Tracking USS Lincoln's months-long mission as concerns about conditions grow
Tracking USS Lincoln's months-long mission as concerns about conditions grow. The KRAK 11 News hour: The World Desk, Criminal Intent, Happy Animals, Sports. Real stories from named sources, read by Chip Marlowe and Deb Sarkissian.
Aired 2026-08-18 21:58 UTC · 5 segments · 12 min · complete transcript below
Rundown
KRAK 11 NEWS
Good evening, Wexler County. I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian. This is KRAK 11 News at the top of the hour.
Tonight: a major First Amendment lawsuit as Disney and ABC take the federal government to court over broadcast license challenges. The World Desk has the filings, the allegations, and what the FCC is saying in response.
Then: a Florida Republican congressman fighting to hold his seat as domestic abuse allegations surface days before voters head to the polls. Criminal Intent has the timeline and the legal questions.
Later: researchers say they have documented animal behavior that proves certain species have evolved a sense of humor. Happy Animals brings you what scientists are calling a breakthrough in understanding dolphin intelligence.
The study was published in twenty-seventeen.
And in Sports: an industrial explosion in Toledo sends firefighters scrambling as flames reach two hundred feet. We'll have that and the rest of your evening lineup when KRAK 11 News continues.
The World Desk is next.
THE WORLD DESK
Good evening. I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian.
Gordo, is the camera favoring left again? It looked slightly off-center during the break.
The camera is level, Chip.
It reads slightly tilted from this angle. I would like that noted.
Noted. We begin tonight with a story raising questions about strain on American sailors deployed overseas.
The aircraft carrier USS Lincoln has now been deployed for more than seven months, one of the longest continuous operations in recent Navy history, with no confirmed return date.
Satellite tracking shows the carrier has been operating continuously in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea since August. Crew members have raised concerns about exhaustion and equipment maintenance.
The Lincoln was originally scheduled to return in December. That timeline has been extended three times. The Navy has said only that the deployment is essential to maintaining security in the region.
The carrier is currently operating in the Red Sea, approximately two hundred miles off the coast of Yemen.
Yemen, which is the southern gateway to the Suez Canal and one of the most strategically vital waterways connecting the Mediterranean to the Arabian Peninsula.
The Red Sea connects to the Suez Canal. Yemen is on the Arabian Peninsula.
Which the waterway serves.
Yes.
Overseas, Brazil's president has announced what he is calling a significant oil discovery in the Atlantic Ocean, located approximately four hundred miles off the coast near the mouth of the Amazon River.
Environmental groups have condemned the exploratory drilling, citing risks to marine ecosystems and the Amazon basin. Brazil is currently the ninth-largest oil producer globally.
And when you consider Brazil's position as one of the largest economies in the Southern Hemisphere, this discovery could reshape energy production across the entire South American continent.
Brazil is the ninth-largest producer globally, not regionally.
Which includes South America.
It does.
In England, the head of the Premier League has criticized FIFA's president over plans to restructure the World Cup calendar, saying the organization has, quote, pressed the self-destruct button.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said FIFA president Gianni Infantino's plan to sell World Cup broadcasting rights in smaller packages represents what he called a self-inflicted wound.
The dispute centers on revenue sharing and scheduling conflicts between club leagues and international tournaments, which could affect how fans in places like Wexler County access World Cup coverage.
The dispute is between European club owners and FIFA. It does not mention Wexler County.
It affects broadcast rights, Deb. That includes us.
In twenty-twenty-six.
Still ahead, a Fairmont man faces charges after police say he led officers on what can only be described as the slowest pursuit in county history. Details on that, and the vehicle involved, in just a few minutes on CRIMINAL INTENT.
That's next.
CRIMINAL INTENT
Good evening. I'm Chip Marlowe.
And I'm Deb Sarkissian.
Gordo, is the kicker font bigger than it was last week? It reads heavier.
It's the same font.
A California burglary suspect is recovering tonight after being trapped inside a wall for more than twelve hours. Police in Riverside County say the man allegedly broke into a commercial building early Tuesday morning.
Officers say he became wedged between interior walls and was unable to free himself. Officers on a coffee break heard what they described as faint cries for help coming from inside the structure.
Firefighters removed sections of drywall to extract the suspect, who was then transported to a local hospital. He is expected to face burglary charges once released.
Police have not said how the suspect became trapped.
They also have not ruled out that he may have attempted to evade capture by entering the wall system voluntarily, which would suggest premeditation.
Police said he got stuck.
In Massachusetts, a man led police on what officers described as a slow-speed pursuit while operating a front-end loader through residential streets for more than twenty minutes.
The vehicle has a top speed of eleven miles per hour.
Police say the driver refused to stop and during that time allegedly damaged a mailbox, a fence, and a section of guardrail before officers were able to box him in at an intersection.
He has been charged with failure to stop for police, operating under the influence, and three counts of property damage. Prosecutors allege he was also driving without a valid commercial license.
Independence, Missouri police have recovered five Barbie dolls with fentanyl taped inside the packaging. The dolls were sold at a discount retail store and were discovered after a customer reported unusual weight.
The store has pulled all remaining inventory and police are investigating how the dolls entered the supply chain. No arrests have been made at this time.
In New York, a man is facing multiple charges after prosecutors allege he set a vehicle on fire with two people still inside following a traffic stop. Both occupants escaped without serious injury.
Prosecutors allege the suspect doused the interior with an accelerant, ignited it, and fled on foot. He was apprehended forty minutes later and is being held without bail.
And a New York carjacking led police to more than six hundred pounds of marijuana after the vehicle was recovered in Queens. The carjacking victim has been arrested along with two suspects.
All three are facing charges related to transporting contraband across state lines. Police say they are investigating whether the carjacking was connected to the drug operation.
Still ahead on KRAK 11 News, a dog who traveled more than four hundred miles to return home, and the family who says they never saw him leave. That story has resolution, Deb.
It has a dog.
Happy Animals is next.
HAPPY ANIMALS
Time now for the good news desk.
Gordo, is the kicker font still reading heavier or did we revert to last week's weight.
It's the same font it has always been.
Good. Consistency reads as professional.
An endangered sea turtle has completed a five-thousand-mile journey from Wales back to Texas after seven months of rehabilitation.
The turtle was found stranded on a Welsh beach in January, treated for hypothermia and malnutrition, then released off the coast of Galveston last month.
Tracking data shows the turtle traveled more than five thousand miles in open water to return to feeding grounds near Texas, which is —
That's the entire Atlantic Ocean.
Marine biologists say the journey demonstrates the species' remarkable navigational ability and resilience after injury.
In Scotland, wildlife researchers have documented the first recorded sighting of a Scottish wildcat swimming in the Scottish Highlands.
The wildcat was observed crossing a river in Sutherland. Fewer than three hundred remain in the wild, making this the first documented evidence the species can swim.
Conservationists say the behavior may help explain how the species survived in isolated highland areas for centuries.
And new reporting reveals the only animal that terrified wildlife expert Steve Irwin was the parrot.
Despite wrestling crocodiles for decades, Irwin said parrots were unpredictable and had terrible aim.
That is the good news desk. Still ahead, we have sports.
That's next.
SPORTS
Good evening. Time now for the KRAK 11 Scoreboard.
Before we begin, I'd like to address the graphic placement. The kicker should anchor left of center, not dead center where it currently sits.
The kicker is left of center.
It's drifted, Deb. Since Tuesday. I can see the pixel count and it has drifted exactly four units to the right, which on a broadcast monitor reads as centered, which is not what we agreed on in the style guide I distributed in May.
We begin with college football. Ohio State opens preseason ranked number four in the Yahoo Sports Top Twenty-Five, positioned as a favorite to win both the Big Ten and a playoff berth.
The Buckeyes face Michigan in November, a matchup that could determine playoff seeding for the entire conference. Ohio State has retooled their offense around quarterback Will Howard, who transferred in from Kansas State.
They were also ranked fourth last season.
Consistency in rankings is a sign of a well-managed program, Deb.
Major League Baseball. The Seattle Mariners defeated the Tampa Bay Rays six to two Sunday night at T-Mobile Park. Cal Raleigh hit two home runs, bringing his season total to twenty-eight.
Raleigh now sits third in the American League home run race behind Aaron Judge and Kyle Tucker. The Mariners are making a late-season push for a wild card spot, currently two games out with three weeks remaining.
Judge has thirty-one home runs.
Which is why I said third.
The National League. The Atlanta Braves shut out the Miami Marlins three to nothing at Truist Park. Max Fried pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine batters and walking none.
Fried has been exceptional this month. Seven starts, five wins, an earned run average under two. That is what championship pitching looks like heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
The Braves are four games behind Philadelphia.
Four games with nineteen remaining is entirely surmountable.
They would need to win at a ninety-five percent clip.
Professional soccer. Manchester City midfielder Rodri says he is ready for excitement again after Barcelona completed a sixty-five million pound transfer to bring him back to Spain.
Rodri spent five seasons at City, winning four Premier League titles and the Champions League. He told reporters the move represents a homecoming and a chance to compete at the highest level in La Liga, the league he grew up watching.
He won the Ballon d'Or last season.
Which is precisely why Barcelona is paying sixty-five million pounds for a twenty-nine-year-old midfielder. You pay for excellence, Deb. You pay for a player who has already proven he can perform at the highest level when the stakes matter most.
That is the second-highest fee Barcelona has paid for any player over thirty.
The National Basketball Association. Sources close to the Buss family say the ongoing dispute over control of the Los Angeles Lakers now centers on valuation, not the ownership structure itself.
The Buss family owns approximately sixty-six percent of the Lakers through a trust established in nineteen ninety-eight. The current dispute involves how that stake is appraised for tax and estate purposes, with the team valued at approximately seven billion dollars.
The Buss stake alone is worth over four and a half billion dollars.
Making this one of the largest family trust disputes in professional sports history. The Lakers organization has declined to comment, and sources say the family hopes to resolve the matter privately without litigation.
Still ahead on KRAK 11 News, the next KRAK 11 News at the top of the hour brings you the latest on the industrial fire in Toledo, where crews are entering their second day of containment operations.
That fire sent flames two hundred feet into the air after an explosion at a recycling facility Sunday afternoon. No injuries have been reported, but residents within a half-mile radius remain evacuated as hazmat teams assess the site.
The cause is still under investigation.
We'll have that story and more at the top of the hour. For Deb Sarkissian, I'm Chip Marlowe. Thank you for watching KRAK 11 News.