ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at 6pm - February 28, 2026

Episode Date: February 28, 2026

Eyewitness News at 6pm - February 28, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now, live coverage from your local news leader, investigating new information tonight, and your first alert forecast. Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11 eyewitness news. We're tracking breaking new developments in the Middle East. President Trump says Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hamani is dead after the American and Israeli military launched a major large-scale attack on Iran. The president also telling Iranians now is time for them to rise up against their own government. Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us here for eyewitness news at 6. I'm Steve Daniels here with you on this Saturday evening to get you up to speed with the latest developments from the Middle East or a joint American Israeli military operation began in the early morning hours targeting Iran and the country's leadership. And we know this is a big concern for all of the families in our local military communities. And we have every angle covered for you here on eyewitness news. Here's what we know at this hour. President Trump says Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Hamani was killed in that attack.

Iran says more than 200 people have been killed and another 700 people injured. Iran has now launched retaliatory strikes, drones and missiles targeting Israel and American assets, including our military bases in the Persian Gulf region. So far, we have no reports of any serious injuries to Americans. The president says the heavy and pinpoint bombing, as he calls it, will continue uninterrupted throughout the week. or as long as necessary. Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had and actually were armed with nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message. For these reasons, the United States military has undertaken a massive and ongoing operation

to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests. The president updating the nation from Mar-a-Lago on the attack on Iran just a short time ago. You might remember the Pentagon last targeted Iran in June when bombs were dropped on three Iranian nuclear sites. The president did not get congressional approval for this latest attack, but the White House is working now to set up briefings this week for all members of the House and Senate in Washington. And we also know Iran has launched drones into countries aligned with our country. That includes Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan. Officials say the U.S. Navy base in Bahrain was hit while Iranian missiles were intercepted over the UAE.

The strikes on Iran have sparked mixed reaction around the world while some people are celebrating the takedown of the Iranian regime. Others are protesting the attack. And here at home, news of the strikes on Iran sparking a rally in the triangle. Dozens of people gathered in downtown Raleigh calling for an end to the bombing there in the Middle East. And we have live team coverage for you tonight, diving into all the local reaction. We begin with John Dowding, live in Moore Square. John, what can you tell us about that protest underway this evening? Well, Steve, that protest wrapped up about an hour ago here in Moore Square downtown,

but dozens gathered here today calling for an end to the violence, and that rally turned into a march as they walked around here downtown. A lot of them, again, echoing the calls for an end to violence and say they worry about a future potential armed conflict in the Middle East. We've got the power. We got the power. But what kind of power? Chopper 11 up above downtown Raleigh this evening, as protest,

marched through downtown, echoing a message against the U.S. and Israeli air strikes in Iran. Those we spoke to say they were not surprised to hear about those strikes and say they don't want to see military action overseas. I think most people don't want to see their homeland bombed. Even if they have disagreements

with the government, I know there's division politically that's like going to happen anywhere. So we have to look at history and like what is a real interest behind these bombings. Again, that protest here rally, wrapping up just about an hour ago here down I have been speaking with members of the local Iranian community here in the triangle. They've been very vocal and urging the Trump administration to take action against the regime over the last few weeks, including as recent as last weekend.

A lot of them saying now they're just waiting to see the impact these strikes will have on the regime in Iran. We'll be speaking with more members of the local Iranian community here in the triangle. And you'll be hearing from them later on right here on eyewitness news. Live here in downtown Riley. I'm John Dowding. ABC 11. Eyewitness News. Yeah, they're certainly focused on the future of their country. We'll look for that tonight on eyewitness news at 11 o'clock, John. Thank you. And the American military attack on Iran is really rattling nerves in our local military communities, especially for families at Fort Bragg. As we know, soldiers from Fort Bragg are very often among the first to respond to these kinds of international conflicts.

Penelope Lopez live now on post at Fort Bragg. Penelope, a lot of questions tonight about which American military forces were directly involved here. What are you learning? That's why we reached out to the Department of War and they said that they couldn't confirm which troops were stationed there and operated there. But what we do know is that this the special forces are stationed here in Fort Bragg. And they've played a critical role in the past for certain missions, including the one in Venezuela back in January getting Nicolas Maduro and his wife. We also know that the President Trump was at Fort Bragg just two weeks ago, thanking the

special forces and their families and their families. The Special Forces Unit is among the elite, highly trained operators who train and advance weapons and advanced combat tactics. In the past, Trump has said before that he's not a fan of extended war, but warned and extended stay can come at a price. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. And we're starting to hear some reactions from local veterans here. We'll bring that to you guys in the next couple of hours, just hearing from the people here how they're feeling.

Live at Fort Bragg, Penelope Lopez, ABC 11, eyewitness news. I have been side-by-side, Penelope with Fort Bragg soldiers in Kuwait over the years. Fortunately, we know of no injuries, but we do know that the bases there in Kuwait were targeted. We're waiting to see what Fort Bragg soldiers may know about that. We'll have more through the evening. Thank you. And our local leaders are speaking out following the attack on Iran. Some politicians are expressing their support for President Trump, while others are condemning the president's actions.

Tamara Scott joins us now in the Breaking News Center with more of their reaction, a lot of mixed reaction. Where are you hearing from our local leaders? Yeah, see, we're getting a lot of mixed reaction from our local leaders here in North Carolina. of the political reaction. It's still pouring in. And this is just days before election day. First up, Senator Tom Tillis expressed his support for the Trump administration's move on Iran, stating, quote, President Trump has rightfully determined that this theocratic dictatorship cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons and continue to slaughter its own citizens who simply want freedom. Senator Ted Budd also voiced his support for the strikes, calling Iran a direct threat

to U.S. interests, stating, quote, there is also little doubt that Iran, Iran's reckless ambition to obtain nuclear weapons at long-range missiles represents a grave threat to our safety and security. A nuclear Iran has been an unacceptable outcome. But there is pushback from local Democrats. Congresswoman Valerie Fushi, who is running for re-election this upcoming Tuesday, said, quote, this attack ignores the will of the American people and recklessly puts our service members in harm's way, repeating the same costly mistakes of past regime change wars that have destabled entire regions and destroyed, miss lives. And Congresswoman Deborah Ross echoing her opposition and calling on Congress to make

changes, she said, quote, Trump must immediately explain the rationale for these strikes and detail how his administration will avoid sending American troops into another costly and deadly military conflict into the Middle East. Most importantly, Congress must immediately vote on the war powers resolution. Now, I also just wrapped up a conversation with a public policy expert at Duke University. his insight on the U.S. attack in Iran coming up later on eyewitness news. We're looking forward to that. We'll see you in a few minutes for that, Tamara. Thank you. Still ahead here on eyewitness news. Our breaking news coverage continues. Eyewitness news is talking with voters ahead of the election day on Tuesday, how the tensions unfolding in the Middle East could impact their vote.

And one person is dead. Several others heard after a multi-car pile up on I-95 in Cumberland County. What we know about that crash involving an Amazon truck and that charter bus, much more to come on that. is with us on an absolutely beautiful Saturday outside. Yeah, after the clouds broke this morning, it was a perfect day. Temperature's gotten to the 60s for highs. It's going to be even warmer tomorrow, though. A true spring-like feel in the air with temperatures in the 70s. Just a reminder, we're 20 days away from the official start to spring.

We got more of those 70s on the way. The details coming up in your 7-day forecast. We are local news. ABC 11 eyewitness news continues now. In your voice, your vote, voting for the early primary, early voting, coming up on Tuesday, wrapped up today here in North Carolina. And with the breaking news unfolding in the Middle East, we've talked with voters today about what is impacting their decisions about who gets their vote. Bianca Holman has that story now from Durham. A steady flow

of Bull City residents exercising their right on the last day of early voting of midterm elections at this downtown library. Specific duty, I think that in my opinion, if you don't vote, you already voted. You already made your choice. I just think it's important for me to be politically active. A lot of the candidates were pretty good, but I still wanted to use my voice. And I think one of the hallmark of this country is that we have the right to vote and we should take a, we should utilize that every chance we get. Early voting totals are up 24% compared to the 2022 midterms. This set of friends holding each other accountable to make it to the polls. It's always important to vote locally, but she pulled me out of bad because she knows more

about me and she's more educated about what's going on with Durham. Voters share reaction to the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran overnight. I mean, I was already planning on coming out here today, but there was certainly a sense of urgency when I woke up this morning. Every morning it feels like there's some other news that's happening, but especially this morning. I think, you know, I was motivated to come out early. I double-checked that today was the last day, and so I made a priority for my day. This Durham voter hoping others take action on Tuesday. Unfortunately, there's a lot of unrest in our country, and I think that that has really motivated people to try to make their voice heard and have an influence in the upcoming elections.

In Durham, Bianca Holman, ABC 11, eyewitness news. And as we approach Tuesday's primary election, we're breaking down the key races in our area. And our new Your Voice, Your Vote, streaming special, Michael Perchick and I bring you in sight with local party leaders and political experts. you can watch it tomorrow at 11.30 a.m. and 10.30 p.m. wherever you stream eyewitness news. Coming up here on this 6 o'clock edition of eyewitness news, we continue following the breaking news unfolding in the Middle East. The new alert from the Department of Homeland Security about possible cyber attacks targeting American networks from Iran-aligned activists. Also coming up here, celebrating black culture. We'll take you to the big festival happening right now in Durham in celebration of Black History Month.

Come on, heat. Winter is hard, but your groceries don't have to be. This winter, stay warm. Tap the banner to order your groceries online at voila.ca. Enjoy in-store prices without leaving your home. You'll find the same regular prices online as in-store. Many promotions are available both in-store and online, though some may vary. This News, we are Local News Weeknights 4 to 630 and 11.

Our breaking news coverage of the strikes on Iran continues right now here on eyewitness news. the U.S. and the Israeli military conducting this joint operation early this morning targeting Iran and its leadership. President Trump says the strike killed Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Hamani. Iran says more than 200 of its people have been killed, another 700 people injured. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes, drones and missiles targeting Israeli and American assets, including military bases, and those strikes hitting several different countries in the Persian Gulf region, including Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and also Jordan. President Trump says the bombing will continue targeting Iran throughout the week or maybe even longer.

And we also just learned the Department of Homeland Security in Washington issued a critical incident alert outlining a threat environment, saying while a large-scale physical attack on our country is unlikely, Iran-aligned activists could conduct cyber attacks against wireless networks here in our country. New tonight, a man is behind bars in Orange County. After Hillsboro police say he tried to rob a woman at gunpoint, this happened yesterday at the BP gas station on Cardinal Drive. The woman told police she was pumping gas when she noticed a guy near the dumpsters watching her. When she finished, she parked in front of the store and went inside. And she says when she went back outside, the man approached her and pointed a gun at her.

Police say the woman then pushed the gun away and got inside her car and called 911. The man ran away. He was later found hiding in a nearby bathroom. He was arrested. He's being held now at the Orange County Jail without bond. In Carberlin County, the highway patrol is investigating a deadly multi-car crash. This happened on I-95 near mile marker 62 just after 2 o'clock this morning. Officials say five cars were involved, including a pickup, two SUVs, an Amazon truck, and a fully loaded charter bus.

At least one person died at the scene. Others were taken to the hospital. They have not released an update on the condition of those people who were injured. It's the final day of Black History Month in the city of Durham is closing out the month with a festival called for the culture. The big event is happening right now at Durham Central Park. They have live music and food trucks, black-owned businesses, and more. and it is free. There's still plenty of time to get out there and enjoy at the festival runs until 10 o'clock tonight. All right. Let's turn to first alert weather right now, though. Great looking warmer temperatures have returned.

Check out the fishermen at Lake Rogers and Creedmoor taking full advantage of the nice weather today. Meteorologist Cruz Medina joins us now with a look at this good looking day. The gloom is out of here. I think our spirits are all a little brighter now that the rain's out of here and things are looking even better for tomorrow. Yeah, it's going to be warmer by several degrees, a little taste of spring, if you will. going to cool down in a way that's going to shock the system. So we know that all good things come to an end eventually. And so we're going to see tomorrow's warm weather come to an end. But it'll be back by the time we get to the middle of next week. So for your Sunday, you could be outside just like you could today. Once again, a little bit warmer. So much above average for this time of the year. That dramatic drop hangs on through Monday and Tuesday. We will see likely some showers throughout the day on Monday. Definitely very cloudy and cold. And then we've got another stretch of 70s that'll be even warmer. than what we see tomorrow coming by next Wednesday and that'll linger into the following weekend as well. Now for tonight, it's been a nice day once the clouds broke this morning. We've had lots of sunshine. But for tonight, if you're heading out to the Lenovo Center, tipters are going to be in the 60s before the game,

right around 60 degrees, dropping to only 49 degrees after the game is wrapping up. So if you are heading over to the Lenovo Center, make sure that you bring at least a light jacket or a sweatshirt with you for this evening. Here's first alert predictors showing clear skies persisting through tonight. We could have some areas of fog develop as a result. Tipters will be in the 40s as you start your day on Sunday and our winds are going to be in the southwest ahead of this front that comes through. So late in the day we will see the cloud cover start to increase. You can see tipters are going to vary. So 60s to the north of the triangle in the triangle, low to mid 70s and that'll be the case down into sand hills as well.

Now this is a dry front so as it comes through it doesn't bring us any rain. But behind that front, our winds are actually going to turn out of the northeast. And so as that cold air mask banks up against the Appalachian Mountains, that's going to help to generate all of this cloud cover that you're seeing here. And eventually for the second half of the day, we could see some showers moving through. Now at the onset of this, if you're right along the Virginia border, there could be a brief period of a wintry mix. That said, I'm not really concerned with any problems on the roads or anything like that. And it's because tipters are going to be much above freezing. Now, as we go into the second half of the day and into early Tuesday, we should see this starting to wrap up.

So we're back to dry weather on Tuesday, but tipters are still going to struggle to even get out of the 50s. Back to tomorrow's forecast. If you are in our northern counties right along the Virginia border, you likely don't make it into the 70s, but the rest of us will. So low to mid-70s in the triangle and the sandhills. You should be closer to 75, 76 degrees. And then, of course, this front moves through. That allows the cold air to come in. Monday, kind of a raw day with that rain sticking around, very cloudy.

As we go into Tuesday, it's still cloudy. there could be a shower. We'll be watching, though, for our winds to turn back out of the southwest. And so that's actually going to help to boost those temperatures as we go forward in time. So below average, as we go into the start of the week by several degrees, and then as we go into Tuesday, still below average, but that doesn't last long, 14 degrees above average in Raleigh as we go into Wednesday. And I can't wait for that to happen because once we get into those 70s to the middle of the week, it's going to stick around for quite some time. If you're just joining us, here's a live look at RDU. We just passed a sunset hour, so 60 degrees and Raleigh, it's 50s already in the north, so Roxborough already at 52. Again, tonight clearing out, tipters drop down into the 40s or 30s, depending on your location.

It'll be a mostly clear night, but we could have some areas of fog in the morning. For tomorrow afternoon, tipters reach those mid-70s, slightly cooler to the north, and then we will see the tipters drop for the evening hours. So if you have plans tomorrow night, it's going to be much cooler. Rain on Monday, very cloudy, very cool. Temptors in the 40s as we go into Tuesday, 50s there. And then look at all of those 70s next weekend. I'm already thinking of what I want to do outside next weekend. Also, a reminder, we spring forward.

Oh, right. Okay. Saturday night into Sunday. So spring is coming. I'm glad you're focusing on all that good stuff. A little bump in the road at the beginning of the week. But other than that, things are looking pretty good. Absolutely.

All right, Cruz, thanks. Coming up here on eyewitness News, we are counting down to the Oscars here on ABC. 11 will tell you everything you need to know ahead of Hollywood's biggest night. Iwood-A-Sews is counting down to the Oscars, the 98th Annual Academy Awards, airing right here on ABC 11 in 15 days. Join us March 15th at 7 p.m. for Hollywood's biggest night. Will it be an historic night for sinners and its 16 Oscar nominations, or will one battle after another continue its impressive run through award season?

That's the big question. It's all part of a big night of Oscars programming right here on ABC 11. It begins at 3.30 with on the red carpet, their pre-show. out in Los Angeles, followed by eyewitness news at 5, ABC World News Sunday, and then back to the Oscars at 6 p.m. with more on the red carpet coverage. The Oscars begin at 7 o'clock, followed by an hour-long edition of eyewitness news at 11, and then you can stick around for on the red carpets after the awards show. Putting today, the iconic Oscar Meyer Wienermobile rolling into Wake County.

Today's stop was at the Western Wake Farmers Market in Morrisville. Tomorrow morning, the Wiener Mobile will be at the Marbles Kids Museum in downtown. downtown Raleigh. That does it for us here on eyewitness news at 6 o'clock. We'll see you back here tonight for eyewitness news at 11. We'll continue our reporting on the Iranian strikes today, including reaction from the local Iranian community and also our military community in and around Fort Brad. That's coming up after the NBA game tonight. Remember the news is always on at ABC11.com. I'll see you back here later tonight.