vernon odom was there. >> can you call this ground breaking ceremony a divine moment, the official kickoff of the redevelopment of the historic divine lorraine hotel, abandoned since 1999, it's an eye sore and they see the potential for a new lease on life, they are getting $40 million in state and local funding to make the deal. >> it has a mystique and spirit unlike any other project i have ever seen. >> the lorraine hotel was completed in the 1884 and after world war ii it was purchased by father divine, he declared himself god all mighty right here on earth. the mandates made it good for working class folks, the mayor says that the new divine lorraine will feature more than 100 high end partmentses and 24,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. a dramatic rebirth cht board street corridor. >> a tipping points of north broad street and here in north philadelphia with street improvements and the additional developments to follow, north broad will rival south broad. >> this building is an organism and alive and has a heartbeat and maybe it was hibernating for 15 years but we'll tu

vernon odom is live at the pennsylvania convention center with that story. >> reporter: matt a lot of enthusiasm building here in anticipation of the pope's visit this weekend, the world meeting of families continues to run smoothly today according to all accounts they are having a number of sessions inside this morning, just under 18,000 pilgrims here enjoying the fellowship and the sights and sounds here in the city of brotherly love, they update the media on what is next and what is coming. >> there is still time to make your own personal plans to participate and enjoy this historic and once in a lifetime event. not to late to book a hotel room for the weekend or if you need it for a shorter period of time. >> if you have really been paying close attention to the media around the world they talk about the stops in washington and cuba and new york today, but it all comes back to philadelphia and the world meeting of families. >> as you can see here the civic boosters are delighted by the way things have gone this week, police say there are no incidents reported here related to the w

vernon odom is live now with more. >> reporter: rick, you can call this a divine day, a divine milestone, if you will, a ground breaking ceremony for the redevelopment, for the divine lorraine hotel, at north and ridge heading north into philadelphia. the divine lorraine hotel completed in 1984 one of philadelphia's first high rises it has fallen into a state of deck a, calling it a graffiti ridden decay and blight. at the turn of the century, the home of the nouveau rich during the industrial bloom, but known as philadelphia's first integrated hotel. done by father divine, who called himself god all mighty here on earth. now it gets a new lease on life, born again, by an ambitious developer that is getting a lot of local and state dollars to make it happen, creating luxury apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail space. >> the redevelopment is hailed as one more sign that north broad street itself for many miles up to temple university is on its way back to vibrancy. vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. >>> philadelphia mayor michael nutter, addressed more issues about

vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >> before secretary kerry went to center city, he stopped here at 6 abc for an interview with our own matt o'donnell. you can see the story tonight on "action news" at 6:00. and we'll post it online at 6abc.com. >>> chester police are investigating two murders, both victims were shot to death in their cars. the most recent happened at 1:00 a.m. on butler street, they found a man dead inside of a white buick riddled with bullet holes, hours later a man was killed when his black saab was hit multiple times at 5th and lloyd streets. the city of chester has recorded 16 homicides this year. >>> students in the chester, upland school district, headed back to school today and their teachers did too, not knowing when they will get their next paycheck. >> the first day was still celebrated but the district's financial woes are hard to ignore. last week the staff voted unanimously to return to work even though the district won't make payroll next week. the teachers say that is having an impact on student. >> you look at the numbers at chester, the test sco

opening ceremonies including special gifts for pope francis, vernon odom is live at the pennsylvania tion center with the story from there. vernon? >> reporter: brian and sharrie, the world meeting of families formerly kicked off this afternoon, promising to be an uplifting event, causing a bond across the globe. old fashion american gospel music brought the crowd to its feet as the archbishop and mayor opened the world meeting of families and an event that brought some 18,000 people from across the world to see pope francis. >> god is good and loves us with the zeal of a father and the tenderness of a mother and his church, our family, welcomes all people. >> philadelphia had a one of a kind bicycle built for the pope by local artisans. >> it's a people's bike for the people's pope. >> people are here from far and wide from eastern africa and brazil and people of final on a spiritual journey. >> i want to position myself, about the problems that are involving our society so i can be a better person. >> see things different -- with families from everywhere in the world. and having fun

vernon odom has the story. >> one of philadelphia's most horrible man made disasters, the video fromune 13th has been seen over and over again by most philadelphians, the trial for philadelphia contractor for griffin campbell prove that today. >> 80 per were familiar with the collapse, that is no surprise. >> there are six counts of third degree murder stn he turned down a plea deal that would see him locked up for 10 to 20 years, sean benschop has already plead guilty to six counties of manslaughter, benschop was knocking down an unsupported three story wall when it collapsed on to an adjacejaajac salvation army store. >> was stoned while operating the equipment. >> they are trying to raise $400,000, they say they still need donations. >> we are 400,000 short, the budget is $1.4 million and we have tremendous support, specifically the general contracting community and the labor organizations but as we stan here today we are $400,000 short. >>> the campbell trial opens in the morning and it is expected to last up to four weeks, i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >>> dozens of

vernon odom is live now with more on the story. >> hello sara, 35 years in prison, no parole, what is the fate of delvin barnes whose heinous crime horrified the city nearly a year ago. >> delvin barnes a 38-year-old native of virginia is now a convicted kidnapper in the wake of the guilty plea in court. barnes seen here on video admits this was him kidnapping carlesha freeland-gaither in german town, this triggered a manhunt by police and federal agents, she was rescued in jessup, maryland. barnes today admitted to forcing the victim to lie bound up in his car as he drove to maryland, when barnes was arrested he was in the backseat of his car. the victim was sexually exploited and started out as a random robbery attempt to get money to return to virginia before surrounding to police there, where he was wanted for attempting to rape a teenage girl. rick, now part of barnes deal is that he will not have to go back to virginia to stand trial for the crime there, his sentencing day is january 6th, he will be sentenced that day to 35 years in prison if the judge approves that the judge co

he met the media today and "action news" reporter vernon odom was there. >> first of all it wasn't alicity stunt. >> reporter: philadelphia's archbishop bristled today as some reporters asked whether the pope's apology yesterday at saint charles seminary to five local victims of sexual abuse by priests was simply "window dressing." as some activists the claim the pope has still not signed onto a zero tolerance policy. >> we deeply regret the past. we committee ourselves to a better future. people are angry, they want to say we're not doing anything except symbolic things and i understand their anger. i don't know how to get through that except that we keep trying and we will keep trying but the pope is very sincere and i hope people understand that. >> reporter: one reporter noted the presence this past weekend of cardinal justin cardn rigali. he was never accused of covering up the pedophile scandal. >> the church is happy to assume it's responsibility and i'm quite tired of people making unjust accusations against people who are not to be blamed and that happens sometimes. why woul

at penn's landing, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news." >> ♪ >> after the parade union workers andir families gathered here at penn's landing great plaza for some relaxation on this urba labor dy today. lots of food and games for the little ones. >>> 10,000 tickets to seat pope's speech at independence mall on september 26th will be available online tomorrow. the tickets are free but you are limited to four tickets per person. you can get them online at the world meeting of families web site. ticketing information has yet to be released for two other public events. the festival of families and pope francis' mass on the ben franklin parkway but we do know those tickets will be made available on wednesday. >>> and get updates on the pope's upcoming visit by following at 6abc pope on twitter. we are posting the latest news, tips and pictures as we all prepare for the arrival of pope francis later this month. >>> coming up on "action news" tonight, a berks county police k-9 is now on the mend at home after being injured in the line of duty and are you ready for some football? the regul

vernon odom has more. >> reporter: good evening, rick and monica, a lot of city council members tell me now that their regular session is canceled for next week because of all of these security measures and so much city government will be shut down any way and a lot of constituents believe that the security measures close the line and are over the top. >> city council conducts business as usual, just days before police and officials start imposing massive restrictions in anticipation of the papal visit, the council member is getting heat from her constituents. >> we have people that are not included and don't feel welcome in their own city, we are grateful for the pope. >> the whirlwind for the papal visit has major restrictions for parking and moving around town, it's being viewed address a major pain and invention on many, and council members are feeling the pressure. >> securing these areas and not allowing people to go through and other things, that i think was just too much. >> many of the pope's activities will take place in the district of the council president and he is monit

tracked them down, he changed his plea to guilty this morning and faces 35 years in prison and vernon odom is in court today and he'll have a full report at 4:30. >>> and developing right now, we just got an update on city leaders for plans for the pope's visit and the big headline is parking inside of the secure zone, david henry is live now working this story for us. >> reporter: yes hi sharrie, the mayor and the backers of the world meeting of familys trying to convince people it's a bigger event and it will be easier to get here and easier to get around but there are still in difficulties for people that live in the blue areas, and the mayor had a stern warning for those people. >> if you normally park your car in either the secure perimeter or the secure vehicle perimeter, we need to call on your civic pride and duty and ask you to relocate your vehicle or unfortunately we'll have to relocate that vehicle, also known as towing, the towing in the center city area will begin -- >> people will get advanced warnings, the signs go up a week before the towing starts, this area right here su

vernon odom has more. >> reporter: good evening, rick and monica, a lot of city council members tellthat their regular session is canceled for next week because of all of these security measures and so much city government will be shut down any way and a lot of constituents believe that the security measures close the line and are over the top. >> city council conducts business as usual, just days before police and officials start imposing massive restrictionsn

vernon odom is live now with more on this dangerous stunt. >> we are live outside morgan hall on temple university's campus, the story of a stupid college prank that could have caused a massive catastrophe here on the heart of the campus. >> it's ridiculous, a lot of people could have gotten hurt. i just hope that, you know, they realize how dangerous it was. >> the reaction of one temple student after learning that someone in her dorm building pointed a laser at a police helicopter after it flew nearby, it came from the upper floor of the morgan dorm building. the cops are not amused by this prank. >> we can't go door-to-door and kick in doors of the building but it's one of those things, unfortunately they were not able to capture where the individual was. >> the guilty party should realize that this is a federal crime and if police can find out who did it they will bring charges, one upper class man tells me that it's not the first time this laser beam caper happened here. >> it happened here last year too. they got in trouble for it. >> they caught somebody. >> that is not safe, any

vernon odom is live with the latest. >> reporter: 16 people in all were chosen today. 12 jurors and 4s, that is a surprise to some because many thought it could take far longer than that because of all the publicity of this two-year-old case that traumatized the city. this catastrophe is deeply embedded in the mind of philadelphians, the building chance killing six people and injuring many others, it collapsed because of an unsupported three story wall under demolition, it felt into the crowded one story, salvation army thrift store. 80% of the jurors said they had seen news coverage, the lawyer for griffin campbell is accused of six couldnntses of third deg murder. >> everybody saw the coverage and we ask for a fair trial. >> he chose to go to trial. in july sean benschop the operator of the 10,000 pound excavator, plead guilty to six countses of manslaughter and he is do 10 to 20. on this day the volunteer committee trying to raise enough money to build a memorial park says they still need donations. >> we are $400,000 of the 1.4 million we need to build the park and we can't start

live in northeast philadelphia, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news. >> vernon thank you.elphia police also released new surveillance video in a triple shooting in olney last month. authorities say the male suspect walked to the area of 5900 north second street back on august 16th and for an unknown reason he started firing a gun two people heading to the store and another person just walking down the street were hit. still not clear what prompted the shooting. the suspect what driven away from the scene in what appears to be a into your dodge charger. >> philadelphia police also looking for two men who viciously beat a man outside a liquor store in juniata last movement surveillance cameras captured the assailants approaching the victim as he walked into the wine and spirits shop on erie avenue august 17th. without warning the men ambushed him. watch. they kick and punch him. then hit him in the head with something. he was treated for injuries to his head and face. if you recognize either suspect or even the tow truck one of those men arrived in, please there it is call e

vernon odom is live now with more on the story. >> hello

"action news" reporter vernon odom is live in center city with more on that tonight. r: good evening, rick. i'm told by the local hotel association that there are still rooms available here in the center city area but the expectation is they'll be gone by the weekend when the pope gets here. >> i like it to be here but i like also to see the pope. >> reporter: and that is the big draw as thousands of pilgrims started arriving in philadelphia today for the world meeting of families followed by the pope's 36 hour stop in philadelphia over the weekend. some hotel rooms near the heart of town are still available but those in the know claim they're heading towards 100 percent occupancy as the papal weekend approaches. >> we've been moving rooms pretty rapidly. we were down about a third of the rooms and now we're getting closer and closer to selling out for the weekend. >> reporter: registration for the world meeting of families was more than brisk today. the meeting formally begins tomorrow. pilgrims have come from far and wide. >> we are members of the movement and we are

vernon odom is live now with more. >> reporter: rick, you can call this a divine day, a divine milestone, if you will, a ground breaking ceremony for the redevelopment, for the divine lorraine hotel, at north and ridge heading north into philadelphia. the

live at city hall, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news." >> all right, vernon, thank you. >>> of coursem will be your home for live video during the papal visit. we'll and streaming our "action news" coverage of every major event that takes place along with live feeds from cameras across the area. you'll also be able to watch our online only digital updates. >> in other news tonight a neighborhood game of dice turned into a crime scene in olney. it happened in the 4500 block of north gratz street. witnesses told police that several people including the victims were outside about 1:00 a.m. someone in a jeep pulled up and told them that two men wearing hoodies were headed their way. the group started walking towards them and that is when the suspects opened fire. a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old were hit. they are expected to be okay. the motive for the shooting is unclear. >>> abortion doctor kermit gosnell has been ordered to pay $4 million to the daughter of a woman who died under his care. the 74-year-old gosnell is serving a life sentence after he was convicted of killing three babies

vernon odom talked to the mother to be. theast philadelphia with more on this story. vernon. >> reporter: brian, at this hour tonight, a team of detectives from the northeast detective division are scouring lower frankford trying the find those two suspects who opened fire last night on a pregnant woman and her male friend. it is quieter than normal here along the 4100 block of paul street today. last night around 10:00 it was trigger happy chaos. two people are shot in front of this house police say when two gunmen opened fire for from around 30 feet away. a 23-year-old pregnant woman was wounded a 21-year-old man was also hit. police say there were a total of 11 shots fired. both victims were rushed to temple hospital. he was in surgery for hours overnight. both will survive. she is eight months pregnant. the unborn child as far as doctors can tell was not harmed. here's the voice of the female victim. >> sitting down. then i heard gun shots and i got shot. after i got in the house, i realized i got shot. the baby is fine.

vernon odom was there. he's live at the archdiocesan headquarters in center city. vernon i imagine they're taking a bit of a victory lap. >> reporter: they're trying to, brian. by most accounts, the record breaking world meeting of families and the post bombshell visit over the weekend are a source of pride and success but indeed there are critics: as he met with reporters today, philadelphia archbishop hailed the city's overall hailing of the pope's visit and said he felt a deep disappointment of ticket holder whose never got into the parkway mass yesterday because of tight security measures but he was on the defensive as reporters questioned the pope's sincerity after he left with five local victims of clergy sexual abuse hearing their stories and apologizing later condemning the pedophile priests as he met with hundreds of bishops from around the globe. >> it wasn't a publicity stunt. there was a genuine interest on the part of the holy father to represent the whole church in expressing sadness and apology in cases where there was sexual abuse by members of the c

live in center city, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news." >> vernon, thank you. >>> well, no hand no selfies none fist bumps, that's the message for lawmakers when pope francis enters the house chamber on thursday in the nation's capitol. in a letter congressional leaders toll members of the house and senate to avoid making conversation with the holy father as he makes his way down the center aisle. officials say the mandate is meant to make sure the pontiff stays on his tight schedule which includes a trip to the capitol balcony to address the crowds who are gathered on the national mall. >>> we got you covered for his entire u.s. journey from washington to new york and of course philadelphia. on 6abc and 6abc.com. monica malpass and i will be reporting live from washington d.c. starting tomorrow when the pope gets there. eva pilgrim and sarah bloomquist will be live in new york city starting thursday. >>> and be sure to tune into 6abc this weekends for all day full live coverage of the papal visit. that's this saturday and sunday. you can also follow all of the action through 6a

vernon odom was at today's meeting and he joins us live now from city hall with the story. >> good afternoon sara, right now for all city council members, most of them running for election it's a game of wait and see, they are low keying it now to see how it goes city council going about its regular business a week away from the papal visit, just days away from the massive security measures are imposed for the pontiff's 36 miles per hour visit to philadelphia, their ears are burning with constituent complaintses on the parking and

vernon odom is live with the opening ceremonies. >> reporter: the enthusiasm was absolutely infectious, the pilgrims arrived from wide and far. the ribbon cutting from the archbishop on and the mayor the world meeting of families was underway, some 18,000 pilgrims are here from across the world and across america. >> meeting the pope and meeting people from across the nation that share the religion that i do, meet new people. >> the crowd was brought to its feet by old style gospel music. they greeted them with elegance and warmth. >> if you go home from here renewed by what you experienced and the joy and friendship you find in each other, then this congress will have done the work that god had intended. with the conference of pope francis and the world meeting of francis, this is a special time for all of us. >> many travel the thousands of miles to get here for inspiration and to later see the pope. >> i hope to learn a lot from the speakers, about families and in a sense more on the bible. >> the zimlets came from alabama with their children know what they wanted. >> the power of b

i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >>> and you can find a complete list of the take back spots athe 6abc.com. >>> they say that building a coding system at the navy yard, they expect the $70 million facility to be complete in late 2017. they make specialty paint and coatings for the automotive industry. >>> coming up on "action news" tonight, construction crews make a historic find in south jersey this morning, ahead what preservationists are saying about what they dug up. jaime apody is live in south philadelphia, sweating it out with the eagles today. >> yes, that is for sure, the birds getting ready for monday night football and we'll hear from them. plus, one fearless prognosticator, who usually get its right predicts the birds will win the super bowl. adam it was hot out here today. >> and per your twitter, women only glisten. >> 90 monday, 94 yesterday and 93 today and a break is on the way. i'll have the details in accuweather. >>> new at 6:00 they have dug up an impressive chunk of history in burlington county, new jersey. nora muchanic has the story. >> reporter: when

live in center city, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news." >> thank you vernon. >>> it was a gorgeousday today but with a lot of pope francis events being held outside, everybody is pretty much holding their breath for the rest of the weekend weather. >> well, meteorologist cecily -- not cecily but adam joseph is live in spring garden where the crowds will be gathered tomorrow. hi there adam. good to see you as well. >> reporter: it's great to see you guys as well. you're just down the road that way. we are on the opposite side of the barrier where, yes, folks will be walking along here kind of checking out the area. they've been asking me the forecast saying is it going to rain they keep asking me he from up in this third floor balcony. you know what it won't tomorrow but a question still for late sunday. take a look at double scan live right now. we've got low pressure just off of the georgia-south carolina border. heavy rain on the outer banks. some light showers far north to virginia and if we look at future tracker early tomorrow afternoon we're right on the edge of the clouds ve

"action news" reporter vernon odom is live in wynnewood with an update on the county's strategy.porter: good evening, sharrie. montgomery county officials today declared themselves ready to not only to protect pope francis but their entire montgomery county population as well. it's only a matter of fine tuning now. >> we're very grateful to the first responders for the work that they've done to put this together and ensure the safety and well being of the people of montgomery county. >> reporter: emergency first responders from 50 municipalities in montgomery county attended today's summit to hear the county lay out the elaborate game plan for security during the papal visit. the primary focus is on the saint charles seminary, the pope's headquarters and home during his whirlwind and one night stay. security around the massive acreage will be massive. police swat teams and all local police lands on deck and it even more. >> we'll be such policemenned by the pennsylvania national guard in an excess of 200 national guardsmen on both days. >> reporter: lankenau hospital is ready for

vernon odom was at today's meeting and he joins us live now from city hall with the story. >> good afternoon sara, right now for all city council members, most of them running for election it's a game of wait and see, they are low keying it now to see how it goes city council going about its regular business a week away from the papal visit, just days away from the massive security measures are imposed for the pontiff's 36 miles per hour visit to philadelphia, their ears are burning with constituent complaintses on the parking and other restrictions. >> we have people that feel they are not included and they don't feel welcome in their own city. >> i think it's a little bit of over securing and now you are hearing -- >> too many inconveniences. >> take into consideration of our residents and the ability of them to go through certain areas and securing all of these areas for the whole week not letting people be able to go through and other things that i think were just too much. >> today the council members got their official visits to all the major papal events but when they hear that 6,000

high pressure anchored deer quebec and norm of burlington, vernon odom. we're getting that flow off the ocean. we have low lying clouds aroun around. and solve that low lying cloud cover will be round early, early tomorrow morning but that sunshine surprise really going take control here quickly tomorrow morning and in fact over the next three days. we'll call it holiday perfection. with that high that bubble of high pressure you get sinking air under the high and can't get much in the way of up dravrts in the atmosphere so to speak. no cloud cover over the holiday weekend. the only bad thing about the weekend forecast if you head to the shore is with that wind persistently coming off the water that water will pileup. we have moderate and at times high risk for rip current this weekend and walter is warm as well and you get that easterly wind and pull in that water from the gulf street. it's 7p air temperatures and bright and breezy tomorrow at the shore and hard to keep umbrellas anchored down and 79 on sunday, very beautiful. and low humidity labor day

"action news" reporter, vernon odom is live at the scene with the latest on that investigation. >> reporterick, at this hour, a team of detectives are out here on the streets, trying to find a pair of attempted assassins that struck under the cloak of darkness late last night. it's quieter than normal here on the 2100 block of palmer, last night at 10:00 it was trigger happy chaos, two people were sitting on the steps when a gunman opened fire 30 feet away, a 20-year-old pregnant woman was wounded and a 21-year-old man was also wounded. he was in surgery for hours overnight and both are in stable conditions and she is 8 months pregnants and as far as they can tell the fetus is unharmed. >> we believe they used an semi automatic weapon and we found 11 shell casings and that is an indication that the shooter was 30 feet north of where the two victims were when they were shot. the two victims were just sitting on the front steps of the home. >> police say the gunman fled the scene in a white cadillac and are looking at surveillance video from around the neighborhood to try to develop leads in

"action news" reporter vernon odom heard from him during this morning's annual afl-cio parade. >> ♪ >abor day in philadelphia featuring thousands of rank and file members on the march representing dozens of locals from across the region displaying the kind of spirit that is standard on this annual occasion. the unions are happy to have a new governor in harrisburg, a democrat who is enthusiastically pro-labor. governor tom wolf made this his first stop of the morning. he's in a tough budget impasse with the republican controlled general assembly over spending priority are thes like funding for public education. >> it means we need the support the public goods that make this society work like public education. [cheers and applause] >> like good roads and good bridges. >> yes. >> good mass transit. >> reporter: the union leaders are gearing up to play political hardball in the upcoming elections. the presidential sweepstakes next year and the statewide elections right around the corner. >> we have an election coming up for city of philadelphia for mayor. we have supreme court justices t

officially gets underway in a few minutes now at success, archbishop, charles chaput spoke, and now vernon odom is live with more on that. >> reporter: hello sara, great excitement and anticipation continues to grow in center city, the world meeting of familys underway and more pilgrims arriving by the hour. a delegation from puerto rico arrives at the convention center this morning to join the other pilgrims here for the world meeting of families, they came all the way from tanzania, africa and are on a mission. >> it's different -- from everywhere in the world. >> this group from brazil on a spiritual mission. >> want to position myself about the problems -- involving in our society so i can be a better person. >> this couple came to the u.s. from vietnam years ago and boston is their home and they are delighted to be here this week. >> i am excited to be here especially philadelphia. first time too! >> the opening ceremony is just moments away and the leader of the archdiocese in philadelphia spoke with reporters of the importance of the pope's visit. >> his visit here is an irreplaceable mo

live in center city, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news." >> okay, vernon, thank you. >>> okay, vernonnd of course hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in town, the one question everyone wants answered, will the weather cooperate? with more on that of course we turn to our meteorologist adam joseph. he's live on pennsylvania avenue with that forecast. adam. >> yeah, sharrie, i tell you the sun is shining now and i'm right on the other side of the barrier where you are in eakins oval. this this will be my home base for the next couple days i can oversee the center city skyline and folks you can see holding up signs, they are walking around, they are taking in the sights here on the opposite side of the barriers where those folks have the tickets to get through security the next couple of days. take a look at the temperatures so far today. it's been beautiful, very fall-like. 78 in philadelphia, the same for wilmington, allentown 75 and millville 78 so far today. double scan live radar will show low pressure is just off the georgia-south carolina border. heavy rain sweeping the outer or ban

she did not want to show her face but she did speak with "action news" reporter vernon odom today. >>sitting down. then i heard gun shots and then i got shot. after i got in the house, i realized i got shot. the baby is fine. >> reporter: no problems with that, hm. >> no. >> police believe the suspects left the scene in a white four door cadillac. >>> working men and women were honored today at a ceremony in new jersey. union members and elected officials put a wreath at arlington cemetery in pennsauken to mark labor day. this was the southern new jersey afl-cio central labor council annual labor day service. he had announced 20 scholarships to students who are union members or whose family belongs to a union. >> jeff skversky here with sports. looks like the eagles did make a quarterback decision. >> looks like they have. go back to beginning of ota's. they bring in tim tebow prosecutor training camp. he was only expected to be an extra arm. sure enough he strong armed matt barkley out of a job. looks like it's tebow time. instead of cutting quarterback matt barkley in favor of tim t

vernon odom joins us live now. >> reporter: hello there brian, more smooth sailing and all smiles athe world meeting of families, workshops and seminars and a lot of people touring our city, the pilgrims tell me they are having the time of their lives. >> the world meeting of familys in day three and moving along, catholic fellowship continues to thrive here among 18,000 delegates and their families, attending workshops and touring the host city, many travels from across the country to be here and they are not disappointed. >> this is a powerful wonderful profound event. and no place is too far to come to be gathered for people in support of the family. to hear what our holy father has to say in support of that. >> thousands of others have crossed an ocean to get to philadelphia for this historic week, the first time the triannual meeting of families is held in the usa. >> we are meeting the people from all over the world. we are looking forward to meeting the father on sunday. >> these are local pilgrims looking forward to the pope's arrival. retired officer rick boes and his factua

i'm vernon odom, channel 6 "action news." >>> before his speech at the national constitution center, secretary kerry spoke to our matt o'donnell and he asked about his possible run for the presidency, you can hear his answer tonight at 6:00. >>> a tractor trailer became wedged over a railroad overpass, it happened near chapel street and cleveland avenue, the driver was not hurt fortunately but the accident sent these wooden pallets all over the road forcing crews to shut it down. >> lets get a check of our "action news" traffic report midweek, lets go to matt pellman. >> over the hump on this wednesday afternoon and doing so just sort of slowly along the roosevelt boulevard, northbound side like most afternoons, off the schuylkill on up to broad street, there was a crash approaching the schuylkill but that cleared out quickly and all southbound lanes are reopen, but not open here because of made in america preparations, the inbound of the ben franklin parkway, that is shut down for the preparations, meaning all of this traffic is force to the outer drive, causing delays on the number

vernon odom is live in spring garden with more on how the divine lorraine will rise and reclaim its glory once again. >> reporter: hi brian, the legendry divine lorraine hotel is coming back, going back to its original state and be refurbished at broad. a ground breaking today on north broad, a divine moment, the politicians and the big money players, officially kicked off the redevelopment and rejuvenation of the landmark, the divine lorraine hotel, since 1999 an abandoned neglected shell and now the deal is done, private and government money to refurbish the building as a gateway as the north corridor. when completed it will have over 100 high end apartments and retail and restaurant space. >> this is the most complicated building of my 35 year career, there was no way to make it work, we needed some government help. the building history is rich. completed completed in 1894, it was the hang out of the nouveau rich. and then the hang out of father divine, he claimed himself god all mighty on earth. >> the divine lorraine became the first interests grated hotel in the city of philadelphia

vernon odom is here with more. >> reporter: by all accounts things are going great here, real, real smooth. that has civic boosters beaming as they look forward to the pope's arrival on saturday monday, so far so good say the civic cheerleaders, nearly 18,000 delegates from around the world are hereavoring the sight. >> if you pay attention to the pedia around the country and the world, they talk about the stops in cuba and washington, d.c. and new york today, but it all comes back to philadelphia, and the world meeting of families. >> it's not too late, if you want to to book a hotel room for the weekend or if you need it for some shorter period of time. it's easy, and comfortable and easy ways to enjoy all the papal events here in philadelphia. >> but the commissioner says that all hands will be on deck and center city will be safe and so too the rest of the city not involved in the pope visit. >> we have everyone on 12-hour shifts and nobody has the day off. we have a special shift for those work ougtd side of the festival grounds, a power shift that comes on in the late afternoon that

find out what he had to say about that, and vernon odom was there for kerry's speech at the national constitution center. >> thanks alicia. >>> authorities in illinois continue their manhunt for suspects in the killing of a police officer, law enforcement is patrolling a wider zone in and around fox lake, about 60 miles north of chicago, they are looking for three men wanted for yesterday's fatal shooting of lieutenant charles gliniewicz, he was shot while pursuing the suspects on foot. schools are closed today there out of concern for children's safety. >>> the dow soaring today 293 points, it was down more than 400 points yesterday, the nasdaq up 114 points on the day and the s&p 500 up 35 points. >> keeping it interesting, students at a north philadelphia high school were recruited for paying jobs thank was signing day, 450 students found out which local company will mentor them. ceo's and executives announced the team's names and gave them company branded jerseys to mimic the nfl draft, each student will work one day a week and they will earn paychecks to help offset the cost of

vernon odom is live with more. >> reporter: pope francis continues to shake things up today he issued a new law, overhauling three centuries of church practice. the pope visit draws fear and he remains busy before he comes to america, pope francis' move today to radically reform the church's process for nullifying marriages is popular here. >> the pope is saying there is leeway and not as clear-cut as it once was. >> anything that brings people closer to the church and makes them feel welcome is a good thing. i had a cousin that wanted an annulment and it was a long process and she ended up leaving the church and that was sad. >> should there be a need to make adjustments to the current process we'll work to implement them in a timely fashion. theologian says that the pontiff is opening the doors more widely, part of that is reaching out to people, and addressing them and making them feel welcome. >> help them return to the church if they feel alienated from the church. >> this follows last week's reaffirmation that rank and file priests can give forgiveness to women that have had abo

live at the convention center vernon odom channel6 "action news. >> thank you vernon.rowds are coming through market street making there way to independence mall. jeff chirico is on market street. jeff, what do you see there? >> reporter: hey, jim, there are thousands of people up and down market street from city hall down to seventh street, all waiting for pope francis to drive by. but what is so fascinating here is that we have no information that pope francis is even going to come by this street anywhere on this side of market street. yet people have been waiting for hours hoping to catch a glimpse of the popemobile, hoping that it will come by. now, if there is any hope, i guess you should hope in pope francis. but yet we have no information that he will come anywhere near here. in fact, we are told that he may be coming actually behind us down seventh street, then to independence hall. nonetheless, folks here, thousands of them gathered hoping to catch that glimpse. it's probably -- it probably says a lot about pope francis' popularity that people are willing to w