Transcripts For KNTV Today In The Bay 20240712

Taking a live look at washington. It looks so clear there, doesnt it . Good morning. Thanks so much for joining us. Im laura garcia. Havent been clear in a while here. Im Marcus Washington for you this morning. Mike, hope has a clear forecast for our roads this morning, but, first, we have to start with the weather. Meteorologist kari hall is tracking that for us. Our skies havent been clear in a long time. Today going to be any different . I dont think so. Were still looking at a lot of smoke coming in and those fires continue to burn and so until we get more containment and more of those fires put out, were still going to have unhealthy air quality. Thats going to be talk about ws orange coming up in a couple but, mike, hows it looking right now for the morning drive . Well, im watching for the orange, but i see some red, as well. The orange over here in the trivalley. Southbound 680 right where 84 merges with that and a crash should be making its way to the shoulder with no injuries and follow that for the trivalley. Oakland, just like yesterday, 880 is jammed in the southbound direction from the tube and it goes under the freeway over to about 23rd. The overpass there where youre down to one lane. Northbound side looks like it cleared up, but, you know what, well track both directions for the next few. Back to you. All right, thank you very much, mike. Everybody is talking about the orange skies and really the smoke from so many fires making for the ominous look across the bay area. Weve got live team coverage. Today in the bay kris sanchez is tracking the deadly fire in oraville and lets check in with bob redell on this record run of spare the air days. You and i have both worked here a long time and ive never seen anything like this, bob. No, the closest we got was back in 2018 when there was 14 consecutive spare the air days during the camp fire. We are now at day 24. Tomorrow will be day 25 and declare one for tomorrow. Again, new records for the most consecutive spare the air days in a row. You can see behind us the air quality already not looking good as youre looking at those headlights heading westbound on 580 through the dublin interchange. The forecast calls for winds from the pacific to push this up across our area and make the air quality even worse. We expect sunrise this morning to be just as weird as it was yesterday when we woke up to ash on our cars and ive already seen it on my car and blew off on the drive in. Blue skies in San Francisco and the smoke and soot shrouded the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge for several hours. As bad as the air looks the bay area says the air quality is still moderate. Its not the worst possible. Doctors are reminding us this is not only bad for your lungs, but your eyes, as well. You want to use over the counter lubricating drops and avoid contact lenses outside if you can. It can cause significant irritation so in cases like that, you may want to consider wearing glasses as opposed to wearing contact lenses. Coming up at 5 30, well have an explanation as to why were seeing the color orange being filtered through all that smoke and soot in the air. Reporting live in dublin, bob redell, today in the bay. Thanks, bob. Heres another look at what our cameras captured across the bay area all day yesterday. That orange and yellow hue everywhere. Now, we expect more of the same later this morning as the sun comes up. So, lets check in again with meteorologist kari hall this morning to explain why this is really even happening across the bay area. Well, we have that smoke coming in and it was so thick. We talk about our cameras around the bay area and that orange glow. Whats happening here is that smoke is only filtering what we see the long waves, part of the spectrum. The red, the orange, the yellows. Those are the colors that are allowed to come through this dense smoke. Its not allowing the other end, the short end of the wave lengths to come through that give us the blue skies. And then once it comes through that smoke, it kind of just gets reflected off of everything and gives that hue so were going to possibly see that happening again today. The does depend on what level in the atmosphere were seeing that smoke coming through, as well as how thick it is. So yesterday was a day like none other and unfortunately, we may see the same thing again today. We will be watching for that. But a slight change in exactly where that smoke is can make all the difference, too, laura. It is really remarkable out there. Well, turning back to our fire coverage, the wind whipped bear fire has killed three people as it just exploded inside. At least a dozen others are still missing and the fire spread to nearly 100,000 acres in just 24 hours. Today in the bay kris sanchez joins us live and well look at what we know about those victims and even the people that are still at risk, kris, here. Well, hi, laura. There are still evacuation warnings and orders in effect and we know that at least one of those three people who died was trying to escape those flames. Now, this time yesterday we were showing you what people were trying to drive through as they were trying to evacuate. The butte county sheriff now confirms that one person was found in a car trying to get away. Two other people who died were found at a different location. Now the bear fire part of the north complex is now more than a quarter million acres. U. S. Forestry service says the fire behavior was unprecedented, which is how two evacuees pretty much described it to us, too. They spent hours in a swamp trying to escape the flames. We drove through here and just like driving through hell. Just flames everywhere. I have no idea how to describe that. We were trapped for like eight, nine hours. This bridge was on fire, we couldnt get out. Now, containment of the fire went from 51 , which is a decent number all the way down to 24 because of those winds. And now the evacuation warning includes parts of the town of paradise where so many people died and lost their homes to the camp fire just a few years ago. Adding to the challenges, the escape route will be very dark as people try to evacuate. Thats because part of the area is under a pg e Public Safety power shutoff so the lights are out. So, one more reason to listen to the warning. If you are asked to leave, leave so you have as much time as possible to get to safety. Kris sanchez, today in the bay. Closer to the bay area the czu fire is now 84 contained and more eviction orders are being downgraded to warnings but San Mateo Health orders are declaring a Health Emergency due to the hazardous waiste from th fires. Also declared a local emergency. The fire destroyed some 1,400 structures. Well, full containment is now expected by saturday for the scu fires. It destroyed 138 structures burned nearly 400,000 acres in seven counties, youll recall, and contra costa. The federal government has now closed all National Forest statewide. This is unprecedented move to try to prevent more of those fires from breaking out. All 18 National Forests from the north to cleveland National Forest near the mexico border are closed. Dont forget, the great way to stay informed through all of those changes that were seeing is through our free nbc bay area app. You can actually sign up for this and get those alerts straight to your phone. Were sending out the very latest on the evacuation updates and weather alerts along with other breaking news stories. A live look at capitol hill where in just a few hours, Senate Republicans are expected to vote on a Coronavirus Relief plan. The proposal faces an uphill battle. House democrats say it falls short and vow to block the bill. The 300 billion proposal includes added unemployment benefits, funding for schools and Liability Protections for businesses and health care facilities. Astrazeneca is now talking about the serious setback that it says actually put a halt to its Covid Vaccine phase three trial. The drug company put on the brakes this week due to a possible neurological problem for one of its volunteers. Until now, it has been considered one of the most promising vaccine candidates. The woman in britain developed symptoms consistent with what they call transverse myelitis. A serious inflammation of the spinal cord. Its still not clear yet if the womans condition is related to that vaccine. Its a caution at a time like this, you put a clinical hold, you investigate carefully to see if anybody else who received that vaccine or any other vaccines might have had a similar finding of a spinal cord problem. Well, just yesterday the ceos from nine Drug Companies released an unprecedented statement promising not to rush vaccine trials despite pressure from President Trump to approve a vaccine before election day. We all know everyones safety is what is most important here. Here we go, 5 10 this morning. Getting up and getting ready for the day. Meteorologist kari hall getting ready to what we can expect outside and although yesterday the sunrise brought a big surprise for a lot of us, kari. Yeah. And all throughout the day. We didnt see the sun at all and it was so confusing out there. Looks like were also seeing a lot of smoke being pushed down a little bit farther into the valleys as we take a live look out there in dublin and then as we go into the day, were going to see our temperatures very slowly warming up. Were not going to see a very warm afternoon, but hopefully well see some improvements in our air quality, but unfortunately, it doesnt look like that will be the case for today as our temperatures in many spots will reach into the 70s and low 80s. Well talk more about this and a look ahead to the weekend coming up. Mike, hows it looking right now for the commute . Its looking better for the commute, but still slow in oakland over my shoulder. That red stretch southbound continues again from about the webster 2 where it goes under the freeway down towards 23rd where the overpass is there and construction crews in the southbound side. Northbound cleared up a few minutes ago. Slowing across the span now for the bay bridge and that is a little concern, laura. We dont have a backup at the toll plaza but well check on that, again, coming up. Back to you. Sounds good, mike, thanks. 5 11. Next on today in the bay twitter downsizing but not the number of characters allowed in a tweet. The new steps the social media is taking as more of its employees work from home. Amazon definitely upsizing hiring tens of thousands of people at surprisingly high salaries. Tell you all about it coming up. Im bigad shaban and just released our second series of derail. Our series about all things b. A. R. T. How b. A. R. T. Is coping with the pandemic, financial fallout and binge watch all our new episodes on app, youtube, apple tv and nbcbayarea. Com derail. So youre a Small Business, or a big one. You were thriving, but then. Oh. Ah. Okay. Plan, pivot. How do you bounce back . You dont, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. Powered by the largest gig Speed Network in america. But is it secure . Sure its secure. And even if the power goes down, your connection doesnt. So how do i do this . You dont do this. We do this, together. Bounce forward, with comcast business. As we take a live look outside in san jose youre heading out to another day of unhealthy air quality and a lot of smoke overhead. Our temperatures will slowly warm up in campbell and were starting out with upper 50s and low 60s and still be in the 60s at noon. Well talk more about this and whats ahead with our air quality coming up. And chp has no reports on the bay bridge, but my Speed Sensors just slowed down a little bit more getting into the city and getting out of oakland, though, heading into that backup. We have a smooth flow and well sort out i80 westbound coming up. Well, goodern moi morning a happy thursday to you, as well. As you know by now, we get data on firsttime jobless claims that come from the Labor Department at 5 30 our time. Meanwhile, amazon says it needs to hire tens of thousands of new workers, so it will hold a virtual job fare next wednesday. So, thats the 16th. The company says the job pay an average of 150,000, which is kind of a hard metric to work with. A median would be more helpful. One way or another amazon says it needs to fill 33,000 positions. Wall treat journal reports this morning that ireland is going to order facebook to stop sending data about irish users to American Computers in america. That would include things as simple as photographs and profiles. Ireland is worried that it has no Legal Recourse if u. S. Government officials want to r surveill irish citizens. Each country demanding every Silicon Valley keep its citizens just a headache for american companies. Speaking of countries united announced service connecting the two hightech hubs creating uniteds longest flight, more than 17 hours in the air. Those flights start in the spring. And today Martha Stewart starts selling products with cbd. Bring out your inner martha, says the advertisement. Theclud includes gummies in raspberry and huckleberry. My wellness gummies rather than the sticky overly sweet versions you might find else where. I know how important that would be to all of us, martha. Marcus and laura. Make cbd sound so fancy. I know. Exactly. Thats when she could. Thanks, scott. 5 18 for you. You know what, it is suddenly becoming a whole lot easier to work at twitter without really working at twitter. The social Media Company is now subletting about 100,000 square feet of space in its San Francisco headquarters after recently adopting a permanent work from home home policy. The chronicle reports that twitter is offering hundreds of workstations that will be available on three separate floors. Mcdonalds is soon testing a new system of reusable and returnable cups. The trial run is set to take place in uk. Once customers finish their coffee or tea, they return their mug to a restaurant designated dropoff point. The mugs are then washed and readied for the next customer. Trending this morning, take a look at this. Kind of a rude texas a song fo audition. Take a look. Okay. Well, you see right there. That is the girls mothers leg falling through the ceiling right there. Dont worry about it, the mothers okay. Everyone had a good laugh, so did we. That video already has more than 8 million views on tiktok. That is the effect that the girl needed for that audition tape. Shatter a glass. Instead of shattering the glass, that happened on the ceiling. She hit the right note to make the ceiling weak and mom falls through. I have no idea what the mother was doing. I know you were asking that. I have no idea. But she was wearing shorts, i know that much. I dont want that contractor. Maybe she was up there jumping or dancing, i dont know. Probably just fell through the floor. Lets get a look at all of the smoke we have been talking about here in the bay area. This is the past 24 hours and its still hovering overhead and, so, were going to see this smoke continuing for today as we unfortunately deal with all of these fires and looks like it just sticks with us. I wanted to show you this picture that i had on social media sent by my friend bruce jones who just show me the deer confused in the middle of the day. Two baby deer just following the mother and during the middle of the afternoon. You dont normally see deer out there, but it was so dark. Theyre like, what time of day is it . Thats what we had. I love when you send me your pictures. I had so many of them on social media and you can check them on out. Im at kari hall weather. Lets talk about this air quality. Still bad this morning. Worse than i saw yesterday at this time, especially in San Francisco and oakland. Its being pushed a little bit farther down close to the surface. Were going to, unfortunately, have to deal with that and breathe that in. You want to limit your time outside. Changes in our weather pattern as we go into the next couple days. That High Pressure moves on and well see another approaching low pressure system coming in from the coast and thats going to help bring in a shift in those winds. Burning and it wont be completely clear. Our temperatures will be cooling off as a result. We have to make it through the next couple days and then by the weekend were looking at low 80s from sunday to early next week. Mike, what is the update on the commute . Well, kari, we still have the crash over on highway 84 just before it merges with 680 thats over in the trivalley and that is your commute direction out of liv livermore and pleasanton and everything is all right. Just a little distraction. Move over towards a bigger issue and that was the construction through oakland and typical pattern there. A lot of slowing in southbound towards 23rd. Yesterday it lasted past 6 00 this morning its almost gone. Thats the good news over there getting away from the bay bridge. Getting across the bay bridge we have an issue. Very slow now, laura, pulling up the incline. The toll plaza itself starts to show a little backup, as well. I think it was a construction crew because that is the only thing going on near Treasure Island and i continue to monitor right now getting into San Francisco. Back to you. All right, thanks so much, mike. 5 22. So, this is the day football fans have been waiting for. Next on today in the bay nfl kicking off the season tonight. This is a live look, in fact, we will have a live report just ahead from kansas city where the fans will be in the seats. But just how many . Youre watching today in the bay. Give you my world you can go your own way how can i, when you wont take it from me go your own way your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. Welcome back. 5 25 for you this morning. I nfl fans who wondered if a season would happen during the pandemic have something to celebrate. Game day finally here. Its hard to believe, but here we are. Super bowl champion kick things off hosting the texans and today in the bay jay gray is live in kansas city, missouri, with us this morning covering the anticipation for players and fans. Here we go, football season is starting, jay. Yeah. Finally here, laura and marcus. Good to talk to you this morning on what has been a very rainy morning here in kansas city. Its expected to rain up until game time and then we get a break through the game. So, somebody wants a game to go off here today. Look, its going to be a bit of a different start to the nfl season. First covid19. Usually wed be outside the stadium. This morning that area is locked down. Well only be opened up to those fans who are getting inside the lucky few here. Theyll get to tail gate before the game. 17,000 fans won the lottery to get inside. Usually youd have more than 76,000 fans inside arrowhead stadium. Not the case today. Kind of an experiment, according to the chiefs and the nfl. They want to get through the first three weeks and see how this works out before moving forward and really only six, seven teams that will be allowed to have fans at all at the opening stages of the nfl. This game also comes in the middle of what has been a real push for social justice and equality in our country. And the players say theyre eager to use their platform to continue that push. We havent been told yet what they plan to do during the National Anthem pregame. We do know that not only tonight, but before every week one game in the nfl, the song lift every voice and sing will be played. Thats known traditionally as the black National Anthem. So, a lot of things marking the start of this season that will be a bit different than weve seen in past seasons. Marcus, laura. Well be watching for it. Absolutely. Thanks, jai. Well, of course, you can watch that game all the action tonight right here on nbc bay area. A special edition of sunday night football on thursday. Pregame coverage gets under way at 4 00 p. M. And the game kicks off after 5 00. Nbc bay area news will air special newscast at 3 00 p. M. And at 9 00 p. M. Following the game. Our team this morning staying on top of that breaking news. High winds fueling out of control wildfires. One now taking a deadly turn. The latest on the devastation and the impact that it continues to have on bay area skies. Plus, all new fallout from Nancy Pelosis visit to a San Francisco hair salon. The new action the salon owner says she had no choice to take. Well be right back. Great day on the lake it is. Lunch is cookin and i saved a bunch of money on my boat insurance with geico. Fellas, can it get any better than this . Whoa my old hairstyle grew back. So did mine. [80s music] what . I was an 80s kid. It only gets better when you switch and save with geico. Right now at 5 30, breaking records and bringing skies like weve never seen. A live look across the bay area at current conditions. Today marking the 24th spare the air alert day. This after the eerie, ominous and orange glow filled the skies yesterday. Our team is tracking whats ahead and when this could possibly end. And the air quality all depending on the wildfires. Still raging out of control. The race right now to contain those flames and the evacuation still under way. A very good thursday morning to you and thanks so much for joining us, im laura garcia. Mike keeping an eye on that commute and first we need to talk about that air quality. Meteorologist kari hall monitoring that. How is it looking for today . Looking a little bit more unhealthy compared to yesterday. More red sensors. That means its unhealthy for everyone. Smoke being pushed down closer to the surface and a lot of our valleys settling in and trapped in the fog in San Francisco over towards oakland and so this smoky air and the skies will continue today. Make sure youre limiting your time outside. Well talk more about this and whats ahead in the forecast coming up. Mike, hows it looking gettingf Treasure Island for the westbound commute and slow down getting off of oakland and the 808 overcrossing and map shows you that is the only slowing right now across the incline from the toll plaza. At the very end or the slow down at Treasure Island start to look a little better. They may have cleared up what i believe is a construction crew in that westbound direction and slated to clear right about 5 00, 5 15 and that has been going on since then. The rest of the day looks pretty pleasant, laura. Back to you. Thank you very much. Pretty pleasant, but what about this. Pected to return to the bay area. Take a look at one of these time lapse videos looking towards San Francisco. Just had such an eerie glow. A lot of people didnt even see the sun yesterday. Felt like dusk all day long. That included today in the bay bob redell live above dublin this morning. You know the thing is, the air quality, were hitting another record when it comes to spare the air days, bob. Correct, laura. I want to echo what kari is saying. She says her sensors are showing worst air quality possibly today and were seeing it as we look over the trivalley here. Youre looking at the westbound headlights on 580 there from dublin. You can already see how bad the air is and theres definitely an orange tint to it. We suspect once the sun comes up in about an hour well get a better sense. Yes, bay area qualityor today but also for tomorrow. Friday will make it 25 in a row and another record for the most consecutive spare the air days. Take a look at your tv screen. A viewer in gilroy shot this video at 2 30 this morning. This is ash falling in her back yard. This is coming from the bear fire which is burning over 100 miles away in oroville and yesterday it was such a strange day to say the least. Most of the bay area was basked in this orange glow and street lights remained on well into the morning and in some places to the afternoon. A lot of comparisons to the martian sky. We caught up with san jose meteorology professor who showed up images of the smoke layers. It will take a change in wind direction for this stuff to go away. Might have southerly winds approaching that would push it up to the north. Now, there is smoke off the coast, so, as we get our sea breeze, some smoke might come back in, but wont be this dense. Wont pbe this thick. We asked our meteorologist about the orangelike glow. He said it is due to the tiny smoke and ash particles filtering out shorter wave length blue light and emphasizing the longer wave lengths orange and red light from the sun. Reporting live here in dublin, bob redell, today in the bay. Four major fires raging outside of the bay area this morning. The primary culprit causing our bad air. Tens of thousands of people are forced to evacuate. Hundreds of those buildings destroyed. The bear fire early wednesday east of oroville and 100,000 acres in 24 hours. In butte county, this is the same area hit by the camp fire two years ago. About 20,000 people there are evacuated. One family tried to escape their berry creek home on tuesday night and had to shelter in a swamp. I have no idea how to describe that. We were trapped like eight, nine hours. This bridge was on fire. We couldnt get out. Meanwhile, the creek fire east of fresno was still out of control. The National Guard telling us that they rescued 385 people by helicopter. Well, remarkable the work i National Guard helicopter flying over Fresno County to that creek fire. For days, crews have been working to rescue all those people, as you mentioned, marcus. Trapped by the flames. On twitter the guard said visibility was very low and very tough work for them due to all the smoke out there. Of course, the fire season, as well, is far from over. Want to give you a perspective of where things stand so far. Until labor day weekend, the most destructive wildfire season ever recorded in california was back in 2018 when nearly two million acres burned. But so far this year, fires have already torched nearly 2. 3 million acres. By comparison, only 118,000 acres burned in all of 2019. The vast majority of those who have their power shut off, this is in the north bay early tuesday. Waking up this morning with power restored. Now, take a look at your map right here. You see this is the current map of those outages. The purple triangles represent customers still in the dark. Just a few up to the north. Pg e has now restored 97 of the power. In total, some 22,000 people in the north bay were without electricity. The utility says the crews did find potential problem spots but now being prepaired. Dont forget a great way to stay informed is through our free nbc bay area app. You can sign up for alerts send out the latest evacuation updates and other breaking news stories. 5 38 for you this morning. We want to talk about that San Francisco hair salon at the center of Nancy Pelosis backlash. You saw right here that video that everybody saw. Well, it is now closing its doors. Security footage inside e salon went viral. The salon owner now says shes donep. Today in the bay Cierra Johnson is live in front of the salon to explain whats going on. Cierra . Yes, good morning. It was really just a week ago that i stood in this exact spot to share that footage of pelosi that thrusted this salon into the national spotlight. Well that salon owner spoke with Tucker Carlson of fox news to reveal she is, in fact, closing this salon. Owner erica kious show how pelosi felt safe enough to go. Calling that visit hypocritical. Kious said in the days that followed she was bombarded with emails and yelp reviews and she told Tucker Carlson the pressure was simply too much after spending a decade and a half in the season she was closing e salon. Take a listen to what she had to say. Imic iactually afraid to go back because of the messages and emails ive been getting. So, yeah. Its a little scary and sad. I do have a lot of positive calls and Text Messages from, you know, clients. But other than that, nothing but negativety. Pelosi did respond in a statement following the incident. Pelosis team maintains that the speaker believed she was following the rules this business offered for the speaker to come in on a monday and told her they were allowed by the city to have one customer at a time in the business. The speaker complied to the rules as presented by the establishment. We all know that is, of course, not true. The salons were not allowed to have customers indoors at that point. It was simply outdoor styling only. Now, it is important to note this is not the only e salon in the city. There is a second location and at this point its unclear whether or not that location will remain open. But as it stands right now, that owner taking to fox news to explain that this location will be closed in the midst of that controversy. Were live in San Francisco, Cierra Johnson for today in the bay. All right, thanks for the latest there, cierra. Because the pandemic and in co i or Contra Costa County is actually headed down but Health Officials warn about trouble spots. The Health Director says theres a specific concern about antioch, richmond, el cerito and the bay point communities. Right now only three bay area counties are in the red tier. Contra costa county Health Officials say the current trend of cases lowering continue, it could go into the red tier as soon as september 22nd. Santa clara county just moved into the red tier. Health officials there warning people not to let down their guard, even though more businesses are allowed to resume some indoor operations. But with limitations. 5 41 right now and lets get a check of our forecast this thursday morning. Kari, how are we looking . Were still talking about all this smoke that is hovering over the bay area and were still urse, those fires burning. So more smoke will be likely today. But the extent of that smoke across the country is making it all the way from the west coast to the east coast. So, this is not just affecting us, but a lot of those air quality sensors. So, as we wake up this morning, still smoky but its being pushed down closer to the ground, which means its unhealthy for us to breathe that in. Well talk more about that coming up. Mike, hows it looking right now for the commute . Well, i keep talking about the bay bridge and the backup at the toll plaza. The metering lights officially turn on just after 5 30. The backup had been forming already. Its very slow here because of look whats going on on the incline and at Treasure Island. I believe its an overnight road crew and nothing else in the reports even in the area. Westbound does start to move better through that tunnel. So, im hoping with that crew that is there, i believe its clearing. The rest of the bay pretty clear. Laura, we do have that slowing through san jose right on schedule for north 101. Back to you. Okay. Thank you very much, mike. 5 42. You know, election day is quickly approaching and the pandemic is showing no signs of letting up. Still ahead on today in the bay the big changes youre going to see at polling locations across the state, if you decide to vote in person. And President Trump, of course, on tape saying he deliberately downplayed the threat of the pandemic. Well tell you about whats happening in washington over that. I think one of the scariest things is just being at the top of the mountain and then come down towards us. And then having to leave and imagining not coming back. Plus, a Southern California family describes the tense moments that played out as they escaped a fastmoving fire. The quick thinking they say that saved their home. Youre watching today in the bay. I am robert strickler. Ive been involved in communications in the media for 45 years. Ive been taking prevagen on a regular basis for at least eight years. For me, the greatest benefit over the years has been that prevagen seems to help me recall things and also think more clearly. And i enthusiastically recommend prevagen. It has helped me an awful lot. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Right now at 5 45. This is a look at the view yesterday from the cupertino hills and we have those bright orange skies that were expecting again today. And our temperatures will climb slowly but actually our models dont know what to do with all this smoke and it may be a little bit cooler than this. Well talk about that in the forecast coming up. And, kari, over at the bay bridge we have a backup and might be wishful thinking. As we take a live look, i think things are starting to move a tiny bit better. Middle lanes starting to show movement. The maps will show you the sensors at Treasure Island are starting to improve and from red to orange to west 80 and clearing from the overnight road work slowing from oakland to San Francisco. Back over to you. Thanks, mike. In Southern California santa ana winds are fanning the flames of several of the fires down there, including the bobcat fire burning in the angeles National Forest. Yesterday it doubled in size and still burning out of control. But so far no homes have been lost and some evacuation orders are now being lifted. Forecasters are calling for winds to start dying down today. Also in Southern California, were hearing about the close call from evacuees from the valley fire. One san diego family was able to escape on saturday the day after the wildfires started. They say the fire was coming closer to their home and it actually sounded like waves crashing down the hill. But that was actually air aloft. The mother, children, animals left first while the father stayed behind to set up sprinklers on his roof before he had to evacuate, as well. You start thinking about, well, my house is full of stuff. Whats important . What do i take . And that list was really short when it comes down to it like i know my familys safe and that means the world. The family lost a few sheds, but firefighters were able to save their home. So far the valley fire has scorched over 17,000 acres and it is 27 contained. 5 48 and just in. New job numbers. 884,000 people filed firsttime jobless claims. Thats higher than expected and some analysts say that it shows the recovery is slowing down. Right now, another 13. 3 million americans continue to receive unemployment. Thats down more than 1 million from last week. 5 48. To decision 2020. Joe biden says President Trump endangered americans by not telling them the truth about coronavirus. Scott mccrew, that accusation is backed up by the president s own words. Yeah. On tape. Good morning to you. Not only did the president know he was talking to the most famous reporter in the world and that he was being taped, President Trump gave bob woodward his own personal cell phone number and oftentimes the president would call woodward late at night, woodward said, to help him out with his new book that comes out next week. It was during conversations in february and early march the president acknowledged how deadly coronavirus was and that it would be a big problem while publicly saying it was no big deal. To be honest with you i want you to be. I wanted to, i wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down. Yes. Because i dont want to create a panic. Now, the president said he downplayed the virus. Remember he said repeatedly it was much more like the flu. That it would disappear and we had it under control in order to not panic the public, the president says. Joe biden said it left americans confused about what to do and accounts for the death rates in the United States being multiples of what they are in other developed countries. He had the information. He knew how dangerous it was. While this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose. It was a life and death betrayal of the american people. In order to reduce panic. A cheerleader for this country. I love our country and i dont want people to be frightened. Woodward says not only did he talk to the president about his new book and for his new book 18 different times, he also talked to other Senior Executives at the white house, Senior Leaders on tape and on the record with the president s permission. Maggie haberman covering the white house for New York Times says an epic amount of finger pointing going on at the white house right now about whos to blame for a group of grown adults in serious positions in government and in one case the president talking to woodward. Heres the White House Press secretary. The president never downplayed the virus. Once again, the president expressed calm. But the president , of course, did downplay the virus. He used the word downplay several times with woodward. Lets listen to that phone call one more time. To be honest with you. Sir, i want you to be. I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because i dont want to create a panic. President trump will be in michigan today. Joe biden was there yesterday. Well be talking about that on twitter. You can follow me scottmcgrew. Thanks so much, scott. The Public Policy institute of california will hold a Virtual Event today Unveiling Research that it found showing vote by mail in some cases actually boosted voter turnout. Although the overall count is higher, the number of Foreign Language in Younger Voters often decline. For anyone who does decide to vote in person this fall, they can expect to see a lot of changes at polling places. Southern california election organizers say it will look and feel a lot different than what were used to. Mock Voting Centers are already set up in orange county. Polling locations statewide i should say will open ten days before election day. 5 52. Back to our coverage on the bay air and something that everyone is still talking about this morning. This is the air quality. This is our technical operation center. Where we keep all of our cameras so we can get a look across the bay area and we have been using it, as well, to look at the current conditions. Our entire nbc Bay Area Team about the eerie skies and what everyone was talking here. That orange eerie glow as weve been mentioning, as well, marks the 24th day for the spare the air alert. A record here in the bay area. Hard to believe. I lived here a very long time broadcasted a very long time and ive never seen that many days in a row, kari. Yeah, its been so bad. Everyones been looking out the window like what is going on . I had a lot of people taking pictures, too. Even the animals are confused. This is a look at what my friend bruce jones send me on facebook of two Deer Crossing the road in the middle of the day because it was so dark. If you see anything going on, send me your pictures. Also i explained why the sky is so orange. That was on social media yesterday. You can check it out. Im karihallweather on facebook, instagram and twitter. Lets check out what is going on right now. A lot of fog over San Francisco and thats also trapping a lot of that smoke. As we go into today, were still looking at some coastal fog and that smoke coming in from the north. So, its going to make it very smoggy there, unhealthy air quality and then well grad yeel sta see the fog clearing from the coast and going into this afternoon. Not expecting much in the way of clearing from the smoke because the fires are still burning and tomorrow our air quality will be just as unhealthy, especially for the valleys from the north bay, inland east bay, as well as Santa Clara Valley and then for the weekend, our temperatures come town and we get more of a westerly wind as we see a change in the pattern thats been bringing in that northerly wind as this low pressure system approaches to the coastline, its going to change our wind direction. The wind flowing around that area of low pressure counterclockwise. With that, well get more of a westerly wind which will hopefully improve our air quality and we will still have the smoke coming through. Our temperatures coming down on saturday into early next week. Highs in the low 80s for some of our warmest spots. Mike, any new issues popping up for the commute . New meaning improvement, yes. Thats the good thing. Look at the bay bridge toll plaza. Not great. This is a flooding of lights over here. Look at the middle lanes. They are moving better than last time and outer lanes, as well. The map will show you why. The speeds are improving towards Treasure Island and along the incline, no major issues across the span any more. Again, i believe it was an overnight crew clearing there and backup coming off the berkeley curve and slowing in the westbound direction out of castro valley, as well as out of vallejo and the rest of the bay looks good and little slowing continues for san jose, marcus. Back to you. Thanks, mike. Happening now for you, a huge fire breaks out in the port of beirut triggering panic among residents a month after a massive explosion. These are live pictures were seeing right now. Its not immediately clear what caused that fire. Back in august, you may remember nearly 3,000 tons of chemicals exploded. That explosion killing more than 190 people, injuring around 6,500 and damaging thousands of buildings in the lebanese capital. Staterun media saying that that fire was at a warehouse where tires were stored. Well be right back. Hi. Were glad you came in. Whats on your mind . Can you help keep these guys protected online . Easy. Connect to the xfi gateway. What about wireless data options for the family . You can customize and save. What about internet speeds that can keep up with my gaming . Lets hook you up with the Fastest Internet from xfinity. And now with our stores reopening, were putting Healthy Practices in place. Come visit a store today. Stop in or book an appointment online at a time that works for you. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Ask. Shop. Discover at your local xfinity store today. Welcome back, its 5 58. You can hear from the artist involved in the mural. Holding a Racial Equity discussion. Eights will share perspectives on race, art and the current movement. Its at 6 00 p. M. Today on zoom. New for you this morning, Governor Newsom is looking to give Small Businesses more money during the pandemic and get more people back to work. Give thousands of dollars tax credit for every Small Business for each new employee they hire between now and december 1st. This only applies to the businesses that have lost at least half of their revenue since the pandemic took hold. Also the credit is just for new employees, not contractors. Small business owned by Larger Companies are not eligible. Right now at 6 00, its what everyone is talking about. The orange colored sky. Smoke and ash blanketing the bay area creating surreal scenes and bringing down air quality. What will it look like today. Team coverage on what you can expect and if all that orange will stick around. Plus i have the very sobering duty to report that there have been three fatalities to date. A wildfire turning deadly. Three confirmed deaths in butte county and more missing. Thousands remain with no place to go right now. The latest on whats still very real for people and their homes. And businesses everywhere are hinging on a vote today on capitol hill. Why more pandemic relief is still far from a done deal. The third hour of today in the bay continues right now. And a very good morning to you, thanks so much for joining us im