate but we'll lou the due process that every american is entitled to to play out. >> reporter: the senator not speaking today but his lawyer did say yesterday that the lomb believed he didn't do anything wrong. reporting live from milton, kimberly bookman, 7 news. >> adam: federal safety officials are proposing more than $33,000 in fines after a deadly circus tent collapse that happened in new hampshire. a storm knocked the tent down in august. two people were killed. dozens more injured. federal investigators say that a florida based company failed to properly put the tent up and ignored weather warnings. 41-year-old robert young and

the company now has 15 days to respond to the proposed fines. witnesses racing to the rescue when a -- pickup truck crashes into the water. officers found the truck up side down with a 61-year-old driver inside trapped. first responders and a good samaritan dumped in to cut theman's seat belt before pulling him back to shore. he was rushed to hospital in critical condition. no word, no updated word on his condition or on what caused the crash. >> more news today on the legal battle between apple and the f.b.i. they're opening up about this debate involving digital livesy and national security. apple is challenging a federal judge's ruling ordering apple to ep had the f.b.i. break no a locked iphone. the phone used by one of the shooters in the san bern don'to terrorist attack. today apple gets support

apple is getting support from google as it fights a judge's order to help the f.b.i. crack an iphone used by one of the san bernandino shooters. both companies contend the move would set a dangerous precedent. >> this little key that the government is offering or asking for creates a slippery slope that could be made vol febles for the millions of phones. >> reporter: the f.b.i. wants apple to create new software to bypass the security feature that erases all data after ten wrong pass word attempts. government says the help is only needed on this one device. >> the slippery slope that technology would exist and how do you stop people from asking for it. >> apple says it has been assisting the f.b.i. but the latest request goes too far. the ceo says creating a "back door" to by pass encryption is something they do not have and something we consider too dangerous to create. the manhattan district

prosecutors to gain access to data stored on phones. >> this is a situation where to draw the line between public safety and privacy that needs to be made by independent players. the legislature and the courts. >> the f.b.i. is running out of options as it tries to recover poe ten-game evidence stored on the phone. in its support of apple google's says they do give law enforcement access to data but requiring companies to enable hacking is a completely different story. >> adam: president obama planning to make history by travelling to cuba. it would be the first time in 88 years that a sitting president from the united states visited the country. just this week the u.s. and cuba diplomats agreed to restore regular air service for the first time if northeasterly half a century. the president will meet with castro as well as anti-government leaders there. >> anchor: baseball is back. pitchers and catchers report for duty. and we're heading live to

day of spring training is under way. >> adam: at 5:30 a local pop warner coach arrested facing serious charges for what police found on his computer. >> flames rip through a home in plymouth killing a man. the latest on the investigation in a cause. >> adam: a police chase lands a revere officer in the hospital. we'll tell you what went wrong there. >> an accident leading to power problems in marlboro, new hampshire. >> adam: we're staying on top of breaking news that affects commuters across eastern massachusetts. this is a shot of workers manually repairing switches on the amtrak and mbta lines. so if you are heading to south station or back bay, there are problems going in and out of that area. some trains aren't even running. most of them are not as they're manually having to switch the tracks. stay with us here and whdh.com for updates. we've reporters covering the

as the new continues on 7. the world a president has to grapple with. sometimes you can't even imagine. that's the job. and she's the one who's proven she can get it done. ...securing a massive reduction in nuclear weapons... ...standing up against the abuse of women... ...protecting social security...

million children... the presidency is the toughest job in the world real difference for you. i'm hillary clinton and i

here in the city, parking is hard to find. seems like everyone drives. and those who do should switch to geico because you could save hundreds on car insurance. ah, perfect. valet parking. x evening, sir. hello! here's the keys. and, uh, go easy on my ride, mate. hm, wouldn't mind some of that beef wellington... to see how much you could save on car insurance, go to geico.com. zah! (car alarm sounds) it's ok! >> adam: sox pitchers and catchers with a little spring in their step today. they reported for duty down in sunny fort myers. the red sox with work to do

last place finish. >> kim: fans are excited. ed team is eager to get back to work. trey in fort myers hanging out with the palm trees with the late effort from sox spring training. >> reporter: getting a little cool in the shade. can't be too perfect down here but i'm guessing it's better than it is back in boston. pitchers and catchers reporting for duty. perfect attendance expect for joe kelly, this after welcoming a new son into the world. the most talked about pitcher it david price. he is expected to be the difference maker in getting the red sox back to the top. >> good players make our job easier. we got a good player in david price. >> reporter: fills a major need for the red sox. >> what our pitching staff one starter. we foe that in boston that is going to be high lighted. >> reporter: with the

even greater pressure to perform. >> i don't intend on changing as well. just go out there. have fun. do what i do every 5th day and try to be a good teammate. >> reporter: regrabbed major headlines. something bigger than baseball. >> causes you to slow down and maybe see some of the smaller things in life a little more clear. your awareness to your surroundings become heightened. >> reporter: john farrell back in command of the red sox after stepping away for his battle. >> he is a little bit more upbeat. if you go through something like that, you are only going to be coming out the other side. >> you appreciate evidence that you have more so than taking things for grant sod it goes back to the relationships that you have with people and the abilities to be involved in a great game and with a great organization. >> reporter: a rare scenario for john farrell. he stepped away mid-august last year, didn't coach the final month and a half.

guided the team to a 28-20 record down the stretch. both of them will be back for 2016. reporting live at red sox spring training in fort my e tray, 7 news. >> >> adam: you need a strong set of sea legs to survive this. incredible video of a coast guard ship riding waves off the cape. >> reporter: are we getting an early spring? it's into the 50s this weekend. the forecast is coming up

>> adam: a coast guard ship toss around in rough seas off the coast of the cape. the coast guard posted this video today. this is the one coming up right there. look at that wave. unbelievable. with the caption that sea sick feeling courtesy of this station chatham crew. thanks to them for the video and for what you do everyday. >> reporter: we did have the breeze with us today making our already chilly temperatures feel even chillier. right now sitting at 32 in boston. 28 worcester. nice to get a perspective. if you think today was cold think about a year ago, we had already picked up almost 100 governors of -- inches of boston.

weren't done so we've only seen about a third of that. quite a difference. some locations had 30, 40 inches of snow on the ground. we had this winter where we melt it off and get more. do we have more in store for us? could be next week. bit of a breeze with us today. still right now out of the north-northwest. sustained winds 10-15 miles an hour. so that is making it feel even chillier heading out tonight pack on layers. it feels like it is in the teens in worcester. most of us clear skies overnight will allow for temperatures to drop but what is this? happening here in the gulf of maine? we're getting the cold dry air travelling over relatively warm owe shane waters. that could mean a few flakes for the outer cape overnight. i don't expect much in the way of accumulation out of that. just a colt night ahead of us. some spots could drop to the single digits but most of us in the teens overnight. tomorrow clouds move in but we start the climb with temperatures. seasonal tomorrow. where we should be for this time of year.

right now is 39. tomorrow we get close to that. worcester at well. 41 bedford. low 40s for some of us thanks to the high pressure sliding offshore then we get a warm front that pushing in to kick off the weekend. why are we getting snow flakes? it's overnight so a few flakes for us late on friday. that turns to possible sprinkles for us into saturday because of the boost in the temperatures. we make it up to 50 degrees for saturday and even into the low 50s to sunday. possibly something we're watching for monday. snow showers for us but the more significant one to watch will be a system on the way for the middle of next week. wednesday, thursday, track still to be determined. we're watching it and wintry mix, snow, rain, all of the details will be nailed down next few days. see you in a bit. >> adam: see you shortly. ahead on 7 in the wake of the zika out break pope francis is talking about

church's language standing ban on most forms of birth control. >> kim: a local family turn to solve it 7 to deal with a bad connection with

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>> adam: glad you are with us on this thursday, another hour of 7 news is straight ahead, i'm adam williams. >> kim: i'm kim khazei, 7 news at 5:30 starts right now. >> adam: police say they found disturbing items in his home. >> jadiann: fire ripping through a home in plymouth turning deadly. >> adam: the pope opening the door when it comes to contraception when he says birth control could be a viable option. >> jadiann: a waitress accused much poisoning her co-workers. a drug she aedge willedly

>> announcer:ews at 5:30 starts now. >> jadiann: we continue to follow breaking news for you this evening. thousands of commuters facing serious delays because of a track switcher issue that started at south station. the problem began during the morning rush-hour and it just keeps on going. >> adam: it's backed up badly there. the continuing ride home tonight is a real night mire, -- nightmare. ing about is live with the --ing about brandon is live. the problem. hundreds of people are packed into her like sardines at back bay station because of the electronic switches that broke this morning at south station. workers had to start operating the switches manually and that led to a backup. i believe south station the only trains running are going to providence or stouton so the back bay station is one of the stations where the other