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

good afternoon in the news this noon. the white house press secretary makes another apology for comparing syria's chemical attack to the holocaust. and video of a man punching another man in the middle of the street. and the big story is a group of criminals that threatened a group of temple university students at gun point. one student is describes the moment the gun was put to his head. katherine scott is live with details. >> reporter: sara that is right, i spoke way victim this morning and he is understandably shaken up over what happened. he didn't recognize the suspects and doesn't know why they came to his door. >> at one point the kid had a gun to my head. >> terrifying moments described by a temple university senior.

one victim of a home invasion robbery. >> don't feel safe sleeping in my own house. >> three men in black masks entered through the unlocked front door and went to the basement front room and kicked open the door. >> the door comes flying open and they said where is the money everybody lay down. the victim and two friends returned from the bar earlier. they thought the front door was locked. >> one dude had a knife to my back and they stood me up and said we know there is stuff. there is stuff in your room. >> i said i have nothing in this room to give you, you took what i had. >> they took iphones, electronics, keys and debit cards and $880 in cash. >> they said stay on the ground for ten minutes or we'll shoot you guys.

when i heard the final charm go off i ran and pulled the fire alarm. >> my mom called me at 6:00 in the morning she thought it was my house. >> you hear about it all over the place and it doesn't feel close but this was a little bit scary. >> that victim told me he had more money on him than usual. having returned home from vacation with his parents and there were two other roommates upstairs at the time. and they were asleep or listening to music and doesn't know there was a problem until the fire alarm sounded. >> thank you. >> in other news an elderly man was tied up and robbed in another home invasion in the bustleton section of philadelphia. the 88-year-old victim answered a knock at his door at 12:00 in the morn and a woman and two men forced their way into the home and the suspects took a safe containing jewelry, cash and guns and took the man's vehicle

a 1989 cadillac. more coming up at 12:30. commuters are running into trouble in center city because of a stretch of 17th street remains closed. commuters are working to fix the road between walnut and locust. and that section is closed since wednesday morning, after the hole was discovered by a water main break and they expect to have traffic flowing again before the evening rush. >> turning to the accuweather forecast midweek, spotty showers move in through the region but still shaping up to be a nice afternoon outside. sky 6 hd looking live on a breezy but mild wednesday, meteorologist, david murphy, is tracking the latest conditions from the terrace and the latest from accuweather. >> so far so good in the terms of the accuweather forecast for today. we started with sun and now the cloudy period we talked about earlier this morning. we'll get on the other side of that later on this afternoon.

and stormtracker 6 live double scan giving you that really great view of those light, dying showers, some of which at the noon hour are still mainly in the northern suburbs and that is thin light stuff just putting drizzle drops on your windshield this afternoon. those should be gone real quick and the wide view shows you out by pittsburgh and close to state college now the clouds are thinning out and we expect to reemerge with very bright conditions. temperatures are not bad. 71 if philadelphia and 70 in wilmington and 67 in trenton and 66 in allentown and 74 in millville and still 64 in cape may. there is a breeze going up into the teens at times and that is what we have got in philadelphia. 13 miles per hour breeze and we see the breeze pick up higher than what you got right now through the afternoon. we'll call it a breezy day and the big change coming is the return to sunshine and we'll see that sometime around the time the kids get out of school.

73 by 2:00 and 4:00, 75 that is your forecast high. and 72 by 6:00 and 6 by 8:00 and down to the low 60s by 10:00 tonight. we have that pollen running pretty high. today, tomorrow and friday, probably eases back to medium high on saturday, but even then keep the allergy medication handy. when i step inside we are looking at a fairly bright but somewhat cooler day tomorrow and a cool down into the weekend and a little bit a change with the easter call coming up. >> david thank you. >> and for the latest forecast any time down load the upgraded accuweather app it gives you live radar and temperatures for your neighborhood and the upcoming forecast and has the exclusive minute cast the only minute by minute forecast for the reaction. it's a free download for your mobile device.

and now the showdown with the u.s. and russia. secretary of state, rex tillerson is meeting with high level officials in moscow including president, vladimir putin, after the u.s. accused russia of trying to cover up the chemical attack in syria. >> reporter: russian president, vladimir putin, is meeting with secretary tillerson during his visit and it's an uphill battle as he continues to negotiate with his russian counterparts. the war of words. >> to clarify areas of sharp difference to better understand why these differences exist. and what the prospect is for narrowing those distances may be. >> rex tillerson is in moscow as tensions are high. president, vladimir putin, casting down asking for proof that the syrian army used

chemical weaponed as the kremlin continues to defend the regime. james mattis is doubling down on the warning to syria. if they use chemical weapons they will pay a very, very stiff price. at the same time the white house is cleaning up the backlash of secretary, sean spicer chairing the chemical attack to the holocaust. >> you had someone as despicable as hitler who didn't seen sink to using chemical weapons. >> spicer not mentioning words and still apologizing for the briefing room blunder, to make a gaffe and mistake like this is inexexcusable. and all weeks this was not -- it compounds that kind of mistake. >> president trump says in an interview, he and the chinese president were enjoying a piece of chocolate cake when they

found out that the strike last week in syria was successful. in washington, channel 6 "action news." still to come on "action news" at noon, a police officer is under investigation for punching a man suspected of jay walking in california. and the ceo of united airlines talks to abc news about the passenger dragged from an overbooked plane. and david murphy has your exclusive accuweather forecast. are allergies holding you back?

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united airlines ceo is vowing to review company policy after a customer was dragged off a flight in chicago. today the passenger david dow is still recovering in the hospital according to his family. in an exclusive interview with abc news. oscar nunez apologized taking responsibility for the accident. >> it was a system failure, we have not provided our frontline supervisors and managers and individuals with the proper tools and policies and procedures that allow them to use their common exception. that is on me, i have to fix that. >> we'll have more on the changes he is calling for in united's policies coming up at 12:30. in other news a police

officer caught on camera in california. newly released video shows a man repeatedly punching a man caught j walking in sacramento. the two got into eye heated argument in the street and the officer charged the man and threw him on to the ground and began hitting him. he says he felt like he was being threatened. the wife of the orlando massacre gunman pled not guilty to federal charges. she made a brief appearance in orlando court this morning, she pled not guilty of aiding and abetting her husband and prosecutors say she knew of the plan to attack the pulse nightclub. a trial date is set for this june. and a tow operator was

killed falling from an overpass on i-95 near boca raton, the man fell while trying to upright a dangling tractor trailer on an overpass. the tractor trailer driver was not hurt but caused a miles long backup. and firefighters continue to fight two wild fires in california. governor rick scott declared a state of money. according to officials one fire is 85% contained but the other is just 25% contained and growing. about a dozen homes are at risk but so far no evacuations. students at a bucks county school carried on with an easter time tradition, the action cam was in newtown this morning, where the seventh grade ministry team along with their classmates, portrayed the stations of the cross, the performance that shows the crucifixion of jesus christ.

it come as head of good friday. the holiday commemorating jesus's death. and local dental students are creating smiles by providing free dental care to children. and the chef that move add cross the river.

the federal hiring freeze by president trump is lifted. to overall and down size the

federal government and agencies are allowed to hire again now that the freeze is lifted and they are required to submit plans to be reduce their workforce at the same time. job seekers have a chance tomorrow in camden new jersey, military members and their spouses can bring their resumes to a job fair at the bbt pavilion, applicants with brush up on their resume writing and interview skills during a workshop. it runs until 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. >> health check, dozens of kids have brighter smiles thanks to the university of pennsylvania. students from the school of pennsylvania provided checkups to local children part of a program called give kids a smile. they provided parents information on how to maintain

their children's oral health and to you to access dental care. toyota just unveiled the well walk system. it's motorized mechanical frame goes on the leg from the knee down and allows them to practice walking on a special treadmill to help stroke victims and other victims maintain their mobility. >> wow. >> the "action news" team is out working on news stories tonight at 4:00. >> lets check in with alicia vitarelli with a look ahead. >> coming up in big talkers today. it might be one of the most offensive game shows in tv history. wait until you hear about this one. >> a dutch television program has panelists guess if women are quote, fat or pregnant and that is not the only segment raises eyebrows how the network is defending the show.

and a song in his heart that is how this chester native celebrated his 90th birthday this past weekend and the full video will make you celebrate solomon johnson as well. take us with you on the go, download our free 6 abc news app. >> thanks alicia. a montgomery county school dedicated the entire day to the importance of reading, the aim academy in conshohocken brought in guests to talk about the importance of book. it's drop everything and read day. in honor of beverly cleary whose birthday it today. and the union stressed the value of fitness and a tribute to dr. seuss and a reading of the cat and the hat by a look alike. going live outside sky 6 hd showing you the view of center city from the temple university camera, david murphy has your

seven-day forecast when "action news" comes right back.

meteorologist, david murphy is here now. a little precip to talk about but it's clearing out? >> it's falling apart as we speak. there is a little green on the map most of it north of philadelphia and we go into tight on stormtracker 6 live double scan and take a closer look at that. outside most of us dealing with cloud cover and earlier chopper 6 hd was flying over the city as the clouds replaced the early sunshine we had this morning. but things continue to improve now as we head into the afternoon. lets get you a look at those showers, stormtracker 6 live double scan about the most accurate raid after when it comes to pointing out the light stuff. north of riegelsville.

that batch of precipitation with the lighter shade may put some rain down but it's shooting down the region in a hurry and if you get caught beneath this it will only last five or ten minutes if that. worchester i doubt that is doing anything on the roadways, it's really breaking apart as it moves through limerick and gets on out of here. and a patch of precipitation by wilmington delaware, there you see it's evaporating as well. and things are in the process of improving precipitation wise and we'll kick the clouds out of town. 71 degrees the clouds are getting centered over us and we see the temperatures pop up a bit. winds out of the northwest at 13 miles per hour. they have picked up in intensity a bit. and 71 in philadelphia and 70 in wilmington and north and west of the city in the upper level

suburbs we see mid-60s and 65 degrees down south in cape may. the cloud cover centered right over us now is clearing out to the west of us. pittsburgh is starting to see sunshine and the clouds thinning out by state college and getting better at harrisburg and it won't be too much longer as we see the clouds start to break up. in the lehigh valley. clouds and sun and a high of 74 degrees, none of the temperatures are as warm as yesterday. but still on the warm side and on the mild side. 69 and clouds and sun and cooler at the shore and not bad for this time of year. a high of 75 degrees this afternoon in philadelphia. clouds give way to increasing sunshine and on the warm side, even though we are now down out of record territory, and we broke several records yesterday. winds west 12 to 20 miles per hour. on the breezy side and shades required for the drive home and it's cloudy and brighter over the next couple of hours. 75 is your high around 4:00 and

we don't drop all that fast. by 7:00 we hold on to the 70 degree mark and if you head to the ball game, you will want a jacket because the numbers get cooler and start out at 70 for the first pitch and 62 in the ninth inning and overnight down to 49 and that means cooler as you step outside tomorrow morning. 67 is your high tomorrow, it's not quite as warm as you step down the ladder, with high pressure it's not as breezy and still a pleasant afternoon tomorrow. your exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast 75 today and waiting on sun to come on back over the next couple of hours and bright and pleasant tomorrow and sunshine and patchy clouds and high of 67. and 65 on good friday and partly cloudy there and a decent day with a high offul 68 degrees and the only thing about sunday at night in the evening, most likely there could be a pop-up

shower or thundershower but most of easter sunday looks dry and warm. >> good news, thanks david. an 86-year-old man is trying to regain his title to be the holdest person to climb mown everest. this great grandfather broke a record when he scaled everest in 2008 and then it was broken in 2013. is he confident if he succeed again if the weather cooperates. next on "action news" at 12:30, a simple childhood toy, a pinwheel. but represents a growing problem in our society. child abuse. if you have medicare

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airlines says about what he thought when he saw the passenger being dragged off a plane. and a young athlete will not let diabetes keep him from playing the sport he loves. and an elderly man was robbed in philadelphia. police say that the homeowner's cadillac was also stolen. vernon odom is live at the scene in bustleton. what is the latest? >> reporter: at this very moment sara, good afternoon to you. police are questioning two persons of interest and they have not yet been formerly charged in this case, i spoke with the 88-year-old victim within the hour. >> handcuff me and tied me up and pulled the wires out of the phone and tied me with them. >> 88-year-old pete tells me about the home invasion robbery at his