ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 5am - June 22, 2026

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

Eyewitness News at 5am - June 22, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Top of the 5 o'clock hour. Good morning, Carolina. Welcome on this Monday. It's June 22nd. I'm Joel Brown. And I'm Bianca Holman in for Anna Rivera this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. Rallying for voting rights, activists to protest a sweeping election bill in North Carolina. We have a live report on the late And Cain's coach, Rod Brindamore, vying for a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame. We'll find out his fate later today after a wild weekend celebrating the Stanley Cup champions in downtown Raleigh. And today is the first alert day, strong storms and brutal heat threatening our area.

Yeah, I get a little taste of it all as we start today. A first check of weather and traffic together. Meteorologist Steve Stewart in Fort Quailin Murphy, a level two risk of severe storms. But not like that right now. No, not for a long time. Yeah, probably it's a small window this evening of getting those thunderstorms that'll roll in later on. So it's a big area that's in the risk here, basically the entire viewing area, level one and level two risk. But most of us might miss out on rain altogether.

But the storms that develop will pack a punch. Any minor risk of flooding is going to be in our northern counties. And that's where we have the best opportunity in getting those storms. But it's not going to add up to a lot in the rain gauge, but the rainfall rates can be fairly impressive. System is a long ways away right now. The heat and humidity out ahead of it. That'll be a lot of fuel for any thunderstorm that gets going. Most of the day is just going to be sunny and hot with some afternoon clouds starting to roll in at 97.

By the time we get to the evening hours, there's our opportunity of getting some stronger thunderstorms, isolated severe, and that southwest breeze will continue with the humidity overnight. We've had two days of rain this month, and that's it. So again, we're not going to expect a lot of rain here. The farther north and west you are, maybe upwards of a quarter inch of rainfall with some of those heavier downpours expected. Meantime, we're going to be in the 70s as you take the pop out this morning. 86 by the time we get to 11 o'clock in the morning and much more humid as well. 75 right now. That dewpoint at 70. Yesterday's dew point was in the lower 60s, even some upper 50s.

So a big change in the last 24 hours with more moisture. 60s north, mid-70s triangle and 73 down in Fayetteville. And there you see the darker greens there. That's indicating more in the way of low-level moisture. So it's the evening. Keep an eye out for a stronger thunderstorm. Once we get late evening closer to midnight, the rain chances will be gone. Get ready. It's going to be more heat later this week. We're flirting with 100 this weekend. More on that coming up in just a few minutes. All right. Steve, thank you. Here goes a look at our traffic map right now. For the most part, we're looking pretty good. It's still very, very early. But we do have a crash that we want to tell you about. This is out in Zebulon. Here goes a look at our DOT camera showing the crash on US 64. In Zebulin. It is in the westbound lanes. It looks like traffic is still. able to get by but use caution if you're going in that direction. 503 and Raleigh still buzzing from Saturday's Canes victory parade and now head coach Rod

the bod could get a major nod the hockey Hall of Fame selection committee meeting today to vote on the class of 2026 and it's not only around brindamore in the running to be a hall of famer eric stahl also in the mix tamara scott live at linovo center tamara good morning Hey, good morning, Julie. Yeah, the celebration for the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup is still going very strong, but there may be another celebration on the way later today for coach Rod Brendermore and another Carolina Hurricanes legacy here. I'm here at the Lenovo Center where we know that there's so many celebrations happening. The massive crowd over the weekend, though, in downtown Raleigh is where everybody was more than 180,000 people are projected to have been down the city. this weekend. Shop local Raleigh says some small businesses brought in as much as $20,000 in sales before the mid-afternoon and event organizers say the success of the parade also created a blueprint for future large-scale events. Now while fans are celebrating this all weekend long, hurricane supporters, they may have another reason to pay attention today. Rod Brindamore and

Eric Stahl are both candidates for the Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2026, with celebrations expected to be announced later this afternoon. Now between the championship parade, economic boost from downtown celebration. Today's Hall of Fame announcement, the celebration for the Carolina Hurricanes is not going away anytime soon. Back to you. Live for us at the Lenovo Center. He deserves to be in it. We're voting for him. All right. Well, happening today, UNC baseball looking to clinch the national championship, they'll face off against Oklahoma for a final time. Both teams have one win apiece, making today's win a must and must game win. And so the final showdown is tonight at 7 o'clock on our sister network, ESPN.

If Carolina wins, they will make history becoming the first UNC baseball team to win the national championship. A fight over North Carolina voting rights, and it is heating up this morning. Protesters mobilizing right now in Raleigh pushing back against a sweeping piece of legislation that set off alarm bells for advocates across the state. The rally kicks off later today right outside the General Assembly. Sean Coffey's been tracking this story from the start. He's live on Jones Street with the latest show on. Good morning.

Good morning, Joel. Well, this bill comes after that, where this protest, I should say, comes after that bill was pulled from a committee agenda last week in a somewhat surprise move, but could be back on track for a vote here at the state legislature this week. And when it was first introduced last week,

as you already mentioned, this bill drew immediate backlash from voting rights groups from several Democratic lawmakers here at the state legislature, who have criticized. that saying that it would increase election meddling in North Carolina and would inject politics into the election process. Republican supporters, meantime, say that the bill will shore up North Carolina's elections and will streamline the election process while allowing for more election oversight via the state auditor's office. It eliminates rank choice voting in the state as well.

And after a series of protests last week, including one that drew the attention of security inside the legislative building, another large rally is planned this evening for 5 p.m. on Halifax Mall. IWitness News will have you covered with everything you need to know from this evening's rally, as well as they have all the developments from this bill as it works its way through the legislature, one that we've been following closely now for the last week, and we could be out of potential vote watch for later this week, guys. Back to you. All right, Sean, thank you. Breaking news right now overseas. UK Prime Minister Kerr Stamer resigning from the job after facing mounting political pressure.

The Labor Party leader will stay on until his successor is chosen. party member Andy Burnham's victory in a special election last week, triggering this latest wave of turmoil in British politics. Starmor says every decision he's made in office has been about putting the country he loves first. Stomar follows five other UK prime ministers who left the role in the last decade. Happening now back here at home, West Gannon Avenue and Zebulin is shut down and it could stay that way for a while. A water main break buckled the road and crews are on scene right now working to fix it. posted these picks on social and the damage is significant. No word yet when the road will reopen, but here's the good news. The break has been capped and water service is back on for all customers.

Developing in Durham this morning, police intensifying their investigation into a deadly crash from over the weekend. It happened early yesterday morning near the intersection of North Roxborough and East Maynard Avenue. They say a driver crossed the center line slamming into a truck head on. The driver identified now as 33-year-old Nerlin Ayala Lindo. at the sea. 507 is the time and overseas a critical critical peace talks are resuming between the U.S. and Iran. Negotiations already onto a rough start. We'll tell you what happened over the weekend as the war of words now escalates. Well, as Charlie Kirk's murder case back in court today, we'll tell you why after the break. Steve? All right, good morning everybody outside right now. It's warmer. Temperatures are in the 70s,

mid-70s triangle. Sanford's at 68 degrees. Same thing at Roxburgh. On our way to a hot one today, we're going to be in those mid-to-up 90s from the Triangle North and West. Better chance of getting some stronger storms later today. All the details after the break. Now here are your traffic hotspots brought to you by the Fred Anderson family of dealerships on Glenwood Avenue. Fred Anderson Toyota, Fred Anderson Kia, Fred Anderson Nissan, all home of the Fred Anderson family plan, including lifetime oil changes, lifetime car washes on all new Toyota's Kia's Nissan's and hundreds of used cars. The Fred Anderson family plan saves your family thousands while giving you lasting value with every mile you drive. Thinking of selling or trading your current vehicle, Fred Anderson wants to pay you more,

even if you don't buy from us. Get the family plan at Fred Anderson Toyota, Fred Anderson Kia, and Fred Anderson Nissan, all on Glenwood Avenue. Welcome back, everybody. Happy Monday to you. It is the first alert day today. We could get some stronger thunderstorms that's really in the evening. Daytime is just going to be hot in the 90s. Farther north you are, better chance that those storms farther south might miss out. Matter of fact, many areas could you see storms off in the distance. They're going to be hit and miss, but the ones that hit are going to pack a punch with some gusty winds. Quiet now upstream. You see the thunderstorms take a long time before that front gets closer to us. As a matter of fact, the front doesn't move through until the day tomorrow.

Well, we can still see a few thunderstorms around, but not necessarily severe. 79 at 9 o'clock in the morning near 90 at the midday hour. Right now we're at 75 with some high clouds dew points up to 70. Area wide, we're mainly in the 70s, a few spatterings of upper 60s at this hour, but much more human. with it yesterday. It's really the evening. We'll keep an eye to the sky. It looks like sometime around the triangle 7, 8, 9 o'clock, that window of opportunity for some gusty strong storms. Look at the northeast. A lot of showers and thunderstorms all the way through the Tennessee Valley into the Ozarks. That's also a risk for severe weather, a level two risk in a wide

swath of areas, including us right here in the triangle. So far this morning, all the major hubs, no delays. Got you seven day coming up in just a few minutes, Joel. Thank you. See you soon. new this morning there are now 1,000 confirmed Ebola cases in eastern Congo. Officials there releasing the new numbers overnight. They say 254 people have died during the outbreak since May. Public health authorities believe the numbers could be even higher. Global aid cuts, poor, sanitary conditions and armed conflict or fueling fears that Ebola will continue spreading across the region. Ebola is caused by a rare virus that has no vaccine or treatment. Charlie Kirk's murder back in the spotlight today.

The Utah judge overseeing the case says he will make a critical decision. It will focus on whether or not prosecutors will face punishment for comments to the media about a bullet fragment recovered from the conservative activist's body. Lawyers for the alleged killer Tyler Robinson say those comments could sway potential jurors regarding his guilt. They're trying to block prosecutors from pursuing the death penalty. Time now 513 and the World Cup kicking into high gear. We'll get a preview of today's big matches plus high-law. from a historic jam-pack day of games yesterday. Plus, tennis legend Serena Williams,

ramping up her comeback tour this time at Wimbledon. All those details straight ahead. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. 516 on this Monday morning, a major political shift in Colombia this morning. Far right millionaire and political outsider. Abelardo de la Esperia is claiming victory

in the country's presidential election backed by President Trump. With nearly all ballots counted, Dela Esprit led his left-wing rival Ivan Cepeda by fewer than 250,000 votes, the narrowest margin in the country's recent history. But the race may not be fully settled. Saperra's camp says it will challenge results from 33,000 polling stations if the wind holds. It marks a sharp turn to the right after four years of left-wing rule under outgoing President Gustavo Petro. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio says he's already called. to congratulate De La Asparia.

Turning now to the World Cup, some of soccer's biggest superstars back on the pitch today. Lionel Messi and Argentina facing off against Austria, Killian Mbapé and France take on Iraq. Erling Holland and Norway

battle against Senegal and Jordan versus Algeria. Wrap up an exciting Monday late tonight. This comes after an exciting day of matches yesterday. Powerhouse Spain beat Saudi Arabia 4 to 0.

Iran shocked the world, tying Belgium. Cape Verde delivering another World Cup shocker tying Uruguay, while Egypt beat New Zealand, clinching its very first World Cup match victory. Oh, in a stunning move, tennis legend Serena Williams will play singles at Wimbledon when the tournament kicks off later this month. The 44-year-old received a wildcard entry. She also received a wild-card entry to play doubles with her sister Venus.

Serena is a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion. She last played singles at the U.S. Open in 2022. William says that she has nothing to lose. Wimbledon kicks off in London next week. Nothing to lose is right. Nothing to prove, nothing to lose, just playing for fun. She's having fun. Yeah, that is.

And I'm here for it. I'm absolutely here for this. I know. This is fun. Meantime, we could see some storms a little later this evening. Later this evening, not everyone gets them, the atmosphere, the conditions are ripe for some straight-line gusty winds with the storms that develop.

This is not going to be helpful with the drought. A few areas are going to get some brief heavy downpours, but overall a lot of us are going to miss out. You're just going to be dealing with the heated humidity as to go through the day today. But keep it out of the sky for later on. It's warm. It's more humid out there this morning. During the day, we'll have those numbers in the mid to upper 90s.

The risk of any severe storms is really going to be in the evening. And it's a short window of opportunity as well. Humidity drops make some plans midweek. Wednesdays by pick day of the week. Upper 80s. It looks like dew points could. fall into the 50s. That's a treat in later June, scorcher this weekend. Here come those numbers back to the upper 90s, flirting with 100 in both days. The feels like temperatures will likely

be over 100 degrees. Here's that severe risk again. The 95 corridor there, north and west has the best opportunity of getting a stronger storm, but we'll keep that risk going as a level one farther to the south. The coverage 40 to 50 percent, so not everyone gets the storms. The threat here is really damaging straight line winds. The front doesn't come through until tomorrow. tomorrow. There could be a few more storms tomorrow, but not in the severe category. You see some storms out ahead of the front right now, well off to our north and west. How much rain, weather prediction center has a tenth to maybe a quarter inch of rain. That's why it's not going to do much of anything for the drought situation.

Meantime, that walk this morning, warm and humid in the 70s early on, quickly into the 80s, and we're flirting with 90 by the time we get to the midday hour. Our focus is going to be until the early evening hours of getting a stronger thunderstorm. and predictors showing some of those coming in in a broken nature as well. But some of these are going to have some impressive gusty winds. A lot of areas are going to miss out. Don't take this literally. These could be a little bit farther south or even farther to the north.

So again, the coverage is going to be hit and miss with the storms that roll into play later on. 75 and in North Hills right now with the south breeze at six miles an hour. 60s in our northern counties in Sanford, but most of us kind of in those load in mid-70s and rather humid. The dew points are up and they'll continue to go up with the South flow as we go throughout the day. So you might get caught in your evening walk of a shower thunderstorm. Please be weather aware at that time. Once the storms kind of move on by, the severe risk is over at that point in time. Front's going to settle to our south.

Still a few storms are possible on Tuesday, especially as we are looking farther to the south. And then as we get into Wednesday, high pressure is going to pull in some drier air should feel pretty good. So late today into the evening, it's a first alert day for a strong storm. Spotty storms Tuesday, Wednesday pick day of the week with lower humidity, heating up on Thursday, Friday, a risk of late day storms. Look at those weekend temperatures, guys, in the upper 90s with pop-up storms in the afternoons. Hot, more hot to come. Steve, thank you. Take a look at the real-time traffic map at 521.

No major issues on Triangle Roads at this hour. But we are keeping our eye on Eastern Lake County. That's where that one icon is. Here's the DOT camera at US 64, westbound. There was a bad crash there overnight. You can still see emergency crews still on scene. So as this goes on, that could cause some time up. Tie-ups later into the morning commute.

521 is the time and a box office boom. Tour Story 5 setting records over the weekend. Oh, yeah, details from the movie's historic opening weekend coming up. And you can now catch up with breaking news and the latest headlines with the ABC 11 eyewitness. News Podcast. Listen time. Anytime, anywhere. Just follow ABC11 eyewitness news wherever you get your podcast. We'll be right back. Alerting you first. This episode is brought to you by Activia. You might already be eating yogurt, but not all yogurts are created equal. Activia contains over one billion

probiotics per serving to survive and reach the gut alive. When it comes to gut health, Activia is the number one family doctor recommended probiotic yogurt brand. Choose Activia. Feel good from the inside out. Visitactivia.ca for more details. When you're a mid-sized business, you need every competitive advantage you can get. Like an AI solution that works for you, not against you. SAP Grow is built with AI embedded at its core,

working across every system, and it's ready to go from day one so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow, AI Cloud ERP for any size business. First Alert, Web, on ABC 11. Polly Market is now accusing of is now accused of paying influencers to spread misleading posts promoting its platform. Here's ABC's Hannah-Bottel with this morning's TechBites.

In today's TechBites, Pauly Markets reportedly fake influence campaign. The Wall Street Journal reports it paid social media creators to make misleading content about the prediction market, including staging fake bets and massive wins. Polymarkets says it'll review its promotional content. Next, remembering a video game Titan. The co-founder of the French video game company Ubisoft, which has created hits like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, was killed in a small plane crash. 69-year-old Claude Guimo founded the company with his brothers in 1986. And a major milestone on Mars for NASA's Perseverance Rover.

It's now officially a marathon finisher, but it showed that slow and steady wins the race. It took perseverance five years to travel the marathon distance of 26.2 miles. miles across the red planet. Those are your tech bites. I'm Hannah Patel. Have a great day. Toy Story 5 is going to infinity and beyond with a blockbuster office debut. The film soared to the biggest global opening of the year, earning $312 million worldwide, including $160 million across the U.S. The movie reunites Woody Buzz Light Year and Jesse and the rest of the gang as they face Lily Pad, a brand new tablet. The All-Star Cat. That includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and Greta Lee.

So Toy Story 5 is now the second largest animated movie debut of all time domestically behind another Pixar film. Incredibles, too. Rob Brendan Moore, Eric Stall, right? We know those names very well. Okay, two Carolina Hurricanes icons. Two potential hockey hall of famers. We'll find out their fate after an amazing weekend celebrating our Stanley Cup champions. And it is a first alert day here.

We're tracking possible storms and some dangerous heat. Today, we'll get your forecast coming up next. And we're keeping a close eye on this crash on US-64 and Zebulin. Your traffic report straight ahead. We'll be right back. Hey, y'all. It's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up?

That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what-if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home.