>> on air, online, wherever you are, "wncn today" starts now. >> hello and good morning, thanks for waking up with us on this friday morning, watching "wncn today", i'm stefan chase. >> and i'm maggie newland in for mike gonzalez, happy friday to you. emma wright is in the studio with details about a sendoff for the super bowl bound carolina panthers and a look at your morning commute. but right now getting your day starting with the forecast with meteorologist alyssa corfont. good morning. >> good morning, guys, and good morning to you at home as well. we're looking at clear skies this morning, that on our satellite radar composite, a nice change from where we were 24 hours ago. with those clearer skies come colder temperatures, right now at freezing in roxboro, 35 in raleigh, 34 in clayton, the upper 30s around fayetteville and clinton. that's really the biggest change from yesterday morning because if you remember, temperatures

hills yesterday at this time. here's a look at your fast forecast, a little bit of fog south of the triangle this morning, 35 at 8:00 a.m., 45 at noon, plenty of sunshine and then we're looking at highs in the 50s, 51 is where i think will be normal, 52, i don't think you'll get closer than that in your afternoon. that's the latest look in your forecast, to more in just a little bit, let's go ahead and check in with traffic on this friday morning, start you off with i-40 and wade avenue, just a few cars out in this direction. hey, it's still early on a friday, hopefully some of you getting extra sleep time this morning. but if you're getting ready to head out, buckle the seatbelts and remember, get to your destination safely. our live drive map, lots of green in and around the area. 440, westbound moving smooth, i-40 just as smooth, more on your traffic and weather in 10 minutes. so the carolina panthers

prepare for the big game, super bowl 50. >> exciting stuff, they are getting a huge sendoff this afternoon in charlotte. wncn's emma wright zwroeun joins us -- joins us live in the studio with more, sound good, emma. >> yeah, wish i could be there, preparing to send them off in style, the team has been preparing for one of their biggest games ever. they say right now they're just focusing on practice and using this two-week break to rest up. on the practice field, the panthers say it's business as usual. >> coach still has the same routine. as always. you know, he working, we got no time off. [ laughter ] >> reporter: off of it, corner back josh norman says he's trying to drown out the noise. >> i know there's going to be a lot of lights and hype, in san fran. haven't seen it yet but i've been hearing about it. so i'm anticipating that. >> reporter: charlotte is preparing to send the team off in style. they've spent the week painting the town blue for today's big send off rally.

nice to get a longer break and rest up and recharge a little bit. so i'm in the complaining for the extra time. >> reporter: the team says they'll need all the energy they can get when they go up against the broncos in their legendary quarterback, peyton manning. >> if i even get the ball from him, like, if you throw an interception or something, you know, guy allows me to be there, for it. probably going to, you know, bow to him. because, i, um, that's how much i really think about the guy. >> today's sendoff rally happening in noon at uptown charlotte, the panthers leave for the west coast on sunday. >> quite the party. thanks a lot, emma. today, state superintendent dr. june atkinson scheduled to visit three krount school -- cumberland county schools, in

and teachers with their calls for pay raises. eight superintendents from across the state, talked about how difficult it is to get and keep good teachers without a competitive salary. state school superintendent dr. atkinson says it would be a xwhitment to teach -- commitment to teachers. >> i believe a 10% raise for our teachers would go a long way in our minimizing the revolving door. >> with all due respect, i don't think that's a realistic number. we certainly, we would like to be there, right but we can't afford it. >> the department of public instruction says a 10% pay raise for teachers in north carolina would cost about $540 million. geez -- turning to politics now, the first hints of whether donald trump might benefit or suffer from his boycott of the gop debate before the iowa caucuses. holding a fundraiser for wounded

other -- attacks from the other candidates. >> this is like the academy awards. >> reporter: side by side, donald trump's veteran fundraiser -- >> isn't that better than this debate that's going on? [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: during the fox news debate where candidates mocked his accents. >> i'm a maniac. and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly. >> he's an entertaining guy, the greatest show on earth. >> he was a little teddy bear to me. >> i kind of miss him, i wish he was here. >> probably looking for me, has anyone seen trump? where's trump? where is he? [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] >> had all, man was i, that was the best debate we've had of all the debates, easily. >> reporter: issues like immigration, the top faced issue during the debate. >> you changed your position on immigration, you used to support a path to citizenship. >> so did you. so did you, marco. >> reporter: with trump gone, ted cruz accused the moderators of targeting him.

question, i'll have to leave the stage. >> don't worry, i'm not leaving the stage no matter what you ask me. >> reporter: the last debate before iowa makes its choice. tracy potts nbc news, washington. and donald trump says he raised $6 million for wupded war -- wounded warriors during that event. world health officials say they can't control the spread of the zika virus through south america. how it's made its way in to this country. we have a major recall to tell you about as well, why more than a million shower rubs are now under recall. and temperatures are quite chilly this morning, 33 in south hill, 35 in oxford, and roxboro, you're also in the mid 30s.

up n >> and now, your wncn weather forecast. >> i'm back in the weather center with meteorologist alyssa corfont, if you've been feeling down because of the gray skies, now the days are looking up. >> yeah, plenty of sunshine and we'll be tracking that sunshine as we head in to the weekend. right now though, let's get the kids ready for the bus stop. if they're getting ready early this morning, friday morning, 35 degrees, some patchy fog out there this morning. triangle. then sunshine and warmer condition as we head in to the afternoon, believe it or not, 50s will be back and normal for 52 degrees.

from where we should be. here's a look at your tower cam, live from the wncn studios, 35, cars cruising along just fine on the beltline as we start off our morning. i want to show you our satellite radar composite, remember yesterday we had rain in and around the viewing area. not the case this morning. the rain moving off the east coast, skies clearing quickly behind it. and that's what we'll be looking at it for the remainder of this friday. so plenty of sunshine as soon as the sunrises. that happens right around 7:18 this morning. now, there is a little bit of fog in and around the area, but it's mainly south of the triangle towards the sand hills. so five miles visibility in fayetteville, five miles visibility in raeford, dunn and clinton as well. we'll keep an eye on these numbers, not so bad but we'll let you know if conditions worsen throughout the morning. let's get to your forecast and the weekend ahead, right here on your door step. 51, breezy today, wind gusts could top out 25 miles per hour.

sunshine from start to finish, 55 on saturday, 62 on sunday, yeah, if you're doing the math at home, that's about 10 degrees warmer than where we should be. now, here's the kicker. temperatures continue to warm as we head in to early next week. i'll let you know just how high they'll climb and when we'll see the showers return coming up on your complete forecast. stefan. a church group is helping a woman in need repair and rebuild part of her home after a fire. new salem baptist church men's ministry spent yesterday in durham restoring power to the home and also repairing fire damage in the kitchen area. >> it was like god's angels, we don't know them, they don't know us. we're very happy for them to come in and help my moms to get her house fixed up. >> oh, my, what a tremendous service there. armstrong's mother who lives there had no insurance at the time of the fire.

back in, but it looks like she's getting the help she needs. the iconic family just got a new addition, this little guy right here. cute! plus, airlines are issuing a warning following the zika virus outbreak, coming up, why airlines are offering refunds in wake of i want a great shape. who doesn't? so i bike. i get all of my greens. and i try not to faint. this.. i can do easily. benefiber healthy shape. just a couple of spoonfuls every day means fewer cravings. plus, it's all natural, clear, taste-free and dissolves completely. it's clinically proven to keep me fuller longer and helps keep me healthy inside and out.

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to know right now. >> and this morning's top stories right now, the search is on for a would-be bank robber stopped by a quick-thinking manager. happened at the pnc branch in zebulon, the suspect may be driving a small dark gray vehicle with black rims if you know anything, contact police. today crews will head to a hoke county animal shelter to rescue dozens of neglected animals. they found 600 animals, in need of care and medical care. they also found at least 15 dead dogs buried at the shelter. the shelter's owners are facing charges. today, johnston county's dss building is set to reopen after a bed bug scare. officials shut down the building when they found a bed bug in the lobby area. pest control determines there was no active infestation. health officials say the

11 states and washington dc have all tested positive. all had recently travelled south of the border to the middle of the outbreak. experts say there could be as many as # million case -- 4 million cases of the zika outbreak in latin america next year. it could cause to miscarry or deliver babies with aabnormally small brains, a vaccine worked on this year. on monday whether the outbreak should be key dee claired an declared an international health emergency. the cdc has issued a tlafl warning due to the spread of the zika virus. the three biggest airlines allowing to cancel or postpone trips. the move comes as the mosquito-born virus rises. united, delta and american airlines all created policies that could give refunds to travellers who put a hold on their trips to latin america. now to a consumer alert, a fall hazard has prompted td --

million aqua rugs, suction cups sold in beige and clear. the products has received 60 reports of consumers falling in the shower or bath tub while in the rugs. they're sold from july 2012 through september 2015 at bed bath and beyond as well as dollar general. three, two, one, and liftoff! liftoff of the 25th space shuttle mission. >> a somber day, 30 years since the challenger tragedy. seven crew members were killed when it exploded 73 seconds in to the flight. nationwide, honoring the memory of those crew members, the international space station held a moment of silence. and cape canaveral where it launched, an emotional service. investigators found that cold weather caused parts of the

in the explosion. people in greensboro and north carolina a and t state university are remembering dr. ronald mcnair, he was the astronaut who graduated from there, holding a special community day honoring his life and legacy through speakers and performances. a and t named the engineering building after the astronaut. the budweiser dl clydesdale family just got bigger, the one to join of more than 160, using a tradition of draft horses in its marketing campaign since 1933. when mack is old enough, he'll train to become part of the budweiser clydesdale team. nothing cuter than a baby horse. >> yeah, we'll see in those commercials. >> yeah, i want to know what goes in to the training to be a budweiser clydesdale. >> good question!

yeah, and this weather, perfect for a friday, how can we complain? we're looking at sunshine from start to finish. here's your forecast for today. 8:00 a.m. temperature, 36 by lunch time we'll be at 45, our afternoon high in the 50s. and that's exactly where we should be. the past few days have actually been much cooler than normal. we'll drop back to near 42 by 6:00 p.m., a live picture outside, shaw university in downtown raleigh and as we look towards the skyline, no fog here in central portions of the state. but down around the sand hills well, you could wake up to a little bit of fog. be on the lookout for that. what we're not seeing, well, we're not seeing rain and we're not seeing cloud cover. look at this, our satellite radar composite showing all that rain that was affecting us yesterday, now off the east coast, the only thing showing up close to home would be a few flurries but those are up towards the west virginia and virginia mountains this morning.

systems, clear skies all day long. so at 6:00 a.m. this morning, just before the sunrises, clear conditions, clear skies at lunch time today and we'll continue with that sunshine as we head in to the afternoon. now, overnight tonight, we're also going to stay on the clear side. it's the winter time, we know clear means very cold by day break. so tomorrow morning, likely going to start off even colder than where we are today. i think many of you will wake up saturday morning to temperatures in the 20s. as we head towards saturday afternoon, the sunshine still around, that's actually going to warm us up nicely throughout the afternoon hours. now, speaking of warming, take a look at the temperature trend over the next five days. today, very kroes to -- close to seasonal. today the closest to normal days because look at tomorrow, we climb to 55, the 60s are here by sunday. when those 60s arrive, they hang around from monday in to tuesday, even in to wednesday. temperatures unseasonably warm as we head towards the middle of next week. right now these temperatures close to where we should be and that's cold for this friday

35 in raleigh, 36 durham, 28 right now in siler city. so your high tore this friday -- for this friday, 51 raleigh, 54 fayetteville. we'll fast forward to tonight. remember we were talking about clear skies, cold temperatures, 29 degrees and a calm wind. as we head in to the weekend ahead, all of that sunshine 55 on saturday, 62 on sunday, 66 monday, don't forget, groundhog day is next tuesday, we should be right around 65. good chance for rain then arrives as we head toward next wednesday, that's our next cold front and that's going to bring a cooler temperature for us, right around 50 by next thursday. it is 5:21 on this friday morning. let's switch gears and check in with traffic. i-40 and u.s. 70 business. so we're looking at plenty of headlights in this direction. if you're heading out though, everything seems to be cruising along at a pretty good speed, no slowdowns to report. and let's go ahead and check in

if you're on i-540 between glenwood and u.s. 64, 17 minute drive, 440 this morning, about 10 minutes and if you're i-40, south of downtown, about a 11 minute drive this morning. more on traffic and weather close to 5:30. >> thanks a lot, alyssa. this guy here, giving that clydesdale a run for his money. talk about cuteness! [ laughter ] >> okay, it's our pet of the morning, calley. the wattston family rescued him from the south of the bully rescue, the family says they love her and they're so glad they made the adoption. >> she looks like she'd do anything to make you happy. we want to feature your furry friend as well on our morning newscast, e-mail their picture to pets@wncn.com. include their name, their age, your name and where you live. crews set things up for the super bowl at santa clara, mistakes are bound to happen. coming up, we'll show you the blunder painters made on the field this week. >> hope it's not a sign!

coach ron rivera on how the team did ya know? fresh step extreme lightweight litter isn't just light. it's also the best lightweight r eliminating odors. amazing, right? for superior odor elimination try fresh step extreme...

5:25, the nfl bants wants levi stadium to be perfect, but forgetting two very important details. >> painting both end zones in

the crew painted the broncos logo on the visitors end zone and forget their were the home team and then decorated the home end zone before they fixed their mistake. ended up putting the panthers end zone paint yesterday. yeah, good, fix that problem. >> glad they got that fix jed down this story, ron rivera is on a game plan having cam newton handing a lot of footballs to kids. >> he's preparing for a great game. >> a chess match and not necessarily, you know, coordinator against coordinator, quarterback against defense. he's going to try and do things to throw you out of your game so he can exploit that. that's what i see. >> peyton manning is preparing for what could be his last game ever. man's fourth super bowl experience and he says he's ready. >> and we are facing a, outstanding team in all three phases, in a couple weeks, and

to do their part. >> the broncos and panthers face february 7. >> see it right here on cbs! all right, speaking of cbs, we just want to remind you that wncn is excited that starting february 29, have you heard? we'll be delivering hit cbs programming such as the big bang theory, ncis is and of course, march madness. >> find out more about the change right now on wncn.com. all right, coming up on our next half hour, emma?

preparing for the big on air, online, wherever you are. "wncn today" starts now. >> right now on wncn, a bank manager in wake county being hailed a hero for stopping an armed robber right in his tracks. and new developments at a massive raid at a local animal shelter. what investigators discovered. plus the carolina panthers