it's friday, february 19th. coming up on "early today." it's trump versus pope francis. as the pontiff criticized those who build walls instead of bridges. the donald shot back. >> for a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. j and the democratic got specific ahead of nevada. clinton promises immigration reform in her first 100 days. >> and in fact, gloria steinm, everyone knows she's one of the leading feminists of america,

years ago. and a helicopter crash lands with five passengers. and fair fight feud. and ellen degeneres and a jamba juice script. and battling the elements. "early today" starts right now. and just when you think you've seen it all in the 2016 presidential race, something new. critical comments from pope francis on donald trump's boarder wall proposal, proving again there may be no one and nothing the donald won't take on. nbc's katy tur has the report. >> reporter: donald trump

one too sacred for his politicali ier ier. lashing out. a person who only thinks about building walls wherever they may be and not building bridges is not christian, he told reporters. just hours earlier, the pontiff was praying along the mexican side of that very border. but while the pope wouldn't say who catholics should vote for, donald trump declared that his holiness should pray its him. >> if and when the vatican is attacked by isis, i can promiseio a promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that donald trump would have been president. >> reporter: another day, another controversy but still no clear break in his support. >> i think he has to respond. the pope's coming at him. >> donald trump is a good christian

known for its religious block. and nationally, 25%, swing voters to support the last three r presidents. and later at a town hall trump turned to a favorite target, the media. >> oh, the pope is a wonderful guy and he made the statement and i think it was a little bit folked folks in the media. and speaking of the softer side of campaigning, ohio governor john kasich had a man saying he found hope in god, his friends and now kasich's candidacy but had one request of the governor. >> and i'd really appreciate one of those hugs you've been talking about. >> nevada voters got to see the democratic candidates up close and personal last night on msnbc.

bernie sanders and hillary clinton to interact with voters before tomorrow's caucuses. the top issue, immigration. the candidates were questioned on their puzishz ositions and how quickly they could imelement their proposals. >> i'm not a dictator here. it has to do with a little bit of cooperation with the congress but it is a major priority when you have 11 million people living in the shadows, i think we owe it to them. >> we're going to introduce legislation. i'm going to call everybody on the committee -- >> within 100 days? >> yeah, i'm going to introduce my priority legislation and this is at the top of that list. we both had a chance to vote on comprehensive immigration reform in 2012 and i voted for it and senator sanders voted against it. >> i voted for immigration

much better piece of legislation. you know, it's not a question of being perfect. nothing is perfect. that had particular egregious provisions in it. >> secretary clinton continued to point to her connection to both president obama and clinton's administration. and this drew strong reaction. >> he's attacked president obama, he's called him weak, disappointing. maybe it is because he wasn't even the democrat until he decided to run for president. well, it's true. i look at our last two democratic presidents. were they perfect? no, no person is but i tell you what i would take either of them over any republican any time, any wear. >> is one of the two democratic candidates who actually ran

second of all, i have worked very closely with president obama over the last seven years. he is a friend of mine. overall, i think the president has done an outstanding job and the idea that there can be a primary where different ideas get floated and debated, i don't think that's terrible. >> the two remain in a dead heap going into tomorrow's show down. and a tour helicopter plunged into the waters near the uss arizona at pearl harbor with five people on board and it was there that nearby onlookers sprang into a. >> reporter: witnesses could tell something was wrong. the tail was smoke as it quickly descended towards the rocky shore line, then the moment of impact.

good samaritans plunge under to the water to rescue the trapped passengers. five people were aboard and pulled to shore. at least one suffering critical injuries, all rushed to hospitals by ambulance. the navy says the helicopter is owned by genesis aviation, the same chopper seen here before the crash offering aerial tours of the arizona memorial since 1999. the investigation into what went wrong is underway. witnesses say it's a miracle everyone survived. miguel miguel, nbc news. today the body of justice antonin scalia will lie in repose in the great hall ahead of his funeral tomorrow. and senator cruz said he will now attend after previously saying he would skip it. earlier he blasted president obama for deciding not to attend.

republican leaders on the issue of whether or not president obama should nominate a supreme court justice? >> i probably would. i'm an article two guy. i think the presidency should be -- we should be respectful of the constitution. >> and vice president joe biden sat down with rachel maddow. >> you never say to the president for certain you won't do anything but i have no -- look at me now -- i have no desire to sit in the supreme court, none. it would be a great honor but i have no desire, anymore than george mitchell did. >> who do you think the president should pick? >> i'm -- i haven't even had a chance to sit down with him yet to talk about the potential candidates. in the past, we lay out all the

little bit and see who we think meets those criteria and we think could have a chance of being confirmed. >> vice president biden will be attending justice scalia's funeral yesterday. and you can see special coverage on msnbc at 10:00 eastern. the pope said artificial contraceptives could be used to prevent zika, which is rampant in his native south america. this despite the long standing ban on most form of birth control by the church. and they captured video of a fire firenado. and officials say a spark from a prison lawn mower started that blaze. in massachusetts, dramatic

getting rocked by 12-foot waves. it was on a training mission earlier this month off cape code. it looks like the perfect storm. >> brave men and women. >> want to bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins here with your friday morning forecast and -- >> weekend forecast. we're already watching the temperatures soaring early this morning in areas like st. louis and that's heading for the ohio valley. enjoy what should be a great friday in the middle of the country. on saturday, 63 in drk .c., 56 and from dallas to little rock back to northern portions of mg mississippi and alabama but the warmth is pretty much coast to coast. that's your national weather, now a closer look at your day ahead.

should be one of the warmest spots in the entire nation. yesterday we had record highs in denver in the 70s. you know, usually you have to wait a while for temperatures like this but we'll take it, end of february. >> i'm so excited to hear the temperatures but it's a friday so that would have been happy in itself. amtrak returns to alabama for the first time since hurricane katrina. plus 24 , the candidates weighed on the apple privacy dilemma while agents raided ." do you love your wireless keyboard more than certain family members? is your success due to a filing system only you understand? does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence? if so, you may be gearcentric. someone who knows that the right office gear helps you do great things.

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with one towelette. need any more proof than that? neutrogena. (baseball on tv in background) with heart failure, danger is always on the rise. symptoms worsen because your heart isn't pumping well. (water filling room) about 50 percent of people die (dog whimpering) within 5 years of getting diagnosed. but there's something you can do. talk to your doctor about heart failure treatment options. because the more you know, the more likely you are...v (dog whimpering) to keep it pumping. the fbi searched the california home of a relative of san bernardino shooter, syed farook yesterday. that relative has not been charged with a crime. the fbi has been trying to piece

shooting that killed 14 people in december. on tuesday, a judge ordered apple to help the fbi hack into farook's iphone. tim cook is fighting back, siting privacy concerns bernie sanders and hillary clinton spoke on the issue at the town hall. >> of course, law enforcement has every reason to want to get information off of a killer's cell phone. apple understandably is worried about opening the door, creating in encryption that would not just have to field request from the united states government but from the chinese russian government. >> i believe we can fight terrorism without undermining our constitutional rights. and ethan couch is set to

a ruling keeping him in juvenile systems could trigger hearing where he could be set free or sent to prison. and virgin galactic is debuting it's spaceship two. angelina jolie and paris hilton are among those that have already bought a $250,000 fight. and an upset in the making. and we'll have details on the seven

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this is video from mobile, alabama, where a cheering crowd welcomed the arrival of the first amtrak passenger plane since hurricane katrina damaged the tracks in 2005. and making 14 stops along the way to new orleans. and nascar kicked off with the daytona 500 and there were scary moments during the races. jaime mcmurray attended to block johnson and that send his car bouncing off of kurt busch's and a fiery wreck. and the drivers are okay.

and the cavs waisted no time shutting down the chicago bulls. it was the fourth straight, cavs 106 106, chicago, 105. and the golden gofers are 0-14 but no longer. >> and that will do it. a stunning upset at the barn. 6-0. >> the turks went down 68-63, this despite the golden goefers shooting only 33%. and finally, a sport of a whole different kind. . that's a 14-year-old from a small egyptian town who's training his donkey to jump hurdles. the young man works daily with rihanna, and all with a dream that he will one day work with horses and i can imagine he is a

just ahead, what new film are you going to watch this weekend? plus, the wait is over. we've got the details on the

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ridley scott's "bladerunner" is coming. and see the amazing true owens. hitler'sarian air rian army of athletes. now, following the success of peter pan and the wiz, they've announced their next big television live musical will be "hairspray live" december 17th. we have to wait and see who they will cast. that has yet to be announced. and remember the swanky hollywood home in "the big lebowski" it will be open to the public in the future.

record for any spiderman comic sold at auction. the 1972 edition sold for $454,000. and always good stuff when you catch "ellen." and she went on an interesting trip to jamba juice. >> can i cut some off? thank you. >> put it in your mouth. and chew on it. [ applause ] >> this is so good. this is so good. >> it's really good, actually. i feel like a deer in a forest. these are my dogs dusty and cooper. i work for the dogs twenty-four seven. i am the butler.

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>> this is 7news now. >> nancy:. >> christa: aren't you glad it's friday, everyone? we have lots ahead on "today in new england." >> sarah: here are some stories we're working on for you. commuter rail passengers who normally use south station will experience more headaches this morning. an amtrak signal problem is forcing most lines to stop before south station, and passengers will have to take the subway or buses into the city. >> christa: also police near umass-amherst searching for two men still in an attack that caused students to shelter-in-place last night on campus. an assault happened inside a dorm. police say it was not random and they don't believe there is any other threat to any other students this morning. >> sarah: and donald trump changing his tune a little this

pope francis on thursday. we'll show you what he said at a town hall last night and how jeb bush actually defended trump. >> christa: backtrack there. so a little chilly to start out this morning. but no snow on the ground. weird to see it all melted in february. >> sarah: it melted rather quickly, chris. >> chris: you get a day when temperatures surge into the 50s and a wind like we had mid-week with the rain, and see you later. bangor maine had 11 inches of rain melt in one day, from 11to nothing. unreal warm surging through the northeast after that bitter cold weekend last weekend. good morning, everyone. 21 in boston. 19 in norwood. 14 in bedford. cold start, but winds are calm in the suburbs. only 10mph in the city of boston. not that strong of a wind today. we have mainly clear skies for a lot of us. a few more clouds down across the cape. more clouds to the west of us. these clouds will work in this afternoon. so we'll increase the cloud cover this afternoon and we'll actually bring in a couple snow showers and rain showers in

clouds and some milder air tries to advance on inch it will get here into the milder air. you'll note the difference tomorrow. temperatures close to 50 in the afternoon. it looks like on sunday. there could be a brief shower late tomorrow, tomorrow evening, a brief shower or sprinkle, but that's about it. overnight tonight with these scattered snow showers working on in before you transition to any raindrops, i think along and north of the mass pike, perhaps a coating of snow in some towns and even up to an inch in the worcester hills up into southern new hampshire. a better chance of a few inches of snow up across northern new england. so if you're skiing there, catch a little natural snow overnight tonight. temperatures this morning going from the teens and 20s to the upper 30s to 40s this afternoon. again, we continue to warm into the 50s over the weekend. "today in new england" starts right now. >> christa: developing right now, buckle up for what could be another day of delays on the commuter rail. a signal problem forcing the "t" to make some changes here this morning. ism concerns on the

a student is attacked inside a dorm. the armed suspect still on the run. >> christa: and a mother and her young child waking up in the hospital, seriously hurt after being hit by a car. >> this is 7news "today in new england." >> sarah: good friday morning, everyone. thanks for joining us. i'm sarah french. >> christa: and i'm christa delcamp. sounds like it will be a challenging morning as far as getting to work for a lot of folks. we'll get to that, but first, how about your forecast. chris, you were talking about maybe 50 degrees this weekend? >> chris: both saturday and sunday. quite the turnaround versus last weekend. we were talking about coldest air in boston in almost 60 years. now we're talking about 50-degree weather for the weekend. 21 in boston. 15 in worcester. 11 degrees in orange. yes, it's a cold start this morning, but we'll keep the sunshine into the early afternoon, and then cloud up mid-afternoon into the evening. and temperatures above freezing today. now, tonight initially it's cold enough to support some snow showers working in, and most of this occurring any time after 9:00, 10:00 through midnight.