2:00 in the morning and then temperatures dropped throughout the day after the front came through. lets look at is what happening right now outside and it is a whole lot of nothing on storm scan three which we are okay with. we have had a lot of, green to track here over past few days and we are finally clearing things out. you can see storm scan three looking clear and fantastic right now. temperatures feeling a little cooler then this time yesterday, certainly but still not bad at all for late december. it is 50 at the the airport. forty-six in reading, allentown and also down in millville, 44 at lancaster. you can see current wind are still strong but gusts are not as bad as they were but we have sustain wind of 15 miles an hour, 21 miles an hour at the moment in mount pocono. heading out on this christmas night heading to a christmas dinner, family members house, heading out on the town, to go out to eat we have got temperatures in the 40's, not too bad, above average for this time of the year, by 10:00 p.m. we are at 43 degrees and that is our

typical high for a daze in late december such as christmas day. enjoy this above average christmas night and we have your forecast for rest of the who will will day weekend and sneak peak at new years eve coming up in just a few minutes, jessica, back to you. christmas is here and catholics throughout the area marked the the holiday by gathering with friend and family at local churches. >> ♪ >> the sound of the holidays, filling the halls at cathedral basilica of saints peter and paul. archbishop chaput was there to take part in the midnight and noon masses. a somber message from pope francis as he delivered his christmas blessing to tens of thousands of worshipers at the the vatican. he spoke of a number of international issues such as recent terrorist attack at a pakistani school. he also prayed for peace in the middle east, africa and ukraine. this was his second christmas blessing since becoming pope.

president obama used his christmas daze message to remind americans of the sacrifices troops have made. he reflected on next weeks end of combat missions in afghanistan. >> we're able to gather with family and friend because our troops are willing to hug their good bye and step forward to serve. after a long day we can come home because they are willing to leave their families and deploy. >> volunteers at a shelter for philadelphia area in military veterans are making sure that local homeless vets get a chance to enjoy the holidays. "eyewitness news" reporter charlotte huffman has this story. >> reporter: at the philadelphia veterans house, homeless vets got a hot christmas dinner but many of them say what they enjoyed the most is the company. >> to be in the service and comradery that we have here and just like being in the family actually. it is wonderful. it is extended family from me. >> i'm around vets, people who understand me. we understand each other. we all have a common cause.

>> reporter: bridget gallagher is executive director of the non-profit. >> a holiday such as christmas where it is so important to have people around you that love you this is our opportunity to give them just that. a lot of these guys are coming off of the streets and being home less not having their families around them, this is something that they really look forward to throughout the the year. >> it means a lot. you go around town and see people standing around or sitting down who don't have a place to go or don't have a meal today it makes me grateful i have something here that is helping me, and i hope that some day i can return the help that they gave me. >> reporter: it is a volunteer driven operation with the vets helping vets. told they collect hundreds of coats and blankets for the clothes drive. and ed green says if it weren't for them he would be cold and hungry on the streets this christmas. >> we would be on the streets, yes. this is a have safer. >> reporter: so with a full stomach and bag full of warm clothes green headed back

outside on the streets to try to stay warm through christmas night. organizers expect by the time the day is over more than a hundred veterans will have passed through these doors and the hope is when they leave they will know that they have not been forgotten. charlotte huffman for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". american and christmas history come together in washington crossing. "eyewitness news" was there as dozens dressed in colonial costume boarded boats across the delaware river, a recreation, re-creation, of again george washington's 1776 crossing before the battle of trenton. the actors who come out every christmas say it is a rewarding experience. >> it is worth it. many of us have donated 20 plus years of our lives to do this every year because we believe in it. we believe in the history of it, we believe in teaching the public about it, and we want to make sure that this cities never forgotten, that this crossing by washington and his troops is never forgotten. >> organizers say that more people turned out this year

than last likely because of the nicer weather. after much debate over the sony hacking scandal the movie the interview is being shown in a number of theaters today. one of those theaters is in wilmington delaware and our justin finch was there. >> reporter: near none in stop ticket tearing at penn cinema christmas afternoon. movie goers put their holiday on pause to see the interview. >> if you had to take time off trip to see this movie. >> everybody talks about it. you know, all those kind of discussions, you know, it is because we're originally from chine, it is our neighborhood we're talking about. >> reporter: why see this movie? >> you know who. >> reporter: that is a dig at north korea the the communist nation blamed for e-mail hacks on sony pictures, the company distributing the interview. those hackers are said to be upset that north korea leader kim jong un, is featured as a target of the u.s. led assassination plot. >> you want to us kill the leader of north korea.

>> yes. >> what? >> reporter: do you think it is fun toy make fun of the assassination of the leader. >> it is not funny but but the actor themselves are funny. >> that is underlying theme here no one should be telling americans what they can or cannot see. >> reporter: on thursday the flick was available to stream or buy on line, on you tube, google play and xbox platforms. for weeks chains backed down showing hacker's threat of violence but after talks with sony penn cinema chose to run movie with extra security provided by wilmington police. >> movie goers in the big apple lined up to see the interview today as people flocked to theaters to see movies, sony ceo michael lenton took time to thank those who supported sony. >> it has been a long, difficult road for to us get here and i wanted to say how grateful i am to each and everyone of you.

we certainly had our setbacks but we never folded, we never stopped pursuing a wide as release as possible. it was essential for our studio to distribute this moviees specially given the assault on our business and our staff. this release represents our commitment to our film makers and free speech. >> the the interview is streaming on several on line sites. upper merion police make an arrest in the christmas eve hit and run, police say michelle simmons pulled up to the seasons 52 restaurant valet stan, a valet walk over to help her when she allegedly grabbed his cell even if out of his hand and sped away hitting another val wet her vehicle. that valet suffered head injuries. simons now faces several charges and is being held on hundred thousand dollars bail. the florida developer in line to buy former revel casino now wants some of his money back. lawyers filed court papers says the the property should only be sold for 87 million, not the 95 million runner up

bid he initially put up. a toronto based firm out bid him but backed out over a dispute. straub says the auction was unfair and he wants a judge to deduct a three million-dollar break up fee. still to come on "eyewitness news" a holiday tradition unlike any other, why this local santa is different than all of the others. >> reporter: animal shelter in north philadelphia is looking for holiday heroes, they say it opened christmas day, i'm syma chowdhry with that story coming up. it has been a nice christmas in the wake of the storm on christmas eve we have sunshine that returned today and will be sticking around will it stay warm though i'll have your full forecast when

"eyewitness news" at ronald mcdonald house in camden. hoffman family of jewish faith has volunteered providing breakfast and music after joseph hasman, dressed as santa, you know, the the past 14 years. he keeps doing it every year. each child from the 22 families in the hospital received gifts this morning. bring a whole family with us and it is, you know, these kids go through so much and their families go through so much, and, it is just one way of trying to make it easier for them. >> the ronald mcdonald house provides a home away from home for families whose children are in local hospitals with critical illnesses or severe injury. >> ♪ >> david cohen is spreading cheer at the children's

hospital of philadelphia. he visited patients and their families playing christmas songs and another few instruments. he spend his holiday performing at hospitals. holidays are not just for human plenty of pets are in need this time of the year. syma chowdhry shows us two shelters hoping to brighten the season for our four legged friend. >> reporter: these faces are looking to find a home for the holidays. shelter animals in the city are awaiting to be part of the new family. save me shelter in northern liberties wanted to make animals feel at home on christmas. >> it is a special treat today for animals. >> reporter: volunteers served home cooked meals for cats and dogs. >> we thought it would be great to have a party here today. >> reporter: pups enjoyed chicken and rice while cats feasted on a salmon dinner. >> chicken and rice is what they like and very well balanced. it will not make them sick. they can eat as much as they want. >> reporter: over past month folks donated treats and toys to bring holiday cheer for these animals.

>> we are so grateful for everybody who went out of their way this season for bets that have no homes. >> reporter: heading to north philadelphia ac t philly stayed opened hoping families will bring home new pets. >> we love families to view animals. hopefully they will select a new family member on christmas. >> reporter: act philly has plenty of cats and dogs to choose from. to celebrate, families were invited to make treats and get involved in shelter activity. >> we have a big open house where people can make treats, cat toys, coming together have fun take a tour of the shelter. >> reporter: one year-old allison gainy is spending her christmas making dog biscuits. she wants animals to feel loved on this special day. >> right here on the street and they have no homes, so i want to do everything i can for them get them out of here. >> reporter: if you are considering bringing home a pet both shelters will be opened friday morning. in north philadelphia, syma chowdhry for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". in nor folks, england the

royal attended the church service. the prince harry william and his wife kate. one year-old prince george did not attend, apparently kate cold a well wish are george would have been too noisy. former president hw bush remains in the houston hospital this christmas day. he was admitted after experiencing shortness of breath. family spokesmen says 90 year-old is to go well but didn't offer any other details. bushies oldest living former president and suffers from a form of parkinson's difficult sees. well, turned out to be a nice christmas day, sun returned and a merry christmas to our weather watchers and special christmas solute i will try to get through every single observation that was sent in here. 49 degrees in trenton, new jersey thanks to peter. he is reporting clear skies there thank you for that, peter. down toward cherry hill looking at collinswood and howell, who is reporting

50 degrees. doesn't sound too bad. down to delaware we will check with jason in middletown. he has been reporting 48 degrees. clear skies and merry christmas. heading further north, 47 degrees says jim windell, just reporting a few clouds in the sky. heading north we are looking at 43, up near perk so, check has your back, 43 with the clear skies there continuing west ward toward reading area we will check with dave, davis reporting 48 degrees and partly cloudy skies with a dew point of 28.8 degrees. and finally i think thinks last one we have got here we will check with allen matthews in burnville, he is reporting cooler 44 degrees there anal even has a comment cloudy, breezy, merry christmas to the cbs-3 forecasters. we got through all of you. thanks for send nothing your observations. if you love weather you can be featured in our newscast by becoming a weather watcher. sign up at cbs philly.com/watchers. lets look outside our our

window here in the city. sky cam three looking at ben franklin bridge from campbell's field. everything is looking calm, and bright. at least lights are bright here tonight. lights are bright on the slopes as well at jack frost big boulder. we have seen a few people coming through. we saw someone wiping out but they had a family member or friend to help pick them up and they went backup the mountain g job there let look at a time lapse, what a beautiful day. this is at henderson high school in west chester. no students but a lot of sunshine and sunset and now 43 degrees with the light breeze from the northwest. across the the region we will see peak wind gusts. we had strong wind today in pennsauken. 27 miles an hour wind reported at howard middle school. saint pius x in broomall 34 miles an hour. 37 miles an hour gust at new castle county airport and at dover air force base. but everything is quiet right now. excuse me. storm scan three shows front that came through yesterday is well out to sees sianni high pressure gaining a foot hold overhead as we head toward

rest of the week and upcoming weekend. temperatures still mild for this time of the year and normal high by the way is about 43, and we're still at 50 and sun has set, 47 degrees in trenton. forty-six in millville. forty-six in allentown. few more reporting wind gusts. we have 42 miles an hour wind, mount pocono and philadelphia add 45 miles an hour. wilmington 37 miles an hour wind there. and it was a very warm christmas. little misleading because our official high for this christmas day is 55 degrees. that is only 3 degrees shy off the record high, the warmest christmas we have ever had since record have been department in philadelphia was back in 1964. we were very close today, little misleading. stepping out this afternoon you you know it didn't feel like 65. we set that high, at 2:00 a.m. temperatures rosa head of the frontal passage. by the way we tied the record yesterday, 64 degrees, ties the record for warmest christmas eve ever.

sunshine and showers, that is what we're looking forward to the next few days. sunny for friday and saturday, and then on sunday a front comes through and we can see showers taking over in the afternoon and can't not rule showers out anytime on sunday. if you have plans to get outside friday, saturday, looking the best, everything okay. mainly clear and cold. 36 degrees overnight. for your friday sunny skies, mild, 50 degrees is our daze time high. here is your seven day forecast, which looks great throughout the rest of the weekend and then things change next week. happy kwanzaa. 50 degrees with sunshine. saturday is 55. what a beautiful daze. any fellow penn staters heading up to the pinstripe bowl in new york city at yankee stadium it should be a beautiful saturday afternoon for hopefully a penn state win. sunday clouds and after a noon shower and then it does cool down next tuesday. but it will be chilly. new years eve looks cold, 38 degrees. that is the high. so midnight, when we're

outside freezing with the fire works it is probably going to be sub freezing. >> a little chilly but just layer up, watch fire works, great way to ring in the new year a lot of body heat everyone out there. >> that is coming up on new years eve. it will be here before we know

spending time with family and friend is most important part of the holiday season. i talked to the eagles about how they spent growing up best gift they got or gave and their favorite holiday tradition. we will start with the softer side of cary williams.

>> it was going over my granny's house on christmas eve and opening up some of the presents, and, we had a lot of family there, everybody was there and you were anxious to see what my cousin josh was going to get us because he was guy getting all of the big presents to everyone. late that night, kind of hearing him wrestling around with putting presents up under the tree and things like that. so, you was kind of excited about seeing family, getting presents, and you know, you just remember those good times, talking to my brother laying down in the bed wondering what would be up under the tree for us. >> does that mean this is the best gift i ever got, kind of situation. >> nintendo 64 was best gift i ever got. it came with quarterback club, we got mario 64, and i think he brought brought us nfl blitz. to this day i still think about that and how great that

was. >> lesean mccoy is a reputation who gives the best gifts this will be hard to top. >> my niece is in love with justin beiber, so what i did was i had my people, call his people and he sent meehan autograph picture. she was dying. oh, my god we had him record something and send it to him. >> best gift i ever gave was probably, i don't know, giving my mom a car that is best one. >> how about the worst gift. >> a juicer, i was 14. my mom, she gives these gag gifts and everything to everybody, so i'm 14 and she gives me a orange juicer. i said what willie do with this. it was a funny one. i never forget that one. >> happy holidays i'm i saw a commercial that said you can save $500 by switching to progressive. that was me, mom. [ laugh ]

i thought you said, "that was me, mom." [ laughter ]

well, if you are liking this weather you bet ter soak it up today. >> yes. >> this is kind of the end. >> it is, next two days will be nice but we're not talking about 65 like we had officially today but tomorrow and saturday looks fantastic for this time of the year. fifty's, sunshine both days enjoy. that next week gets cold. it looks dry heading toward new year eve but highs back in the 30's. enjoy these 50's. the it will feel balmy next week. >> that is right. >> thanks so much. thanks for watching "eyewitness news" at 6:00 we are back at ten on our sister station wpsg the cw philly and we are back here at 11:00. up next "cbs evening news" and in tonight for scott pelley here is jim axlerod.

>> axelrod: tonight, a premiere like no other. >> whoa! >> i feel like nobody should tell me what i can and can't watch. >> axelrod: ben tracy looks at how a satire with mixed reviews became a symbol of democracy. just days after two new york city cops were murdered, the. in y.p.d. arrests a man accused of making new threats and finds an arsenal in his home. anna werner on plunging oil and gas prices. good news for many americans but not for all. >> take a shot at letting the ruler rule! >> axelrod: and jericka duncan introduces us to an unusual pastor with a gift for growing his flock. >> i just know what we do, which is love god, love life, love people. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> axelrod: good evening. and merrst