ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 5am - June 24, 2026

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

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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. 5 a.m. midweek special. Good morning. Carolina, welcome on this Wednesday. It's June 24th. I'm Julie Brown. And I'm Bianca Holman in for Anna Rivera this morning. Thanks for waking up with us on this Wednesday. This morning on eyewitness news, some parts of the triangle receiving two inches of rain on Tuesday. the brand new update on lake levels and the drought. A sweeping house reform bill headed to President Trump's desk, how it could make attaining the American dream more affordable for everyone.

And a three-day summit kicking off in Durham this morning, aimed at reducing gun violence. We'll hear directly from the mayor on a critical issue in the Bull City. Five o'clock on your Wednesday time for a first check of weather. We'll do traffic. We'll do it together. Quaylin Murphy is back on the best day of the week. Yeah, pick the week.

That pick them well, don't I? Yeah, we got some decent rainfall, though, yesterday, too. Let's talk about that. At RDU, we picked up over an inch and a half. So that now settles our monthly rainfall so far at nearly three inches. So that puts us back to nearly having no deficit, which is great news. Fayville, you didn't do so well. You're still under two inches for the month so far.

But we'll have another shot at some rain and storms into the weekend. Nothing either, nothing major or heavy. 87 degrees a high today behind that front, mainly sunny. Humidity values on the lower side, too. Here's that cold front well offshore high pressure building in for us today. So that's going to supply a lot of sunshine early. The cloud you see to the west, some of those will trickle in later today. So we'll have mainly sunny skies through the afternoon. But the temperature drop is showing 8 to 15 degrees cooler than yesterday right now. We're at 65 degrees at Rdu. This wind coming in light for now. But we'll have those winds picking up later today. So ultimately that will send those dew point temperatures back down into the upper 50s and low 60s, which will make for a really comfortable feel today. Temperature wise, upper 50s in Roxborough, 57 now in Ronec Rapids and Silas City. You've dropped to 59, 64 in Irwin Chapel Hill, 63, Fayetteville, 67 degrees. Still some fog out there, too, a bit more dense up and down 95 from Ronek Rapids down to Rocky

Mountain Wilson and definitely some dense fog around Goldsboro too. So if you have early out time this morning, just make sure you're taking it maybe a little bit slower. Winds are coming in from the north. So again, that's the cool flow that will help bring the. humidity values down. 72 at 9 o'clock with sunshine approaching 80 by lunchtime today. Perfect for lunch outside. 83 at 3 o'clock and partly cloudy.

Back to the 60s we go into early tomorrow morning. We are tracking the return of heat tomorrow. High temperatures heading back into the 90s on Thursday. We'll have some weekend storm chances, but no washouts for the weekend. Your typical summertime pop-up showers and storms on the way. And turning hotter next week, more triple digit temperatures. aside from the feels like temps. More on that coming up. Our first check up weather and traffic

together. Joel and Bianca back to you. All right, Quailan, thank you. Here goes a look at our traffic map. You can see those little spots of fog, but it shouldn't really be impacting us here in the triangle. And we are monitoring a couple of crashes on surface streets right now. We've got one in Raleigh that is on a Bloodworth Street. There's some crash with injury there. And then over in there's a motorist motorist assist at I-540 East Bank. on the east side of the city. Well, breaking overnight, one person is dead after a two car crash in Harndet County. This is new video from Dorman Road and Dunn.

We're told the driver of one car rear ended another vehicle. The road was closed for several hours during the investigation. If you have been priced out of the housing market, pay attention. A bill heading to President Trump's desk could change the math on buying a home. Tamara Scott live in Raleigh with the big takeaways. Tamara, good morning. Hey, good morning, Joel. Yeah, the site of some new construction may become more common that you may see in your local neighborhood as a new bill is heading to President Trump's desk and supporters say it could make homeownership more affordable. The House has just approved a bipartisan 21st century road to Housing Act sending the measure to President Trump's desk after it cleared the Senate earlier this week.

Supporters say the bill is designed to address the nation's housing shortage by encouraging more home construction and limiting large Wall Street investors from buying a high. homes that could otherwise go to families. The legislation received broad support from both parties, with lawmakers calling it one of the most significant housing reforms Congress has passed in decades. While the bill received broad bipartisan support, not everyone believes it will lower prices. A recent Zillow analysis found that the cost of buying a starter home is now $1 million or more in a record 242 cities nationwide. Five Republican senators voted against the measure, including Florida Senator Rick Scott. see how it's going to drive down the cost of housing. Most of the regulations that are impacting

the cost of housing is not at the federal level. It's at the local level. And so President Trump is expected to sign the bill later today at the Capitol. Back to you. Tamara, Scott, thank you. The Senate drawing the line with the White House voting to block U.S. military action against Iran. Senators approving a war powers resolution, 50 to 48. It's the 10th time the Senate has tried to stop the war. And the first time it has worked. The House passed a similar measure earlier this month while the resolution does not carry the full force of the law. It does signal a growing rebellion within the Republican Party over both how the war was fought and the deal President Trump struck with Iran to end it. Meantime, President Trump taking aim at big oil, Trump posting on truth social ordering the Justice Department to investigate what he calls gouging at the gas pump.

The president arguing oil prices have dropped sharply, but customers aren't seeing that relief at the pump. warning, that needs to change fast. According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of gas is 393. That's down 10 cents from a week ago. Here in North Carolina, the average is about 357 up from last week. Happening this morning, the summit on saving lives. It's a three-day conversation on crime prevention in Durham. Sean Coffey went one-on-one with the mayor ahead of the summit. So, Sean, what did you have to say? Yeah, good morning, Bianca. Leo Williams believes that this is a major step in finding solutions for violent crime here in Durham telling me that they have data and community input now that they have never had before. Today kicks off essentially three days

of brainstorming around the violent crime issue here in the Bull City. A collaborative effort from the mayor and other city leaders that he says is different than anything that the city has tried before. The city leaders held 15 listening sessions across Durham in the six months leading up to this summit generating what they've called an unprecedented amount of feedback while also compiling new data on gun violence that they hope will create more targeted solutions. My ultimate goal is the community, one, can be better informed on what has actually happened, happening, better informed on how they can be engaged. And I hope that the council will also listen and let our policy decisions reflect what this data is actually telling us.

And this morning session is open to anyone who wants to attend between 9 and 1215, before the summit continues with closed sessions. The next two days will have much more from today's summit on eyewitness news at 10. Back to you. All right, Sean Coffey, thank you. It is 507 and we are tracking the drought. Where lake levels stand after yesterday's rain and what we're learning about the violations to water restrictions. And new details on the deposition of Bill Gates related to his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. What a new transcript is revealing. Quaylon, good morning. Hey, good morning. Bright skies make a return today. No rain or storms in the 14th. The forecast. humidity, though, is going to be low this afternoon. High is mid to upper 80s. Enjoy the break from the heat because that changes tomorrow. Area traffic hotspots brought to you by the Fred Anderson family dealership on Glymwood 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. 511, welcome back on this Wednesday morning. We're tracking lake levels and we're still about six feet below full pool at Falls Lake. We're seeing also a deficit still from Jordan, the car and Lake Gaston as well. Here's a live look from North Hills where dry conditions resume after that shower and storm action yesterday. Some of those storms really strong, bringing down trees for parts of the area.

Things are looking pretty good for now. We'll have nice dry conditions through the afternoon. Front is well offshore. And most of the cloud cover along with it, too, we will see a few clouds by later on today. This morning at 8 o'clock, still 60s and 70s out the door. Temperatures at lunchtime right around 80 degrees for most of us. And then we'll settle near 90 in the sand hills this afternoon, low to mid 80s in the triangle. So temperatures dip a few degrees below average this afternoon.

will take it because we know things change tomorrow for your evening hours. So in the 80s at 8 o'clock, we're back to the 70s by 9 and will be partly cloudy through the overnight hours tonight. Low rip current threat at the coast today. Dry conditions there too. So back to sunshine. Load to mid 80s for high, some 70s sneaking in in the mountains today. But dry conditions, a bit more cloud cover in the mountains too. Unsettled across the century in the United States, mainly east of the Rockies, with a chance for some locally heavier downpours down around parts of the south leading back into Oklahoma and areas closer to Denver to Orlando 92 today New York City 84 Chicago 75 degrees Los Angeles upper 70s again we're in the 80s today we're back to the 90s tomorrow

when we're going to have temperatures closer to 100 degrees it's coming up in a 70 forecast Joel back to you. Quaylin thank you yesterday's rain barely made a dent much of North Carolina still locked in extreme to exceptional drought conditions chopper 11 overfalls late this week and the pictures tell the story large stretches of Raleigh's main drinking waters for simply dry. City officials are watching closely and they're losing patience just last week 92 warnings issued for water restriction violations the city urging residents to follow the rules. The city of Durham went into stage two water restrictions last week and we're learning not everyone is following the rules. Durham has received 107 complaints about possible violations.

Penalties range from verbal warning to a notice of violation and then it escalates to fines of $100 to $250. Repeated violations could ultimately result in water service being disconnected. The good news is most Durham residents are conserving water. City water officials say water's usage has dropped since stage two restrictions started. Time now, 513 and this morning new plans to fix problems with the reflecting pool. A North Carolina senator weighing in as the president blames vandals. And celebrating the Carolina hurricanes, the cup making its way to the General Assembly.

head coach Rod Grindermore delivering a message to fans. This episode is brought to you by L'Oreal Group. Beauty is a powerful force that moves us. That's why L'Oreal Group has built a business that is inclusive at its heart with 100% of its brands championing diversity. With 25,000 professional opportunities for people under 30 worldwide and 54% of leading positions held by women, diversity is a strength that helps L'Oreal Group create the best

beauty products for all people. Visit laurel.com to learn more. For local news, ABC 11, eyewitness news continues now. 516 and new details this morning about Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Gates appeared before a House oversight

committee earlier this month, part of an ongoing probe into how the government handled its Epstein investigations. Now the transcript from that closed-door session is released, revealing. Gates says he tried to cut ties with the convicted sex offender, but Epstein fought back, allegedly attempting to use compromising information about Gates' extramarital affairs, his leverage. During that interview,

Gates acknowledged at least three extramarital affairs, but insisted none of the women involved had any connection to Epstein. Some of the water from the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial will be drained around the 4th of July in order to make permanent repairs. President Trump is blaming the Reflecting Pool's issues on vandalism, though that has not been proven. Six people have been arrested, North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis sharply criticizing the president's threats to prosecute the alleged vandals. You're telling me, even if it proves to be true, that damaging aligning and the reflecting pool is something that Piro wants to prosecute to the full extent of the law, if it's proven true. And yet, they're releasing people who pled guilty to assaulting a police officer. What freaking parallel universe did I just wake up in?

The pool's renovation is part of the president's plan to beautify some D.C. landmarks, but the plan went left after algae appeared in the pool, and its new blue paint started to peel off. Well, the Stanley Cup making another stop in Raleigh. This time inside the holes of the state legislature. Hurricane's captain Jordan Stahl carrying the cup into both the House and Senate chambers at the state legislative building. The visit led to standing ovations, packed galleries, and at least one joke about tariff. which did remain on by the way. Coach Rod Brindamore altered it Captain Jordan Martin Nook and Kane CEO Brian Fork were also in attendance and coach Rod highlighted the energy he saw at Saturday's parade. What I witnessed on Saturday at the parade was something very, very

special and what I witnessed was a lot of people coming together and supporting us but maybe people that wouldn't normally talk to each other were state fans and Carolina fans and Duke fans and whoever else fans coming together and supporting our team. The State House unanimously passed a proclamation honoring the team, hailing the Canes record-breaking goals and calling them one of the most complete teams in the NHL. Yeah, and the top pick in the NBA draft is BYU freshman forward A.J. Bonza. So he's headed to the Washington Wizards. But before that, he'll be live on Good Morning America today, and we'll break.

down where our local players went coming up in our next half hour. 519 and a live look outside downtown Raleigh. Daybreak, it's happening, folks. That's the Pendo Sky Cam at 301, Hillsborough Street. This is going to be a good one. Perfect, perfect weather. I don't know what else to say. Yeah, we got that rain yesterday.

It was the middle of the day. I took a little nap. It was perfect napsing weather. But yeah, today's going to be amazing. Yeah, today's going to be really nice. Lots of sun, low humidity, low temperatures too. relatively speaking everything changes tomorrow but there's that front offshore now high pressure building in from the north we have clear skies for the time being there are some clouds back to the

west and some of those will start to work in later today but overall a bright afternoon average high 89 degrees so today will fall just shy of that I think will be in the upper 80s today and then back to the 90s tomorrow but approaching 100 on those actual temperatures Friday and Saturday highs in the mid to upper 90s will settle into those mid 90s Sunday and Monday of next week. I do have some spotty rain and storm potential in the forecast to end the week, but today's going to be nice and dry. Here's a live look into downtown. Again, skies are clearing out very nicely behind the front and we have some much cooler air too with 50s and 60s on the board. 67, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Sanford 60, mid-60s in the triangle from Durham to Raleigh and Chapel Hill and Roxborough 59 degrees. Still some fog showing up this morning where some of the moisture is a little bit higher. So some dense fog, mainly along in east of 95 from Goldsboro to Rocky Mountain Wilson and Roanoke Rapids. Some patchy fog down around Sanford and also for Irwin, too. Certainly better in the next couple of hours.

So this won't last for much longer. 76 degrees at 10 by noon. We're right around 80 degrees. If you're going to plan to take your walk at lunchtime today, no major sweating happening this afternoon. 87 degrees at 4.81 this evening. So again, the fronts offshore high pressure building in from the north and west. And that'll keep us nice and comfortable today. day. As we head into tomorrow afternoon, that high slides offshore. So that brings back

return flow from the south. That's why high temperatures quickly pumped back into the low 90s. And this front will be tracking for it later in the week. It doesn't look like it passes through. Actually, I think we'll have some disturbances with it, but it'll be close enough to bring us a chance for some showers and storms starting Friday. So Friday morning mainly dry, maybe a stray storm in the afternoon, but I think a better chance for some scattered showers and storms into Friday evening and night with some downpour. as possible. No concerns for any severe storms. Into your weekend, we'll have some pop-up shower and storm potential, too, not a washout, but generally during peaky of the day, the summertime

pattern. That's where we'll see that best chance and then we'll dry out into early next week. Your seven-day rain totals about three-quarters of an inch or less. High temperatures today around Fayetteville 90 degrees, Sanford 86, mid-to-pper 80s, around the triangle and low to mid-80s to the north with that low humidity, partly cloudy skies tonight, when slowly start coming in from the south tomorrow morning, but still some comfy air out the door tomorrow, upper 50s, low 60s to start. 92 Thursday afternoon, some late day storms possible Friday that high around 97 lows in the 70s, approaching 100 Saturday for the high mid 90s on Sunday, still mid to upper 90s Monday and Tuesday, and then we get into some serious heat by the middle of next week. I think by Wednesday and

Thursday we'll have high temperatures, actual highs approaching 100 degrees. Weather and traffic together, back to you. Quiglin, thank you. Real time traffic map looking pretty good at 522. No major traffic backups to report. Take a look at the DOT camera. This is I-540 at Old Milburny Road. There was a report out of Nightdale about a assisting motorist meeting assistance in this area,

but we can't find any problem on the DOT camp. It's 522 and Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly pushing meta into the prediction market space. Your morning tech news is next. And coming up in our 6 a.m. hour crash test shocker. eye-opening demonstration of just how far vehicle safety has come. In today's Techbytes, Mark Zuckerberg's new project. The founder of Facebook is looking to launch his own prediction market app. According to the New York Times, the app would allow users to bet on

the outcomes of events using a point system rather than money. Anthropic is launching a new AI feature in Slack. It's called Claude Tag and it allows users to tag Claude for insights and chats or assigned tasks. Cloud can gather facts from throughout the company. The AI can be messaged or tagged for on-demand assistance. And Meta is out with a new set of smart glasses in its push to expand further into the AI race. And this time, Meta won't be partnering with Rayban. The biggest change, the price tag. The new glasses will start at about $300, about $80 bucks less than the Rayban version. Those are your tech bites. I'm Hannah Bata. Have a great day. saving lives from gun violence.

A three-day summit kicking off today in Durham. And we're hearing from the mayor ahead of this important initiative. And the Lumby tribe votes on a proposal to allow gambling on tribal land. We'll tell you the surprising results.