ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 11pm - December 23, 2025

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

Eyewitness News at 11pm - December 23, 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Right now at 11, the last minute holiday travel rush is officially underway. Airport Boulevard seeing heavy traffic throughout the evening as people flock to RDU ahead of Christmas Eve. That was the scene earlier tonight. Fortunately, traffic moving fine at this hour. Thanks for joining us for the news at 11.

I'm Sean Coffey. Steve and Lauren are off tonight. The good news is if you're planning to travel tomorrow, temperatures will continue to feel more like spring than winter, but you could run into some rain showers later this week. We have team coverage tonight of the holiday travel and the weather. John Downing will join us in just a moment. We begin with chief meteorologist Don Twentaker.

Don, if you're traveling tomorrow by road at least, things not going to be too bad. It's looking great. We'll show it to you in just a moment. Good evening to you. nice out there as well live look at first alert Doppler net not seeing any rainfall out there will head out to RDU and check the current temperature right now 51 under a clear sky it's eight degrees warmer than it was last night at this time windsor west at three miles per hour

so let's talk about flying tomorrow if you're flying any to the major hubs Atlanta Denver New York Dallas all of them look good weather wise a wide variety of temperatures west coast is going to be inundated with a lot of rain now planes can land in the rain but it may delay some flights going in in the amount of traffic out in Los Angeles. A look at the nation and you can see all that rain, snow and the higher elevations out to the west of us. Maybe some rain and snow up through Chicago. Snow definitely through New England, but you could go 500 miles every direction and not hit any showers around here. Good day to take the roads weather-wise tomorrow.

We'll talk more about that. Nice warm air in tomorrow and a big cool down to first alert you about that's in the seven-day forecast. Coming up in just a bit, Sean. All right, Tom. We'll see you soon. Thank you. Millions of Americans will travel over the next week for their Christmas and New Year celebrations, including 3.7 million North Carolinians, according to AAA. John Downing joins us live above I-40 in Kerry. John, you've got to look at conditions at RDU this evening. How was it over at the airport? Well, Sean, as we said, we're just two days away from Christmas, and a lot of people are wishing they have their own sleigh like Santa right now, especially if you had a head out to RDU this evening. Now, we saw long traffic and wait.

getting into RDEU tonight with traffic backed all the way up to aviation parkway. The travel headaches hopefully ended before stepping into the terminal, though. We saw very few delays and cancellations this evening. But travelers we spoke to today say they're expecting bigger crowds over the next few days. I think before the holidays it's not so bad, but a lot of people are going out. So that everybody's getting ready to head out for Christmas Day and after Christmas. Now AAA says roughly 89% of travelers during the next week or so are going to be traveling on the road. So if that's one of you at home, make sure you're checking your car battery, make sure you're topping off all the fluids in your car,

and checking your tire pressure before you're hitting the road to go see your friends and family for the holidays. Live here and carry this evening, I'm John Douting. ABC 11, eyewitness news. All right, John, thank you. And now to a scam alert from the I-Team troubleshooter for those traveling over the holidays. If you're flying, the TSA issued an alert about the risk of what's known as juice jack. at USB ports, found at airports and other public spaces. This is where hackers can install malware at public charging stations in order to steal your personal information.

Instead, it's advised you bring your own portable battery packs to charge your devices, and another threat this holiday is public Wi-Fi. We really encourage, you know, people to not use those free Wi-Fi sites, or if you do, do not do anything with personal information, banking, anything like that. If you have to use free Wi-Fi, just keep it real surface level. The Better Business Bureau says hackers can set up fake, unsecured networks to steal your data leading to fraud to protect yourself while traveling, use your phones hotspot or wait for secure networks. New at 11, three people are heard after a shooting in southeast Raleigh. This is a live look at the scene over on Moonglow Drive.

This is off of Pool Road. Deputies with the Wake County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene around 8 to find an adult man and woman, each with a gunshot wound. Both were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. A second man was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle also with serious injuries. Deputies and investigators, you see them still on scene. They are trying to figure out what led up to the incident. At least two people are dead, 21 others injured and several missing after a fire and explosion at a Pennsylvania nursing home this afternoon. Emergency crews responded to the scene at the facility about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

A portion of the building reportedly collapsed. Several emergency crews from agencies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey respond. in New Jersey responded. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro saying first responders rushed to get the facility's elderly residents to safety. Authorities have not officially given a cause for the fire and explosion. However, the local utility said in a statement that an explosion occurred while crews were on site in the afternoon.

A Duke University Hospital nurses facing new charges accused of sexually assaulting a third patient. Court documents showed two of the incidents took place in May of this year, while the other happened earlier this month. 39-year-old Jomeil Tagato is facing a long list of charges, including sexual battery. Togato's nursing license was suspended last week. At last check, Togato was still on administrative leave.

A woman from Wendell taken into custody during immigration enforcement actions in Rale last month has been released from custody. 23-year-old Fatima Velazquez Antonio landed back at RDU this afternoon, reunited with her family just before Christmas. Jean Smith, Fatima's uncle, making the trek to Georgia last week in anticipation of her release, sending us this video of her walking outside the facility last night. Today he was by her side on the flight back to the triangle. Fatima first came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor from Honduras when she was 14 years old.

Despite holding work authorization as her asylum case was pending, she was detained during immigration enforcement actions, her case drawing widespread attention. I don't know why you say right now, but thank you for everything and old people. Thank you. Thank you so much. Fatima and her family are well aware that there is still a long process ahead as she works to gain her citizenship. Tonight, their focus simply remains on being reunited even more meaningful ahead of the holiday. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is suing to protect funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

It comes as the acting director threatened to refuse to fund the agency's operations. The CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to more than 205 million Americans in the 14 years it's been in operation. But without any additional funds, it will run out of money in January. North Carolina and other states work closely with the CFPB to win back money for people who have been treated unfairly by businesses and lenders. A.G. Jackson says the lawsuit is about making sure consumers don't lose an important why. watchdog that protects their best interests. The first black-owned children's bookstore in North Carolina will reopen next week after online threats forced it to close earlier this year.

Liberation Station originally opened on Fayetteville Street back in 2023, but shortly after opening, owner Victoria Scott Miller started receiving hate messages and death threats on the bookstore's phone ended social media pages. She made the tough decision to close in April, and now, thanks to more than $60,000 raised through a GoFundMe campaign, She's reopening the business in a new location on Hill Street near St. Augustine's University. Scott Miller says she believes this new location will be safer because of the community that surrounds it. That reopening is set for Monday.

Still to come at 11, the true holiday spirit on full display in Fuqua Verena, as friends, neighbors, coworkers, and even some strangers come together to help a Chick-fil-A employee in her late 70s pay for a desperately needed surgery. Plus, are you in the mood for some sweet holiday treats? show you the new local bakery cooking up Palm Dulce just in time for Christmas. And Don, joining us right now with a check of the temperatures outside. Don? Let's go back to that video of the sweets.

That looked pretty good. I'm just saying. Around here tonight, we are dry, but we do see some warmer air headed in tomorrow. We'll talk about that and a big cool down to first alert you about the seven-day forecast. Up next. A Willow Spring family celebrating a Christmas miracle tonight, the matriarch. of the Walter's family is over 75 years old and still works full-time. But when she needed help, the community stepped up in a big way.

ABC 11's John Dowding has more. I love people. I have a joy in my heart for people. God has given me that joy. Peggy Walters is well known in Fugueva Arena, but everyone calls her Miss Peggy. People that come there are so nice and nice to me and joyful and they'll hug me and kiss me and tell me how glad they are to see me and where have I been? She grew up in Willow Spring, and for the last 10 years has made a name for herself working at the Chick-fil-A in Fugue.

She's known as someone always stepping in to help others and for bringing in coloring books for kids. They say she's a total rock star. She's the total package. She's a great Southern Christian lady. But now Miss Peggy is the one who needs some help. She fell recently, and her doctors say she needs a full knee replacement. Even though she's in pain every day, the over 75-year-old has not.

stopped working full-time. I don't know how long I'll be out of work and since I'm the main one paying the bills. I think most of my surgery will be covered by insurances, but my bills will be coming in and there's nobody to pay them. Ms. Peggy works to support her daughters who were disabled. Her daughter Jen started a fundraiser online to raise money to help them afford the surgery and their expenses. Within 24 hours, they raised over 16 hundred $100. It was just a Christmas miracle, just that people were willing to, you know, stretch their pocketbooks this time of year. While Miss Peggy is appreciative of her Christmas miracle, she says she just wants to be in tip-top shape again, not for herself, but to be able to

help others instead. I feel like God's going to give me the strength to be there with you. All you got to do is just let me know. In Willow Spring, I'm John Dowding. ABC 11, eyewitness news. Community looking out for another. What a great start. The volunteers at the Durham Rescue Mission worked to spread the holiday cheer with their annual toy drive and Christmas dinner today. Kids received bikes, games, electronics, and clothes. Families also received groceries. The community event is truly a labor of love that starts days in advance and continues right up until the start of the event. Volunteers showed up early this morning preparing pounds of turkeys and ham.

In the end, more than 3,000 meals were served and 5,000 toys passed out. We didn't have to buy anything to come here. literally takes time. So take it out time out of our day and putting our life on pause to come out and celebrate and support someone else. It means a lot to us. It warms my heart knowing that people think of us as a place to come where if I need help, I can go there. They will help me. I also had volunteers out here in the rain, in the dark, opening cans of vegetables and working hard to help their neighbor. And just my heart's overflowing right now. It is the 48th year that the rescue mission has served this community, Christmas meal.

A Christmas is still more than a day away, but for many Latinos and Hispanics in the triangle, the real celebration happens tomorrow on Christmas Eve, known as Noce Buena. In the days leading up to the festivities, families begin preparing for the big meal. One staple on the dinner table is Pondulce or sweetbread. The tradition of Pondulce originates from Mexico, and there are many varieties, with the most popular being the cancha, named for its seashell. like design. It features a soft brioche-like base topped with different colors. Local Mexican home to bakeries in Fayetteville meantime are busy meeting the demand. Sandra Torres says it's

one of her top sellers. It's a Mexican pastry that each single one has different taste, different flavor. Some of them like conchas are the most popular and the piggy ones. Those are the top sellers. Everybody's looking for conchas. We have chocolate conchas, strawberry, vanilla. calchas and all of them have their special flavor and while Pandolse is enjoyed year round it is extra popular this time of year see Don there you go you got to see your sweet treats again you were asking for him earlier right see look pretty good yes it does it looks delicious I something I hadn't tried before you haven't they're really good I highly recommend them and if you're looking for some some good news we're going to have

some pretty nice weather here for Christmas absolutely we got a great Christmas shaping up around here. Christmas Eve looks wonderful too. It does get cold though on Friday. We'll talk about that right now. Let's show you that seven-day forecast powered by Act 70. Tomorrow, sunshine, lots of it. Upper 60s Christmas Day. More clouds working through on Christmas day. Friday, a backdoor cold front drops in and it will drop the temperatures with highs only in the low 50s. We recover nicely Saturday into Sunday and very cold next week. Live look on our first alert Doppler net tonight scanning the skies. We are dry across our part of the So we take a live look on the mutual tower sky came into downtown Durham right now, 51 degrees clear skies on a west wind at three miles per hour.

Take it a look at temperatures Maniota Murphy tonight and it is warm across the state. One of those rare nights where it's 49 out in Manio, it's a sour. You can see that four and nine there. Look it out in Boone 52. So it's actually warmer in the mountains tonight is that warm air works in from the west. 54 in Asheville, 56 in Charlotte, 53 in the triad, 50 up in Chase City, 51 down at ECU, and 54 out of Georgia in Lumberton. Let's show you what's happening with the latest satellite radar composite, and we've got clear skies tonight. Temperatures across the region will be in the 40s. Notice what happens tomorrow, though. Here's the clear air right now.

We zoom it out, look back to the west tonight. A little bit of light shower activity going on here. It's not much. Most of the air from New York all the way back. to Omaha down into Houston, Texas tonight is clear and that moisture will stay away. Your first alert predictor forecast model. So we go into tomorrow. We'll see one or two high clouds to start today. Look at the temperatures right away. We're in the 50s. Our normal high for this time of year is 53. That's where we're starting tomorrow. And then we'll see those numbers up around 70 degrees in the sand hills, upper 60s through the triangle. Just a beautiful day on tap across the region. As we go into 11 o'clock tomorrow night, if you're headed to a midnight

mass or Christmas late night service. Temperatures will be in the 40s, so maybe a light jacket as you head out. Now the model does try to develop an isolated sprinkle overnight. It wouldn't be much, but you could see a stray shower around to start today on Christmas, but then we'll see a mix of clouds and sunshine throughout the day, and we're still in that warmer air. Let's look ahead, though, because we watch this frontal boundary set up up here to the north, and this is something that we will see occasionally where the cold air just pools up here to our north and east and it's so strong it will shove to the south it's what's called a back door coal front usually the fronts work from the west to the east this one's

going to work from the east to the west and it's going to drop us into the 50s on Friday it doesn't stick around long it's not very strong all this warmer pooled up down here we'll push back in we'll go from 52 on Friday back to 70 on your Saturday forecast for tomorrow 70 mostly sunny very warm Winsselstay light out of the northwest 5 to 10 miles an hour. Your seven-day forecast showing 67 on Thursday, Friday. That cold front drops through for the first evening of Kwanza, 52. Saturday looks great for any Cain's tailgating you want to do. 70 degrees.

Sunday is 65. Mondays when the cold air starts to work back in. 49 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, most of the day will be in the 30s. And Sean, the long-range forecast actually showing us around freezing. possibly as we head toward the new year. So you can whip out the shorts for the next couple of days, if you please, and then it's going to be pretty chilly. Then it's back to the winter close as we start 2026. All right, Dom, thank you. You bet. Still ahead. A look back at some of the defining moments of 2025. Good morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts giving us a preview of her upcoming special

the year 2025. Stay with us. As we wind down the year, ABC News is looking back at the biggest breakout stars here. heroes and newsmakers that had everyone talking. Joelle Gargulo got to sit down with Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts to ask her about the year and special, the year 2025. 2025. 2025 was. Ooh.

Oh. Wow. From trends, many of us don't quite understand. To pop culture obsessions. Beyonce, Beyonce, Beyonce. Beyonce. Hey, pop demon hunters. Wild celebrity trials.

if they said baby oil one more time and beautiful love stories. Taylor got engaged. I'm like doing a happy dance all day for her. It's been quite the year. And before we say goodbye to 2025, Robin Roberts has taken a look back at the most iconic and memorable moments

on the year 2025. I look forward to this every single year because the years go by so fast. The years go by so fast, and that's how the year goes by. The program, it's fast-paced. And then finding a way, being real, Because this was a year, but finding the light in it as well.

Okay, what were some of the moments that you were like, wait a second, that happened? Oh, boy, so, of course, I remember the fires, remember that was right after the first of the year. Recently what we went through with people going through the shutdown, but what we also saw, remember that father from Pittsburgh who started that pantry in his front yard? May God prosper and bless your food pantry. So again, in the darkness, you saw such light people finding a way to. mind together. What about those headlines that made you say, what? Six, seven?

What is it? What is it? Would you please tell me? Would someone please tell me what that is? Six seven! That was one that really got me, but also I love the resurgence like of Dancing with the Stars. Robert and Whitney! But that also showed you that people just, they want to be at home and feel good and be uplifted.

But I love what you just said because we all want some good news. And there was, there was so much of it. What made you personally smile this year? That Taylor got engaged. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Are you a Swifty? I'm a Swifty.

I'm a show girl. Let's end with wishes for 2026. We're talking about how we love even years, and I wanted to be an even year. Not rock and roll, a nice even year. Let's make a 2025, get out of here. Where I ought to. I'm done with you. Jawalgar Jullo Channel 7, Eyewitness News.

The year 2025 airs Monday, December 29th at 8 p.m. here on ABC 11 and streaming the next day on Disney Plus and Hulu. And then you can join us next Wednesday night as we ring in the new year. Tune in for Dick Clark's New Year's Rock and Eve with Ryan C Crest, the fun starting at 8 on New Year's Eve right here on. We're going to be. Thank you. We're going to be able to be. We're going to do. We're going to be able to do.

And so on. Thank you. We're going to be. I'm going to be. BOR. BOR. BOR. BOR.

BOR. BOR. I'm going to be able to be. I'm going to be. You know, I'm going to be. I'm going to be

We're going to be able to be. A tough for the Carolina Hurricane, Sean Coffey, this team has three days off. They'll be back on Saturday to play the Detroit Red Wings, but their confidence, they need to boost it. They're mental, they need to boost it. Unfortunately, just another loss that can't happen on this team. Yeah, night to forget for the Cains for sure. but a few days to regroup, as you said, Cabe, thanks for the latest.

Well, that's going to do it for us for tonight. Thanks for watching. Jimmy Kimmel, Live is up next. Have a great night. Thank you.