Morning and a leader of a Knowledge School district resigns abruptly but he is not explaining why. But the big story is the popes very first trip to the United States, it starts when he arrives in washington, d. C. Today. The holy father made his final stop in cuba, to bless families at the cathedral of santiago, and now will board a flight to Andrews Air Force base just outside of the Nations Capital. Action news anchor Rick Williams and Monica Malpass are live now in washington with more on the popes schedule ahead. Hey there. Hi sara, thank you, here in washington, d. C. , big events certainly happen all the time here in the Nations Capital from president ial inaugurations to political conventions and motorcades, but todays visit for pope francis is unprecedented not just because of the size and scope of security here but his global popularity. The city is buzzing with excitement, we are told that a half hour from now his plane will take off. We have pictures in moments ago at the departure, the farewell ceremony, there were marching bands and officials and raul castro was there of course and the pope was one of the leaders in the world who did help to normalize relations with the communist country, that was an important leg of his journey and he did board the papal airplane and is taking off in minutes, its a three and a half hour flight and will arrive at Andrews Air Force base around 4 00 p. M. The president and his two daughters, sasha and malia will be there to greet him along with other school children, the rest of afternoon from 4 30 on, the pope will drive over to the Vatican Embassy and relax and have private meditation and time and relax from his days journey. Tomorrow there say ceremony and the first time that the president will welcome a pontiff to the white house, and also tomorrow afternoon, the pontiff will lead prayer with some 400 bishops from across the u. S. At Saint Matthews cathedral and then the mass at the basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and that is a big one, some 25,000 Ticket Holders are expected to participate, the first time that a canonization ceremony has taken place on u. S. Soil, for the latin missionary, he will be elevated to saint hood at that mass tomorrow afternoon. So its a very busy itinerary for the pontiff for sure. Thursday he is meeting with a joint session of congress in the capital building, the first time a sitting pope has met with both sides of congress and 11 00 he will do some of the hands on people stuff he loves to do and craves to be able to do and meeting with some of the Catholic Charity organizations going to a homeless shelter near Saint Patricks parish and he will bless the masses on the mall before he departs for new york, that is working with small groups and large groups and being the pope that he is. This is a trip of first, the first time this pope has visited in the United States in his life and the first time president obama has welcomed a pontiff to the white house and the canonization is a first and the first time monica and have i covered an event like this. See you at 12 30. See you then. Back here in philadelphia, the world meeting of families will get underway this afternoon, archbishop chaput spoke about it at center city, thousands of catholic families and clergy from across the globe will celebrate the next six days, participating and acontinueding lectures, the highlight is the arrival of pope francis, early saturday morning, well have more on the conference coming up in our next half hour. Crews have begun installing the security fence along the perimeter of the festival fair grounds. Pilgrims will have to pass through check pointses to get inside of the secure zone this weekend. Wendy saltzman spoke with the head of secret service in philadelphia, she joins us live now on the ben franklin parkway. The entire parkway, from 20th street all the way down to akins oval, have been blocked off, they will be the barricades and the secure perimeter for the weekend, this is theest largest security event in the history of philadelphia. It took the coordination of 70 agencies and 600 poem to coordinate the weekends events and make sure they are safe. While there is no credible threat, they are preparing for everything, from bomb threats to lone shooters. We prepare for anything you can think of that could possibly be a vulnerability or threat. And the secret service and other agencies have flown agents in from across the country, they have not released the number of officers on the ground undercover and in uniform. Snipers are training in washington for security detail on the pope, for a mockup of his secure popemobile, to make sure there is no added risk as he tours the city of brotherly love. We want to have the right mechanisms in place to make sure that doesnt occur and our perimeter is not breached. And beach says that the secret service is using the latest Technology Like bomb detectors and police dogs, to protect the popes parades and services. We employ the most recent technology and everybody uses k9s and other methodologies to do a variety of screenings not just dogs and there are other things we do as well and we will he use all of that to assure a safe environment not just for the pope but all the participate tarnts and spectators. There will be approximately 24 secure entrances across the parkway as well as the secure area at independence hall, there are magnetometers there and anybody trying to get in the event will have to go through the secure area, they will be screened and you need tickets at the Actual Services where the pope is giving mass and speaking on those days. Im wendy saltzman, channel 6 action news. Thank you. Towing operations continue in center city to secure the perimeter around the papal events, the necht round begins tonight at 6th for areas east of 12th street and designated emergency routes will be cleared of parked cars, if you bought a 20 yellow placard you can stay in the restricted areas for now, on thursday you have to choose one of the citys alternative parking options. Today is the last day of school for philadelphia, this week the district is closed tomorrow because of the jewish holiday, schools remain closes thursday, friday, and monday because of the papal visit. Spring break will be shortened this year. Action news is following pope francis on his entire journey this week from washington to new york and on to philadelphia. You can see more of rick and monicas reports from the Nations Capital beginning at 4 00 today and eva pilgram and i will live in new york start on thursday. 6abc. Com is your home for live video during the entire papal visit, well stream every major event along with live feeds from across the region, youll be able to watch our online onliy digital updates. To other news, a large fire tore through a business in Delaware County overnight. The flames sparked at 11 30 this morning on yaden avenue, the cause of the fire remains under investigation. A Convenience Store clerk was tied up during an Armed Robbery earlier this morning in he made off with cash but its unclear how much. Police spent the morning interviewing witnesses, nobody was seriously hurt. Turning to accuweather now its cool and cloudy, sky 6 hd showing you the view in center city as we get set to say goodbye to summer, isnt that sad. Karen rogers is tracking the latest conditions, she joins us live outside of the studios now. You can feel fall coming. A cool breeze out of the north, we are stuck in the clouds, none of the bright sunshine we have so much of us, stormtracker 6 live double scan and we can see a really pronounced showers in the area, and i detect a drizzle drop in one or two places, you can see that out near lancaster, a little drop in new jersey as well. I want to take a look at satellite 6 along with action radar and the thing you feel out here is the cool air and cloud cover, and the showers north and west of the city have for the most part left the region and that pulls to the north and we see some breaks here and there, some cloud cover thinning just a bit and the wind is an issue 12 Miles Per Hour in millville and 14 in Atlantic City airport. You are certainly feeling the breeze and a cool breeze at that, 64 in quakertown and 65 in saint david and 6 in center city and 62 in chester, that is cool, south jersey 73 in browns mills and 70 on the boardwalk in a. C. And upper 60s in dover, delaware, as you head out why not take the kids to the playground, mostly cloudy and a cool breeze, by 2 00 p. M. 73. And cool today but tracking some rain possible for the weekend. A lot coming on for the weekend, well talk about this in the exclusive accuweather forecast in just a couple of minutes. Thank you. Still to come here on action news at noon, a fighter jet slams into a field near the u. S. Air base, how the pilot lived through the fiery crash. How they broke out using bed sheets. What do a nascar® driver. A comedian. And a professional golfer have in common . We talked to our doctors about treatment with xarelto®. Xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. Xarelto® has also been proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with afib, not caused by a heart valve problem. For people with afib currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. I tried warfarin before, but the blood testing routine and dietary restrictions had me off my game. Not this time. Not with xarelto®. Ill have another arnold palmer. Make mine a kevin nealon. Really, brian . Hey, safety first. Like all blood thinners, dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of a blood clot or stroke. While taking, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Xarelto® has been prescribed more than 11 million times in the u. S. And that numbers growing. Like your guys scores. With xarelto® there is no regular blood monitoring, and no known dietary restrictions. Treatment with xarelto® was the right move for us. Ask your doctor about xarelto®. We take you live now to santiago, cuba, that is the papal plane about to depart now for the United States, the pope is on board, scheduled to touch down in washington, d. C. At joint base andrews at 4 00 this afternoon, this wraps up his visit to cuba and this is the popes first visit to the United States and spends two days in washington before going to new york and then on to philadelphia on saturday morning. Again about to depart santiago, cuba on route to the United States, well stream his touch down live at 6abc. Com. And well have complete Coverage Today at 4 00. The man hired to monitor the integrity of penn States Program will end his tenure early, they agreed to the oversight in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal and now the monitor says that penn state has made significant progress with now policies and practices. His role will end in december instead of 2017. A mans fighter jet crashed near a military base in california, and the plane splashed into a dirt field and the pilot was able to eject and parachute to the ground and walk to an ambulance on his own, the cause of crash romaines under investigation. Two Prison Inmates are recaptured after a daring escape from jail, they tied bed sheets together and used them to climb down from the roof of a kentucky Correction Center last night. Both were back in custody early this morning and facing additional charges of felony escape. Both men were originally arrested for heroin possession. The kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples spoke out exclusively to abc news, kim davis said that issuing the licenses will violate her religious beliefs, she spent six days in jail for her contemts of court. What probably hurts me the worst is when someone tells me that my god does not love me. Well davis has received hate mail from all around the world and has gotten encouragement for those that agree with her decision. Still to come now on action news at noon, the fda is reviewing the safety of one kind of Birth Control and the order option now available at Stores Nationwide at starbucks. Today marks a new era and inconvenience at starbucks, the mobile app that allows customers to order and pay in advance is available nationwide, that means your beverage or snack will theoretically be waiting for you in stores. Health check this noon, federal experts are taking a closer look of medical reports with a certain Birth Control, they will reexamine the safety and effectiveness of the implant, assure. Women have reported bleeding and headaches and allergic reactions, some Patients Want it removed from the market. An expert panel will review if it should be available to certain women or have further study. Pope francis is scheduled to land in america at 4 00 this afternoon, well bring it to you live as he touches down and after the start of the world meeting of families and preparations on the parkway and restaurants trying to stock up ahead, the action news is everywhere for the buildup of the popes arrival in philadelphia. Karen rogers will have your forecast when we come right back. Karen here now with a check of the accuweather forecast, fall on the way, and boy is it starting to feel like it. The last day of summer, its kind of cool and the first day of fall it will be a little warmer. Lets look at stormtracker 6 live double scan around the region, we are basically dry through the area, a drizzle drop or two in one or two areas, and for the most part you are dry. The sprinkles were heavier are now out of here. Lets see what it looks like, not sunshine but some breaks in the clouds, live over the ben franklin bridge this morning with sky 6, 69 degrees in philadelphia, and the dew point is 53 and way down the winds out of the northnortheast at 12. We feel the cool breeze as well. The pressure is rising and satellite 6 along with action radar showing we are socked in with the clouds, can you see the change in this . The clouds are thinning and well see some sunshine and those are the showers we had to the northwest and they have lifted up to the north and maybe a drizzle drop or two but that is about it. High is 74 today in philadelphia, and 72 in allentown un73 in reading and 71 in trenton and Atlantic City and 70 in cape may. Temperatures 2 degrees below where they should normally be, 5 00 p. M. 72 and 6 00 p. M. 70 and 9 00 p. M. 66. 59 degrees for the overnight. We are watching the papal weekend closely and we continue to tell you we have this low pressure to the south, watching if that would sneak into our region, saturday sunshine and clouds and likely dry on saturday, its change comes on sun, at least one model showing the rain hitting our area and other models not in agreement, we are still watching this and we have the chance of rain, and something we are watching closely, well be on top of this around the clock following the latest developments, and the rain on sunday, it pulls the temperature down, the exclusive accuweather forecast, lots of clouds today and 74 for the high and yom kippur begins at sun down and wednesday sunny and warm and 80 for your high, the first day of fall, thursday still nice and 81, partly sunny skies and 77 and a bit cooler for the papal visit and 73, and a chance of rain 70 for your high, and watching the area of low pressure on sunday. And monday we rebound nicely with 75 for your high temperature. Looking at the sevenday forecast, feeling like fall except the first day of fall except the first day and second day of fall. Mother nature, a chance of rain. Seriously. Thank you karen, more action news when we come right back. Or the freedom to choose what doctor you want to see. So if you have medicare parts a and b, consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, these let you choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Youre not stuck in a network, because there arent any. Plus, these plans help cover some of the part b medical expenses medicare doesnt pay. So why wait . Call now to request your free decision guide and find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan that works for you. Like all Medicare Supplement plans, youll be able to stay with the doctor or specialist you trust, or look for someone new as long as they accept medicare patients. But unlike other plans, these are the only ones of their kind endorsed by aarp. Rates are competitive. So call today. And learn more about choosing the doctors youd like to see. Go long. Hello again, here are the stories we are following at 12 30. The Opening Ceremony of the world meeting of families we are live with a preview. And a firefighter hurt while battling a house fire in landsdale and the head of trenton schools stepping down we are more on his sudden departure. And now pope francis just left cuba and is on his way for his first visit. He departed santiago airport moments ago and will start his six day u. S. Tour. Rick williams and Monica Malpass are live in the Nations Capital with more. We are live in washington, d. C. To cover the two and a half day visit here before he lives and moves on to new york and philadelphia, he is a huge influence in the borld and the fact that he went to visit cuba first spoke volumes, we have pictures as he