ABC11 Eyewitness News - Eyewitness News at Noon - June 8, 2026

Episode Date: June 8, 2026

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Right now on IWIT the news at noon, Wake County commissioners today asking crucial questions about the proposed merger between WakeMed and Atrium Health. Sean Coffey is live with an update on the billion dollar plan. Plus a powerful earthquake strikes near an elementary school in southern Philippines. The search now across the region for victims. And the Carolina Panthers giving back some NFL players today holding a camp for more than 200 Durham public school students. It's the news at noon. Right now, live coverage. from your local news leader. Today's top stories you need to know and your first alert forecast.

Here's what's happening where you live. This is ABC 11. I witness news. Good Monday afternoon, too. Thanks for starting off your week with us. I'm Amber Repenta. And I'm Barbara Gibbs. The Heat from the weekend hanging around today, but there is a chance for a few showers this afternoon. Peter Alta, Quailaela Murphy, joins us now for more on the forecast. I was thinking we just need some rain so bad. We really do. We're not going to see a whole lot today. The best shot will be south and west of the triangle later today. 40% 30% for the triangle. But right now the front's moving through.

So that's dropping our chances down and much drier to the north. But the heat, yeah, it's still here. A little bit 90s for highs today with that sun cloud mix. We're completely dry right now after a few morning showers north and east. But here's the front working through now. So as it continues to settle to the south, that's where the best chances for a few spotty storms will be highlighted later today. This will take us through sunset tonight.

I think dry for all locations to the south. midnight tonight for sure. A live look from North Hills. We have a lot of blue sky out there with some cloud cover mixing in as well. And temperatures firing in the 80s and 90s now. It feels like the 90s for most spots when you factor in that humidity. 95 and Clinton, it feels like temperature. Low 90s in the triangle 92 in Fayetteville and Southern Pines. Your feels like temperature. So we'll top out in the load of midnities today. Temperatures around 87 at 7, still holding onto a stray shower storm. 70s by 10. 11 o'clock tonight. Tomorrow morning, your first alert to 60s out the door. So, finally dropping back closer to average early tomorrow morning. Your first alert to what we're tracking in the week ahead, a brief break from the heat tomorrow. That means high temperatures in the 80s, but then dangerous heat settles in Thursday through Saturday. We'll have feels like temperatures of 100 plus,

and then you'll have daily rain chances too. More on that and a few. See you soon with more quite. Thank you. Now at noon, a high stakes meeting that could determine the future of a major health care merger. Today, Wake County Commissioners are expected to hear the latest from Wakeman executives on the status of their proposed merger with Atrium Health.

Sean Coffey is live outside the Wake County Justice Center where the meeting will take place later this afternoon. Sean, good afternoon. Yeah, good afternoon, Barbara and Amber. This proposed deal, which would have Charlotte-based Atrium Health take over Wake Med has faced harsh scrutiny since it was announced, I should say, last month. And that's led to renewed questions

from state officials about the implications for healthcare customers here in North Carolina, many of whom have expressed concerns about what it would mean for, in how it would impact competition in the healthcare space. across the state. Now some state leaders have also said insurance premiums could spike as a result, but WakeMet has defended this merger saying it will help with reducing costs for supplies,

medicine and equipment, while Atrium has promised a $2 billion investment in the area and the creation of more than 3,000 jobs. But now, Wake County Commissioners will have an opportunity to hear from Wake Med leadership themselves about this proposal and what it would mean for people in the county. The Wake County Board of Commissioners is said to meet today at 2.30 p.m. to hear from Wake Med, ship. Elena Athens will have the very latest from inside the room there starting on eyewitness news as four. But a lot of eyes going to be on this meeting today. So obviously this has a merger with pretty serious implications across the state. Back to you. All right. Thank you, Sean. Durham County Commissioners make it official tonight voting on a budget that raises your property taxes by two cents, but still leave school workers without a raise in nearly $1 billion spending plan gives Durham public schools $11 million more on. on half of what the district requested.

Classified workers who have not seen the raise in two years were asking for just over $19 an hour tonight. They'll find out if they get it. And in East Durham, police investigating a reported shooting at some apartments. This was the scene earlier this morning at the Hoover Road Apartments, crime scene tape and evidence markers

showing you the area where police are focusing their efforts. We're working to find out if anyone's hurt. And the search continues this noon for two inmates who escaped from the Vance County Detention Center four days ago. Authorities say 33-year-old Michael Lewis Miles Jr. and 21-year-old Lee Sean Knott fled the jail Wednesday afternoon. The surveillance video shows them running through a hallway in their orange jumpsuits. Investigators believe that this escape was planned and they say the pair may have had help waiting nearby. The FBI has now joined in the search and is offering a

$40,000 reward. A retired FBI agent telling eyewitness news, there is a good chance that the inmates have left the area. What's interesting about this where it's located, it's right on the border of Virginia. So the assumption that they're going to go interstate is pretty is pretty hot. Officials say both men are considered armed and dangerous and they urge anyone who sees them to call 911 immediately. Meantime today, Oxford is officially welcoming in its new top cop. Brandon Goins taking over his chief of police stepping into the role after Bill Partridge retired last month. Goins brings more than 13 years of law enforcement experience, including time served in Prince, County, Maryland, and today is his first day on the job. At least 19 people are dead. Hundreds of others are injured after a massive earthquake hit the Philippines.

It happened in the southern part of that country, triggering a 3.3 foot tsunami along nearby coast. New video showing devastation across the region. The 7.8 magnitude quake destroyed buildings and damaged critical infrastructure. Crews are now searching for survivors buried beneath debris. The Iran war hitting the 100-day mark with a dangerous development as Israel and Iran exchange strikes. Iran now saying it will stop the attacks but warns a bigger response if hostilities continue. ABC's Karen Travers has the latest from the White House. In a significant escalation, Israel and Iran trading attacks, the first since the ceasefire was announced in April. But now both sides indicating a pause. In a statement read on Iranian State TV this morning, Iran's joint

military command announcing that operations against Israel are now over. But they warned of a more severe response if Israel were to launch further strikes. An Israeli source tells ABC news, Israel is halting its attacks on Iran for now. This is after President Trump posting on social media early Monday morning that Israel and Iran are looking to do an immediate ceasefire and claiming that broader negotiations for peace are proceeding. But over the weekend, the two countries traded intense strikes, Iran firing multiple waves of ballistic missiles at northern Israel, saying it was in retaliation after Israel launched strikes against Iranian-backed Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. President Trump in a series of interviews on Sunday, sending a message to Israel to hold its fire.

But this morning, the Israel Defense Forces saying it conducted a wave of strikes on Western and central Iran, including a petrochemical plant. Iran responding to that, a fresh barrage targeting Jerusalem, Israeli air defenses intercepting the missiles. President Trump continues to insist that the U.S. and Iran are in final stages of negotiations, but he's also sending mixed messages about what it would take for him to restart major military operations against Iran. Over the weekend, he now says his red line is whether a deal is not coming together or not coming together. Or not coming to fast enough for him. Karen Travers, ABC News, the White House. New at noon, stubbornly high gas prices driven by the war with Iran are filtering through

the entire economy. Some Americans say they're planning fill-ups around trips to warehouse stores like Costco or BJs to save money. Convenient stores, on the other hand, are seeing sales drop around 10% as people pull back on filling their tanks. And here are the numbers. The pain at the pump right now, the national average stands at 416 a gallon here in North Carolina. The average price is around 375. That's down about 18 cents per gallon from last week. Happening now hundreds of students getting the chance to take part in a unique day camp. Yeah, this is cool.

The Carolina Panthers in Durham hosting a field day event there. Let's go to Tamara Scott. She joins us live with more on this event with these pro players. Hi Tamara. Hey, good afternoon, guys. It's hot out here. So I've gotten on one of the cooling towels that they've been giving out to every single child who's out here. And that's about 250 students who are out here.

in this stadium working with the Carolina Panthers this afternoon, getting in some great exercise and learning some great lessons. The Carolina Panthers are teaming up with Blue Cross, Blue Shield, North Carolina with Durham Public Schools to host this special Feel 100 Field Day. It's about 250 third grade students from the Durham Public Schools that are here working with Panthers Legends and part of a new social, emotional wellness program. It focuses on helping young students build their confidence, emotional awareness, resilience, and healthy coping skills. Students are rotating through activities designed to encourage teamwork, cooperation, and their positive self-esteem. We also have some fun with some former Panthers players. Blue Cross NC says that the goal is to support their mental well-being by both inside and outside of the classroom. Players we talk would say they're excited to give back to this community.

Well, I think just in today's day and age with the way social media is in the world, you know, you see so much negative, you know, that you always want to make sure that your mind is right, your body's filled, good, you know, just feeling 100% in every part of your life. So, and these kids are exposed to it, you know. So being able to be in a position to make a kid smile, you know, is all I ask for. And there are so many different activities that are happening outside here right now. They're playing a tic-tac toe, but first they have to throw the football here off to the left. There's like two huge football inflatables down there. They have to, it looks like hop on one leg to get past some.

So it's a lot of fun out here. They're having a great time. the players say that they hope that these kids do leave feeling accomplished. Back to you. That's a cool event. All the players, Sir Per is out there. Yeah. What a memory for all those students. All right. Stay cool. Tamara, thanks. Attention parents and grandparents of small children target today. Recalling its brand of wipes. We'll explain why just ahead. Also coming up, several teens try to rob a marine veteran in broad daylight. They pick the wrong guy. That story, two minutes away. And when it comes to the measles, don't let your guard down. the rising number of cases in just the first six months of this year.

Eyewitness news. We are local news weeknights four to six 30 and 11. The TSA is responding to what appears to be a shocking security breach at a major airport. The incident raising new questions about how man made it onto a United Airlines flight allegedly without a valid ticket. According to the criminal complaint, a 25-year-old man was arrested more than two weeks after he made it through TSA security and onto a flight in Houston. despite not having a real boarding pass, police claim the man used a forged ticket at the security checkpoint on May the 18th, agent seemingly breaking protocol and allowing him through even though his pass allegedly wouldn't scan. The electronics now that are used by TSA are so sophisticated. So there's one of the big questions here is not who failed, it's how the system failed.

The man reportedly had a real reservation that had been canceled. He was initially released with a warning, but when officials realized he was using allegedly forged documents, he was charged with a felony. A former Marine in a suburb of Washington, D.C., fall off a group of teens that tried to rob him at gunpoint right outside of his home in broad daylight. This is doorbell video camera, and it shows several people surrounding him near his pickup truck in Oxen Hill, Maryland. The Marine says that the teenagers allegedly demanded his car keys, his phone and other belongings, while one pointed a gun at him. The victim then wrestles with the teen. Did you hear that over the gun shortly before his younger brother and father rush outside to help? The gun was fired, as you heard, but no one was injured, and the suspects were held until police arrived. They picked the wrong person.

And new at noon, the staff at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., have now started to remove Donald Trump's name from the building. A Trump appointed board voted in December to rename the institution the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Last month, the judge ruled that the board had no authority to make that change because the center's name can only be amended by Congress. A deadline of Friday, June the 12th was set for Trump's name to be completely removed. Well, new at noon, Target is recalling several up-and-up baby wipe products sold nationwide. The wipes being pulled off shelves after complaints and FDA testing that identified traces of bacteria in those products.

Customers who own the affected products were advised to stop using them immediately and to to return the recalled items to the Target store for a full refund. Well, almost a week after voters went to the polls in Los Angeles, there's a major change in the race for the second spot in the race for mayor of Los Angeles. That story two minutes away. And the new lawsuit being filed to stop the UFC fight on the White House lawn. That story's new at 1230. Well, now to an update on the Los Angeles mayoral election,

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithia Rahman has now moved into second place ahead of reality star Spencer Pratt. by just a few thousand votes. Election officials continue to count mail-in ballots from the primary election last Tuesday. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass will face either Rahman or Pratt in the general election in November. This week, Wake County Schools will begin its second round of high school graduation. Students from Project Search will turn their tassels today. That ceremony starts this afternoon at two. And then on Thursday, Enloe, Broughton, Garner, Milbrook, and Apex Friendship will hold their graduations.

Friday, Rollsville High, Phillips High, Green Hope, Crossroads Flex, and other schools will also hold their ceremonies. And we have coverage of all the graduations happening throughout the month. Well, as summer crowds return to North Carolina's beaches, safety officials were reminding beachgoers about the dangers of rip currents after a series of rescues and missing swimmer incidents along the coast. Here is a live look at Riceful Beach on this Monday afternoon. Beautiful, just right near the Johnny Mercer Pier. Ocean rescue crews say that they've already responded to 125 rescues so far this year, well ahead of where they were last year. Safety experts say anyone caught in a rip current should remain calm, avoid swimming directly against the current, and instead swim parallel to the

shoreline while signaling for help. Looks like a beautiful beach day out there, though. That's a place to be, but yeah, high risk on the northern beaches. In shore, for sure, for sure, and a moderate risk for most other locations along the coast. It's been pretty high lately with some cold front offshore and also some low pressure systems there too. So please be careful. Don't forget your sunscreen too. We have temps in the 80s today at the coast and mainly dry. I can't roll out a stray storm in the mountains. As well with your sun and clouds in the mix. We have dry conditions for now for most of the state. A few showers possible in the mountains too. Rain chance today, 20% same for tomorrow. We're up to 30% Wednesday and Thursday and then Friday into your weekend. Rain chance 40%. A lot of heat around here. The week this week. You'll get a break tomorrow. with highs in the upper 80s. But after that, we really focus on the second part of the week where high temperatures will approach 100 degrees. Some of our models indicating that actual temperatures

will be around 100. So it's gonna be hot and humid around here. 96 degrees on Saturday. Also, feels like temperatures with humidity really be driven up by the end of the week to Thursday. It's gonna feel like around 105, 106. Same for Friday, too. So there could be some advisories issue

for the second part of the week. Right now we're looking at sun and clouds, dry conditions, high temperatures, for 80s, low 90s right now. A little bit more of a breeze from the east at this time, five to 15 miles per hour. We'll keep that breeze going through the day as the cold front works through.

93 degrees at 3 o'clock, still near 90 at 7 p.m. And then we dropped to around 70 degrees at 1 o'clock. We do have a chance for a spotty shower or storm. That best chance will be south and west of the triangle as this cold front continues to move to the south. So that'll be mainly the trigger for some of that activity later today. But you can see how spotty it's gonna be. Quick downpour or two possible through

evening hours and then I think we're dry by midnight tonight. Now tomorrow morning with lingering boundaries we could have a few showers early in the morning. I think by the afternoon dry conditions a lot more cloud covers still hanging on Tuesday and then Wednesday some lingering boundaries still leading to some scattered showers in the morning maybe an isolated storm or two by Wednesday afternoon but the coverage overall is down. By the weekend as I mentioned the rain chances climbed so we could see totals up to an inch and a half developing in spots and that'll be some rainfall that we desperately need but certainly not enough to get rid of the drought, which continues to worsen because of the lack of rainfall and all the heat. Here's your look at the tropics, no development expected there in the next seven days.

Recapping today, low to mid-noughties, lows in the 60s tomorrow morning as your seven-day forecast. And the heat builds near 100 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday feels like temperatures 100 plus. All right, Quaylon, thank you. Well, President Trump will not rule out giving money to January 6 rioters who attacked police and pleaded guilty. that story just ahead. And the New York Police Department is on high alert as the Knicks come home for the first playoff game in the garden. That story new at 1230. And protests are growing over a luxury resort project backed by Jared Kushner's investment firm. It was a violent weekend across parts of the country. First in New York City, at least five people were stabbed at Penn Station

last night. Authorities arrested a homeless person shortly after the attack. Security is already tight in New York ahead of the NBA finals in Madison Square Garden tonight. President Trump is set to attend. In Ohio, authorities intensify their search for several gunmen after a shooting. Over the weekend, at least 12 people were injured during that attack. It happened Saturday at an outdoor festival in Toledo. The victims range in age from 14 to 61. Police believe at least two shooters are involved. President Trump is not ruling out the possibility of providing payouts to January 6th rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol, including those who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers. The president continues to advocate for the anti-weaponization fund that would compensate

people he says were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration. However, the acting attorney general announcing they are scrapping the fund after a rare revolt from Senate Republicans. Trump defending the plan today in an interview with NBC News. The people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those, those people should be compensated. More than 1,500 people are tied to the January 6th attack, and they were charged in federal court, according to the Department of Justice. Well, now to widespread protests erupting in Albania against a planned $1.6 billion luxury resort

project backed by an investment firm associated with President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Activists had dubbed it the Flamingo Revolution. They say wildlife and the pink flamingo population will be destroyed if the project goes ahead. Anger escalated last month when excavators and bulldozers moved onto the site. Supporters say the project will boost Albania's tourism and benefit the economy. We'll take warning. The Carolina Hurricanes are prepping for game four of the Stanley Cup final after a double overtime thriller in Vegas. Indeed, it was a thriller and prescription medications for weight loss may be getting more convenient.

One medication being tested may be taken only once a month. And a new study, listen to this, finds many Gen Z college students, are arriving to college, unable to even read a sentence.