Happened as he was climbing near or onto the third story of the Training Facility. We are trying to make sure that his family is the numberone priority and that they are given all the time necessary to mourn this along with all of his brothers and sisters at the San FranciscoFire Department. Reporter dozens of firefighters and Law Enforcement gathered outside the hospital where he had been taken after the fall. While little is known about exactly what happened, firefighters were able to tell us a lot about the life he lived. Jason is not only a fellow firefighter paramedic, hes a friend to all. Hes an advocate for public safety. Hes a father of two children, a husband to an amazing wife, and a child to a retired San Francisco firefighter. Reporter they say he rose from a paramedic in 2007, working mostly at station 49, that he attended fire academy, graduated as a firefighter paramedic assigned to station 3 in the tenderloin. Late today a powerful image as a procession for the fallen firefighter traveled from sf general to the medical Examiners Office. From that point we will start the process of continuing to mourn his loss, celebrating his life and dedication to the greater good of all in public service. Reporter now, were back here live, and in the distance, San Francisco police department, theyre blocking traffic as the procession is expected. Again, we havent seen them make that turn just yet. But we know, of course, that people have been along the route the whole way, paying their respects. Even at this location here near the office of the chief medical examiner, there were some people standing out here who said that they didnt know him personally but, again, just wanted to pay their respects. They had friends in the Fire Department and just couldnt believe what happened. So, again, theyre standing out here as well. It does look like were starting to see more of them around the corner again, and we were told that they went down third and heading this way. At this point we havent seen them yet, but it looks like now theyre getting just a little bit closer. So thats the scene we have now. Again, there, of course, the motorcycles arrived first, and then the motorcade expected to come around the corner. Ive been talking with San Francisco police who have been out here and assisting with traffic and everything, and theyve been kind of monitoring as the procession comes down, i believe down third, and then this way again towards the office of the chief medical examiner. But, again, we havent seen them make that turn just yet, but as you can see, its getting busier out here, and they should be making that turn fairly soon, any minute now. Thats the story from here. Ill go ahead and send it back to you. It is a difficult day for firefighter families everywhere, and as is customary, yes, that procession will go all the way to the medical Examiners Office on newell in the city. Now an Investigative Team checked cal osha records going back ten years and found just one previous injury of a firefighter at the Training Facility in San Francisco. And that was a recruit who hurt his knee while running. Well of course continue to monitor that procession for firefighter cortez. The concern continues at the white house about the coronavirus outbreak. This is happening as President Trump returned to the oval office. Lets take a live look now. The president worked in the oval office earlier today. There are fears that he could further spread covid19 to the white house staff thats already reeling from a string of infections. The white house physician said President Trump has been symptomfree for more than 24 hours and that his vital signs are stable. The president also posting a video message on twitter, hoping a vaccine will be available by election day. We have Many Companies that are in final stages for the vaccines, johnson johnson, moderna, pfizer, all great companies, but many of them. And were going to have a great vaccine very, very shortly. I think we should have it before the election. Also today, confusion on both sides of the aisle about another coronavirus stimulus package. Yesterday President Trump abruptly announced he was stopping negotiations with the democrats until after the election. That sent the stock market into a tailspin until the president tweeted again, saying he would support a standalone bill for stimulus checks for struggling americans. Here at home, a staff member for Governor Newsom has tested positive for the virus. The governor said he had no contact with that employee. In a separate case, another state employee also tested positive. That employee works in a shared space with some Staff Members of the governor, but that employee also has had no contact with Governor Newsom. Okay. Staying safe a top priority in tonights Vice President ial debate. Lets show you the live look at the stage at the university of utah in salt lake city. The two candidates will sit 12 feet apart, and there will be plexiglas partitions up between them. Janelle wang joins us now with a preview of what we can expect at this debate this evening. Jessica, less than an hour away from the only debate in which the vp candidates will face off. Lastminute safety adjustments after the outbreak at the white house. Vice president pence took another covid test. He is still negative. And nor Kamala Harris also took a covid test. She is negative, so the debate is on at the university of utah. The moderator is susan rice of usa today. This could be a defining moment for bay area native Kamala Harris. Her rise in politics started here locally, as you guys all know, as the San Francisco district attorney, then as California Attorney general, then u. S. Senator, president ial candidate, and now joe bidens vp pick. I spoke with james taylor, professor of politics at the university of San Francisco, and got his thoughts about senator harris appearance tonight. Yeah, i think a great deal of symbolic and historical significance for her as the first africanamerican or woman of color to be in such a position. I think theres a whole lot of history surrounding it. But in terms of her own performance, the expectation for Kamala Harris performance is high. Mike pence doesnt have a whole lot of expectation, but he does have a lot of experience. So to be quite frank with you, i think its Kamala Harris debate to lose. She is expected by everyone to do such an outstanding job. Mike pence has a very low bar. So for that reason, i think what Kamala Harris has to do is use this as an opportunity to prosecute the incumbent administration because thats whats at stake here. Thats what is on the table is the incumbentsy of donald trump, whether its mike pence would like to present it or negative as Kamala Harris would like to present it. Professor taylor believes both candidates will bring dignity and decorum to this debate and respect the rules unlike last weeks chaotic president ial debate, which was like a shouting match. But he says you can expect senator harris to throw in some zingers and oneliners tonight. Lester holt will lead our debate coverage at 6 00 p. M. Tonight with our team of nbc political experts. Tonights debate will have nine topics, ten minutes each. About 200 people will be allowed in the audience. Everyone had to have been covidtested, and everyone has to wear a mask unlike last week when we saw members of President Trumps side not wearing a mask. If you do not have a mask, you cannot enter tonights debate. Live coverage of the debate starts at 6 00 p. M. Tonight. Raj and jessica. Well certainly be watching. Thank you, janelle. Most voters have received or will receive their ballots this week, but some people in Alameda County say theyre still waiting on critical materials, drop boxes, voter information guides, and ballots. Some are already feeling like their right to vote is being suppressed. Heres nbc bay areas jodi hernandez. Reporter the west Oakland Library was supposed to be a polling place november 3rd, but because of the pandemic, it wont be. Instead, a ballot drop box is supposed to be stationed here, but so far, it hasnt shown up. If this country really is about ensuring that every person has access to a vote, then we need to have the facilities and the tools to be able to do that. Reporter Community Activist and candidate for Oakland City Council carol fife says shes troubled that early voted has started but a ballot drop box still hasnt been installed in this west oakland neighborhood. I think its voter suppression. I think its voter suppression. That is what im hearing from people that live in the district. They are concerned about whats happening. Reporter she isnt the only person worried. Kay diak says she has yet to receive her ballot or Alameda County voter information guide. If early voting started monday, we should already have had all our material. We shouldnt be having to wait for it. We want to make sure that everybody has a ballot in hand, that they feel that they have all the options available to them to vote safely. Reporter but the Alameda County registrar of voters says the material is on the way. He says the county wasnt allowed to start mailing out ballots until this week. Under state mandate, he says the county had to order an additional 38 ballot drop boxes. They are arriving this week, and were going to be installing them as rapidly as we can. Reporter the county will be updating their map of drop box locations as each box is installed. With the pandemic under way, the registrar says this is an extraordinary election and residents need to be patient. Frustrated voters say theyre anxious to ensure their vote is counted. This is the United States of america. People expect to be able to participate in the democratic process. Reporter in Alameda County, jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. Well, up next, from cambodian refugee to beloved donut shop owner. The reason hes making his last donut after decades of business in san jose. And a chemistry professor at cal is celebrating tonight and for good reason. What she did to win the nobel prize and why todays announcement is historymaking. Im chief meteorologist jeff ranieri tracking our decreasing rain chances and our growing drought and the climate update. The link between all of this. Ill have more details on that in about eight minutes. When we welcome our west coast viewers, the new covid epicenter. Thousands of cases a day, hospitals nearing capacity, and the alarming trend in 32 states. Also americas top counterintelligence official on exactly how foreign powers hope to turn our elections when we see you back here for nightly news. Taking california for a ride. Companies like uber, lyft, doordash. Breaking state employment laws for years. Now these multibilliondollar companies wrote deceptive prop 22 to buy themselves a new law. To deny drivers the rights they deserve. No sick leave. No workers comp. No unemployment benefits. Vote no on the deceptive uber, lyft, doordash prop 22. One ride california doesnt want to take. Sadly a sign of the times. A south bay business thats been around since the 80s is the latest casualty of the pandemic and the recession. Our business and tech reporter scott budman shows us how things got a little less sweet at an independent donut shop today. Were doing outside dining again. Reporter its a brutal time for Small Businesses across the country, and now it seems time and covid19 have caught up with sunny donuts. This is all you have left . Yeah. Reporter the independent donut shop in Cambrian Park will, after 33 years in business, close forever on sunday. Sh chip lim and his wife opened the shop not long after coming to the bay area from cambodia in 1982. 30 , 40 drop. In the last two months. Last three or four months. Reporter we found this brother and sister team stopping by. Weve been here all of our lives, and we went to school with the sons, ben and howard, so we came here all of our lives basically. This is a very iconic place for us. Reporter two of many longtime fans getting one final fix. It means a lot. Its like one of the last businesses in this plaza thats still here, and its sad to see it go. Like my sister said, we came by to get as much donuts as we can to come support before they close their doors. Oh, i think its terrible. Ive been coming here for years. The only other place i know i can get chocolate donut holes. Reporter meanwhile this entire area is set to undergo a lot of change. Here in Cambrian Park plaza, proposals still coming in, some for business, some for residential. As for sunnys donuts, the owner says he doesnt know who moves in next. Thats a great donut shop. Thank you, scott. What a week at cal. Nobel prizes two days in a row. Biochemist Jennifer Doudna won the nobel prize in chemistry today for developing a way to help scientists rewrite dna. Can be used against genetic diseases like cystic fibrois. It could also reengineer crops to better adapt to climate change. I think it was immediately clear that having a programmable, easily, you know, deployable system to alter the dna of cells would be would be really exceptional. The level of talent we have in the bay area is incredible. Doudna and her Research Partner in germany are the first women to share the nobel prize in chemistry. Theyll also share the 1 million cash reward. And for doudna, theres an extra perk. This might be the best thing. An assigned parking space on campus, meaning after 18 years at cal, she can finally park on campus. Speaking of parking, cal has created a different kind of nobel laureate, a parking spot for anyone who bikes to campus. The sign honors berkeley faculty who contributed to former Vice President al gores Nobel Peace Prize for climate change. Thats when you know youve made it, when youve got your own parking spot. Yes, exactly. Were still in some bicycling weather right now, jeff, but how long is that going to last . I think, you know, the next couple of days are pretty good to get on those bikes, do any kind of exercising you want and enjoy some of this fresh to se our temperatures dropping and that has been such a relief after those 90s and 100s. But unfortunately, decreasing rain chances with our storm system offshore. I wanted to start off with a wider look at the big problem were getting into now, and that is our growing drought. As of now, 12. 74 of california is in an extreme drought. Weve started to see this red color here, the extreme drought, moving down into northern california. We had a pretty horrible rain season last year. Snowpack, 52 of normal. So there is a link between these frequency of droughts. I wanted to show you some of the data that i did look at today, and this would all continue to contribute to elevated fire danger, crop damage, and also pasture loss. So lets show you the data in this climate update. What youre going to see here is the increase in the amount of extreme droughts over the past couple of years. Look at this bar chart, and you can really see how those extreme droughts from 1990 to 2017 really have started to increase in frequency. That of course has a direct tiein to our sierra snowpack. Water snow equivalent also dropping over the past several years. Of course as all of you know, a third of our water does come from that snowpack. So the climate is changing. Well have more updates on that climate, of course, as we continue. Lets go ahead and swing it back na our weather for tomorrow morning. Well start off with some clouds and some cool 50s. So what weve been used to lately. Down to 57 in the south bay. East bay, San Francisco, and the north bay also more of those chilly 50s and fog to begin. The thing about tomorrow is high cloud cover is going to stay right through the afternoon, so not exactly going to be the sunniest of days, and well have a little bit of that smoke with us. But look at these temperatures. For the inland valleys, down to the low 70s. Thats going to feel really good down into napa, martinez, concord, and livermore. You go closer to the bay, we are in the 60s here for palo alto, oakland, San Francisco. 50s right there at the coastline. Temperature drop is good but rainfall chances, not good. What im seeing right now is that potential we had for rainfall. Weve been following it for about ten days now. This system unfortunately is going to be moving off towards the south near the coastline, so that means dropping rainfall chances for us, but it will bring good air quality and those cooler 60s and 70s. So my extended forecast, not happy to see this, but 35 chance of some showers friday and saturday, so much, much lower. Well stay in the 60s in San Francisco through about monday. Then well warm it back up into the 70s by tuesday and wednesday. For the inland valleys, also those dropping rain chances, but temperatures are cooler, stay in the 70s through this weekend. And i do think well have good air quality by saturday and also on sunday. And even though temperatures warm up next week, it doesnt look extremely hot. Well be into the 80s. So good air quality, cooler temperatures. Im not going to complain at this point. That still is a lot more than weve had lately, right, raj and jess . No complaints on our end. Well get the rain next time around, jeff. Yes. Thank you. Up next here at 5 00, prince harry spotted wearing a mask here in california, but its not just any mask. It has a bay area connection. Well explain. They do one of the most difficult jobs there is, even in normal times. Our Frontline Health care workers. And when these heroes lack the resources they need, that risky job gets ten times harder. Prop fifteen makes corporations pay their fair share. To invest in our communities, in our clinics, in the essential workers who treat everyone rich, poor, and inbetween. Whether its this pandemic or the next health crisis, vote yes on prop fifteen. For all of us. Traffic and air pollution will be even worse after the pandemic. Thats why we support measure rr to keep caltrain running. Which is at risk of shutdown because of the crisis. To keep millions of cars off our roads, to reduce air pollution and fight climate change. And measure rr helps essential workers like me get to work and keep our communities healthy. Relieve traffic. Reduce pollution. Rescue caltrain. [all] yes on measure rr. When you take a it all begins to unravel. Ann ravels no reformer, shes backed by big corporations whove poured hundreds of thousands into her campaign. And she opposes ballot measures to make the economy more fair for working people. Only dave cortese is endorsed by the California Democratic party. Hes helping us battle the pandemic with a sciencebased approach. And expanding Health Services and child care to those in need. For state senate, Democrat Dave cortese. We want to take you back to our top story. Youre looking at live pictures now. Police officers and firefighters outside of the medical Examiners Office in San Francisco after the death of one of their own. Firefighter jason cortez. The 13yearold veteran died today during a training exercise. He was atop a ladder when he fell 30 feet down. You can see the firefighters there. His body has been brought from San Francisco general where he was taken here to the medical Examiners Office in San Francisco. This is in newell, along newell. Firefighters are now waiting. Were waiting to see if they take his body out or if his body has already been taken in. Again, a somber day for this 13year veteran of the San Francisco firefighters. A father, son of a firefighter as well, and a 13year veteran of the department. Moving on now, prince harry, a Santa Barbara resident nowadays, was wearing a notable mask this week. He gave a huge boost to a blackowned business. Its the duke of sussex posed with runners in l. A. Before the virtual london marathon. He was wearing a mask from taylor jay, an oakland fashion designer. Taylor jay is known for her relaxed clothing, but like other entrepreneurs, she had to pivot during this pandemic, and her protective masks are hot seller. Very chic. Well be right back. Give you my world how can i, when you wont take it from me you can go your own way go your own way your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. All californians will be able to vote safely from home. Every active, registered voter will receive a votebymail ballot with a unique barcode. You can track it using wheres my ballot . And youll receive automatic notifications by text, email or voice call to let you know the status of your ballot once you mail it, drop it off at your polling place or at a drop box. Vote by mail ballots. Simple, safe, secure. Counted. Learn more at vote. Ca. Gov im voting yes on prop 19. Nineteen limits taxes on seniors. It limits property tax on people like me. Nineteen limits taxes on wildfire victims. It says so right here. If 19 passes, seniors can move closer to family or medical care. I looked at moving but i cant afford the taxes. Will you help californias most vulnerable . Vote yes on prop 19. They are not done yet. The as had to beat the astros today or their playoff run would be over. A lot of drama down at dodger stadium. Well pick it up in the seventh inning, chad binder hits a threerun homer to tie the game at seven. They added a couple of other sacrifice fly runs. In the eighth inning, as win 97. They still trail this best of five series 21. Lets give you a live look at the debate stage. The university of utah in salt lake city. Tonights first and only Vice President ial debates. The two candidates, Kamala Harris, and Vice President mike pence will sit 12 feet apart. Plexiglas partitions will be up between them. That debate starts right here at 6 00. Tonight the high stakes showdown amid the growing covid outbreak in the white house. Just a short time from now, mike pence and Kamala Harris facing off in the only Vice President ial debate. For pence, a chance to shake up the race with 27 days until the election for harris, the most important moment of her political career and the drama before the debate, the campaigning sparring over dividers after pences possible exposure to President Trump. Just posted, the president s new video message about the experimental medicine he received and saying contracting covid wa a blessing from god as he returns to the oval office today while he is still potentially contagious. Stimulus chaos the president cutting off talks and then hours later a reversal where do things stand for millions in desperate need of relief the alarming covid surge. Cases on the rise in over 30 states. Emergency operations and evacuations as hurricane delta targets the u. S. After cutting a path of destruction in tourist hotspots. The isis terror suspects known as the beatles brought to the u. S. For trial why they wont face the death penalty. The top u. S. Spy hunter, what worries him most about the election this is nbc nightly news the Vice President ial debate. Heres lester holt good evening. With new covid cases on the rise from the white house to the american heartland Vice President mike pence will debate democratic vp candidate senator Kamala Harris hours from now in utah the covid outbreak