the streets across america in protest, a well known company in willow grove runs afoul for employing illegals. they broke the law and broke the law again. it's thursday night and the big story is the violation of immigration laws by asplundh tree experts. live outside the federal building in center city, "action news" reporter dann cuellar. what's this about? >> jim, reading the federal grand jury indictment may leave some breathless. three officials broke the law and when they were caught went back and rehired 100 undocumented workers. >> asplundh is one of the

largest tree trimmers in the country headquartered in willow grove. the federal grand jury focused on three officials. >> three supervisors have been charged including one regional manager and two supervise oorses. >> larry gauger and two supervisors have been charged. they partner with agencies to e-verify newly hired employees, it says on their website: >> they were not just hiring illegal aliens, when they were detected through homeland security through an audit, they rehired the employees. >> after they were warned back as far as 2009 than as many as

100 were in the country illegally, they were fired and rehired. >> they rehired the employees knowing they were using bogus identification. it was the same worker showing up the same person but providing a different identification and name. >> multiple calls to asplundh were not returned. they face up to ten years if convicted in if a federal pen tenry. dann cuellar, wphl-17. >> from coast to coast, illegal and not talk to the streets to protest to show what the life would be like without them. 12,000,000 immigrant immigrantsn restaurants for example.

restaurants shut down and others had no one in the kitchen serving only at the door. in trenton, signs were posted to explain the day in wilmington. they demanded more protection from deportation as a sanctuary city. another set back for the trump whitwhite house? efforts to complete his cabinet. robert harward has turned down trump's offer to succeed mike flynn. he cited 24/7 demands of the job saying it's a tough sacrifice after 40 years of military service. alexander accost ta has been nominated as labor se secretary. he's the dean of florida

university law school and would be the only hispanic in the cabinet. president trump's hour and ten minute news conference where he continued to attack the media and was asked if anyone in his campaign talked to the russians before election day, he said only, no one that i know. quite a qaround q & a. >> the president started by responding to reports that his white house is chaotic, he says it's the opposite. they have accomplished more in a month than any other administration and lashed out at fake news. >> i open the newspaper and see stories of chaos, yet it's the exact opposite. the administration is running like a fine tuned machine. trump was furious about leaks that could undermine foreign

policy and security. he's stepping up efforts to find the leaks. the leaks are real. the news is fake. >> the president says his travel was put on hold by a bad cord and he will issue an executive order to get it accomplished. >> he complained democrats are not confirming his cabinet choices. >> the democrats, all you have to look at where they are at right now. all they can do is delay. >> when it comes to russia he says he did not direct michael flynn to talk to russia though he called them. >> he didn't just call russia, he called and spoke to 30 some odd countries. he was just doing his job. he didn't tell our vice president properly and said he didn't remember so it wasn't satisfactory to me. i have somebody that i think will be outstanding for the

position. speaking for myself, i own nothing in russia. i have no loans in russia. i have no deals in russia. president putin called me up nicely to congratulate me. >> that gentleman turned down the job. the beat goes on with our new president >> thank you, monica. in philadelphia, a police officer has been struck in a hit and run. chopper 6 is over 20th and spencer street. the officer was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries, but the driver fled the scene in a silver pontiac grand prix. >> a federal lawsuit filed by an inmate at the vaughan correction center in smyrna, delaware sheds

light on what happened during the takeover. he claims no more than ten inmates were involved in taking hostages and the murder of lieutenant steven floyd but nearly all prisoners were injured inside and everyone is considered a suspect and they can't confirm details in the lawsuit. wawas is adding beer for beer lovers in delaware county. it opened its doors to sell beer. it's a pilot program for the convenience store chain. a customer can buy just one drink or the equivalent of two six packs to go. wawas stops selling at 11:00 at night which is less than the law

allows, but it's an attempt to be less disrupting to the community. >> addition to the production floor, the building hosts cocktail bar and a retail store. >> the circus has come to town magic words to countless children but it's a historic run because it's the last run. live in philadelphia is christie ileto. >> the excitement was tempered by sadness as many said it was the end of an era. >> after 146 year, it's the last year of the greatest show on

earth. >> very sad. >> a circus of people packed the wells fargo to see the final act of ringling brothers and barnum & bailey . >> young asher is coming to terms with what it means. >> i'm never going to get to see the circus again. >> you feel a part of your childhood has died? >> yeah. i went with my dad when i was little. >> 10,000,000 people a year see this circus, attendance was not enough to save the 400 cast and crew especially after the elephants were retired last year. >> stupid video games. >> animal activists protested on south broad. >> the fight isn't over is what you are saying. >> it's a true victory for the

animals unless they go to legitimate san sanctuaries. >> for many watching from the audience, this is something they'll never see or hear again. >> welcome to the greatest show on earth. >> it's a lot of shared memories for a lot of families that come to the circus. the show is running through the 20th and their final performance will be in may. christie ileto "action news," wphl-17. jim? >> still to come clearing up confusion. food products won't have terms like sell by anymore. we'll explaining what's coming instead. >> where is ben simmons? we have an update. >> it was windy and chilly today the high in the 30s. i have the details in the accuweather forecast. >> brian taff joins us with a special report tonight.

>> social media is taking on new roles as each of our lives is lived out online. from the newest ways to stay private to the newest way to go public. the apps that are changing our lives and themselves. >> plul plus a major recall of strollers. that and more when "action news"

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>> a warning is going out tonight to parents and caretakers of babies. a popular stroller is being recalled after dozens of youngsters were recalled. 700britax strollers could be defective. car seats can detach from the click and go system and fall off. they say to stop using the click and go mounts but you can use

the stroller and car seat independly. confusing package labels have a short shelf life. the trade groups for the grocery industry agreed to standardize products standing. best if used by, may not taste best but is fresh and use by, meaning must be thrown out. >> social media never played a bigger role than the past presidential election. as we settle into 2017, what role will they play now. brian taff has more. >> when it comes to technology, we have never been more connected. the apps are changing to better serve the changing world in

which we use them. >> one is called signal. the other confide. both are pictures on smart phones everywhere. they act like standard text messaging but whatever you send through them is unreadable and unretrievable. apps like this are popular in an age of prying ayes. consumers driven by government hackers and surveillance. speaking of government -- >> we are seeing fatigue on those plans. >> the fatigue resulting in one of two things, a push for other than political rants and a need for social platforms to provide something new and they are. >> caroline beam works at digital health a local company that maximizes the social media reach. >> 2017 is a time for the big

social media platforms to stay big, facebook, twitter, instagram. we'll see how they adopt features that more niche apps are in. >> eight of ten americans online use the site, up 7% over the year before. twitter too is seeing a resurgence driven in part by the president known to use that platform at all hours. >> politics is changing the way people are on platform. it was used for the women's march. >> it's a kind of town square to rally and organize and tell the other side of any given story. facebook is doing that with live video allowing user users into r

experience. instagram has a diary of the day in pictures and videos. social media is turning its look at me reputation into medical benefits. >> doctors on demand. ways people can see someone quickly. >> bringing people with illnesses together. instagram has select friends that see particular sets of hosts. >> it's showing the understanding that generations have that social media is all about serving your public and private space and showing both sides. >> that's one of the fascinating things about social media, the old ways shifting delicate balance between public and private. always think twice before you post and expect it to be seen by

someone you don't expect. >> only put things on there that you want seen on the front page of the newspaper. >> bristol borough is using social media in its rally to win half a million dollars. the community is one of five towns up for a small business revolution grant. voting is extended to midnight. the library is staying open late to allow more people to vote. we have the link at "6abc".com if you want to help. let's go to cecily tynan and the late word from accuweather. >> the winds of change. we warm up for the weekend. live double scan showing live conditions tonight. it was breezy around sun set, so bruce posted this fantastic photo from long beach island looking south to atlantic city. you can see the wind gusts

blowing across the waves as you look south toward atlantic city the great looking shot. a chill in the air, down from the high of 39. allentown 28, wilmington 30. cape may 32. wind gusts at 35 miles per hour today. we have winds sustained nine miles per hour. 24 in philadelphia, 21 allentown same in trenton, 19 in wilmington and 18 in reading. satellite 6 and action radar showing the skys clearing out. we'll see sunshine tomorrow. a beautiful day but cold in the morning, 7:00, 28-degrees. bundle up the kids as they head to school. in the afternoon, loads of sunshine and wind out of the southwest. 45 by 4:00, a high of 46, two

degrees above normal. the high pressure flexes its muscles heading to the east to drag a warm front through. saturday, hello, spring. feeling like april with a high of 63-degrees, getting warmer sunday. president's day weekend is a big weekend in the poconos. if you are there friday, 34. saturday and sunday, spring skiing, temperatures in the low 50s. the soft mushy snow by the afternoon. you want to put the sunscreen on. it's going to be bright. the accuweather forecast, sunny and seasonal with 46-degrees, saturday, 19-degrees above average. 63-degrees, sunday the record high 68. we'll be 65-degrees. temperaturesdrop on monday but mild with a high of 54-degrees.

lots of sunshine. tuesday, sun, increasing clouds, a high of 50 wednesday a possibility of showers with a high of 55 and behind the system, temperatures hit 60-degrees under partly sunny skies. it's not going to feel like winter. feels like april. enjoy the weekend. >> thank you, cecily. >> young chefs in, in new castle delaware had a chance to serve their creations to a panel of judges tonight. culinary art students from high school teamed up with middle school students for a cook justify. 50 guests sampled the products. it was another great spread this one at the sweet 16 south jersey men are cooking fundraiser at the resort in atlantic city.

they whipped up appetizers main dishes and desserts all proceeds to the boys and girls club. >> lewis has created children's books. he's also an instructor at the university of the arts in philadelphia.

>> there was fierce competition at the gray's fairy police athletic league in philadelphia. some of the best basketball players faced off, mayor kenney on hand to cheer on the players and spectators too. sixers on their all star game break. they'll be off for a while. the question is how long will ben simmons be off? >> we don't know but brett brown maintains simmons is expected to play at some point this year. what's going on with simmons? the sixer pick will have a scan

on his foot a week from today. the sixers hope that will give them a sense of when simmons will play. there is no timetable for a return or when he will play the game. simmon's long term health is their primary return, this is after the inquirer reported his foot may not be feeled. >> for peets sake is he serious or joking around? pete mccannon is trying to push the phillies in the right direction. >> pete says he has to be part time coach and part time psychologist. he runs a tight ship. i'm going to remind them that this is not a democracy. it's a benevolent dictatorship.

i'm the dick tai dictator. >> it's his humor that keeps his players loose. >> he has a good demeanor. you never know if he's happy or mad or sad. he has the same demeanor everyday. >> it's tense a little bit but when you get close start joking around, you feel relaxed. >> sarcasm is mccannon's tool of choice. it takes a while to know if he's serious or not. >> when you are winning the sacker castic comments are funny but when you are losing, you know they are real. >> the key to managing it, you find each button to push for each player. if he didn' doesn't have a butt, get rid of him. >> we assume he's joking about

that. >> still to come, the flyers

>> the results may suggest otherwise but wayne simmons says they are playing good hockey. flyers two out of the wild card coming in to play. manning a punching bag for

hitting mcdavid. later in the second, edmonton scores three more, two goals less than a minute apart. flyers are falling apart. flyers down right now 5-3 in the third, lost four of the last five. we'll see if they make a comeback and stop the bleeding. >> "jimmy kimmel live" live next followed by "nightline." jimmy's guests are jordan peel, music from fat joe and remi. like it? >> i love it. >> "action news" continues at 4:30, pamela edwards, matt o'donnell and karen rodgers. cecily tynan, jeff skversky, ducis rogers and the "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. goodnight. ♪ ♪