WRAL Newscasts
7PM News on WRAL - Friday, June 28, 2024
Is your vehicle stopping like it should? Does it squeal or grind when you break? Don't miss out on summer break deals at O'Reilly Auto Parts. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ O'Reilly Auto Parts ♪ [screams] Big heat, rain, and storms along with the threat for severe weather. When you'll need to move your plans indoors this weekend. President Biden speaks in Raleigh less than 24 hours after he's debate against former President Trump. When his supporters are saying about his speech. A mother and her boyfriend are charged with child abuse after a three-year-old little boy was found unresponsive in their done apartment. We'll have the latest on this investigation. Now, breaking news from WRAL. Coverage you can count on. Thanks for being with us here at 7 o'clock. I'm Dan Hagerty. We are starting with this breaking news. A car fire on I-40 East. This is between Durham and Chapel Hill. And it's right during the Friday evening commute. Look at the images there. What a mess. The flames are now out. But as you can see, the backups remain. And they stretch four miles. It happened near mile marker 269. And Sky 5 was over that scene. The car has since been put out. It's off to the shoulder of the highway. It is unclear if anybody was hurt in this. We will continue, of course, to follow this story and have some updates for you tonight on our late news. We are also tracking more dangerous heat for your weekend and some new activity in the tropics. Tomorrow will likely be under a heat advisory across our area with a heat index of at least 110 degrees hot. Also, a tropical depression. Two of them formed in the last two hours. Meteorologist Mike Mayce has been paying attention to all of it for us. Mike, give us the details. Yeah, we have three systems for tracking the tropics tonight. Dan White is a tropical depression. And you see it here, there's Barbados, the Islands, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico. It is moving west to 24 miles per hour. Top winds are 30. Perhaps by 11 o'clock tonight on WRLL, it would become barrel. If not, it would be overnight into our daybreak tomorrow. Likely to become the first hurricane of the season, 2 a.m. Monday morning, 85 mile per hour winds. Moving into the Caribbean, as of right now, passing south of Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Martin, all the northern islands there. And then by Wednesday afternoon, top winds are at 90, making its way toward Jamaica. We'll watch this closely, but it's not showing any signs of heading toward us. Another big heat weekend, 97, at least in Raleigh tomorrow. Heat advisory will be issued at some point. Feels like 110 for the day tomorrow. Sunday, storms are likely. In fact, there's a really good shot that we'll see them. We'll talk momentarily about that. But the heat index tomorrow, 96 at lunchtime, 172 o'clock, perhaps peaking at 110, with just a 20% chance for a shower or a storm. Rain chances really go up on Sunday. There's a cold front coming in, 60% chance, 50 at night, 50 on Monday. That front could produce severe weather. And Dan, I'll highlight that coming up in less than 15 minutes. Got it. Talking then, thank you. Today, President Biden was in Raleigh for his first public appearance since last night's debate. Biden spent much of the time reassuring supporters that he's up to the job. Trump, also hitting the campaign trail today, speaking at a rally in Virginia, Trump has been criticized for his accuracy at last night's debate. Biden for his performance. WRO's Monica Casey takes us inside today's Raleigh rally at the state fairgrounds. President Biden emphasized the importance of North Carolina to winning this nationwide election. But his performance at today's rally was also important after a shaky debate last night. Do you feel more confident after seeing him today? Yes, 100%. I think yesterday, I was a little-- I was confident for Biden, but I was kind of like, OK, we need to do something to set it up. And I like today he brought it all the way home. President Biden's energy and candor about his age at today's rally reassured many supporters. I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smooth as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. Adrian Payne came from Winston-Salem to see President Biden. He says the debate is in the past. He had a rocky start, but let's be honest here, though. If it comes down to the guy who stuttered versus the guy who said there and lies the entire debate, I'll take the guy who stood as any day or the guy who lies the entire debate. Lewisburg resident Jesse Goslin believes Biden's performance was still better than former President Trump's. I don't think Trump told the truth one time the whole night. They need to reverse fact check. And did he tell the truth? Otherwise everything was just a lie. In Raleigh, Monica Casey, WRLL News. Now, if you watch the speech today, you may have noticed there were a handful of disruptions that happened during President Biden's 20-minute speech inside the Jim Graham building. Protesters tried to shout out over him several times. And during those interruptions, you can hear the crowd then chant over them for more years and USA to drown out those protests. Eventually authorities escorted, as you can see from the video, those protesters out of the building. Former President Trump spent his afternoon in Chesapeake, Virginia. Crowds there of people lining up at a farm to listen to who speak for the first time he was speaking since the debate last night. He told the crowd that he believed he won the debate and then criticized President Biden's performance. He got the debate rules that he wanted. He got the date that he wanted. He got the network that he wanted. With the moderates he wanted, no amount of rest or rigging could help him defend his atrocious record. A second debate is set for September. And in just a moment, we're going to take a closer look at some of the reactions from last night's debate. A three-year-old boy is dead. And his mother is in jail, as well as the mother's boyfriend, facing charges in Harnett County tonight. The little boy named Marcos, also known as OJ, done police found the three-year-old on the floor of a home on Ponderosa Drive, bruised and unresponsive. His mother, 33-year-old Sierra Privet and her boyfriend, 24-year-old Michael Nguyen, are charged now with child abuse. Marcos' grandmother believed that there were signs of abuse that could have prevented his death. She says her grandson was full of life. He just wanted to be a boy. He loved the water. He loved to just run. He explored. The police department is planning a vigil to honor the boy, both the mother and boyfriend, are in jail under a million-dollar bond. The state is now investigating allegations of abuse against a former Wake County teacher. WRAL has been investigating claims that James Wrencher abused students with special needs at East Wake High School back in 2022. After our reporting, law enforcement got involved in charge Wrencher with 12 counts of assault today. Car? The Wake County District Attorney's Office looked into whether or not the principal properly reported this? Yes. And at this time, no additional charges have been wronged. Our responsibility is to hold people accountable when they have committed a crime. There are other avenues by which people may take action to try and hold people accountable who may have dropped the ball, didn't do what they're supposed to in terms of their job responsibilities. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction says they are now investigating the situation as well. And at last check, Wrencher was still in jail under $150,000 bond. The crematorium of a well-known funeral home suffered heavy fire and water damage in Fayetteville. Rogers and Breece V funeral home has been serving the community for more than 125 years there. WRL's Gilbert Bay has talked with the owners about the plans for the future. Well, Rogers and Breece's funeral home has been in this community forever. That's the main building over there. But the thing that caught fire was the crematorium here across the street. For four generations, Rogers and Breece V funeral home has provided comfort to families in this community during their emotional time of need. J.M. Rogers started the business in 1898. Last night, just before nine, the crematorium went up in flames in a matter of minutes. David Breece watched firefighters knock down the flames. Naturally, they don't let us close by, but we just are at the mercy of their work. We had to stand back and watch what happens, and it's tough to see your property up in flames. Firefighters were able to get the flames under control, but not before it did significant damage to the roof. So as you can see from the drone footage, the roof is destroyed. But let me show you something. If you come inside, you can see that the ceiling is made of metal, and the owners of the building say that's a good thing. The fire was high in the roof. It wasn't down below. We had probably about a half a million dollars worth of hearse's, limousines, and a couple of them were brand new. Luckily, we had zero damage to those. And we're told no one was hurt. The family plans to rebuild the crematorium, and they appreciate the love and support this community is showing during their emotional time of need. That means the world to me and to the family because people do care, and there's so many good people here in Fable and Common County. In Fable Gilbert Bay's WRL News. And the family says that other funeral homes in town have been reaching out to help them as they can make those repairs to the crematorium. Wake County Animal Center is in a bit of a crisis mode right now after reaching full capacity yet again. Staff, they're actually taking in 140 animals in just the last three days, and they are almost completely out of space. That means soon they would have to start euthanizing animals to make more room. The shelter is asking for the community to help in the form of adopting a pet. The center is waving all adoption fees for dogs, cats, and small animals from today through next Sunday. Still ahead, a bit of a shocking sight right off of our coasts, viewers showing some video of sharks swimming in very shallow water. We're going to explain where this was spotted coming up. Plus, another local athlete heading to the Paris Olympics. We got those details next. MUSIC Are you ready to buy or sell your home? The Jim Allen Group is a nationally recognized and award-winning real estate team in the Triangle, dedicated to providing exceptional service to meet your needs. With the latest insights and expert market knowledge, they'll make your home buying and selling journey as smooth as possible. Don't wait. Head over to JimAllen.com and start your next move today. That's JimAllen.com. The Jim Allen Group, your partner in real estate. I chose William Peacet University because of the small class sizes. I feel that you get more one-on-one time with teachers. With class sizes like about 16, her teacher, you can really get that one-on-one help. A lot of students need. A 12-to-one student to faculty ratio is just one of the many reasons students choose William Peacet University. Extra attention starts day one for career planning with their Career Services Center. Find out all they have to offer at peace.edu. - Some breaking news just into our newsroom. ESPN College basketball analyst Dick Vitale announcing that he will undergo surgery to remove cancer from his neck in a post on X. Vitale said a biopsy of lymph nodes in his neck showed cancer. Surgery is scheduled now for next Tuesday. Back in 2021, Vitale was diagnosed with lymphoma. Several months later, he had surgery to remove melanoma. He is 85 years old. A major ruling from the Supreme Court today could give some people convicted in the January 6th riots, another day in court. The High Court ruled federal prosecutors went too far by bringing obstruction charges against hundreds of the rioters. Prosecutors may now have to reopen those cases. More than 350 people were charged for obstructing or impeding an official proceeding, including some North Carolinians. The vote was six to three, with one liberal justice joining the conservatives and one conservative joining the liberals. So all day we have been talking about people's reaction to President Biden's performance in the debate last night. It's turned into kind of the elephant in the room or more accurately the donkey in the room, the Democrats, their reaction to Biden's performance at the debate last night, which did start with utter panic this morning. These were some of the headlines today from NBC. Some Democrats start calling for Biden to step aside. In The New York Times, a prominent columnist who supported Biden in 2020 and Clinton in 2016 published an opinion this morning titled, Joe Biden is a good man and a good president. He must now bow out of the race. So look, it's no secret that Biden's age and mental acuity have been a big focus of his re-election. Any flub or awkward moment that we've seen, it has been cringe-inducing for the left and easily weaponized by the right. And last night, there was plenty of ammo, 90 minutes peppered with cringy moments, so much so that political wrote, Democrats really have no way to spin this, which is probably why so many have crept quiet. Josh Stein, for instance, and Governor Roy Cooper didn't even try today and Raleigh. They both took the stage of the campaign event. Neither of them mentioned the debate. Though shortly after the event ended today in Raleigh, former President Barack Obama posted this on Twitter or on X. Said, quote, "Bad debate nights happen, trust me, I know." But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Last night didn't change that, which does sound kind of spin-ish. I mean, definitely dismissive to some of the people who founded Concerning. Here is how Biden put it during his speech today. - I don't speak as smooth as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. (audience cheering) I know, I know, I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. - Now it's fair to say, and even in the clip we just showed, the president seemed much sharper and more energetic today in Raleigh than he did at the debate last night. That said, today he did have a teleprompter, a species given a thousand times and a room full of his supporters. Not exactly apples to apples to what we will see in a debate. It also seems like potentially the plan now is to just brush off concerns and push full steam ahead like it never happened. That said, this was the earliest debate in US history, which means there's a long race ahead and plenty of time for swing voters like so many here in North Carolina to decide the difference between a bad debate night and something more serious. If you missed last night's debate, you can find a full breakdown of everything that happened right now on WRAL.com. That includes a fact check of each of the candidate statements. Trust me, you should go take a look at those from our partners at PolitiFact. Some new video now at seven o'clock. It shows several sharks swimming in shallow water off of our coast. This was captured along East Beach on Baldhead Island, so you can see at least two sharks swimming right before the wave breaks. You know, look, I was a little stunned by this. Some people, some big fans of shark week in the room were telling me it's not that rare, okay, to see these things a little closer to shore. I prefer them a little further out, Mike. I love sharks. I've always wanted to be at the shore watching sharks swim by like that. I mean, I guess that's the kid in me because when I was a kid, I just love sharks and still do as an adult, as long as I'm not in the water when they're coming on by. So I find that video pretty cool. But be safe as you head to the coast this weekend. Rib current threat today was on the low side on our Eastern facing beaches, up toward Atlantic Beach in Emerald Isle. It was a moderate threat. We have seen some showers across the area. These actually started in Onslow County. I've been dragging them since four o'clock when they moved through Duplin County, Sampson County, Cumberland County, now making their way into Hote County. Don't think they'll make their way up here into Wake County or Harnett County. They'll kinge it ahead off to the West and gradually dissipate and the saying will probably happen again tomorrow afternoon, but Sunday should be a different story. We're going to talk more about that coming up. So let's talk about our live cam networks. Speaking of the beaches, there's Carolina Beach. They have low rib current threat today. Probably the same tomorrow. Chapel Hill, quite a bit of cloud cover, apex, looking pretty good. Franklinton, you guys have your Independence Day celebration coming up later on tomorrow afternoon, starting at five o'clock in the football field. That's Franklinton Middle School. At nine o'clock, the fireworks go off, tonight at 10 and 11 on Fox 50 and WRL. I'll show you how the front of the school there is lit up with red, white and blue. I've seen pictures of it. It's pretty cool. Check it out tonight at 10 on Fox 50 and 11 on WRL. 91 right now, I'd argue after our 97 today, feeling like 91 right now, feeling like 90 in Fayetteville. It's only 83 though. Those heat index values are going to be way up over the weekend. And here comes our next cold front on Sunday. Now, drop the chance for rain tomorrow, only to 20% so if you have outdoor plans, I don't think you have to worry about getting wet. Sunday, the entire state is under a level one threat for severe weather due to this front. And it's quite possible that level two threat could get extended farther south, that that's the case we might have a severe thunderstorm watch. Everybody, Anthony, Brian Schrader, Amy, we'll be talking about any changes coming up in the weekend forecast tomorrow and Sunday. Sunday and future cast at lunchtime, a small chance for a shower or storm. There's two o'clock. Watch how things blossom. Now, the past few events we've had, everything blossom to the east and miss us. I don't think that's going to be the case this time. We see these scattered showers and storms at five o'clock. Some of the rainfall could be heavy. We're actually under a low end threat for flooding. So some of these could move slowly, dumping some very heavy rainfall. And it will be raining. It looks like in a farm country, but for some folks it's too late for the corn crop and maybe other crops to come back to life. And then we have more rain coming Sunday night and the first part of the day on Monday. Seventies the lows tonight will be mostly clear and then a hot one tomorrow, 20% chance for a shower or a storm into the weekend. It's hot, 97 for the day tomorrow, 95. On Sunday, Monday we're back into the 80s, 87 for us here in the Triangle. Tuesday, low humidity, not hot, 88. That's below the normal high of 90. And then Sizzlin on Thursday Independence Day and Friday are highs in the upper 90s, maybe 100 for the high. Oh boy, heating back up. Again, Mike, thank you. Still having it. It's just got a little easier for North Carolina businesses to decrease their carbon footprint. We're going to show you how a new program works. (upbeat music) - Save on O'Reilly Break Parts Cleaner. Get two cans of O'Reilly Break Parts Cleaner for just $8 valid in store only at O'Reilly Auto Parts. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ O'Reilly ♪ ♪ Auto Parts ♪ (screams) - Hello, it is Ryan. And we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? 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Those upgrades could include solar panels or efficient cooling systems or LED lighting. - This is really going to help accelerate options for commercial customers who have been very, very hungry for opportunities to deploy more clean energy on site. Especially in North Carolina, where we've seen pretty significant rate increases. - Now we should mention state treasurer, Dale Falwell, has strongly opposed efforts to introduce the state CPACE program. He believes that it's predatory lending. Raleigh native and Wakefield High School graduate Veronica Fraley is on her way to Paris for the Olympic Games. Fraley qualified for Team USA and the discus last night. Watch this discus fly. This was the track and field trials out in Oregon. I mean, I mean, I can throw a frisbee that far. So this is the first time that she is going to the Olympics. Veronica made the trials in 2021, but she didn't make the Olympic team, but here she is representing our country in Paris in the discus. She's also going to try for the shot put event, I believe tonight, but congratulations to her and her family. Amazing. Remember, WRL is your home for everything Olympics, coverage starting July 26 with exclusive reports from our own Liz McLaughlin, who's making the trip out there to Paris. Next week, Morrisville will be the center of the cricket world. It's one of two towns nationwide hosting this season of Major League Cricket. Some video from when the competition came to town last year. They're going to be at the Church Street Park from July 5th through the 17th. The competition will mean the typical amenities out there at the park will not be available until the 22nd, but there's going to be some world-class cricket being played. A Durham woman is connecting Church and the LGBTQ community through music, and she's not stopping, even though Pride Month is coming to a close. Earlier this month, we showed you a viral video of "Hot to Go," which is a song by Chappelle Rohn. It was being played on the chapel bells at Duke Memorial United Methodist Church. Caitlin McDonald is a member and volunteer bell-ringer at the Church. She also came out as transgender back in 2021. She says she's gotten hundreds of messages from people who haven't felt welcome in Church. Some have even come to service after this at Duke Memorial UMC. If anybody watches these videos and has a takeaway, it's, I think, primarily that they are loved. And I think what it says to me is that there are a lot of LGBTQ folks in this country and outside of this country who are ready to engage or re-engage with religion, faith, spirituality, if given the chance and given a safe place to do so. Since WRL spoke with her, Caitlin McDonald actually got to see Chappelle Rohn live here in Raleigh, the singer's team, got her into the show. You can listen to more of this conversation on the WRL Daily Download podcast. On Sunday, you can check out a Pride event downtown Kerry. Pride in the Park is open to the public. It includes family-friendly activities, including lawn games, arts and crafts, friendship, bracelet making, bubbles, and temporary tattoos. It's from noon until 4 p.m. We appreciate you being with us here tonight on WRL News. We're going to have our next newscast on Fox 50 at 10 o'clock. And again, at 11, back here on "WRL White," a look from Fayetteville. Have a great night. [MUSIC PLAYING] Keep watching WRL News over the Air Channel 34 and Spectrum Channel 1257. Here's Megan with Parkway Sleep Centers. Our sleepless nights affecting your life. Parkway sleep health centers can help. We've treated sleep disorders in the triangle and beyond for over 20 years. We offer sleep studies, office visits, CPAP machines, supplies, and more. And our streamlined process allows us to see you sooner and usually saves hundreds of dollars. And sleep problems. Live your best life. Experience the Parkway Sleep Difference. 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