ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 11pm - December 20, 2025

Episode Date: December 21, 2025

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Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, preparing you for tomorrow starting tonight and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. All right now at 11, we are taking you outside with a live look across Central North Carolina on this Saturday night. Things in Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, even Kerry, all looking calm and very clear at this hour. You're watching that witness news at 11 o'clock. Thank you so much for choosing us this Saturday evening. We do want to start our time together talking First Lord weather. And the good news is it's looking like it's going to be a very warm Christmas week.

For that, we bring in meteorologist Cruz Medina. Now, Cruz, when can this warm up actually come through? So, spoiler, no white Christmas for folks. So we're having a warm Christmas this year, right? Yeah, absolutely no chance of a white Christmas, but we do have plenty of 60s in this forecast. So even as we go into your Sunday, you could expect it to be warmer than today. We'll top out in the low 60s. We do have a front coming through, though, and that's going to cool us down briefly into Monday.

But look at this. By Tuesday, we should be back in the 60s, and that's just the start of a major warm up that takes place as we go into the middle of the week. So Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, very, very warm. So that's going to be a change of pace considering most of this month. We've actually been below average, but you could see these past few days that we've had have been above average, and we're going to keep that trend going as we go forward in time. Now, if we take a look across the region tonight, this is downtown Raleigh, so right near Red Hat amphitheater. Tipters have already cooled down to 40 degrees.

We've got Roxburgh at 36 and 39 in Goldsboro. Those tipters will drop just a few more degrees tonight. So we stay above freezing, but in the mid-30s for most locations. So either way you look at it, it's going to be chilly as you start the day on Sunday. 34 degrees is that low in Raleigh. And then as we go throughout the day, those tipters will warm up pretty quickly. So we are going to rise into those low 60s for the early after. afternoon hours and then late in the afternoon temperatures will cool down quickly as that cold front departs the region. Now notice we will see more sun in the morning through the afternoon. Those clouds sticking up as that front comes through, but it's at least expected to be a dry day. So most of us will make it into the 60s. There will be a few spots across the north like Henderson and Roxborough that stay in the upper 50s tomorrow. The front will pass through those areas a little earlier than areas like the sand hills. So Fayetteville, Clinton, Lumberton. Those will be some of the warmest spots throughout tomorrow. We'll take a look at your seven-day forecast.

coming up in just a few minutes. You don't want to miss it. Stick around. DeWan. All right, Cruz, many thanks. Remember, you can always stay up to date with the current weather conditions through our ABC 11 mobile app.

Just head over to the app store. Search ABC 11, North Carolina. Well, now at 11, Fadeville Police sharing the name of the Fort Bragg Soldier killed in the crash. It happened yesterday afternoon on Yadkin Road at Cimarone Drive. Police say 20-year-old Aaron Aguero

was driving a motorcycle when he tried to pass a car and was hit head on by a car going in the opposite direction. Aguro went headborne and crashed into another vehicle. He died there at the scene. We're also learning more about Thursday's tragic plane crash in Statesville that killed seven people, including NASCAR legend Greg Biffle and his young family. Biffel, his wife Christina, their two children and three others were on board that private jet

at the time where officials say the Cessna Citation hit the ground short of the runway and then burst into flames. You see the video here today at the NTSB confirmed. that someone on the plane sent a text message to a family member on the ground saying, quote, emergency landing. They are not aware of any other texts that may have been sent from the passengers there. Investigators say they are still determining who was flying the plane, but they do say they have a good idea on who was sitting in the left seat in the cockpit, but want to confirm that detail before sharing that information.

The cause of the crash and why the plane was making an emergency landing is still unknown tonight. Meanwhile, early findings are expected to be released in a month or two. will, of course, look at the maintenance records of that aircraft. The NTSB says they have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, but the jet was not required to have a flight data recorder, so those mechanical details will not be available to investigators. Also tonight, IWNS News is learning new to tells about retaliatory strikes carried out against ISIS targets in Syria.

The Trump administration launching the strikes after three Americans died at the hands of an ISIS gunman last week. and all of this happening hours before President Donald Trump visited North Carolina last night. John Dowding, speaking with foreign policy experts here in the triangle about that action and has more tonight on what this could mean for us right here at home. U.S. officials say the strikes involve fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery. And while these strikes are coming a week after three Americans were killed by an ISIS gunman, foreign policy experts right here in the triangle say these strikes are also addressing other concerns here at home.

So that threat, again, is something I think many Americans are concerned about. Tonight, new details about U.S. strikes carried out against ISIS targets in Syria Friday night. It was very successful. It was precision. We hit every sight flawlessly. President Donald Trump addressing the strikes last night here in North Carolina during an event in Rocky Mount. We hit them on. I ordered a massive strike on the terrorists that killed our three great patriots last week. Two soldiers, one interpreter, all great people. The strikes come one week after an ISIS gunman killed three Americans, including two Iowa National Guardsmen and a U.S. civilian interpreter.

Foreign policy experts say they see the strikes as a retaliatory action, not as a military buildup in the Middle East. Any potential threat that ISIS may reconstitute itself may expand again, may attempt to move into Iraq or any other area, I think that would be looked at as a potential threat, by the United States. Navin Boppet is the political science department chair at UNC Chapel Hill. He says the U.S. has had a presence in Syria since the end of the Obama administration.

As part of a decades-long mission against ISIS, a mission that has been winding down in recent years. Operation Inherit Resolve, which has been ongoing since June 2014, which was a mission aimed at fighting ISIS in Iraq and in Syria. Bobbitt says the strikes also support the administration's approach at being tough on crime and terror on the global stage and at home. The Trump administration has focused quite a bit on terrorism as being something that's a concern to the United States and wants to demonstrate that the United States has a strong

response to terrorism. Professor Poppin says the administration is more focused on what's going on in the Western Hemisphere, specifically in Venezuela and has been actively moving more U.S. assets to the Caribbean, then over to the Middle East. In downtown Raleigh this evening, I'm John Dowding. ABC 11, eyewitness news. Well, John, thank you. Meanwhile, tonight, sources say the U.S. Coast Guard is intercepting another sanctioned vessel in international waters off Venezuela. Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam confirmed the seizure in a post on social media, saying there was Department of Defense support for the pre-dawn action that was carried out by the Coast Guard.

She said the tanker had last made port in Venezuela. The operation was carried out by the same type of elite tactical operations team that boarded an oil tanker just 10 days ago. Venezuela President Nicholas Maduro is calling the U.S. actions criminal piracy. The Maduro ally, Russia, says the U.S. is now threatening international shipping in the Caribbean. We've always expected them to provide rhetorical support for the Maduro regime. The U.S. military has now also conducted 28 strikes on alleged drug boats killing more than 100 people. The Trump administration has yet to provide any public evidence of drug smuggling. Well, still to come, a new batch of Epstein files have been released.

However, many of the answers people are looking for are still not there. We've got that story for you just on the other side of this break. And if you haven't done your holiday shopping just yet, you are not alone. We are talking with some last-minute shoppers still looking for that perfect Christmas gift. And here's meteorologist cruise media in the back with a look of our tips tonight. Well, most of us have cooled down to the upper 30s to around 40 degrees. But what if I told you in your seven-day forecast, there's actually a day. with 70 degree temperatures in that seven day.

We'll take a look at it on the other side of this break. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. Well now at 11, North Carolina's Lombie tribe is planning a big celebration after gaining full federal recognition. The tribe sharing this on Facebook saying it plans to host a celebration in January alongside community partners. Now earlier this week, President Trump signed a $900 billion. defense bill into law, giving the Lumby tribe federal recognition. This means tribal members will get federal benefits, including health care and education. The state of North Carolina recognized

the Lumby tribe back in 1885. Meanwhile, the DOJ has released new Epstein files, but much of what many expected is still not included. The two new batches of files followed the initial release on Friday. The documents include mostly unsealed grand jury transcripts from the Epstein and Galain investigation. Tonight, here's ABC's Aikajji with the latest. The Department of Justice posted two more batches of Epstein files on its website today. The latest release includes the grand jury testimony from April 2007. In it, a 21-year-old woman describes how Jeffrey Epstein recruited her at age 16 and other underage girls for illicit massages at his Palm Beach mansion. Her name is redacted from the files.

Sources tell ABC News Friday's release represents less than half of the department's files on Epstein and includes never-before-seen records from the investigation and thousands of photographs. Many are heavily redacted and was released without context. President Trump had a long-standing friendship with Epstein. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wilde says Trump's name appears in the files, but not doing anything awful. Trump says he and Epstein eventually had a fong out. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. And I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.

ABC's Pierre Thomas spoke to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who also served as the president's criminal defense attorney. Well, every document that mentions President Trump, every picture of him, every video, every bit of information related to him in these files be released today or at some point in this process. Assuming it's consistent with the law, yes. So there's no effort to hold anything back because there's, the name Donald J. Trump. Friday's release also includes some never-before-seen images of Bill Clinton and Epstein together. The former president has not been accused of any wrongdoing. The White House chief of staff told Vanity Fair that there is no incriminating information about Clinton in the files, saying Trump was wrong about that. Clinton's spokesperson releasing a statement in part saying

this is about the White House shielding themselves from what comes next or from what they'll try and hide forever, saying that Clinton cut Epstein off. for his crimes came to late. The DOJ says more documents are coming, but for now, many of the answers people are looking for are still not there. Ica Jocchi, ABC News, New York. Well, Ardou Airport is filling the busy holiday travel rush,

the airport sharing. It's already saying record-breaking numbers, and it expects even more passengers over the next few days. So if you are heading to the airport, you'll want to be ready. According to Fly Nowhere, there have been more than 100 delays today and four cancellations, more than 8 million people are expected to fly for the Christmas

holiday. And if you're flying, here's the holiday season, some reminders from the TSA to pass along to you. Have all of your important documents like your ID, your passport, as well as your boarding pass ready for agents. Avoid packing liquids, aerosols, and gels in your carry-on bags. And if you're traveling with gifts, try to wait to wrap them so TSA doesn't have to unwrap them. And most importantly, try getting to the airport earth. so you can be prepared for long lines. Meanwhile, AAA says close to 110 million people will drive to their destination this holiday. AAA is recommending leaving early, very early, or late at night to avoid traffic.

The lightest traffic days are expected to be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. And if you are driving, gas prices, if you have not noticed, they're much cheaper compared to last year. The average cost here in North Carolina, $2.65. cents down some 18 cents from last year. Well, many people are already enjoying the holiday season, and with Christmas just less than a week away, time is quickly running out to find the perfect gift for the people on your list. So today, the Saturday before Christmas, it's known as Super Saturday.

Well, it's the second busiest shopping day of the holiday season, and shoppers across the triangle are making the most of it. Our Bianca Holman has more tonight from shoppers. Just wrapping paper. I got some I got some face wash, which I needed. Before the stockings are hung with care, Catherine Yocum is one of many securing the final items before Christmas, braving the crowds here in the aisles.

Not too bad. Everyone seemed to be pretty well behaved. Some shoppers say they find some of the best deals, the longer they hold out. The National Retail Federation reports 158.9 million consumers planned to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas. So now it's named Super Saturday. That figure is up for more.

157.2 million shoppers last year and surpassing the previous record of 158.5 million in 2022. Well, we're expecting a ton of guests to be shopping last minute deals. We have plenty in store for them. Big box stores offering big deals during what they call peak week. Some stores like Target telling eyewitness news they're hosting weekend in-store toy demos and closing at midnight to reach as many of Santa's helpers as possible. You would not be surprised how many people come in and they're like, I don't know.

I need to find X for a three-year-old or it's my cousins, nieces, nephews, someone. So if you have a question or if you don't know what to buy, I promise you we will help you figure that out and make your holiday. Shoppers are so lively and quick on these last critical shopping days, ensuring St. Nick can get straight to work. In Raleigh, Bianca, Home, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Or Bianca, many thanks. If you could, it'd actually be a very Merry Christmas for someone

if they win tonight's Powerball lottery, The jackpot currently sits at a staggering one and a half billion dollars. So if you have your tickets, go ahead and grab them because we're going to name off these winning numbers to you. Those numbers, four, five, 28, 52, 69, and the power ball is 20. Nobody's won the grand prize in September when two tickets split a $1.7 billion jackpot. All right now, results for tonight's drawing are still pending, so we should know sometime tomorrow if anyone matched all. of those numbers. So good luck to you if you happen to have bought a ticket today. And for anyone who is here thinking that we might get a white Christmas, spoiler, we are not. It's

not even going to be cold on Christmas. What are going to be in the 60s, I think you said, right? Yeah, 60s on Christmas. But I also mentioned that was the 70 degree temperature and the seven day forecast. Yes. And so I know people are probably itching to know when that is. I'm just ready to wear shorts to Christmas. Come on somebody. Yeah. So we're extending our warm season here. It was a cold starts at the month. But let's Let's take a look at not only the next seven days but the next 10 days and see where temperatures are trending. So we've got one below average day in the next seven. That's going to be Monday and that comes after tomorrow's cold front drops those temperatures.

But look at the tipters just climbing, climbing, climbing to the point we're going to be in those low 70s by the time we get into Friday. And then we slowly come down and by the end of next week into the following week, that's when we could actually see below average temperatures once again. But let's take a little bit of a deeper dive here into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So each of those days will be in the middle to upper 60s. It's obviously going to be fairly warm for this time of the year, much above average, but it's also going to be dry and it's not going to be super windy. So if you have any outdoor plans on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, at this time, I would plan to keep those outside.

It's looking like the weather's going to cooperate with us pretty well. For tonight, though, it is going to be a bit cooler. Tipters are in the 30s as we look live into Fayetteville. That's our self-help sky cam on 100 Hay Street and downtown. And first alert predictor shows that for most of the night, we're going to stay clear. So tipters will be in those 30s as we start out the day tomorrow. You wake up with a lot of sunshine. It's obviously chilly, so grab a jacket before stepping out the door.

And then here comes our front. So you notice how those clouds increased very quickly. That's the front moving in. And although it's a dry front, we will get quite a bit of cloud cover. That's going to knock our tipters down for the second half of the day. And then we'll start off pretty chilly again as we go into Monday. They start off in the 20s and will rise only into the upper 40s to around 50 degrees by the time we get into Monday afternoon. So to recap tomorrow, the coldest part of the day, obviously in the morning, that's when you're going to want the jacket for the afternoon with tipters making it into the low 60s.

You could probably just get away with long sleeves, but keeping in mind with the clouds, obviously no direct sunshine shining on you. It's not going to feel all that warm, but we will see the sun return and that's going to come back in full force as we go into Monday as high pressure slides over us. So that's going to keep our winds out of the north. That's why Monday's a little cooler. But once that high pressure pushes off to our east, our winds turn out of the southwest. And that's the start of our warmup as we go into Tuesday. So tipters then only in the low 60s, we're going to continue to see those rise as we go into the middle of the week. So to recap here, tonight is chilly.

Tipters go down into the 30s, but most areas stay above freezing, especially from the triangle to the north. And then tomorrow, the coolest spots will be across our northern counties. Henderson and Roxborough will see upper 50s. Most of the rest of us will be in the low to mid-60s for highs. Your first alert, ACU weather seven-day forecast. This shows that tipters push into those middle to upper 60s to the middle of the week. Notice how much dry weather we have in this forecast. Honestly, the next seven days are looking pretty good.

The only rain chance I would caution you of is a possibility of a light shower on Tuesday. That's just a very isolated thing. Aside from that, Friday, low 70s, feeling more like spring. And we'll keep that warmth going into next weekend as well. next Saturday, highs in the upper 60s. That is looking pretty good with the high 60s, mid to high 60s, the 70s in there. So thank you for this Christmas gift, Cruz.

I appreciate it. You know, you didn't have to. People usually, you know, only tell us when the weather's bad, you know. So somebody thanks me at this point. I just embrace it. Well, thank you. Merry Christmas, so. Thanks, Cruz.

Yeah, you got it. All right, look, coming up all new, Santa Claus making a special delivery in the triangle today with the help of some local paratroopers. We're talking about Operation Toy Drop. We'll take a look at the big event, delivering toys to military families. Welcome back. New tonight, Christmas came early for some families in Wake County. Thousands of toys dropped from planes flying over Southern Wake Regional Air Park in Fukuave Arena, Santa dropping down with the help from some paratroopers from the veteran group delivering gifts for families of military vets and first responders.

The annual event organized by Raleigh-based nonprofit U.S. Veterans Corps. Also in Wade County, the Carey alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi hosted their annual shop with the Kappa event at the Walmart on Kildare Farm Road. The fraternity hosted more than 120 kids and gave each of them a gift card worth $150 for a shopping spree for whatever they wanted in the store. However, the only requirement was the kids had to get at least one item for a loved one. And the Kappa Foundation of Keri started this event back in 2017 with only 17 families, and they say, Now they are grateful to be able to give back to a community that they value so much. This is what we at the Capital Foundation of CAR are all about. We're all about supporting our community, helping somebody that may not have an opportunity

to do this for themselves. You can see smiles on kids' faces, love, joy, this is what it's all about. It's an opportunity for us to give back to the community, an opportunity for community to come together, right, to bless one another. And that's one of the things that we pride ourselves on. It's not just what we're giving back, but we're also what the community is giving back. Well, this was the eighth year of the event. And looking ahead to tomorrow, the town of Morrisville will hold its menorah lighting.

The ceremony symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness, a message that resonates universally and captures the spirit of Hanukkah. It's the final event of the Light Up Morseville series, and it's happening at 5.30 p.m. at the Indian Creek Trailhead. All right, let's go ahead and talk sports for that. The hardest working sports anchor in the triangle by Kate and Roderson here. And look, we were talking about it earlier, just a tough break for the men, Duke basketball team and how they play tonight up at MSG. Usually they have so much success at MSG.

There's always a lot of Dukeies up in the New York area. But tonight was one of those nights where they were tested down the stretch. Tech trailed by 17 points. And Duke just didn't have enough juice in the tank going down. We're talking Duke hoops, UNC hoops, a little bit of NC State and Carolina Hurricanes when we come back with sports. Thank you. We're going to be. I'm going to be.

Thank you. We're going to be able to be. We're going to be able to be. We're going to be able to be. I'm going to be able to be. We're going to be able to be. I'm going to be. I'm going to be able to be.

I'm going to be. We're going to be able to be. We're going to be. We're going to be able to be. I'm going to be. So, All right. All right, well, still ahead, and I-Wenness News exclusive Raleigh Firefighters

speaking with us about what it was like for them. to respond to the fire at the Raleigh Convention Center a few weeks back. If you can believe it, two of those firefighters were actually rookies just out of the academy. You're going to want to stick around for that. Plus, funding cuts at UNC impacting buildings focused on global studies. What we're learning about the plan of closure of the university's six area centers.