>> ♪ >> live from the cbs broadcast center in philadelphia, this is cbs3 "eyewitness news." >> holiday plans are in limbo for hundreds of thousands of airline passengers because there may not be enough pilots to fly the planes. as a result thousands of flights are now up in the air. good afternoon, i'm rahel solomon. >> i'm jim donovan. a scheduling software glitch at american airlines gave off too many pilots during the holidays but the airline insists they're working hard to fix the problem. >> attention american airlines passengers. while you're trying to get home for christmas there's a good chance your pilot may also be home for the holidays.

nations largest carrier says a software glitch with their schedulely system has allowed too many pilots to take vacation during one of the busiest travel times of the year. the pilots union says right now so many pilots are scheduled off that more than 15,000 flights between december 17 and the 301st are at risk of being canceled. >> we don't want the story of the grinch that stole christmas pat american airlines. >> to solve the problems they'll use reserve pilots. they're offering time and a half for pilots willing to pick up certain routes but some travelers are geting nervous. >> it's super stressful when your flight plans don't work out you're left stranded. >> analysts believe american will fix this and right now your best bet may be to pack your patience. >> this idea that there will be thousands and thousands of canceled flights i really doubt it. i think the pilots will come to work. if you were to call american tonight and say there might be a problem i want a refund american wouldn't give it to you t the.

the flights are running as scheduled. you have no recourse but to wait. >> american airlines said expect to avoid cancellations this holiday season. the bulk of the flights currently scheduled missing one or more pilots are out of dallas fort warmth which is the airline's biggest hub, flights out of washington's reagan national boston miami la guardia and here in philadelphia are affected as well. >> enjoying some sunshine today but if you're heading out to and night you may want to grab the umbrella. kate fehlinger on the sky deck to tell us how long the wet weather will stick around. >> i don't think you'll have to worry about wet weather until at the absolute earliest 8:00 p.m. or 9 p.m. for most of you it will get here later than that. we get through the p.m. rush without any hitches. it's very bright and sunny on the cbs3 sky deck and pretty much everywhere else. we did have that pretty well defined cloud cover out on this morning that's obviously since moved out of here.

we are eventually going to see a cold front passage flakes however coming through in rapid succession in the last couple days right but this is going object last of the series and again that will bring in a little bit of wet weather but not for many hours from this point. so, you're currently in the midst of very comfortable weather. here's a look at the temperature change in the last 24 hours. anywhere from eight to 10 to 15, 16 degrees cooler by comparison to this time yesterday. they have nice bright sunshine but it is cooler by comparison. meanwhile you don't have much wind either. so, it's just a nice day. we're already at 50 degrees. i think we've got another five in us here in philadelphia. 37 the current value in mount pocono. but as the day does progress i expect you're going to rebound nicely for the rest of the afternoon. later tonight those showers move through but this is generally an overall quiet pattern though we do have the potential for some significant rain in the seven-day. it's holding off for at least the short term. more on that a little later

on. guys. >> katie see you soon. thank you. former today show anchor matt lauer is now saying he's embarrassed and ashamed. >> laurie leased his first public statement this he was fired for a alleged inappropriate sexual behavior at work. laura podesta has the latest developments. >> reporter: former today show host matt lauer that is a broken his silence. the anchor fired from nbc news over sexual misconduct allegations read by a statement by host savannah guthrie. >> to the people i have hurt, i am truly sorry. some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized. but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. >> reporter: nbc terminated lauer's contract after an employee filed a detailed complaint about the anchor. nbc said there was an incident during the 2014 sochi olympic games and the situation continued after.

>> he really used his power in these situations. >> reporter: both variety magazine and the new york times published allegations by additional women hours after lauer's firing. variety reported he allegedly dropped his pants in front of an employee. and in a separate investigation, a woman told the new york times lauer sexually assaulted her in his office in 2001. >> according to our sources it wasn't just low level employees that had knowledge of matt lauer's inappropriate conduct with women. there were also higher level employees that were aware. >> reporter: but in a statement the network said prior to monday night, current nbc news management was never made aware of any complaints about matt lauer's contact. lauer co-hosted today for 20 years. he said in his statement repairing the damage is now his full-time job. laura podesta, cbs news new york. >> meanwhile in other news michigan congressman john conyers is in a detroit hospital this noon for undisclosed reasons.

the 88-year-old democrat has been under recent scrutiny after several women who worked for him accused him of sexual harassment. conyers has denied the allegations and refused calls to resign. he's the longest serving member of the house. >> senate republicans are in the final stretch for a vote on their tax reform plan. senators voted last night along party lines 52 to 48 to bring the bill up for debate. no democrats support the $1.5 trillion tax plan. democrats disagree. >> once in a general opportunity to take more money out of washington's pocket and put more money in the pockets of hard working families. >> the republican tax bill makes life easier on the well off and eventually makes life more difficult on working americans. >> the final vote on tax reform could happen later tonight or early friday. president trump facing new criticism after he shared three anti-muslim videos on his twitter page yesterday. british prime minister theresa may called the retweets the wrong thing to do.

president trump fired back saying don't if he can could you say on me focus on the destructive radical islamic terrorism taking place in the united kingdom. we are doing just fine. the anti-muslim tweets were posted by a far right french party in britain. >> ambassador to the united nations brings the test brings us close to war. the footage shows a larger and more advanced missile than the ones previously launched. north korean leader kim jong un can be seen in some of the videos inspecting the missile and celebrating the launch. meantime russia is urging the u.s. and south korea to cancel military drills that are scheduled for december. russia's un ambassador says the exercises will only inflame an already explosive situation. the united states un ambassador nikki haley is calling on all nations to cut off all ties with north korea. >> a driver is now under arrest after a police pursuit that authorities say spanned two states.

chopper3 over route 49 near oliver avenue in pennsville, new jersey. police say 28-year-old jaquinda jones crashed after fleeing an earlier traffic stop in pennsville. she fled into delaware and then back into new jersey. police say a six month old baby and 18-year-old passenger in the car were not hurt. jones is now facing multiple charges. the eastbound lanes of route 30 in cherry hill remain closed at this hour following an early morning accident that killed a pedestrian. the accident happened near the intersection of route 38 and long wood avenue. westbound lanes just opened a short time ago. officials have yet to release any details about the victim or how the accident happened. >> and this man is behind bars for a deadly shooting on drexel's campus 24-year-old joseph howa in. nsky. he intervened in an argument between the victim and the victim's girlfriend tuesday night. he's accused shooting the victim in the chest. he's now being held without bail. the philadelphia antiviolence coalition now

calling for a month of peace. >> organizers were at city hall this morning to announce details of their campaign which kicks off tomorrow. the primary focus is reducing gun violence. johnson harrell founder of an antiviolence organization lost her son to gun violence. she's among the many participants taking part in the month long project. >> we're asking for every one to put down their guns, we're asking for all the community organizations to come together to support our young people in the streets so the violence can stop. we want a month of peace. we want people to be able to celebrate these holidays and not have to worry about burying another loved one. >> some of the events planned for the month include distributing free gun locks at several transit stops, intervention programs and self holiday themed events. >> hillary clinton will be in philadelphia tonight. coming up next where you can see her and why she's returning to the city. >> plus justin bieber's head of security is in hot water. what he's accused of doing that injured two police officers. >> royal romance. how did harry and meghan meet?

plus prince william talks about his brother's bachelor ways. you're watching "eyewitness ways. you're watching "eyewitness hey, girlfriend. how's your café au lait? oh, it's actually... (squeaking of balloon) it's ver... (squeaking) i'm being so serious right now. i really want to know how your coffee is. it's... (squeaking of balloon, laughing) i had a second balloon! goodbye! oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasn't it? yeah, it happens to more people than you think. try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. mmm. good, right? yeah. lactaid. it's the milk that doesn't mess with you. and now, try our real sour cream. it's delicious.

>> welcome back. hillary clinton will be in philadelphia tonight to promote her new book. the former presidential candidate is on a national tour and will make a stop in philadelphia at the academy of music tonight. her book what happened, gives her perspective on how she lost the presidential election to donald trump. the book has received mixed responses ranging from praise to calls for her to gracefully fade from the spotlight. >> head of security for singer

justin bieber arrested in miami following a crash that injured two police officers. miami dade police say the two officers were rear-ended by 32-year-old michael arono overnight. both officers have been released from there hospital. arono was arrested for dui leaving the scene of the crash. as for justin bieber he was staying in los angeles at the time of the crash. britain's prince harry and meghan markle are happily caught up in the moment of their engagement. >> they met in july of last year. one of the big questions circulating is who was responsible for getting this started. >> it was definitely a setup. it was a blind date. >> a blind date. there's a it couple and british media are buzzing over the mystery matchmaker behind prince harry and his bride to be. some suggest it could be mutual friend and fashion designer meisha nunu or british aristocrat violet van weston holt. some say it's best tea marcus

anderson. >> i've never heard about him until this friend said meghan markle. i'm like right, give 93 a bit bit -- give me a bit of background. i was beautifully surprised when i walked into that room and saw her. >> reporter: markle says she didn't know much about him. >> for me personally i hope he can stay out of my fridge. >> reporter: if this steams like a be cinderella story those who know markle say it's quite the contrary. her former professor at northwestern university says markle was a self proclaimed theater nerd. >> some of the coverage of the engagement is this narrative of a woman who was sort of plucked from the masses to become royalty. what that story line misses is the fact that meghan markle is

a very accomplished woman. >> reporter: the couple says they have even more to accomplish together with humanitarian causes. their work starts friday with their first official public engagement for world aids day. teri okita, cbs news, london. >> so some breaking news to tell you about right now. chopper3 is live over a house fire with reports of explosions in new castle, delaware. firefighters were called to this home on ferris court about a half hour ago. we're told the fire started in a garage that had ammunition in it which may be the cause of the explosions. firefighters rescued one dog from the home, another dog is unaccounted for. no human injuries have been reported so far. the fire is not yet under control. >> well, if you've ever wondered if pandas love snow, here's your answer. >> take a look. these pandas are clearly having a great time frolicking around. still ahead this noon where we were enjoying the first snowfall of the

>> atlantic hurricane season is officially over but it definitely will not be forgotten. there were 17 named storms this season, six were major hurricanes reaching category three or higher. three of those hurricanes hit u.s. soil who could forget harvey irma maria. damage estimates range from 300 to $475 billion. >> good riddance that's what i say. >> here, here. >> that was a rough season for a lot of people. squeaked out quiet season. we had a rapid succession. it has been pleasant. yesterday was quite the overachieve. we ended up at 64 degrees

officially for a daytime high not shabby for the standard of late october -- october, i'm getting way behind myself. where are we now. i digress. yes, ending november here on a very mild note since yesterday but now kind of back to reality. still above average i think though with a daytime high. let me take you outside to a very pleasant view, open for season obviously here outside jack frost/big boulder man made snow has been put down. we've got a pleasant afternoon unfolding here locally. again, it's cooler by comparison to yesterday but it's still nice. we'll still eke out an above average day. now i want to take you back in time and show you time lapsed video. we're going tout to kutztown area high school. i started it here because it's right before the sun rose so take a look i'm going to put it into motion at the sunrise followed by the clouds and how things start to clear out. look at that. what beautiful color. clouds really built back in. then they got out of here. so, it was like we had this

little patch of clouds that came through just in time to bring in some really pretty colors for the sunrise and then they moved in for the better part of the morning obviously but the afternoon is looking quite nice. here's the next frontal boundary though that's going to be causing us some very minor headaches. i don't think we'll have to deal with much more than a couple of showers out of this and it primarily happens late tonight, well after the typical evening rush is already long since finished up. in its wake comes a batch of high pressure that will hook us up for a couple days here. we are in the mix of a very quiet pattern despite this frontal passage. here you go. 8:00 p.m., this will try to fizzle by the time it's reaching us. that will be the earliest that our farthest north and western suburbs will start to see anything out of this. a little bit of light rain overnight and probably closing in on 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock tonight. that's when the city gets hit with anything that we're going to find out of this and then we're done with it. it will move off to the east and clear the coast probably before we're even back on the air at 4:30 tomorrow morning. so, the morning drive is that

probably totally fine, too. in fact we're going to see more sun glare than anything throughout the course of the morning so this really is a minor event. in the meantime, we are looking ahead here to the weeks that come along to the time when we start to see the colder air settle in and it does look like in the long range this is next thursday into the weekend there may be a pretty substantial blast of arctic cold that sums singing down out of the depths of the arctic. the better part of the week no problems, no major issues. when you start to see the magentas, purples, darkers shades showing up you know the cold is spilling south well over the canadian border even a as far south as the deep south here in the united states and we were especially come friday next week going to start to see that chill really settle in. now, here's where we currently stand. there's a chill in the air. it's cooler by comparison to yesterday but it's still nice. 50 the current temperature at the airport. upper 50's yet again out at wildwood and currently in some of the outlying suburbs outside of philly holding

tight into the 40's at best but we'll continue the climb on the thermometer today probably another 5 degrees or so, sun and clouds, 55 the high, staying quiet tonight at least through the evening overnight watch for that shower and then we are just smooth sailing. if you've got plans out to do decorating outdoors this weekend, any additional rain holds off until tuesday. >> katie thank you. >> our joy of sharing campaign be part of it by bringing a new unwrapped toy to our studios here at 1555 hamilton street. >> visit cbs com/toy fest for a complete list of drop-off locations and details on uptumming to toy fest events. >> join us for the passyunk avenue tree lighting and bring a toy. we hope you can join in on the fun and also help a child in need. >> you can also bring a toy tomorrow as we take our holiday fest celebration to cape may. our kate bilo and vittoria woodill will be live as we

celebrate the winter wonder land at congress hall tomorrow

>> coming up later today on "eyewitness news" at 5:00 potential holiday hazards. i'll walk you through what you need to stay safe while

decorating this holiday season today at 5:00. it may not have started snowing in philadelphia just yet but a pair of pandas in china are already enjoying the snow. >> yes, they are. two pandas in a central china zoo were seen enjoying the first snowfall of the season there. nine-year-old -- [laughter] >> rolling around in all sorts of tricks in the snow just frolicking around. this will be their second snowfall since settling in the zoo. >> i could watch that all day. >> appear to be enjoying that. >> a great way to end the newscast. that's "eyewitness news" today at noon. i'm jim donovan. >> and i'm rahel solomon for katie and all of us here. thanks for watching. >> "eyewitness news" continues at 5:00 we're always online at cbsphilly.com. >> "the young and the restless" is coming up next. >> ♪

>> hilary: i'd like to speak with jack, please. >> gloria: and who's calling, please? >> hilary: you know who it is. it's hilary. curtis! >> gloria: ohhh. i'm so sorry, but jack's on a leave of absence, and he's not in the office. >> hilary: i know all about that, okay? i left him several messages. i was hoping that maybe he popped in for an hour or two. >> gloria: no. >> hilary: okay, well, it is very urgent that i speak with him. i'd like to get a lunch date on his calendar. >> gloria: an urgent lunch date. i'll make sure he gets the message. oh! and while i've got you, i saw your nude photos, and you are definitely one hot -- >> hilary: [ sighs ] >> mariah: bad news. roz said our sponsor for tomorrow pulled out because of