ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 9am - December 21, 2025

Episode Date: December 21, 2025

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Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, breaking stories from overnight and this morning, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. Good morning, Carolina. I'm Bianca Holman. It's Sunday, December 21st, this morning on eyewitness news. The Lumby tribe celebrates federal recognition, more on the plans to celebrate and the new benefits for the tribe. Plus, investigators, they're searching for a cause of the deadly jet crash that happened in Statesville. We've got new details this morning. And the Department of Justice releases never before seen Epstein records the questions that remain about that investigation. Let's go ahead and take a live look at the Raleigh-Skyline.

Looking pretty beautiful today on the first day of the winter solstice. Let's go ahead and check in with first meteorologist. Quaylon Murphy, in for Stewart, in for Steve Stewart this morning. How you doing, Quaylin? Dawn, just fine. We're looking at some great weather to kick off this morning. Your final hours of fall underway. Winter rise officially at 10.03 with the solstice. 60 degrees are high temperature today for most of us. There will be some spots in the upper 50s. We do have some clouds on the way with the front, but no rainfall. So again, the solstice happens at 10.03. That's when the sun's rays are directly over the tropic of Capricorn. Shortest daylight hours today, longest nighttime hours. But of course, from this point forward, we'll start to gain more daylight gradually. We're starting to see more cloud cover working towards our region now. That's going to take over through the afternoon hours. Here's a live look from Durham where it's 41 degrees. Pretty light winds overall as well.

Temperatures still in the 30 south of the triangle, 33 Sanford-Urwin, actually Chapel Hill, 38 degrees, 43 in Roanoke Rapids, Siler City, 34. We're at 46 degrees right now in southern pines. For the most part, warmer than this time yesterday around the triangle and north. It's going to turn a little breezy today with that cold front, but again, no rainfall in the forecast, so dry conditions. We'll be in the upper 50s at 2 o'clock, mainly cloudy, still at 6 down.

the 50 degrees and skies will start to clear out later this evening and tonight so we'll go from the 40s at 10 o'clock down into the 20s late tonight as this cold air back to the west starts to work in as cold high pressure builds in so your first alert monday morning will be a whole lot colder down into the 20s below freezing for all of us just a spotty shower tuesday in the forecast with high temperatures near 60 degrees and tuesday marks the day where temperatures start to climb again our warming trend will take us right into the christmas holiday highs mid to upper 60 not quite record highs, but we're going to get close, even warmer to end the week. We'll talk more about that coming up in my full forecast right now. Bianca, back to you. All right. Quaylin, thank you. The Department of Justice releasing two more batches of Epstein files, adding to those shared on Friday. The latest documents include unsealed grand jury transcripts from the investigation to Jeffrey Epstein and Galane Maxwell.

The Justice Department says more records are expected, but many questions remain unanswered. Here's ABC's Johnny Fernandez. The Department of Justice posted two more batches of Epstein files on its website. The latest includes the grand jury testimony from April 2007. In those records, an individual identified as a 21-year-old woman describes being recruited by Jeffrey Epstein when she was 16, along with other underage girls, for illicit massages at his Palm Beach Mansion. Her name is redacted from the files. Sources tell ABC News that Friday's release represents less than half.

of the department's files on Epstein and includes never-beforeseen records from the investigation and thousands of photographs, many of which are heavily redacted and was released without context. President Trump had a long-standing friendship with Epstein. White House Chief of Stab, Susie Wiles, says Trump's name appears in the files, but not doing anything awful. Trump says he and Epstein eventually had a falling out. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert. ABC's peer, Thomas, spoke to deputy attorney General Todd Blanche, who also served as a 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 before his crimes came to light. The DOJ says more documents are expected, but for now, many questions remain unanswered. Johnny Fernandez, ABC News, New York.

Johnny, thank you. This morning we're learning more details about Thursday's tragic plane crash in Statesville. The crash killed seven people, including NASCAR legend, Greg Biffle and his young family. Biffle, his wife, Christina, their two children, and three others were on board. The private jet there. Officials say the assessment citation hit the ground short of the runway and then burst into flames. The NTSB confirmed that someone on the plane sent a text message to a family member on the ground saying emergency landing. There are, they are not aware of right now of any other Texas messages that may

have been sent from passengers. Investigators say they are still determining who was flying the plane. They 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 the cause of the crash and why the plane was making an emergency landing is still unknown. Early findings are expected to be released in a month or two, and investigators will definitely, of course, look at the maintenance records. The NTSB says they have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, but the jet was not required to have the flight data recorder,

so those mechanical details will not be available to investigators. North Carolina's Lundy Tribe is planning a big celebration after gaining full federal recognition. The drive shared this message on their Facebook page, saying it plans to host a celebration in January alongside community partners. Earlier this week, President Trump signed a $900 billion bill, a billion dollar bill into law, giving the Lumdied Tribe federal recognition. This means tribal members will get federal benefits, including health care and education.

The state of North Carolina recognized the Lumpty Tribe back in 1885. WakeMed issuing new restrictions on visitors as we enter the peak of respiratory illness season. Starting tomorrow, children younger than 12 will not. be allowed to visit patients in wait met hospital units, patient care areas, and waiting rooms. The restrictions taking effect at all wake med facilities. Officials say the move will help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses like the flu and RSV. Well, help is now on the shelf. A new way libraries are reaching young people. Plus changes are at UNC. What centers the university plans to shut down. And two rookie firefighters first big assignment. But first, good morning,

Hey Bianca, good morning. We have some clouds on the way with the cold front. No rain today. There's that sunshine for now, downtown. Out the door to 40s mainly, but highest today statewide, ranging from the 40s to the 60s. We'll talk about changes coming tomorrow in my forecast.

9.09, welcome back on this Sunday morning. I'm meteorologist, Kualan Murphy, and for meteorologist Steve Stewart, out the door with sunshine this morning. Here's a live look from Roxborough, a bit breezy too ahead of our cold front that's working through. We have temperatures that will climb to near 60 in the sand hills today.

I think we'll get to the upper 50s in the triangle. Low to mid-50s for our northern counties, you'll be the first to have that front passing through. While we're bright right now, those clouds will increase for us through late day. These evening hours will feature temps in the 40s. Closer to 7 o'clock will be in the low 40s at 10 tonight. Still hanging on to a few clouds, but clearing out overnight. You can see some showers approaching Atlanta, but no thunderstorm activity and dry conditions from South Carolina into Virginia. In the mountains today, those clouds are already building with the front.

temperatures ranging from the mid-40s to the low 50s and 60s for the coastline. They'll enjoy a bit more sunshine at the coast as the front starts to move closer. Front moves through for us today and it really drops our temperatures tomorrow. So we go from above average today to well below average tomorrow afternoon. 50 degrees the high. A lot of you will be stuck in the 40s tomorrow. That high pressure north of us on Monday slides offshore so that flow from the southeast resumes off the shore off the coast. And that's going to lead to a warming trend into Tuesday, high temperature 61 degrees. We do have a shot at a few spotty showers.

It looks like Tuesday morning at this point, wrapping up before noon on Tuesday, so it won't take over the whole day. Most of the country is rather quiet. We do have some rainfall, another storm system working in off the west coast, some more flooding concerns there, some snow developing in the Rockies.

A few snow showers around the Great Lakes and northeast, no major accumulation concerns. So not a bad travel day there. We're going to have some fog issues around the Gulf South Houston to New Orleans, probably for the next couple of hours. 79 in Tampa today, 80 degrees in Miami, 64 in Atlanta, mid-30s for Pittsburgh. New Orleans upper 70s this afternoon, Dallas down to 59 degrees in the rain and storm action will impact more of the west coast, the northwest.

San Francisco 62 with Seattle at 47, Phoenix up to 80 degrees as well. We're not going to get to 80 this week, but we're going to get into the 70s. We'll talk about those changes and that big warm up for the holiday when I come back. Bianca, back to you. All right, get to spend some time outdoors. What happening today? 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 happening at 5.30 at the Indian Creek Trailhead. Well, Carolina cuts six university research centers. We share what's behind the move. Plus, a safe place for teens where they can go for help. And the big first fire call for Raleigh Rookies. That story in two minutes. We are back here at 915 with eyewitness news exclusive. Raleigh firefighters who were first on the scene at the Raleigh Convention Center fire sat down to tell us about that night. As Amber Repenta explains for two of them, it was their first active fire just weeks out of the academy.

Two Raleigh firefighters, fresh out of the fire academy, hit the ground running, earlier this month when their first active fire call turned into a massive two alarm blaze at a downtown Raleigh landmark causing an estimated two million dollars in damage I got some messages the next day from family and friends that were like oh hey were you on this did you get to participate in I was so I got to tell them a little bit about it a lot of Academy mates reach out just to see what we did how we did it what we learned from it to be able to pass that on they say when the call came in training teamwork and trusted leadership took over I was

just waiting to get on scene and grab whatever tools I needed off the truck, waiting for directions for my captain and I trust him. We're a family, so that trust is built through training and through performing. So it's nice to be able to do that and continue to do that going forward. We're a family outside of our own family. So, I mean, we'll probably spend more time with each other than we do with our own families, and that makes a big difference. It just takes a large group of people coming together for a common goal, because none of us could have done it by ourselves or just with our company. It took all of us working together. The fire started December 1st on the

roof of the convention center. Investigators believe a mechanical malfunction near HVAC equipment caused the fire. There were no events in the building at the time, and no one was injured. The fire was brought under control in less than 30 minutes. Fire officials say that quick response likely prevented a much larger disaster. Captains credit a coordinated team-based attack. Everybody here is they really just want to serve other people. It may not be able to fix a situation, but if they can make it better than it was when they got there, that's kind of the goal. situation we had a big job ahead of us and everybody just stepped up and for these two rookies it's a lesson in teamwork they say they'll never forget we

have done a decent amount of high-rise training and it made it really easy to show up and just know what my role is going to be based off of how we arrive and so it just kind of reinforced that the importance of our training and to continue doing that we're family so that that trust is built through training and through performing. So it's nice to be able to do that and to be able to share that with them and continue to do that going forward. Amber Repenta, ABC 11, eyewitness news. Young people in crisis now have a new place to turn to for help in every Wake County Public Library. Thanks to a partnership with Haven House Services, all 23 library locations are now designated as

an official safe place site, offering immediate help and safety to youth in need. This initiative, which began rolling out in November, includes the installation of safe place signs and comprehensive staff training across library systems. Well, at UNC Chapel Hill, the school's six area study centers will officially close down. That's according to sources close to the situation. The Center for European Studies, the African Studies Center, the Carolina Asia Center, the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, the Institute for the Study of the Americas, and the Center for Islamic, Eurasian, and the Center for Islamic, and East European studies are all being closed. Many of these centers have been operating

at the university for several decades. These centers are the first of 14 total UNC centers and institutes to be cut because of funding. UNC Media Relations wrote in a statement to the Daily Tar Hill saying that quote, some programs have been identified to be sunset in 2026 with additional cuts still to be finalized. Well, looking forward to today

and looking for an activity to get out the house with the family, the Holiday Express at Pullen Park. is open after officials decided to postpone Thursday's event due to the weather. So people who got their tickets for Thursday are able to use them today. So much to do. Today's the day to do it. You know, again, families traveling in town and looking pretty good so far, but if you want to do something outside, today's the day.

Today is the day and really this week is the week. We have a really pleasant week of weather for family and friends visiting. Winter arrives officially at 1003 with the solstice, but it's not going to feel like winter around here with the one exception that'll be tomorrow. We go from 60 today down to 50 degrees tomorrow, which is below the average high of 54. But then temperatures take off again starting Tuesday into the 60s by Christmas even day. We're mid to upper 60s.

Check out Friday. The high temperature, 72 degrees. Just a few isolated chances for rain Tuesday in the morning. And then Friday, another shot into Saturday right now have that chance only 10 to 20 percent too. We have a front that's approaching right now from the west. And there's no rain with the front, but we'll have some clouds rolling in too. enjoying clear skies for now. Those front clouds, though, on the way into Persson County in Mecklenburg. Here's a view from North Hills right now. We have bright skies to take you through your Sunday morning.

Again, at least to start, temperatures in the 30s. Garner 32 right now, but carry 39 degrees. So we're seeing as spread up temperatures across Wake County, Wake Forest, 43. In Durham, it's 41 degrees, Chapel Hill, 38 degrees. 40s from Lewisburg to Oxford, Seidler City, 39 degrees. And south, we look at upper 30s in Lumberton, Fayetteville, 40 degrees and 43 in Clinton, Oldsboro, 46 degrees. It's going to turn a little breezy today as that front approaches. We'll keep the winds sustained at around 5 to 10 miles per hour. Some gusts could approach 20 miles per hour by early afternoon. 58 degrees at 1 o'clock today, 57 at 4.

Then to the 40s, we go by 7 p.m. We'll drop into the upper 20s, low 30s tomorrow morning. So what we have across the country is some troughing action happening for the plain states. That's why you see some snow showers to the north and east with some colder air settling in too. But that's going to be changing in the days to come. So this morning, temperatures mid to upper 50s, close to 60 to the south. We'll have those clouds passing through 40s in the forecast by 7 p.m. And then tomorrow morning, temperatures mid-20s to the low 30s with sunshine, but a colder start Monday morning.

By the afternoon, we'll see a few more clouds. Temperatures tomorrow struggle to get to 50 degrees, so chilly day to start the week. A few clouds passing into the area Tuesday with the warm front lifting north is a weak disturbance that could shoot us a few showers before sunrise Tuesday up until around 10 a.m. And then we'll get rid of the showers for the rest of the Tuesday, Tuesday, excuse me, and then temperatures will climb into the 60s Tuesday afternoon. So nice warming trend, and that's because a big ridge of high pressure takes over the entire country for the most part this week. And that's going to lead to a nice climb in temperatures as we move into the holiday.

60 degrees high today with some afternoon clouds and a little breezy at times dropping tonight into the upper 20s under clear skies. 50 degrees tomorrow 30s into Monday night by Tuesday, 61 degrees. The canes are back in action. We'll have some nice weather for the Canes game and head of tailgating as well. 66 degrees Wednesday with Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the high temperature up for 60s Friday. First day of Kwanza, very warm, pleasant 72. Maybe a stray shower Friday with the front coming through. That front will drop us into the 60s Saturday, but that's still above average by around 10 degrees.

Bianca, back to you. All right, Waylon, thank you. The fraternity gives back to more than 100 kids. Details about the holiday shopping spree with a purpose. It is 924 on this Sunday morning. In Wake County, the Carrie alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi hosted their annual shop with the Kappa event at the Walmart on Kildare Farm Road. And so the fraternity hosted more than 120 kids and gave them each a gift card worth $150 for a shopping spree of whatever they wanted in the storm. The only requirement was that the kids have to get at least one item for a loved one as well.

The Kappa Foundation of Carey started this event in 2017 with 17 families. They say they're grateful to be able to give back to a community that they value so much. This is what we at the Kappa Foundation of Kare 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. And so this was the eighth year of that event. Well, it could be a very Merry Christmas if someone wins the Powerball lottery jackpot. The jackpot currently sits at a staggering $1.5 billion. Here's a look at those winning numbers. So if you're just waking up, check your ticket right now. The numbers are four, five, 28, 52, 69, and 20. Nobody has won the grand price in September, when two tickets, but at $1.6 billion jackpot,

and as of right now, no one has claimed the winning ticket. The next drawing is tomorrow night. Well, it is almost time to refresh your home before the new year. How those in Fayetteville can clear out the clutter this holiday. Plus, big box stores pulling out all the stops for a holiday rush, and we've got new details on U.S. strikes against ISIS. Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, breaking stories from overnight and this morning, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news.

Here's a live look into downtown Durham. It's the winter solstice today, the shortest amount of daylight hours that we're going to have this year. Quailing up here teaching me a lot of things. Good Sunday morning, Carolina. It is Sunday, December 31st. I'm Bianca Holman. You're watching eyewitness news on ABC 11 and wherever you stream. The details of our top stories and the news ahead is just coming up in a few minutes. But first, again, let's check in with meteorologist Quailin Murphy. So today's the day to get out and do stuff, but you only got a few more, you got less hours than you did yesterday to do it. Yeah, daylight hours are the shortest today and nighttime hours are the longest today. But from this point forward, when we move up, we see those daylight hours increasing gradually.

So 60 degrees are high temperature today. That's going to be well above average. happen is clouds will increase for us today because we have a cold front on the way a little breezy at times too so the winter solstice is a moment in time that is 1003 and that will usher in the winter season that's when the sun's rays are directly over the tropic of capricorn right now we do have those clouds starting to work in from the west we're seeing more cloud cover around the triad and starting to push into person county alamson up towards mecklenburg county too with that cold front so that cold front will continue to advance today but without rainfall here's a live look from dorm it's 41 degrees we do have a lot of sun right now and those pretty light winds for the time being to a range of temperatures at this point from the mid thirties to the lower and middle 40s right now upper 40s in louisburg 41 in durham and raleigh 40 in chapel hill 37 degrees in sanford a big warm up for areas north of the triangle this morning a little breezy at times too with that front but notice the winds coming in from the north so we'll keep it a northerly flow through the day with the cold front working through a little chillier by the evening hours down to the 40s by 7 8 9 o'clock even at 10 we're at 43 degrees. But clearing out tonight and that cold air is going to take over. We're seeing the cold air already poised west of us. Chicago at 20. These are actual temperature 7 degrees in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We're not going to get that cold, but definitely colder than average. Your first alert to low temperatures in the 20s tomorrow. So I think you'll want that heavier coat to start the day and really a chilly day tomorrow in general for us. The high near 50 degrees. Just a spotty shower on Tuesday. That's one of the best chances for rain this week. High temperature near 60 degrees. And then warming up. into Christmas highs mid to upper 60s. You don't have to worry about any rainfall, but you may want to decide to do some things outside on Christmas Day because it's going to be really nice around here. The warm up continues through the end of this week. We'll talk more about that extended forecast. Just in a few minutes, Bianca, back to you. All right, Kuelan sounds good. Well, this morning,

we are learning new details about the retaliatory strikes carried out against ISIS and Syria. The Trump administration launching the strikes after three Americans were killed at the hands of an ISIS gunman last week. All of this happening hours before President Trump visited North Carolina Friday night. John Dowding spoke with the foreign policy experts in the Triangle about the actions, and he has more on what this could mean for us here at home.

So that threat, again, is something that I think many Americans are concerned about. 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 side 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. 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.

Naven 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. That was our John Downey reporting. And Professor Boppett says that the administration is more focused on what's happening in the Western Hemisphere, especially in Venezuela, and has been moving more U.S. assets there rather than to the Middle East.

Now, sources close with the U.S. Coast Guard, they say they are intercepting another sanctioned vessel and international waters off Venezuela. Homeland Security Secretary Christine Nome confirmed this 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 10 days ago. Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro calling the U.S. actions criminal piracy. Maduro's 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, many people already enjoying the holiday season, and with Christmas just days away, time is running out to find the perfect gift for the folks on your list. So this weekend is one of the second busiest shopping time periods of the holiday season, and shoppers across the triangle are making the most of it. Just wrapping paper. I got some, I got some face wash, which I needed. Before the stockings are hung with care, Catherine Yoakum 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 plan to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas. So now it's named Super Saturday. That figure is up from 155. 57.2 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. Well, Costco is speeding up checkout with a new system to cut long lines and coming up in sports. A tough night at the garden for Duke, a narrow win for UNC, and NC State looks for a statement. More on the late trouble for the canes. But first, good morning,

Great morning. No trouble here. We do have some clouds on the way with some sunshine for now. Here's a live look downtown Raleigh. Temperatures 30s and 40s with highs today in the 50s and 60s for most of our region. 40s in the mountains. I'll have your full forecast after the break. Hey coming up on 740 on this Sunday morning. Welcome back. I'm meteorologist. Quailan Murphy in for meteorologist Steve Stewart. We're starting to see those clouds work into Roxburgh right now. Still a decent amount of sunshine. A little bit breezy, too, as that front approaches, we're watching clouds continue to build in from the west, so expect mainly cloudy skies into the afternoon. No rainfall for us. The showers will stay to the south over parts of Georgia, even into parts of southern South Carolina, too. With the front working through, it may help to keep our temperatures in the upper 50s in the triangle for now forecast at a high of 60, but that all depends on the timing. 60 in the sand hills, low to mid-50s, northern counties today. And those clouds will continue to build through late afternoon. This evening, still holding on to partly cloudy conditions. down into the 40s towards 7 p.m. Low 40s at 10, but we will quickly clear out late tonight.

In the mountains, those clouds also building in now to a range of mid-40s to the lower and mid-50s for the most part on highs today. At the coastline, because of the limited cloud cover early on, you're going to see temperatures in the low-to-mit-60s. Front passes through, cools us down tomorrow. We go from above-average temps today to below-average temps tomorrow, the high, only 50. So most of the day will be spent in the 40s. So that high pressure north of us, and that slides offshore into Tuesday. So that's going to help warm us back up with that onshore flow. Low 60s on Tuesday.

I do have a chance for spotty showers in the forecast Tuesday morning, but that's going to be limited overall. Pretty quiet weather across the country. The exception is the northwest where another storm system is producing flooding concerns, flash flooding concerns. Some snow showers around the Great Lakes in the northeast and fog impacting areas along the Gulf Coast, from Texas to Louisiana could help to limit some travel or at least bring some minor impacts early this morning. Atlanta 64, few spotty showers, 47 in New York, 35 in Pittsburgh today.

Upper 70s in New Orleans, there's that rain out west, including San Francisco. Phoenix looks good, the high temperature around 80 degrees. Again, we're looking at some pretty nice weather to kick off the week. A little chilly tomorrow, but then Christmas Day, boy, oh boy, do temperatures climb? I'll first alert you when you'll see some 70s this week. That's coming up. Bianca, back to you. All right, Kuelan, thank you. As Christmas approaches, Vava residents can clear out old items using the city's holiday bulky item,

collection. Up to five items can be left at the curve for free by 6 a.m. on your pickup day. Larger or extra items that requires advanced scheduling and it costs just some money there. Well, cutting down on wait times, the big box store Costco is changing itself checkout lines. So the company is deploying new technology that allows employees to scan orders before shoppers reach the register. So customers only need to pay when they get up to the register. The move comes after Costco scaled back itself. checkout experiment and refocused on staff lanes. Well, we are digging into our local sports teams coming up this weekend.

And from billion dollar hits to streaming obsessions, 2025, rewriting entertainment. Duke basketball arrived at Madison Square Garden off to the best start since 2017. 11 wins and four ranked wins. The number three ranked Blue Devils had a chance to close out non-com. conference play with another ranked win. But number 19, Texas Tech had other plans. Duke was in control the first half. They led 46, 36 that break. Texas Tech rallied back. Hans Duke, their first loss of this season. Final score, 82, 81. U.N.C. got a big boost yesterday versus Ohio State. North Carolina earns a gritty win over Ohio State 7170. They were going at it. The Tar Hills are back

at the Dean Dome tomorrow night. ECU. Well, today, NC Statements basketball will take on Old Miss in Greensboro at 1 p.m. The pack have dropped a high major game to Texas, Auburn, and Kansas. Beating the Rebels is their last chance to impress before ACC play. Well, plus another tough night for the Carolina Hurricanes playing in Tampa after a three-point lead by halftime. The lightning came back, beating Carolina six to four. It's the second straight night. The Cains blew a three-year. goal lead and the team's first regulation loss since December 7th.

All right now for 2025, rewind, the movies, the TV shows that entertained us and had us talking and singing the whole entire year. ABC's Will Gans is here with more. When it comes to film and television, 2025 was, well, a history-making year at the box office. Zootopia 2 becoming the fastest PG-Rour. rated film to cross the billion dollar mark globally. You twins? No, we cousins. And sinners, starring two Michael B. Jordans,

became the highest grossing original horror film in U.S. history. And it was an out-of-this-world year for blue aliens, green witches, and chicken jockeys. But for every hot, there were a few knots. In fact, this year saw the worst October at the box office since 1997.

But there are still some cinema supernovas dropping before 2026. And on the small screen, We're a normal family, you'll see. We were torn at Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah. This is the way it's supposed to be. Team Alex or Team Robert. But laughter united us all, whether it was the studio or Abbott Elementary.

You know guys, I still think it's going to be a great year. And as Netflix counts down to the finale, counts down to the finale of Stranger Things, which earned the streamer its biggest English language TV debut ever. Welcome to the Ares Twil. Taylor Swift has fans doing a countdown of their own. With the end of an era docu-series

hitting all the right notes on Disney Plus. Big year for concerts. We have Beyonce, Chris Brown, Taylor Swibb, Brandy, Monica. Yeah. Get ready for next year. I'm taking a break from all the concerts. My pocketbook needs a rest. I'm going to go see Cardi. Cardi. Cardi. I'll go see her when she comes around. Banging Barty, right? This morning we're track of some great weather. Really a nice week ahead for the holiday week, too. Counting down also to the arrival of winter at 10.03 when the sun's rays are directly over the tropic of Capricorn. So really nice start to your day. 60 degrees. The high temperature today will be above average. tomorrow down the 50 but that's a short-lived cooling that we'll see temperatures back into the 60s to say 70s by Friday of this week I have a couple of rain chances in play Tuesday 20% in the morning is how it looks right now and then Friday an isolated chance to with another front that rolls through at the end of the week we're watching front number one today it's working closer this morning bringing some clouds along with it's already seeing clouds increasing for areas west of Raleigh right now including around Durham and person county up to Mecklenburg here's a live look from Roxburgh right now you can see those clouds

starting to build in and we'll see less sunshine here the next few hours. 38 degrees right now in Garner, spread up temperatures across the triangle, low 40s around Morrisville and Apex 41 in Durham-Fuqueve Arena. You're at 39 degrees Chapel Hill 41 in Clayton, Johnston County, 40 degrees up to 50 now in Lewisburg, 52 in Roxburgh, Oxford, 46 degrees, still in the 30s in Lumberton, 40 degrees in Fayetteville. It's going to turn a little breezy today, but once again with that front, no rain in the forecast, just more clouds and breezy conditions with temperature.

temperatures above average. 57 at 4 p.m. back to the 40s by 7 o'clock. Skies clear out into tomorrow morning. That's why we'll be a bit colder to start your day on Monday. Some trapping action across the central and eastern part of the country. That's why we're going to see a cool down into Monday, but then big changes coming into Tuesday and Wednesday. So we're looking at temperatures in the 50s by around lunchtime. Forties settle in by this evening. A few clouds still lingering, but then quick clearing behind that front, certainly tonight. Tomorrow morning, upper 20s, low 30s, out the door. And then by the afternoon, struggling to get to 50 degrees. A few more clouds are building in by late day Monday. And then Tuesday morning with the warm front

lifting north and a weak disturbance, we'll see that shot at a few showers early in the morning, 5, 6 a.m. I think they'll get underway with temps in the 40s. We'll be done with the rain before noon on Tuesday. And then the rest of the afternoon will spin clearing the skies and temperatures climbing into the low to mid 60s on Tuesday. So a bit of troughing in the pattern in the upper levels right now but ridging building over the central and eastern half of the country really most of the country will see that ridging and that's why temperatures will be talked about in a greater way in terms of that chance for some spots to break some records west of us 60 degrees are high today upper 50s for a lot of spots upper 20s tonight with clearing skies

and some cold air tomorrow morning so those upper 20s could feel more like the mid 20s early 50 degrees Monday afternoon or around about 33 Monday night 61 Tuesday with the warming trend right through Christmas even day. Upper 60s Thursday. The record high for Christmas Day is 75, so we won't be there, but we'll be closer. 72 Friday, first day of Kwanza, so a warm finish to your week

with our next front approaching. Once that front passes, it drops us into the 60s Saturday, but that's still above average by around 10 degrees. Bianca, back to you. All right, Kuelan, thank you. Taylor Swift pulls back the curtain,

grit, heartbreak, and the eras grind. More on our docu-series ahead. Megastar Taylor Swift revealing more of her life on tour in the docu-series, The End of an Era. And so, with the new episodes, dropping fans are being treated to an inside look at the superstar. Here's ABC's Will Gans with more on what fans could expect. One thing about Taylor Swift, she's going to keep it 100. I've never worked out this much in my life. It's horrible. On the land, the sea, and in episodes three and four of her end-of-an-a-era docu-series.

Men will let you down. The air is torn never will. For the first time, fans getting a look at the training it took to get Taylor physically ready for the three-and-a-half-hour show. Strong dislike. Two thumbs down. Revealing she covered eight miles of ground during each performance, including the backstage hustle, making each costume change happen. The quickish change lasting a mere 39 seconds. And then there's the now infamous gold reputation body suit.

Oh my God, and you have it! And speaking of her reputation era, Taylor opening up about her splits from Joe Alwyn and Maddie Healy for the first time. My personal life was hard. I went through two breakups on the first half of this door,

and that's a lot of breakups. Miss Americana taking that heartbreak and turning the tour into her prince. The show was. was what gave me purpose. Until Taylor's mom heard about Travis Kelsey and shifted into matchmaking mode. Ding, ding, ding, ding.

And I said, now how in the world am I going to get her to meet him or whatever? You said something to the effect of like, you got to start doing something different. Taylor reconsidering one of her own cardinal rules of dating. I've been very non-athlete because I'm not one. And I always just been like, well, what would we talk about? But when she meets Travis, sparks fly.

Somehow there's been this dynamic shift with Travis because it's shocking how many similarities we have towards our jobs. But it's our passion. We've been chasing this since we were little kids. And his appearance in her London show? I can safely say that that was, that was the loudest it ever got on the Airs tour. Rivaled only by this Grammy-winning guest star. Please, please, please, don't look on my. Sabrina is just like a shooting star.

All right, that was Will Gans reporting. Well, new restrictions at WakeMed, why the hospital system is limiting visitors this season. Plus, big plans ahead for the Lumdy tribe in January after gaining federal recognition. And new Epstein files released by the DOJ, what we're learning this morning coming up next.