nbc's francis koh has the latest. >> reporter: residents across the mid-atlantic are cleaning up following a fierce storm system that tore across the region and left behind a large path of destruction across several states. >> this particular storm, almost twice as many as hurricane irene last summer. >> reporter: emergencies were declared in maryland, ohio, virginia, and west virginia as well as in the district of columbia. >> it's a disaster all over. >> reporter: power crews in many areas are working around the clock to restore service to more than 2 million people. >> there's no air. it's really hot today. so the power, i think, is the main thing that everyone's really suffering from. >> reporter: with temperatures soaring past the 100 ha-degree k in many places, dozens of communities have opened cooling stations. >> it's here for the people who don't have electricity. they can come here, cool off, especially people with very young children, elderly, people with respiratory problems. >> reporter: forecasters say the temperatures should dip into the 90s in the coming days, but residents can't breathe easy yet. it may be several days before power is fully up and running. francis koh, nbc news. the supreme court's historic decision last week to uphold the central part of president obama's health care law has set up an unusual political battle. some democrats are placing mitt romney right in the middle of the health care debate. nbc's brian mooar has the story. >> reporter: the supreme court may have delivered the ultimate verdict on president obama's health care law, but that's far from the final word. >> this has to be ripped out by its roots. this is government taking over the entire health insurance industry. the american people do not want to go down this path. >> reporter: in this election year, republicans want to make obamacare and its removal a campaign issue. >> let me tell you what we're not going to do. weaver not going turn to the american health care system into a western european system. >> reporter: and it's a fight the white house doesn't mind. team obama is trying to present the massachusetts health care law as a model and presumptive gop presidential candidate mitt romney as the godfather of obamacare. >> the fact that 1% pay the penalty in massachusetts tells you a great deal. you know, this was a plan that governor romney supported. it's something that i would think he would have been proud of. >> if republicans make, as their number one issue, the repeal of health care, they're certainly going to lose the election in the house, the senate, and the presidency. >> reporter: in one of the rare, true surprises in washington, the high court's decision seems to have caught both sides off guard. but republicans and democrats seem to agree that disagreeing on health care is the way to victory this fall. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. as of of today, pregnant women here in california should be able to access health care a little bit easier. the maternity coverage availability act is one of several new laws that went into effect today. senator noreen evans of santa rosa authorized the legislation. it provides maternity coverage to individual policyholders. until now, only group health insurance plans were required to offer it. we spoke to an ob/gyn today who says despite this new law, there will still be a gap in coverage. >> maternity services are provided for underneath all individual health care plans, but there's nothing that states that pregnancy would not be considered a pre-existing condition and therefore would be recovered regardless. >> the doctor says the pre-existing clause will no longer be an issue in 2014 when the majority of the president's health care plan takes effect. for now, she recommends women who are trying to get pregnant should get insurance ahead of time. also on the books as of today, two laws that focus on bullying. one requires public schools to protect against harassment based on sexual orientation and to better enforce existing anti-bullying policies. the other gives victims priority if they want to transfer schools. and another law that takes effect today involves tattoo artists. there are now stricter rules in terms of sterilizing, sanitizing, and maintaining safety at their businesses. there's also a new law targeting some high-end restaurants. they're no longer allowed to sell fau grau. some fees are going up today as well. monthly passes to ride muni are more expensive than ever. starting today the monthly prie pricing went up $2 to $64. the pass still costs less than all but one of the top ten u.s. cities with similar transportation systems. boston is the only city with a less expensive monthly pass at $59. leaders say the increases are part of a plan to keep fare and fee hikes small and predictable. >> last decade, our board made a decision to increase fares incrementally and not all at once in a large sum. this, we felt, would be an easier burden for our customers and those throughout the city. so this is something when he to do. you know, we want to make this as easy as possibility for our customers. >> the price for a regular one-time ticket is still $2. and they're not the only agency raising fares. cal-train is increasing fairs by 25 cents. the move is meant to encourage customers to use electronic clipper passes, which are not facing a fare increase. if at least half of riders are using those by march, paper tickets will go up again by next july. b.a.r.t. is putting the last of its inflation increases into effect as well. speaking of b.a.r.t., service was shut down for almost an hour today after a man jumped on the tracks. it happened just as thousands of people were headed to the giants game in san francisco. passengers experienced delays of an hour or more. trains had to be evacuated, including these folks in san francisco. the problem started just amprou noon with reports of a man smoking something on the platform then the man jumping on the tracks. police eventually convinced the man to get off the tracks and arrested him. no one was injured, but people were delayed throughout the system. getting a patent may soon get easier, especially here in the bay area. san jose is one of three cities where a new u.s. patent and trademark office is expected to open by 2014. the new locations are the first expansion of the u.s. patent office which is based now in virginia. as of now there's a backlog of more than 600,000 pending patents, and it takes roughly three years to get one approved. city leaders say the office is a great fit for san jose because, of course, silicon valley already generates nearly 13% of the nation's patents. new office will open in denver, colorado, and of course dallas-fort worth as well. the u.s. department of commerce is expected to make the official announcement tomorrow. and coming up next at 5:00, the u.s. gymnastics teams are all set. or almost. the women will compete for a spot on team usa tonight. coming up, we'll meet some of the men. fishing for plastic in the bay. the new technology working to turn trash into something profitable. and why lots of goats are hanging out at sfo. we'll show you. and a breezy day across the bay area. we're talking winds up to 30 miles per hour in some locations. but hang on. it's going to get breezier by tomorrow and not to mention it's going to get warmer. we're talking 80s returning and pockets of 90s by the middle of the week. we'll explain after this. five gymnasts have earned their spots on the u.s. men's olympic team. tonight it's the women's turn. nbc bay area's kimberly terry is live with more on what's happening. >> reporter: hello. it is certainly building here ahead of the women's finals this evening. fan fest is in full swing here outside hp pavilion. families from all over the country here to watch the trials. many saw them -- actually, the men compete yesterday. a field of 15 whittled down to five with three alternates. today, after usa gymnastics announce who had made that team, we got a chance to meet them. many say they got very little sleep last night, of course stressed out over whether their name would be on the roster today. >> i think if anything, it's kind of like a sigh of relief. like, okay, we made it. now we have to really go in and do what we need to do as a team. >> it's really a dream come true right now. it's not over. we still got a lot of work to do and head out to london and do our job. right now just really shooakingn the experience and enjoying it. >> we're a very tight-knit group of guys. i believe in this team. i think we, you know, hopefully great things can happen for us. >> reporter: this is video from earlier in the week during the women's practice inside the hp. they're preparing for tonight's finals, something that could make or break their individual dreams of making it to the olympic games. now, this is the main event so many people have been waiting for. tonight we will know who the u.s. is sending to the london games to represent the country in gymnastics. so a big ceremony tonight after the women's finals. live in san jose, kimberly terry, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, kimberly. and the countdown to london continues. there are just 25 days left until the start of the summer games. keep it here on nbc bay area for our exclusive coverage and nbcbayarea.com. you can also sign up for news alerts for bay area athletes and subscribe to the torch for the day's most talked about olympic stories. just go to our news tab on nbcbayarea.com and then click on olympics. and still to come at 5:00, keeping the ocean clean thanks to new technology that's paying a profit. so do you want to help clean the ocean? there's an app for that. in fact, radar technology created here in the bay area can pinpoint where trash is building up in the watewater, and this w that app was put to the test. >> okay. walk the bow out, please. >> reporter: they're on a mission to save the bay and marine life from plastic. >> sea turtles found dead on beaches often have hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of plastic inside of them. >> reporter: volunteers with the santa cruz based the clean oceans project set out to prove a new app created by san francisco state university can help find and track large areas of floating debris on the water. the technology powering the app was created by mountain view based kodar using high frequency radar to track which ways the water and trash are moving. >> two currents come together. it's called a current line. that's where floating material is going to congregate. we can't cover every inch of the ocean, but these current lines as they gather, we anticipate finding 50 or 100 times the material you'd find in other places. >> reporter: the trip was a success. everywhere we went, we saw the debris. >> using technology to help us locate it when it's in the ocean. it's amazing when it's most dangerous. it's breaking up into small parts. it's being consumed by sea creatures. >> reporter: and this is just the first step in their project. the biggest part is yet to come. they've partnered with the japanese company that's created a machine that will turn plastic to fuel. >> with this technology, we can put that machine right on the boat. as we harvest the plastic at sea, we can convert it to fuel. >> reporter: they're dreaming big. that kind of technology will run hundreds of thousands of dollars, money they don't have. but in the meantime, they'll be shooting for trips it like this on the water. >> well, look at me. i'm at work today. i'm on a boat in the bay on a beautiful day in flip-flops and shorts. i don't know too many people that have a job like that. >> pretty nice job. all right. let's check in with anthony. you have a pretty nice job as well, sir, checking outs the weather today. >> come on. just keep rubbing it in, you know. i wish i could have on some shorts right now. >> you could. >> it was a little bizarre. we could definitely do that. temperatures are so nice out. if you haven't been outside recently, it's definitely shorts weather across the south and east bay, even into the north bay. a little cool now in san francisco with that cloud dook really hanging on tightly to the bay area. 65 degrees. 67 as you work your way towards san mateo. our winds are starting to pick up. these winds are going to start to shift as we head through the next day. our winds today, more on shore. it will feel a little cooler. tomorrow these winds will start to shift out of the north. if you've been in the bay area long enough, you know northerly winds are warm winds. we're definitely talking about warming conditions. those clouds you can see still hanging on tightly across the area. tonight we're actually talking about mostly cloudy skies through the overnight hours, so the fog once again will start off the day tomorrow. we'll see afternoon sunshine, though, which is some good news because that sunshine means warmer temperatures and, of course, the 4th of july. it continues to head this way. the warm weather will continue to stick around. it's all because of this area of high pressure. you can see that storm track to the north. what's going to happen towards the 4th of july, there's going to be an area of low pressure that forms across the canadian-u.s. border. we're not talking about major warming. in fact, that system will kind of slide this way and increase our pressure gradient. basically, our winds will increase. again, it's a northerly wind, so we're not talking about too much of a cool down. 60s and 70s at coast tomorrow. low to mid 80s return across the south and east bay. even up towards wine country. so for tomorrow morning, we'll start off with a little bit of patchy fog. 53 at santa rosa. 58 in san jose. tomorrow, again, a few degrees warmer than we were today. 80 for tomorrow in san jose. beautiful beach day in santa cruz. 81 at blackhawk. walnut creek, 83 degrees. san francisco tomorrow, you'll be at 71. richmond, 71 as well. the further you work your way away from the water, look at that. napa, 82. a beautiful day in wine country. you'll notice on the seven-day forecast, each and every day we warm through the 4th. once we hit thursday, that trough that i was talking about, that's going to slide through and cool us a bit. even by wednesday night, late, it depends on how late you'll be out celebrating the 4th of july, there will be some fog that returns to san francisco. depending where you are, you'll see a beautiful, spectacular fireworks display, or you'll see plenty of fog. >> oh, no. you were promising we weren't going to have fog. >> well, things change every single day. >> it's a shame how that happens. actually, caused some delay at sfo today. >> quite, actually. >> yes. let's bring in henry wo ford. a lot going on today with the giants. we had benches clear. all kinds of awards going on. it's busy. you can do it. >> absolutely, diane. major drama. you know we're going to cover it all. a busy day for the orange and black on and off the field. buster posey is one of four giants heading to the mid-summer classic. we'll tell you which of he is teammates are joining him. that and much, much more next in sports. welcome back to nbc bay area. major league baseball announces stars for the mid-summer league classic. reliever ryan cook is the guy, the first-time all star has a 1.59 earned run average. what about the g-men? the giants have four players who will represent the nl all-star team. buster posey starts behind the plate. he was the top nl vote getter. matt cain was named to the pitching staff. that's a no brainer. he's having a great season. what about pablo sandoval? this guy missed six weeks of baseball, but he's going to start at the hot corner playing third base. and melky cabrera gets the start in the outfield. the melk-man is batting .352. overall a good day for the giants. >> i'm excited every moment with this organization. they give me the opportunity to be in the big leagues. they give me an opportunity to be here. i'm excited for the support. they give it to all three guys to be in the all-star game. >> i'm very happy. thank you for the fans. i'm very happy. my family. >> obviously, really excited. you know, just want to give many thanks to all the fans that voted. i'm really looking forward to it. >> well, congrats to the four all-stars and the one all-star for the oakland a's. ten-year reunion of the 2002 pennant winning team. more on that in a moment. bottom of the sixth, tied at two. vogelsong almost hit by arroyar. benches clear. there's no punches thrown. everything is cool. bottom of the ninth, tied at three. two on, two out. routine fly ball. all right, we're talking extra innings, right? no, we're not. because bruce misjudges the ball and doesn't make the catch. posey scores. giants get the win in a crazy one. 4-3 is your final. as we mentioned, the giants honor their 2002 squad who won the national league championship that year. dusty baker was the giants' manager that season. so it was nice to have dusty in town for the ceremony. by the way, his son threw out the first pitch. amy g. caught wasn't home run king before the game. >> okay. so i work with duane and mike. they always say, miss that guy. i'm sure the fans feel the same. i'm sure you miss san francisco too. >> i love it. this is my home. we played against each other and had a lot of talksing to. they're great people. they're probably two of the best announcers i've ever heard. >> i know you probably can't say a whole lot about it, but last time you were here, you talked about doing some hitting instructing with the giants. is that something you would like to do? >> yeah, i mean, it would be a shame with what i know and what i can give back. it went with me to my gave. so it's the right thing to do. if it works out, it works out. if it doesn't, it's okay. >> great to see the home run king looking real cool out it there. by the way, rangers and a's are playing right now. that game is tied at 1. we're going to have complete highlights at 11:00. much more coming up at 6:00. i'm a little upset. i think barry bonds took my shades. he's looking cool with my shades on today. >> he was looking so relaxed. that's what caught he off guard. kind of cool. thanks, henry. >> he looked great. absolutely. >> we'll be right back. goats on a plane? well, not exactly, but there were a lot of goats at sfo today busy working. they were clearing weeds. airport a officials are using the goats to create a fire break on the west side of airport. it's an environmentally sensitive area that contained two endangered species. the san francisco garter snake and the california red-legged frog. neighbors say they don't seem to mind. >> it's a really good program. it's environmentally safe, like i said before. it doesn't do the goats any pain either. i'm sure the goats are loving it too. >> the goats will be clearing vegetation in areas where the airport is not legally able to use heavy machinery. we have breaking news out of san jose. crews are battling a wind-dn