They do say it will be a safe event for the public. Reporting live in santa clara, im michelle roberts, nbc bay area news. New at 5 00, a terrifying tale to tell. The man on the left is the taxi driver kidnapped and held hostage at gunpoint for days allegedly by three escaped inmates from Orange County. Tonight for first time were hearing his harrowing story. Were live at the San Jose Motel where that group was holed up. The taxi driver thought he might die. Reporter absolutely. He spent several hours here with the fugitives at the Alameda Motel in san jose today that taxi driver did speak with reporters via a translator in los angeles about his harrowing experience. Today he can laugh about the ordeal, but he still thinks about his hours of captivity and the dread of possibly never escaping from this San Jose Motel. They sleep on one chair and the other chair they put two feet. How can i escape. Reporter through his translator, he says after the trio escaped from the Orange County jail, they found this ad in the vietnamese newspaper for a driver and called him. He says the fugitives then forced him to drive north following the stolen van the three men had taken during the escape, ultimately ending up in san jose. Just like a normal person. Theyre normal. Reporter he says one of the three lobbied to spare his life, sparking a fistfight among the escapees. Two of the suspects left in the van to get the windows tinted. Thats when the taxi driver and the third fugitive took off. I dont know why he saved me. Until now im wondering why he saved me. Reporter he ended up driving one of the fugitives back to Orange County to turn himself in. His car still has Police Evidence stickers. The next day the two remaining fugitives were captured in San Francisco. And again, ironically, the taxi driver feels he owes his life to that third fugitive. Live in san jose, im damian trujillo. Just into the newsroom, a woman is fighting for her life tonight after a man attacked her in the parking lot of a fairfield mall. It happened around noon today at solano town center. Police are looking for a man in his 20s. Hes about 62 tall with blond hair. He was last seen wearing a black beanie, black sweater with green stripes down the sleeves and black sweat pants. His car was a burgundy early 1990s honda civic twodoor hatchback. If you have any information about this case youre asked to call fairfield police. We have an update on that injured chp officer in San Francisco. We just got off the phone with sf general. The hospital telling us the officer is still in Critical Condition after his surgery. He was stabbed multiple times yesterday near a homeless encampment near an on ramp of the bay bridge. A man lunged at the officer with a kitchen knife and cut his throat. That suspect is in custody. The super bowl is sunday, but the broncos are already on the defensive. Theyre answering a lot of questions about their player involved in a prostitution sting. Ryan murphy, who is on the practice squad, was sent back to denver last night. Police had questioned murphy during a prostitution sting in san jose yesterday. A broncos head coach gary kubiak speaking about it this morning. Yeah, theres disappointment, yeah, but its been dealt with and we moved on. Dealt with it yesterday. Obviously disappointed for the young man. But were focused on what we have to do football wise. Were going to work this morning with our meetings, getting into our root even, so weve moved on. They went on to practice at stanford this afternoon. Murphy grew up in oakland and attended oregon state. Coming up at 6 00, we undercover the details of that prostitution sting at that motel 6 in san jose. The crowds are getting bigger and more and more fans roll into the area for the big game. Levis stadium, the half time show. A lot to do. The last 24 hours is when things will really start to take off. Mike inouye has traffic tips for us. But we begin right there in the middle with scott budman who is following a homeless protest. Reporter good evening. Local homeless advocates along the embarcadero in San Francisco have organized a protest. As you can see, it is growing this evening. You can see a lot of homeless advocates and homeless here along the embarcadero and a long line of police officers. It has gone peacefully for a half hour. The Homeless People and the advocates are holding up tents. The officers have made it clear if those tents touch the ground theyre in violation of the law and theyll be confiscated. The Homeless People saying San Francisco and mayor ed lee are trying to get them out of the super bowl spotlight and theyre frustrated. They showed members of the press a new shelter facility along pier 80 with beds, showers and an office being built for case workers to help the homeless. Officials say theyll provide transportation for the homeless to get to and from here. The timing is about the weather, not about the super bowl. Theyre going to be gone, i guess, come monday. And the storms are really set to hit in february and march. And we really need to be ready. Reporter the pier 80 facility, we are told, will open. Theyre calling it a soft opening tomorrow for a limited number of people. It expects to be fully operational in a few days. Meanwhile, as you can see, the protest has been under way here for about a half an hour. Still peaceful, but a fairly tense standoff between Homeless People and the officers. Tonight at 6 00, well talk to one of the homeless advocates about why she said shes still frustrated despite the opening of the new facility. Reporting live at San Francisco, scott budman, nbc bay area news. Interesting where you are because super bowl city is right there where that protest is. Lets go to the south bay. Marianne favreau is at levi stadium. Where you are were talking heavy security. Reporter we absolutely are, from the fbi to homeland security, more than half a dozen agencies are involved in super bowl security. Theyll be monitoring the crowds from the land, from water and even the air. At this time we know of no specific credible threat directed at super bowl 50 or related events. Reporter but that doesnt mean the Super Bowl Security Team is relaxing. Today at the nfl experience in San Francisco, police armed with semiautomatic rifles kept a keen eye on the crowds. Homeland security secretary jeh johnson toured levi stadium today to review the security plan and later outlined in the most detail weve heard how his agency will help keep fans safe. Additional tsa personnel at the airports in san jose and San Francisco over the next few days. Tsas vipir teams are contributing at transportation sites in this area. Increased Maritime Security and helicopter patrols by the coast guard. Reporter an estimated 1500 California National guard members will also be watching over levis stadium from the air and ground, and thats not all. We do have additional teams that are trained in very highend capability to detect chemical weapons, biological weapons and Nuclear Material that will be deployed throughout the region. Reporter hundreds of Law Enforcement officers both seen and unseen will descend on the south bay as more than 75,000 people gather to watch the super bowl. If you have tickets to the big game, the Security Team wants you to get here early. The parking lot here opens at 9 00 a. M. No rvs will be allowed and all bags will be xrayed. Reporting live in Santa Clara Marianne favro, nbc bay area news. The faa is launching a new Public Service announcement. The video reminds people the area around levis stadium is a nodrone zone. Unmanned aircraft wont be allowed within a 32mile radius of the stadium on game day. Thats this sunday. The psa is being promoted on social media and on the faa website. Football fans from across the nation gather in the bay area, we can also start to see heavy traffic, especially at super bowl city in San Francisco. Mike inouye is joining us to report on the trouble spots. Good evening. Good to see you. Were looking over here. I want to put into perspective. Yesterday we see more traffic by comparison in San Francisco. But in comparison to a normal evening were seeing a lessunpleasant drive, i guess we should say . Both getting into and out of San Francisco, theres more traffic right there at that portion of the city. What it looked like yesterday at about 6 00. More traffic in the area around super bowl city. Remember, purples where its closed, then you know the other colors from the traffic sig thal. More slowing there. But mass transit is the winner for the day. And were still waiting for folks to come into town. Were counting down to kickoff. Just three days till kickoff at levis stadium. Training for super bowl security at 10,000 feet. Up above the east bay where local pilots are helping the air force train to protect all the fans of the big game from potential threats. Thats tonight on nbc bay area news at 6 00. Well, the pack is shrinking. Two republican candidates have dropped out of the president ial race. Just minutes ago former pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum tweeted that hes ending his campaign. Santorum finished 11th in this weeks iowa caucus. Four years ago he came in first. Rand paul is also out. The kentucky senator said hes turning his attention to a Senate Reelection campaign. Rand paul finished fifth this week in iowa. So what about the frontrunners . Donald trump wants a doover in iowa. And Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on the democratic side unleashing their harshest attacks against each other right now. Lester holt joins us on nightly news at 5 30. The skies are changing. A live look of San Francisco. Dry for now, but not for long. Thats right. Good afternoon. Im chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. Our latest storm system is just off shore. We have some scattered areas of rainfall were tracking on doppler radar. Well let you know how long this lasts. And verizon is going after the Super Bowl Committee after the company was forced to take down that huge ad. The demand that verizon is now making. Also, fallout from a freak accident that changes at a South Bay Park today after a giant tree crashed on to a man killing him. How does this happen . New video of a car on the roof of a home in southern california. Its about time the taco. Came out of its shell. Unleash the power of dough. Give it a pop. That sound. Like nails on a chalkboard. But listen to this family talking thats a different kind of sound. The sound of the weekend. Unleash the power of dough. Give it a pop. The more bizarre c crass youll ever see. Authorities aretryinge happening now in l. A. , one of the more bizarre car crashes youll ever see. Authorities are trying to figure out how a crash launched a car on a nearby rooftop. It happened around 4 00 p. M. In the palos verdis estates. A crew managed to lift this car off the roof. One person was trapped inside. Their injuries at this time are not known. Trees are coming down in san jose today. Contractors cut down three of them after one fell on a man and killed him. Arborists were out at the park looking for trees with signs of distress. This comes after a giant eucalyptus came down on monday striking a 69yearold. The city says they do their best to find distress in large trees but the trees do age, deteriorate and eventually fall down. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, these things do just happen. Theyre not physical. There are no outward signs that tell us this tree is going to fall. The city is keeping one area of the park roped off as a safety precaution while they continue to examine other nearby trees. We want our money back. Verizon wants a refund after a botched ad at super bowl city. The Super Bowl Committee took down this giant sign earlier this week because it violated San Francisco regulations. These type of advertisements arent allowed in San Francisco. Now, verizon wants back part of the 2 million it paid to be a major sponsor of super bowl city. The Super Bowl Committee says its now working on a solution. Our next story in a much different way than you expect. This week were highlights the game changers. Five bay area nonprofits. Garvin thomas. Among the five grant winners, la clinica is providing services to immigrant community in the east bay for 45 years. Schoolbased Health Centers are just one way that la clinica has been reaching young people in the east bay for years. The medical care they are providing there does more, they say, than just keep kids healthy. When we do our job, attendance at school increases, School Performance increases, Graduation Rates increase. Reporter but that doesnt mean la clinica isnt interested in doing better, which is where the game changer grant comes into play. For all the great medical care they were giving teens, they realized Mental Health services were something they could also provide, in a familiar setting where young people would feel comfortable talking about the issues of violence or trauma they were facing at home or elsewhere. Because of these dollars were going to be able to put a therapist in every single one of our schools. Reporter but that means a doubling in just one year of the number of young people theyre helping. The ability to provide this service on School Grounds is what makes it different. And thats were getting it at the very beginning. And thats what is going to make this a home run. Or a touchdown. Good catch. Good catch. When the Super Bowl Fund gives you 500,000, its a touchdown. Its a touchdown. One of the takeaways from spending time with them, the schoolbased centers just one part of what they do. Helping people all over the community. 40 different facilities helping hundreds of thousands of people. They provide so many services. Its really impressive. Thanks, gar vin. Well turn things over to our meteorologist jeff ranieri. Yes, i got my car washed today. Thats good. We do have the chance of scattered rain tonight. But once we pass tonights forecast, we do have dry weather coming right into super bowl weekend. Anyone here visiting, put it this way, you got extremely lucky. We had above average rainfall in january and once the super bowl is over we are expecting more active el ninofueled storms to come our way. Theres the cold front. Scattered rain out ahead of this storm system. Nothing big. It wasnt advertised to be a large storm. You can see scattered rainfall across marin, napa, sonoma counties. And a spotty shower developing in San Francisco down to about half moon bay. But the biggest thing continues to be the cloud cover and also those cooler temperatures, 55 in the south bay across to santa clara stadium. Where the big super bowl will be. Then back into San Francisco currently 51 degrees. Tomorrow mornings forecast, were still looking at this storm system lingering across the bay area. It wont be a totally sunny start. In fact, we may have a few spotty showers possible for the peninsula. East bay, San Francisco and the north bay with temperatures starting off in the 40s. Lets go ahead and detail that forecast for you on our futurecast. You can see 11 30 tonight, moderate pockets of rainfall mainly up into the north bay and maybe scattered activity down to the south bay. As we hit tomorrow morning, theres the spotty showers to start and overcast skies, but once we pass the morning were on a clearing trend with breaks of sunshine, and then High Pressure is going to build in and strong for this time of the year. Its coming in with Perfect Timing for the super bowl, of course, this will bring 70s back to the interior valleys. Yes, thats great for the super bowl. But what about our rain right now . Were in this fouryear drought. I wanted to take a look at how were doing so far to the rain season. Not too bad. 93 of average in santa rosa, San Francisco, 100 of average. Livermore 103 and san jose 112. We can afford at lease a break or two in this rainfall but we need to see things picking up and soon. Lets take you to the micro climate forecast as we head throughout thursday. For tomorrow, San Francisco, super bowl city headed out that way, financial district warming up to 58 and some sun again by the afternoon. Not a bad day. 56 in pacifica. And well keep a chance of spotty drizzle. But over towards palo alto, sun moving in and 62 right up towards san jose, santa clara, levis stadium, 63 as well. For the trivalley, highest risk of showers would be napa and santa rosa. Back in the Middle Valley dry and 60, east bay the low 60s. We have that slight chance of showers tomorrow morning. High pressure keeps it dry for the super bowl. Then february 12th through the 17th, a possible wetter weather pattern returning. Youre here for the super bowl visiting, you got lucky. High pressure hasnt been here in a while, but it looks pretty good to keep us dry this weekend. That sounds great. Perfect timing. The crash this closed a class room. What fell from above and landed on students at a south bay school. Plus a crucial decision in cosbys Sexual Assault case. What it means for the comedian, next digital platforms halfslab warriors to the white house tom streaming the. Happening right now on our digital platforms, president obama welcomes the warriors to the white house tomorrow. Well be Live Streaming on nbcbayarea. Com. Leave your drone at home. The video the faa wants you to see before the super bowl. Thats on our facebook page. Track our scattered showers with our interactive radar on our nbc bay area app. scal good day, mlady i am sircanalot, here to save you from another breakfast bore. Wake up those eggs with glorious spam see what spam can do. At spam. Com is heading to trial. This afternoon, a pennsylvania judge ruled there was no bill cosbys Sexual Assault case is heading to trial. This afternoon a pennsylvania judge ruled there was no agreement between prosecutors and cosby not to press criminal charges against him. Hes accused of drugging and molesting a former Temple University employee back in 2004. More than 50 other women have accused cosby of the same crime, but this is the only case in which hes been charged. He could get up to ten years in prison if convicted. A disturbing case in the south bay. The Santa Clara CountyDistrict Attorney wants the Death Penalty for a man accused of molesting and murdering a toddler. Alejandro benitez was arrested in 2012 after the death of 16monthold caden bernard. A video shot shortly after the arrest is what you saw there. Police say the assault happened in the home of benitezs girlfriend who was the childs babysitter. This was only the second time the current d. A. Has asked for the Death Penalty. The other was for andeline torres who is set to undergo trial for the death of teenager pla lamar. It happened earlier today at Westmont High School in san jose. Were told the students arent seriously hurt, just scrapes and bruises. The classroom is closed so repairs can be made. From the commercials to the streets of San Francisco, theyre fixtures of the super bowl and theyve arrived. Well show you, next. Escaped inmates are back behind bars. We hearing fromhe alert san fis tonight at 6 00, those escaped inmates are back behind bars. Were hearing from the alert San Francisco citizen who spot the men and brought them to justice. Thats tonight on our 6 00 newscast. Some of the biggest super bowl ambassadors are not linebackers, theyre clydesdale, huge draft horses that are synonymous with super bowl sunday. Then that dog, that dog is famous, too. Theyre spending the next 11 days at the anheuserbusch brewery. Fans are encouraged to come check them out in the parking lot with a dalmatian. If you cant get to fairfield, you can watch them in their annual super bowl tv commercial. We actually caught a glimpse of one of them in an unadvertised stop near San Franciscos moscone center, taking a peek, checking things out, saying hi to the fans. I think a lot of people cried during the commercial last year with the little puppy and the clydesda clydesdales. Thanks for joining us. Lester holt joins us next with nightly news. Tonight, fighting words. Donald trump said ted cruz stole iowa, accusing him of voter fraud. Cruz now hitting back. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders unleashed their harshest attacks on each other, six days before new hampshire. Did a bomb cause the gaping hole in the passenger plane. Without warning, tornadoes tear across the south. A church torn apart as people inside prayed for their lives. Wiping out zika. The race to combat the virus at its source. Days before millions of tourists attend one of the worlds biggest celebrations. And the hidden war being fought in communities amid an epidemic that is the number one concern for