"action news" delaware valley's leading news program. with rick williams, sara bloomquist, and meteorologist, david murphy. good afternoon, in the news

this noon, alan gross who has been in prison for five years is heading home now, prompting changes with the relationship with the communist island. and the big story on "action news" this noon is tragedy in bensalem, a 16-year-old girl was struck and killed by an on coming car as she was getting on her school bus this morning. police say that the stop sign arm on the bus was out but the 18-year-old male driver didn't stop. he is also a 18-year-old high school student. this happened on bridge road and bensalem boulevard. the driver is being questioned. >> now we are live with walter perez. >> reporter: such a tragic story -- >> we'll interrupt walter to

listen to president obama in the changes with cuba. >> instead we will begin to normalize changes with our two countries, with these changes we intend to create more opportunities for the american and cuban people and begin a new chapter with the nations of the americas, there is a complicated history with the united states and cuba. i was born in 1961, just over two years after fidel castro took power in cuba, over the next several decades the relationship with our countries played over the backdrop of the cold war and our steadfast opposition to communism, we are separated by own 90 miles but year after year the economic barrier hardened between our two countries. meanwhile the cuban exile

community in the united states made enormous contributions to our country in politics, business and sports. like imgrants before cubans helped to shape america, even with their yearning for the land they left behind and all of this banned america and cuba in a unique relationship. one family and foe. we have done so primarily through policies that aim to isolate the island, preventing the most basic travel and commerce that americans can enjoy any place else, and all those this has been rooted in the best of intentions no other nation has joined us in this, and it has little affect. today cuba is still governed by the castros and the communist

party that came to party half a century ago. neither the american nor cuban people are well served by a rigid policy that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born. consider that for more than 35 years, we have had a relationship with china, a far larger country governed by a communist party and we reestablished relationships with vietnam, where we fought a war that claimed more americans thank any other confrontation. that is why i promised when i came into office i would reassess our cuban policy. the changes once controversial now seem obvious, cuban americans have been reunited with their families and are the best possible ambassadors for our values and a younger

generation of cuban americans are questioned in their approach to keep cuba closed off, i have been prepared to take additional steps for sometime and a major obstacle stood in our way, the wrongful imprisonment of alan gross for five years, over many months my administration has held discussions about alan's case and other aspects of our relationship. his holiness pope francis held an appeal to me and raul castro over the cubans jailed in the united states for over 15 years and alan gross, he was released and is home with his family after five years. separately, in exchange for the

three cuban agents, cuba has released one of the most important intelligence agents they have had in prison. this man who sacrifice is known to only a few provided america with the information that allowed us to arrest the network of cuban agents including the men transferred to cuba today. this man is now safely on our shores. having recovered these to men that sacrificed for our country, i am taking steps to put the interest of the people of both country first. first, to reestablish diplomatic communications that have been absent since 1961 and the united states will reestablish an embassy in havana and high ranking citizens will visit cuba

and work on disaster response and human trafficking and others. and we have seen this before, a cuban carlos finley that discovered that mosquitos carried yellow fever and his work helped us fight it and they have send hundreds of workers to fight ebola and i believe that cuban and american workers should work side by side to stop this deadly disease. and where we disagree, we will raise them directly as we continue to do on issues to democracy and issues related to cuba, we can do more to support the cuban people and promote our human values through engagement, these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. it's time for a new approach.

second, i have instructed secretary kerry to review cuba's designation as a responser terrorism. -- a nation that renounces terrorist should not face this sanction and third we are taking steps to increase travel, commerce and the flow of information to and from cuba, this is about freedom and openness and expresses the believe in the power of people and people engagement. with the changes announced. it will be easier for americans to travel to cuba, and americans can use american debit and credit cards on the island, nobody represents the american values better than the american people and this contact will do more to empower the cuban

people. and i believe that more resources should be able to reach the cuban people, so we are significantly increasing the amount of money that can be sent to cuba and the cuban people and the emerging cuban private sector, i believe that american businesses should not be put at a disadvantage and increased commerce is good for americans and for cubans, and we can facilitate transactions and people will be able to open accounts at cuban financial institutions and for american exporters to sell goods in cuba. i believe in the free flow of information but it has denied cuba's access to technology that empowers people around the globe, i agreed to increased

communications, to be able to sell goods to the united states and other countries, these are steps i can take as president to change this policy. the embargo that is imposed for decades, i look forward to engaging congress in a serious debate about lifting the embargo. yesterday i spoke with raul castro to finalize alan gross's release and to move forward. i made my believes known that this constrains cuban citizens. we lease cuba's decision to release a large number of prisoners. we welcome cuba's decision to provide more access to the internet for their citizens and increasing engagement with institutions like the united

nations and the red cross that promote the universal values. but i'm under no illusions of the barriers that remain for freedom for ordinary cubans, no cuban should face harassment or arrest or beatings because they are exercising a universal right to have their voices heard, while cuba has made reforms to gradually open up its economy, we believe that cuban workers should be free to form unions and to participate in the political process, and given cuba's history i believe they will pursue foreign policies that are at sharp odds with american interests, i do not expect the changes today to bring about a transformation of cuban society overnight but i'm convinced through a policy of

engagement we can stand up for our values and help the cuban people help themselves as they moved into the 21st century. for those that oppose what i am announcing today, i respect your passion and commitment to liberty and democracy, the question is how do we uphold the commitment, i do not believe we can keep do the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result and it does not serve america's interest or the cuban people to try to push cuba to collapse. even if that worked and it hasn't for 50 years, we are calling on cuba to unleash the potential of 11 million cubans by releasing their restrictions on political and economic

activities. we should not allow u.s. sanctions to add to the burden on the citizens we seek to help. to the cuban people the ameri n americans offer a hand of help and we continue to offer a shine of freedom. others see us as a former colonizer, looking to control your future. liberty is the right of every man to be honest and today i'm being honest with you, we cannot erase the history between us but we believe you should be empowered to live with dignity and self determination, cubans have a saying about daily life, it's not easy. today the united states wants to be a partner in making the lives of ordinary cubans more free, more prosperous. to those that support these

measures, i thank you for being partners in our efforts. i want to thank his holiness pope francis, whose example shows us how the world should be and the government of canada who hosted our discussions with the cuban government and a bipartisan group of congress, that worked for alan gross's release and for advancing our interests in cuban and this comes with a renew the leadership in the americas, this april we are prepared to have cuba join the other nations, but we insist that civil society join us, so that citizens and not just leaders are shaping our future. and i call on all of my fellow leaders to give credit to the human rights at the american charter and let us leave behind

the legacy of communism and drug cartels and sham elections and a future of greater peace and security is possible if we work together. not to maintain power, not to secure vested interest, but to advance the dreams of our citizens. my fellow americans, the city of miami is only 200 miles or so from havana, countless thousands of cubans have come to miami on planes and make shift rafts some with little but the shirt on their backs and hope in their hearts, miami is considered the capital of latin america but it's a profoundly american city, ideals lie not in the color of our skin or our birth, but what the cuban people can achieve and

the openness of the united states to our family to the south. change is hard. in our own lives, and the lives of nations, and change is even harder when we carry the heavy weight of history on our shoulders. today we make the changes because it is the right thing to do. today america chooses to cut loose the shackles of the passed and reach for a better future, for the cuban people, for the american people, for our and tire hemisphere and for the world. thank you. god bless you and god bless the united states of america. >> you have been listening to president barack obama at the white house announcing a major shift in policy towards cuba, the u.s. and cuba agreeing to reestablish diplomatic negotiations, a major moment in history here. >> the president mentioning this comes after a year of secret

talks between the united states and cuba in canada and the vatican and he also thanks pope francis for helping to restart the talks. we'll continue to follow this story, the breaking national news story online coming up on "action news" later this afternoon at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00. back to our other top story of today, a 16-year-old girl struck and killed in bensalem trying to get on her school bus, walter perez has more now. >> reporter: you know sara it's such a tragic story in an investigators say never should have happened. the scoot bus was stopped and the safety arm was ex tended and the lights were flashing and an 18-year-old is accused of ignoring the warnings. >> daniel is talking about her

friend. who was killed at 6:45 this morning, the student was crossing bensalem boulevard catching her school bus when this suv came barrelling westbound down the boulevard. >> a bronco suv vehicle was traveling westbound on bensalem boulevard and disregarded the school bus and lights and stop sign and struck and dragged the child for some distance, she was transported to the hospital where she was proclaimed dead a short time later. and her friends says she saved her from a similar fate last year. >> i didn't see the car and she pulled me back by the jacket and the car wizzed by, i wish i was there to help her like she was

there to help me and i wasn't. >> we spoke with a bunch of parents and they say that intersection was particularly danger rusz, we'll talk about that starting at 4:00. the 18-year-old is speaking to police and charges against him at this hour are pending. >> thank you.

police captures to burglary

suspects that became trapped inside of a target store in south philadelphia. two men were led out of the store and police say they got a call from security guards last night after a silent alarm went off, they found a gaping hole where the thieves sawed through to get in and they spent hours looking for the burglars and found them stacked on top of one another in the ventilation roof. the body of bradley stone was found yesterday in a wooded area a half mile from his pennsburg home and apparently he stabbed himself to death. he killed six people including his ex-wife and five members of her family. they were in a custody dispute over their two daughters. a chicago suburban school district was hit hard with what

may be the flu. in the oak park district, all ten elementary and middle schools underwent a deep clean on wednesday. they were told not to return to school until their symptoms are gone for at least a full day, they do not believe they will close schools today but are monitoring attendance numbers in that school district. and "action news" is working on news stories for tonight at 4:00. including exclusive offers for 6 abc viewers. >> and a top college makes a big mistake sending acceptance letters to students that were actually rejected.

meteorologist, david murphy, is here now and he is saying get out and enjoy today. >> absolutely it's fairly mild

for this time of year s stormtracker 6 live double scan shows you we have no precipitation and as we look at sky 6, we have a fair amount of sunshine that, is actually chopper 6 high above the city, a lot of sunshine is digging through with cloud cover and temperatures are recovering after a cooler start this morning. 52 is the temperature right now, we have really zoomed, it's winds are west at 17 and we have the wind to deal with and that is part of the package. 50 in trenton and allentown is even at the 50 degree mark. satellite 6 along with action radar showing you there is enough to dig out. allentown i think you'll get a fair amount of sun mixing with the clouds. breezy and a high of 51 degrees there. down the shore milder, atlantic city goes for a high of 54, breezy and a mix of clouds and sun and philadelphia a high of 53 degrees, with clouds and sun and breezy conditions with wins

gusting at 25 miles per hour. 35 is your overnight low, colder air is on its way back overnight and we won't bounce back quite as high tomorrow. brisk and chilly tomorrow and 46, and windchills make it feel like the 30s for most of the way. and 43 and chilly on friday, 42 on saturday and 42 on sunday and a system that looks to misus to the south but a potential for light rain in the afternoon changing to maybe a bit of light snow overnight and a bit more mixed on sunday morning. one model has this as a complete miss and the other one is a little precipitation, maybe a coating. >> thank you david.

"action news" at 12:30 continues with sara bloomquist, rick williams and david murphy. hello again, here are the stories we are following for you at 12:30, three montgomery county community continuing the recovery after the murder of five members of a family. also, an american held in cuba comes back home as the

president shifts policies with the island nation. first to a developing story, at least four students are in police custody after a report of a gun in a school. >> is happened at the samuel felts high school in northeast philadelphia. that is where we find "action news" reporter, eva pilgram. what is the latest there? >> reporter: we have learned that police found the gun in a weight room trash can and we are hearing from school officials right now about the full process, if we step over we can hear about what is going on. >> we searched the entire buildsing just in case, that is part of their policy it's what they do. the weapon was found in the trash can, unloaded, looks like a .38 caliber and now we'll continue and let police do their work. >> do they believe there was more than one student involved here. >> all we know