♪ >> live from center city in philadelphia this is fox 29 news at 6:00. this is just about the only place you'll see snow right now. it's only technically a white christmas in the pocono mountains much thanks for joining us tonight and happy holidays. i'm iain page. lucy is off tonight of the sunny sunday for much of the delaware valley but we're tracking some changes in your forecast. fox 29 meteorologist monica cryan is here. monica, santa brought above average temperatures this christmas. >> not much to complain about today. feeling really lucky with these highs reaching into the low 50s across the board. will ming, philadelphia hit hitting 50 degrees the high today. if you remember the average is about 42 degrees. so we were well above that reading falling just shy but again with all of that accompanied by that sunshine not much to complain about.

now we are dropping. here we are sitting at 43 degrees in philadelphia. 33 in millville. so already near freezing. 30 degrees for those of us in mount pocono reading at 41. and we are talking temperature of 40 degrees for those of us in dover. overnight temperatures will be dropping to near freezing in the city. about 33 degrees under partly cloudy skies the suburbs we're talking 29. coming up a look at the full forecast we'll be focusing in on an event that could be bringing us rain and even some freezing rain. we'll break that down for you as well as 20-degree temperatures above average. so that's going to be a warm one wait until you see the highs i have forecasted for you coming up in just a bit. we drop in time for the new year. i've got that full forecast in just bit. iain. ♪ faithful gathering today at the cathedral basilica of saints peter and paul on the ben franklin parkway. to celebrate christmas day.

this catholic mass at philadelphia's principal church for the diocese commemorates the day that jesus christ was born. and in west philadelphia, a special holiday for kids and senior citizens alike. today the church of christian compassion handing out more than 500 gifts to members of the community. the children and seniors also enjoyed a christmas nativity scene with live animals and some spectacular performances. cheers at the vatican as pope francis comes out to celebrate the traditional christmas day mass from the balcony of the saints basilica. an estimated 40,000 people gathered in saint peter' square to hear the pope's message of hope and peace. and with the recent terror attacks impacting civilians across the globe, peace and faith were the main themes of christmas events across the globe especially in bethlehem the birthplace of jesus. fox's john huddy has more. >> reporter: in a world be set by violence and terrorism, the

message today was about peace, faith and company existence from bethlehem to the vatican. ♪ >> reporter: once again this year the faithful attend mass at the church of the nativity birthplace of jesus the big draw always being midnight mass latin patriarch of jerusalem made special mention of palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. abbas was one of several leaders to law the passage u.s. resolution friday on the minds of people who attended mass. politics aside tourism numbers were um in bethlehem this year because of the relative quiet at least compared to last year when there was a wave of terror attacks in parts of israel including jerusalem and the west bank leading up to christmas and on christmas eve and christ today's may. so while it may be calmer this year there's always an underlying tension as terrorism and war continues to playing the middle east and that was part of the message today at the vatic

vatican. ♪ >> reporter: thousands packed saint peter's square to hear pope francis' christmas message calling for peace and co existence in a world he says scared by war particularly in syria. >> pope francis says it's time for weapons to be still forever in syria and international community to actively seek a negotiated solution so that civil co existence can be restored in the country. the pope also offered a blessing of piece to those who have lost someone dear to them because of he says the brutal acts of terrorism which have zone fear and death into the hearts of so many countries and cities. in jerusalem, john huddy, fox news. britain's ken elizabeth also delivering her annual christmas day message. she used her time to praise the country's olympic team and others who inspired her

throughout 2016. >> even with the inspiration of others, it's understandable that we sometimes think the world's problems are so big that we can do little to help. on our own, we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice, but the human impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine. >> the queen's message was pre recorded. the queen and her husband prince philip are celebrating the holidays at her private estate but a cold kind of nasty one kept the queen from attending the traditional christmas morning church service. let's take live look the independence mall now where the second candle on the giant menorah is now a glow. hanukkah began last night and continues through the first of january. christmas day of course the day for family and people from all religions, cultures, even countries, use the day to spend time with their loved ones and

have a little family fun. fox 29's brad sattin live at longwood gardens in kennett square, chester county tonight. brad? >> reporter: even a lot of family fun. whether you celebrate christmas or not, we found a couple of events worth checking out a lot of people did today. of course arc lot of people spending time at home around that christmas tree but why enjoy one tree when you can enjoy 124 of them. we are here at longwood gardens. take look at the fun here. we're here with about 8,000 other people today. this is what they call the long wood christmas, the theme of the year sounds of the season that includes one christmas tree that's 18-foot doug list fir all deck out with musical instruments. very cool. and another one is a 30 footer the biggest one they've had actually not a tree at all but made up of about 1300 potted plants including poinsettias, orchids and ivy. they plan this all year long but believe it or not they put it up in just about three days. for many here, this has become a tradition to spend christmas

with longwood gardens, and for others there's even some history here as well. >> we perform here with the uss chamber choir back when we were in west chester so always fun to come and see it decorated like this because we used to come during the holiday season to perform. >> every christmas we come here, every christmas is different. they always make something new, and always surprise. >> i think it's really cool because it like represents all the music because they always do fountain shows with music. >> reporter: does it get you in the christmas spirit? >> yeah. >> reporter: yes, it does. now, another tradition for those who don't celebrate christmas a fun day at the national museum of american jewish history. about thousand people turning out there for a day of learning, plus arts and crafts. for an event that they've been doing now on christmas day for several years. a special feature right now bill graham and the rock and roll revolution he was the holocaust survivor who became a big-time

music promotor. working with artists like bob dylan, the grateful dead, janice joplin and others plenty to do as we come back live here to longwood gardens. it is not too late to check out all the fun. the fun continues this does through january 8th from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. so another week or so tone joy the fun. they do recommend you get tickets ahead of time just to make sure that it is not sold out when you come but certainly worth seeing. keep you in the christmas spirit, guys for just a little bit longer. iain, back to you. >> brad, looks good, thank you very much. welcoming up nearly 100 people feared dead after a russian plane crashed into the sea. the world famous group believed was on board. and volunteers making the christmas holiday special for people that are less fortunately and learning the true meaning of the holiday. sean? >> nba giving us a couple christmas gems. cavs and warriors playing for the first time since nfb finals and they picked up right where they left off. that's coming up later in

sports.

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♪ we're following breaking news right now. singer george michael who launched his career with wham has died. his publicist says he passed away peacefully at his home in england. police say there was nothing suspicion about his death. he was just 53 years of age. one person is dead after an overnight crash in south philadelphia. it happened just before 2:00 this morning at broad and washington. police say the driver of a 2010 honda accord ran a red light hit another car before also hitting a traffic pole and fire hydrant. the driver of that car died. the person in the other car is now in stable condition. tonight russian rescue crews are recovering the bodies after a military plane crashes into the black sea. russian authorities believe that all 92 people aboard died died. the plane disappeared from the radar this morning. minutes after departing. the passengers included dozens of singers in russian world famous military choir.

investigators have not ruled any causes of the crash yet including terrorism and say it could take days or even weeks to figure out what brought that plane down. not everyone spent today at home. opening presents, lots of folks woke up bright and early to give back. fox 29's steve keeley tells us how some local volunteers brightened day for those in need. >> reporter: christmas is all about giving. giving back and giving up hours of sleep that is. >> it's hard to go to bed in the morning on the second day of winter break. >> reporter: andrew rosen, sister, brother, mom and dad, didn't just leave the comfort of their beds and nice home in sane david's, they went from the mainline to the mean streets of west philadelphia. >> to be honest, at the beginning i don't think we really want to go but now that we're here, it feels really good to be giving back to the community, and to help out people and after it always feels worth it like i would definitely do it again.

>> reporter: 1384 old boy learning that 2016-year-old lesson of christmas on christm christmas. it was his microphone shy mom rachel's idea as we let dad explain. >> she's faux cuff on making the world a better place and she wants to make sure the kids carry that on. my wife generally gets us involved in some kind of activity that helps them understand life isn't always the way out on the mainline. >> reporter: when they look out the window from the mainline on the way here what's the covering like. >> pretty abrupt change. once you cross city line avenue, you see, you know, things get tougher. >> reporter: rosen left radnor for 40th and lancaster an old converted bank and david jenkins chosen 300 minute trees his own two sons the same age as andrew rosen also learned it's not about seeing what they got under the tree first thing in the morning how fast they can get here to help those without trees, toys and even homes. >> mentioned my sons being here. you know they wake up christmas morning, most kids wake up

christmas morning they run down and they want to see exactly what's under the tree. my kids got up excited about coming down to helping people and that's just phenomenal to have children that have embraced the vision of my wife and i do, and to be able to impact people's lives. >> we have the whole afternoon after this so -- but we can spend our morning like wrapping gifts for the children that are in need. >> what's that like watching kids open gifts? >> it's like having the feeling of joy knowing that you helped to wrap these gifts. >> reporter: lots of practical gifts for the adults here, too, including 27 year kareem van first in line hours before opening this morning with his mother dorothy. both homeless but both together on christmas with everything they own in these two folding carts. evicted last month from philadelphia public housing they toll us, over a couple hundred bucks unpaid rent, what kareem wasn't just here for the hot

breakfast but told us his christmas list. >> you coming here just to eat or hope to get a wrapped gift as well. >> yes, sir, i was hoping to get gift. >> reporter: what had you hoping for? >> a toothbrush and some toothpaste and some lifter recent or something. or wash cloth an towel. >> we got basic toiletries here. like toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, all sorts of different things that you just see in your every day live that you wouldn't think much of, but it really makes a difference. you see we got a lot of bags for people and they'll be really -- they'll really help out some people. >> reporter: ship and caroline came here all the way from newtown in bucks county to cook, to clean, and give the gifts of caring people they never met before today. >> this means what christmas is about. you know, it really is, because the gifts don't mean much at all. it's about sharing it with people and connecting with the

community. >> it's always nice to give ba back. and live -- try to give back to the community. try to give back to those that are in time of need especially on christmas day. not a lot of people have the ability to have a great breakfast. so fortunately we're here to give them great food and some gifts. >> it feels great. >> absolutely. >> great. it does feel great. >> we got to share that feeling, too. watching kareem's big smile and his mom's hand over face appreciation getting that toothbrush, toothpaste, lifter recent, wash cloth and towel they wanted. needing a mainline familiar who'll notice how to show christmas done spectacularly. >> when you leave here do you thin you got more out of the it than the things you're handing out to people. >> i think that's generally true. you know you haven't solved all the upon let me in the world but you feel like you pitched in a little bit and did something that matter. >> in west philly, steve keeley, fox 29 news. all right. ba tock your fox 29 weather

authority now. kind of mild and sunny out there. here's meteorologist monica cryan to tell us more about that. >> it was a great christmas i want to give a quick shout out to my family, they are celebra celebrating and sitting down for christmas dinner in media, pennsylvania. want to give them a hello and if you would like to send me your pictures of how your family is enjoying the holidays, find me on twitter at monica weather and also find me on facebook at well. you can also see a live look downtown. we had the picture of the menorah for the second night of hanukkah. temperatures in the city 43 degrees. so highs today into the low 50s again above average and i think we'll stay there for the next few days. it's going to be nice and above average unseasonably warm for this time of the year. ultimate doppler radar keeping those skies clear for the rest of today. tonight we'll see little bit more cloud cover move in ahead of a system that is going to be bringing us the chance for some rain. notice though it is breaking apart as it continues to move north.

i'm not too impressed with our rain chances for tomorrow. but we still have to talk about isolated shower chances throughout the day monday. and it could lead off possibly as some freezing rain as those temperatures are at their lowest point in the early morning hours. that's why we've got a freezing rain advisory for tomorrow morning we're including lehigh valley all the way down through berks county and into lancaster county as well. reading allentown bethlehem all included win that freezing rain advisory. it will be very isolated if any it thing. let's take a look at your future cast and i'll show you you can see as we head through the overnight partly cloudy conditions begin that's how we start off our monday morning. you can see a few isolated showers popping up as freezing rain. be aware of that early tomorrow morning. slick spots on the roads. as we head into the afternoon warming up those temperatures it's going to a be rain event scattered to isolated showers through monday and into tuesday. we continue those isolated to scattered shower chances at least into tuesday afternoon.

this is out of here by tuesday evening and then we kind of start a drying trend. but taking a look at our temperatures notice we're mild to start with. here's our average high for this time of year low fours we're about 20 degrees above that as we head into tuesday. then we start to drop by later this week. your overnight low 33 degrees in the city. and then we can see in the suburbs 29 degrees. partly cloudy little bit more cloud cover and then for tomorrow, i think limited sunshine once again those shower chances should be isolated at least through monday. tuesday a little bit more numerous shower activity. and then as we look at your seven day forecast, notice wednesday, 45 degrees. so it gets colder by wednesday. and then we also are talking mostly sunny skies friday through saturday. >> still look pretty good. above average i see some 50's i like that. >> i can't believe we're talking near 60. >> i know incredible. all right, monica, thank you. eagles. finally a sunday where you get to be happy, okay. >> you don't have to be depressed about any losses or anything like that.

>> they're not playing. >> not playing means you didn't lose. that's all we actually care about. i spoke to former linebacker gary cobb and he tells us was off season presents the eagles should be asking for plus nba does it again. full slate of christmas games and the cavs and the wore yours give us a holiday gem. that's coming up next in sports.

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some of the eagles players wishing you happy holidays and merry christmas. eagles players can now celebrate with a smile on their face. they gave you a christmas day gift prior to christmas on that thursday night win over the giants. yesterday i spoke to former eagles linebacker gary cobb and we spoke about what the eagles should be asking santa for in the off season. >> i love to get me a cornerback who we can leave man to man on anybody because that will take care of almost half of the field and plus if you look at the people you got to play in this division, you got to deal with beckham, dez bryant, all the gang they got down there in washington. you have outstanding receivers you have to play against every year it would be good to have

guy say you know what we can put this guy on anybody. >> most of the nfl games were played last night. bill o'brien and texans played the bengals. fourth quarter alfred blue breaks one loose right up the middle to the side. 24-yard touchdown to put texans 12-10. bengals with a chance could win this game. this is the year of the failed kicker. 43 yards. wide right texans win the game 12-10 and clinch a play off berth afc south. most of the nfl games played yesterday because christmas day for hoops. a full nba slate of games and the best one was the cavs and warriors these two teams picking up right where they left off in the nba finals. less than two minutes ago everring driving to the rack and finds lebron james with a monster dunk. and one. look at that. now, down by a couple points. the warriors steph curry that's what he hits the three ball to

give them 108-105. kyree with the last second shot. and look at this. clutch exactly what he did in the nba finals. that's the man that they always go to. the cavs win a thrilling game 109-108. people were saying this was going to be like celtics/lakers. >> i know. >> i can't wait for it. >> exactly. care does it again kills them. all right that. will do it for us tonight at 6:00. we'll see you back here at 10:00v a great night. thanks for watching. ♪

♪ >> good evening, happy holiday i'm iain page. i'm dawn timmeney. philadelphia region is home to many amazing singers and choirs, and one such group is made up of philadelphia's finest. >> here's philadelphia police department's non-denomination almas choir with you are holy. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪