our nation's history will be no more after this morning. nbc bay area's kris sanchez live now with the good-bye to the blue cube. kris? >> reporter: good morning, brent. this has been a very long good-bye, five years in the making. but this morning, a formal ceremony, and the setup is already under way behind me to say good-bye to the blue cube. now, onizuka air force station, as it is formally known, has quietly helped to guide the nation's space program. it was also a major player in the air force satellite control network, and there was a lot of spy talk around this area among locals during the cold war. now, the base was slated for closure in 2005 as part of the military's base realignment effort. the operations of the 50-year-old station will be transferred to vandenberg air force base in santa barbara. 25 people will be able to move along with their jobs there, but almost 150 others will be out of a job here in sunnyvale. the complete shutdown of the station named for one of the astronaut who is died in the space shuttle "challenger" disaster will come in september of next year, but the closing ceremony is coming up later this morning. again, folks are setting up for that ceremony. we will be here. it comes at 9:00 this morning. in case you're wondering what's going to happen to the 18 plus acres of the site, the city of sunnyvale has been working to come up with a redevelopment plan. ultimately, it is likely to become an auto plaza. >> thanks a lot, kris. right now a soaring tower is taking its place in the iconic bay area skyline. nbc bay area's krischristie smis live with the major piece of the bay bridge puzzle. christie, that is quite a sight. >> reporter: it really will. and this is going to be a dramatic departure from the erector set look we're used to on the old bay bridge. this tower is going to soar 120 feet higher than the highest tower here on the eastern span. so quite a dramatic difference. here with me this morning is bart from caltrans. can you walk me through how this is going to happen? >> good morning. what we're going to do right now is attaching strands that are going to be lifting this 1,200 ton piece into place. very slowly over the next 12 hours, actually, we will lift it, slide it on a barge, pick it up into the air, pull it into a steel cage, and set it down on the foundation. >> and there is going to be several of these? this is going to take quite a while before we see it take shape. >> over the next three weeks, there's four pieces to the entire tower. there are five lifts. we have to do this whole process four more times to get to the top. >> and how much do you think this will change the skyline looking over into the city? >> it should radically change the skyline. this tower, being 525 feet tall, it's as tall as the tallest towers on the western span, and it completes this form, coming through the tunnel, heading toward oakland. >> reporter: hard to predict the future, but do you think this is going to be on time? >> i do. we're working very hard, at least, to achieve that, and get it open to the public by the end of 2013. >> reporter: great, thank you very much for speaking with us this morning. again, should be quite a dramatic change. reporting live on treasure island, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thanks so much, christie. and today's major milestone, it's a long time in the making. in october 1989, the loma prieta earthquake caused part of the eastern span to collapse and killed drivers. in february 1997, governor pete wilson announced the eastern span would be rebuilt. in january 2002, groundbreaking for the project with caltrans predicting opening in 2007, but in june 2002, that date was pushed back to 2009. and as christie mentioned, today crews will install the first piece of the 525-foot tower of the self-anchored suspension span. the project is now expected to be finished in 2013. estimated opening to traffic will be in 2014. developing news out of pakistan this morning. authorities now say no one has survived the plane crash in the hills surrounding islamabad. there were 152 people on board that airbus 320 which left the southern city of karachi on a two-hour flight for islamabad. local tv footage shows twisted metal hanging from trees and scattered all across the ground. the cause of that crash is not yet clear. however, it was rainy and cloudy at the time, so weather may have been a factor. today is day 100 of the gulf oil disaster and ousted bp ceo tony hayward is not leaving quietly. he says he is being demonized and vilified in the aftermath of the spill. he told reporters, quote, life isn't fair, and sometimes you step off the pavement and get hit by a bus. bp says it should be able to permanently seal the broken well in the next few weeks if weather permits. before the well was permanently capped, 94 to 184 million gallons of oil gushed into the gulf. president obama will give the war in afghanistan an injection of money soon. he is expected to sign a bill to send $59 billion to fund the war. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle supported the plan, although there were also dissenters on both sides. the money will pay for a 30,000 member troop surge, but funding only lasts for a few months, so they may need another vote soon on that same issue. plus, the head of the controversial website wikileaks is talking to nbc. >> well, julian will not be on the "today" show set. in fact, he doesn't come into the u.s. at all, fearing arrest. he could be charged as a material witness. he will be on the "today" show via satellite, talking with merideth veieira. she asks him if he would feel responsible. >> if somebody is executed because now their name is out there, would you consider that your form of collateral damage? >> yes, that would be true. if we had, in fact, made that mistake, then, of course, that would be something that we would take very seriously. >> now, the london times says it has found dozens of names of afghans credited with providing help to the u.s. on wick can i le leaks. the website only 2,000 of the 90,000 documents have been reviewed in depth. you can catch the rest of the interview on the "today" show coming up at 7:00. 6:07 right now. san francisco's bayview-hunters point neighborhood will get a facelift. city supervisors gave the approval on the redevelopment project last night. the project on the site of the former hunters point u.s. naval shipyard would add more than 10,000 living units. nearly a third would be for low-income people. but also add parkland, open space, retail, and improvement transit lines. bay area commuters may soon have to pay bridge tolls and a toll to drive on city streets. a controversial plan is gathering momentum in san francisco. the transportation authority wants to impose a $3 toll during peak morning and evening hours in much of downtown san francisco. now, they claim it could bring in as much as $60 million a year. the city may test that plan during a six-month pilot program in 2014 and during that time, drivers would only be charged during evening peak hours. well, let's see how drivers are faring this morning. checking in with mike. >> we're approaching some of those morning peak hours right now and we'll show you where there is some slowing, give you an update on the accident we told you about eastbound. that motorcycle accident has cleared, but that same area, we saw an earlier accident reported westbound there. that disappeared, and then more details came in. it is, indeed, an accident westbound around airway involving a durango truck in the center divide. another car there as well. and that's where we see that slowing starting to build. there's your 15-minute drive coming through that westbound commute direction into livermore. yesterday, there were huge issues going through oakland. over the course of the morning, a series of accidents and debris made northbound 80 past the coliseum very slow. no delays. about 14 minutes from 238 up into downtown oakland. 580 also smooth, although we're starting to see slowing on to and off of castro valley "y." 18 to 20-minute drive northbound between the bridges, a smooth drive and across the bridge, you can see that haze, no issues across the san mateo bridge itself, but we see some brake lights now because of more traffic. back to you guys. >> pretty hazy out there. and we're approaching the home stretch here of july. >> and yet it's still pretty cool. we do see, you know, gray skies in july, that's not unusual, but kind of cool overall. >> to not have any upper 80s or 90s in the forecast, very unusual. this has been one of the coolest summers in the last four decades and we're certainly not going to be feeling much like summer inland today. this morning, lots of 50s outside. let's take you into san jose. we have 56 degrees. cloudy skies, southeast wind at 9. that's that cooler air coming up from morgan hill this morning and points southward. san francisco, it's the sea breeze. 57 degrees and mostly cloudy there too. now, we have good air quality. enough of a breeze to keep things pretty nice for your outdoor plans or exercising today. if you're heading up to the high country north of truckee, we have scattered showers this morning, but in terms of active weather, that's about it. 50s this morning. lunchtime, we should start to see some 70s inland, but just not much like summer for places like livermore, san jose. mid-70s for most places inland today. friday and saturday, we'll see some warming as we approach the start of the weekend for inland spots. back to you. >> thanks, rob. it is 6:10 right now. new this morning, we've got the late-night vote over the plan to create the east bay's first walmart supercenter. and a new disabilities act ruling that could change the way you order at a popular mexican food restaurant. hi, there. bob redell, could this be how we fuel up our cars in the future. we're taking you to the plug-in 2010 conference in san jose coming up in a live report. the hottest new car accessory may be a charger. this week electric cars and plug-in hybrids are zooming into the south bay. nbc bay area's bob redell is live at the san jose convention center this morning with a look at the latest in green technology for cars. rev it up. >> reporter: you okay there, laura? >> i'm getting a little choked up. >> reporter: good morning. plug-in 2010 here at the montgomery convention center is being put on with epri. i'm curious, you guys are nonprofit that does r&d and electricity, you're trying to promote this sort of technology. do you see america grabbing on to this eventually, where this might take over fossil fuel cars? >> what we try to do is take technologies that have a promising societal benefit. that are more or less still in the lab. they're not really ready for commercialization. we try to do the research or bring together the folks that are necessary to move something into the market. so i think electric vehicles, we've been working on the technology a long time. the cars that you see out here are extremely advanced. but also fairly mature technology. and i think that the automotive companies have very serious production plans. and with the kinds of volumes they're talking about making, the costs will come down, they'll become more accessible to more people and i think you'll see them go out in the market just like the prius went out and really do well and grow in popularity. >> reporter: my father-in-law had an electric car years ago, maybe 20 years. and i think the way my wife tells it, he was looked at very strangely when he drove through town. do you think that attitude has changed? >> no, i think that you find almost a universal awareness throughout the united states that we use too much petroleum, it has a lot of negative -- >> reporter: so it has changed? >> i think you're going to see a lot greater acceptability. and car companies now, they want to make cars that people really want to drive. if you look at the chevy volt or the nissan leaf, they are cars that people drive every day. >> reporter: and we'll be taking a look at those later. they are both here on display at plug-in 2010. and yesterday gm announced the pricing for the chevy volt, which scott mcgrew will be talking about. and we'll then take you inside the car and let you see what it looks like. >> sounds good. we look forward to it. electric cars all the rage now, but they might not be as cutt tg edge as we thought. the first electric car was actually invented some time between 1832 and 1839 in scotland. in 1899, a belgian car designer built an electric race car that could go 68 miles per hour. and by the turn of the century, electric cars outsold all other types of cars in america. in 1975, the u.s. postal service ordered a fleet of electric vehicles for a pilot program. the 1992 clean air act amendment let in part to have the electric car boom that we're seeing today, but they've been around for quite some time, 1832. >> that is kind of interesting, when you think about how early we had that technology. >> and later they invented electricity and that helped. another big technological development we've been talking a lot about lately, 3-d tvs and movies. >> it's possible the tv and movie industry has actually oversold this. have you used 3-d tv -- >> no. >> i'm underwhelmed about the television, but that's my personal opinion. as far as the movies go, another 12 3-d movies are expected this year alone. theater owners like 3-d because they can charge more, but ticket buyers may be asking themselves, other than like, say, "avatar," do i really need to see this movie in 3-d? jon favreau recently announced his new movie, "cowboys and aliens" will not be in 3-d. he says, the money you save, you can go see his movie twice in 2-d. and have you seen this thing on the internet where they mix movies? they take two different ideas and mix them together. the one that's really popular is called "jane austen's fight club." the latest one takes the hit movie "inception," number one at the box office, and adds in of all things "dora the explorer". >> do you understand what this movie's about? me neither! can you say far? very good! >> so "inception," which i have not seen yet, apparently lots of bongs throughout the movie. we'll post it to facebook so you can see the whole thing. >> thanks a lot, scott. new this morning, the votes are in on a controversial proposal to allow walmart to create its first supercenter in the east bay. just before 1:00 this morning, the antioch city council voted 4-3 against walmart's bid to expand its store on lone street way. the vote does open up the city to lawsuits, so they'll revisit that plan. supporters say the super center would give antioch a sales tax boost. 6:18 right now. chi chipotle. they ruled wheelchair users at a restaurant should have the same view as everyone else of the food as they wait for it. the appeals court say the 45-inch high wall between the customer line and the food preparation counter at two restaurants in san diego county blocks the view of customers in wheelchairs and that violates the americans with disabilities act. something to think about if you get a receipt for your morning coffee or tank of gas today. the environmental working group analyzed 36 receipts from major retailers. it found 40% of them contained high levels of bisphenol or bpa. that chemical is used to harden plastics and has been linked to reproductive problems and cancer. receipts from safeway have the highest levels of bpa at 12 times the government limit. bpa was also found on receipts from mcdonald's, whole foods, walmart, and the u.s. postal service. now, the american chemical council says at the bpa levels in receipts are low and it is not easily absorbed through the skin. the state assembly just passed the bill to ban bpa from food containers and baby products in january of 2012 and it goes to the governor's desk later on this year. 6:20. first congresswoman ellen tauscher is battling cancer of the esophagus. she told her staff last week. she announced she's in the early stages of the cancer and that treatment will take place over the next few months. she does expect a full recovery. tauscher spent 14 years representing the 10th congressional district. the fate of ousted illinois governor rod blagojevich is in the jury's hand this morning. he arrived like a rock star, signing autographs before going in for closing arguments. his attorney said his client may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but never intended to bribe or extort anyone. he is charged with trying to sell the senate seat that was vacated when president obama became president for money or power. time to check that morning commute, see how things are rolling out there. hopefully smooth for commuters. mike? >> we did get a report of a disabled vehicle in oakland, 880, where they had a ton of problems yesterday. this is in the southbound direction. yesterday's problems were all northbound. this is clear right now. the southbound side right here at fruitvale avenue, reports of a disabled vehicle, and maybe that car's drive shaft might be in the lanes as well. tow trucks should be arriving on scene soon. you have another four lanes to get by there. westbound 580 is a great option through oakland as well, as westbound 24 coming out of orinda, the caldecott tunnel, no delays there. east shore freeway, a nice smooth drive as well. the toll plaza, we're starting to see more cars there, some of these cash lanes, showing a few cars backing up. a half dozen cars building to a dozen. we should see those metering lights turned on anytime now. the south bay looking really good, just like the east bay. moving pretty smoothly here, a lot of that construction has picked up and no problems for those northbound routes. 65 is the stated speed that the chp is looking for. peninsula, a clear drive up into the san francisco and the golden gate bridge coming out of san francisco, northbound, those two lanes are very sparsely populated. southbound, headlights moving smoothly. and you can make out those on the northbound side. a nice north bay drive. and rob will let you know what this clear view means with your forecast coming up in a few minutes. a bay area act of kind thans keeps on giving is about to reach an important goal. how a $93 gift turned into a $93,000 donation to help people in need. oh, the diva and the diplomat showing each other a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t. condoleezza rice and aretha franklin performed in a bipartisan duet for aaly. rok roker talks to the dynamicical music duo coming up on the "today" show. dynamical music duo coming up on the "today" show. er and good morning to you. right now, 6:25. seeing an overcast start to the morning in san jose. 56 degrees. we've got southeast winds at 9. this is the view from san bruno mountains across some of the low clouds of the hilltops of the peninsula. bay bridge off in the distance, 57 degrees and a southwest breeze at 9. heading off to the giants day, a light jacket should do you just fine. 76 around san jose. near 80 around livermore. morgan hill and los gatos, some of the warmer locations we'll see, but otherwise, mostly 60s and 70s today. about the same case for tomorrow, but as we get into friday and to kick off the weekend, a bit warmer inland. mid- to upper 80s in the warmest places as we head toward saturday afternoon. brent? thanks, rob. one of the bay area's fastest growing charities just crossed a big milestone. the $93 club surpassed its impressive goal of trying to raise $93,000 for the second harvest food bank. now, the club was born almost a year ago at a menlo park trader joes. the founder wanted to help a woman who lost her wallet and could not pay the $207 in groceries that she had. the woman then eventually repaid her, but with $300, which is $93 more than she borrowed. hazard donated that $93 to the food bank and then a friend did the same and another and another. that story spread through the facebook and donations started pouring in, creating hazard's accidental charity. the goal is now to raise $93,000 and they're about there. >> there's never been an ask. no one has ever been asked to donate. it's purely, here's our story, here's what's happened, and people have stepped up and said, i want to be a part of this. this is really cool. >> now, the second harvest food bank says that $93,000 translates into more than 180,000 meals for the hungry. >> it will make a big dmpifferee in this economy too. it's 6:26 right now. a new poll shows how californians feel about the high-speed rail plan. and will they play ball? why san jose's mayor may change his plans on trying to get a new stadium for the as. and update on developing news, a twisted pile of metal and bodies is all that's left of a plane after a crash over pakistan. we have more on what may be to blame. and a live look outside. sunol grade, looks like they're moving pretty smoothly there on the morning commute. mike has the full bay area scope coming up in just a little bit. those people are happy 'cause they're gonna have a good time, and they've got extra money in their pocket. those are happy passengers. how much does it cost for those snacks again? nothing. at southwest airlines, when we have a sale, it's a sale. [ male announcer ] southwest airlines has flights starting at $49 one-way. book now only at southwest.com. [ rand ] how can you not want to get on the plane? come on and get on the plane. we're saving you money. now that's a plane full of happy. [ employees ] grab your bag. it's on. [ ding ] welcome back, everybody. 6:29 and change as we get ready to open trading for the day. markets set to open. since when is beige exciting? well, apparently when it effects your investments. scott will explain what that means as we hear the opening bell and trading is now under way. the new eastern span of the bay bridge goes vertical today with a soaring 525-foot tower. i'm christie smith and we're going to talk about that. plus, what this big gadget has to do with it all. that story coming up in a live report. and no wrench in the works, just a lot of folks waiting to pay cash at the toll plaza. i'm following an east bay accident and i'll give credit where credit is due, coming up. good morning. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. and we begin with a quick check of your forecast with rob. if you like this kind of cool weather, you're going to love it again today. >> we're starting off with more low clouds this morning. a scene from san bruno mountain looking back towards san francisco. low clouds, drizzle on the coast. as we head towards the afternoon, only 60s and 70s. but if you want to find some summertime weather, good news for you in the seven-day forecast. a look at that coming up in a few minutes. and we'll look forward to it. thanks, rob. san francisco's skyline will look a little deferent today. the signature feature for the new eastern span of the bay bridge, a huge tower is going up. nbc bay area's christie smith is live with when the transformation will start. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning. well, we're learning that the transformation actually started about 15 minutes ago. i'm going to step aside. to me, it sort of looks like a b.a.r.t. train on its side there in the distance. they're starting to slowly lift it up. this is going to basically be part of this soaring of a 525-foot tower, the signature part of the eastern part of the bay bridge. here with me is bart. >> it's going very slowly. we want to control the momentum on this piece. we'll be lifting it up into the air, probably by 9:00 we'll have it off the barge and place it carefully on top of the foundation. >> reporter: but people won't see a tower for a while. this is part of a longer process. >> right. this piece is about 165 feet long. it comes right up to about the level of where traffic is. you can see it if you look for it. the next pieces will be well over the bridge traffic. >> reporter: and when it's done, it's basically going to be nearly two football fields high. >> absolutely. 525 feet is where we'll be topping out. >> reporter: and i've got to get to this. what is it? can you tell us the history of this piece and what it has to do with the bridge? >> there's a lot of history with this piece. this is a hand-crafted spud wrench that was used in the build of the original bridge back in the 1930s and today is really about the history and the future meeting the present. we have american bridge floor interprid enterprises doing this bridge. this spud wrench is used for the smaller nuts on the bridge and it gives you a little bit of an idea of the scale to have that bridge. this thing weighs about 20 pounds. and the weigh we used to do things building bridges. >> reporter: and the flinestones did it too that way. thank you very much again, bart, and again, this will be finished in 2013. thanks for talking to us this morning. reporting live on treasure island, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> my grandfather actually helped build the original bay bridge. thank you very much, christie. in fact, the bay bridge has a long history. it was built in 1936. back then, cynics thought it would be impossible to build because of the rough waters and gusty winds. total lanes of the bridge is 8.4 miles. the cost to build the original bridge in 1936, including the transbay transit terminal was $77 million. the tunnel through yerba buena island is the largest bore tunnel in the world at 76 feet wide and 58 feet high. daily traffic on the bridge, 270,000 cars and trucks. the city of san jose is being asked to back off on plans to build a new stadium for the as in san jose. mayor chuck reed says he will consider postponing a vote on a major league baseball park until next spring. he had wanted to put something on the november ballot. commissioner bud selig asked san jose to delay putting that stadium initiative on the november ballot. major league baseball instead wanting reed to wait until the spring. and then baseball says it would even help pay if they did that far special election. a city council committee will talk about the future of that november vote coming up this afternoon. it looks like lighting up in california is becoming a drag. a new report from tax collectors says cigarette taxes are up, but the number of packs sold in the state is down. californians bought 2.8 billion packs a year in 1980. now only 972 million are sold. between 2009 and 2010, californians bought 8.1% less cigarettes than the year before. experts say health concerns, smoking restrictions, and taxes are leading to the decrease in cigarette sales. the average pack cost $3.66 in 2000. now it's $5.09. venetian could soon be home to a solar-powered city hall. city council is considering adding solar-powered carports behind the building. one of nine solar projects the city is voting on. construction could start in november and end next spring. federal stimulus funds and a partnership with chevron will foot the bill, so there's no cost to the city. the solar projects could save the city ultimately $100,000 a year in electricity costs. time now is 6:35. we've been talking about the markets open this morning and scott mcgrew checking the opening numbers. >> well, good morning to you. you mentioned a beige start, and it has been a fairly disappointing start after four days of up arrows. we're watching the nasdaq trading about even as the pac-10 opens the nasdaq this morning. dow industrials are down slightly. the fed releases its beige book, which is a measure of all manufacturing in the united states. that comes up in just a bit. one stock interesting, brent, sprint nextel is actually adding subscribers to its network for the first time in three years. people ran screaming away from that service for years. this could be a sign that at&t is beginning to soften some of its subscribership. >> thanks a lot for the update there. meantime, we are following a developing story out of pakistan. authorities now say all 152 people on board of a jet that crashed near islamabad are dead. it was coming in for a landing from karachi when it crashed. a thick blanket of cloud and smoke could be seen landing from the heavily wooded crash site. the cause of the crash is not yet clear. however, it was rainy and cloudy at the time, so bad weather could have been a factor. senators cancelled a much-publicized senate hearing on whether bp influenced the release of the lockerbie bomber. they say key witnesses stonewalled the investigation by refusing to appear. but they plan on rescheduling it. scottish leaders released a libyan intelligence officer who was convicted of the 1988 pan am bombing over lockerbie, scotland. the senate panels wants to know if bp had an influence in the bomber's release. an american couple suspected of at least three murders in panama is now in police custody in nicaragua. nicaragua's national police commissioner says that couple is charged with homicide and will be transferred to panama. the couple is from texas and is wanted in connection with at least three murders. 12 million commuters infected and major corporations compromised. now the fbi believes the mastermind hacker is behind bars. a 23-year-old man in slovenia is in custody. he's responsible for creating the malicious computer virus. authorities believe he's also part of a large cybercrime ring responsible for stealing credit cards and online banking credentials. despite its $18 billion price tag, californians are upbeat about high-speed rail. a new vacates 34% fully back that project. 42% want it to move forward, but they do have concerns about the cost and the fact that it's not going to be finished until 2020. 13% said they do not support the plan and the remaining 11% say they don't have an opinion either way. now, the study was done by a private firm, but it was paid for by the california high-speed rail authority. 6:38. time to check the morning commute. some unusual activity in antioch this morning. >> that's right. but it's not exactly what you would think. i'll tell you about an accident involving two motorcycles westbound highway 4. that's your commute direction coming out of anteok. but look at that, no slowing. minor injuries, both riders up and walking around. actually, one has been taken to the hospital because of minor injuries, but the other one walking around in the area. and no slowing to summersville. that's great news for the morning commute. take you over to the maze, where we have a nice smooth flow as well. coming through the caldecott tunnel, still a very nice flow. 880 southbound to 29, still a portion of that debris in lanes, but a shot of 880 past the coliseum shows you the southbound traffic flowing just fine. a pretty decent amount of cars, but still getting by that accident or the disabled vehicle, if there is any lanes blocked there, it is moving very smoothly through the area. not showing any major issues past that portion. back to the maze where we are showing you that map and the rest is moving nicely through the toll plaza with no metering lights right now. move you through the east bay up to the north bay where there are reports of some debris in lanes after an accident. reporting party number one, it wants the chp to give them credit for putting flares and a cone there. so, folks, we will give credit where credit is due, reporting party number one, thank you for putting the flares and cone out there. >> good to know. checking a very cool start to the day once again. rob and the forecast. >> yeah. and we still have clouds again this morning and a hint at another mild day ahead. 56 right now, overcast skies. you can see the winds blowing into fairfield. that is the marine air working into sacramento. we're in the green all around the bay area. heading up to the high country, may some see showers. highs in the mid-70s in san jose. 72 around petaluma. sacramento today actually kind of cool at 85 degrees. if you want some summertime temperatures, friday and saturday, we should see our numbers jump up 5 to 10 degrees. a little bit warmer as we head to the start of the weekend. >> 6:40 right now. you could be hurting yourself by trying to stay healthy. and at this time tomorrow, arizona's controversial new immigration law is scheduled to go into effect. we'll have a live rural rouepor washington, d.c., on the latest efforts to try stop it. and hi there. bob redell. could the car you drive in the future be measured not in hours of gas, but in kilowatts of energy? we'll take you inside plug-in 2010. [ female announcer ] jobs leaving. a budget disaster. california on the brink. jerry brown's plan? you run for office and the assumption is, oh, i know what to do. you don't. i didn't have a plan for california. [ female announcer ] with our state in crisis, we need a governor with a plan. you need a real plan, something i'll acknowledge i did not have. [ female announcer ] jerry brown. no plan then. no plan now. meg whitman. a plan for jobs. log on. learn more. thousands of immigrants are fleeing arizona. they're trying to get out before the state's controversial anti-illegal immigration law takes effect tomorrow. the law empowers police to check for legal status of anyone they have a reasonable suspicion might be here illegally. but the obama administration is suing to stop the law from starting. nbc bay area's kristen dahlgren leaves our continuing coverage of this controversial story. kristen, what's at the center of the judge's choice? >> reporter: hey, there, laura. definitely an interesting 24 hours coming up here. the judge looking at a few things. one is whether or not the state law can supersede federal law, the aclu, and other civil rights organizations have sued in federal court, asking for this injunction. we should hear from the judge at some point before the law goes into effect. it's expected to go into effect at midnight tonight. meantime, there are mass protests and demonstrations planned in arizona tomorrow. some protesters plan to block federal buildings. they are going to force officials to ask for their immigration status, and then the sheriff in the largest county in arizona says that he has cleared space in his jail. he is going to send 200 deputies out. he says he will be arresting not just protesters, but he has also given them authorization to look for any undocumented immigrants. so we are waiting to hear from the judge and we'll see what happens after that, laura. >> kristen, in addition to fighting against arizona, getting war funding passed and try to get bp to pay the clean up in the gulf, the president is making history by becoming the first sitting commander in chief to do a daytime talk show. what's the reaction around the beltway? >> reporter: yeah, kind of a surprising decision from the president. he's taping the show today. it will air tomorrow. he's expected to be asked about the oil spill, about immigration, about jobs and the economy. the spokesman for the white house, robert gibbs, defended the president's actions, saying that people are busy and they have made a conscious decision to go where the people are, so that will be the view tomorrow. meantime, though, others not so happy with the president's decision. governor ed rendell, who is another democrat, by the way, said that the presidency should have a little more dignity. he also compared "the view" to the jerry springer show. ouch. back to you. >> thank you very much, kristen. meantime, an electric car battle is shaping up in the south bay between general motor's volt and knnissan's lea. >> we have two reporters who are plugged into the competition. bob redell is at the plug-in conference. but first, scott mcgrew is here with a look at how much these cars will cost you. >> laura, both the nissan leaf and the choevy volt are going t be available soon, this coming winter. the leaf itself, truly electric. it has no gasoline engine at all and is priced at $32,000, on sale in december. all right, this, the volt, is a plug-in hybrid. general motors announced it will hit dealerships in november at $41,000. now, bob redell is at the plug-in conference. $41,000, this is a lot of money for a chevy, no matter what it does. >> reporter: but it does come with a lot. right here what you're looking at, scott, is standard in what would be the new chevy volt. we've got tony sitting in the driver's seat. the one thing that struck me when i was in the car a few days ago, you've got the touch screen technology, but the technology that you have here. this new type of, what do you call it? >> compasstive switches. the volt comes standard with a seven-inch color cluster and a seven-inch color touch screen with compasstive switches and a full navigation system, standard with the chevy volt. >> reporter: let's say i'm looking at the chevy volt, looking at the nissan leaf. your guy's range is 340 miles, that's with the generator kicks in. their range is 100 miles, they don't have the generator. your price point difference is about eight grand more. why would i buy your cars over theirs? >> with the chevy volt, we offer a very, very attractive $350 a month lease. that lease is equivalent to the leaf. this car can take him. as i've driven it from austin, texas, to new york, nonstop, if you will. and it's a car that you can use every day. you don't have to worry about range anxiety. >> reporter: i love that. >> sometimes battery/electric y cars don't always get that 100. >> reporter: to charge a car like this at home, depending if you're using 110, 220, can be anywhere from three to eight hours? does that sound right? >> yeah, overnight the volt will charge up wiand will cost you a little over $1 to charge. we got our electricity at free last night. >> reporter: when is this going to be into dealerships? >> california's is one of the first dibs and we anticipate to deliver some cars by the end of this year. we understand if you go to www.getmyvolt.com, you can find out which local dealerships signed up and are certified and we're taking orders as we speak. >> reporter: that's it from plug-in 2010 here. thank you very much, tony. >> i'll take it, bob. one of the interesting things to watch, laura, is where is tesla on this? they were going to develop that model "s" sedan, but they haven't even started production. and we'll have the leaf and the plug-in volt hitting dealerships this winter. >> electric cars are all the rage now, but they might not be as cutting edge as you thought. the first electric car was actually invented some time between 1832 and 1839 in scotland. in 1899 a belgian car designer built an electric race car, it could go 68 miles per hour. in 1975, the u.s. postal service ordered a fleet of electric vehicles for its pilot program. and the 1992 clean air act amendment led in part to the electric car boom that we're seeing today. >> very interesting stuff. the gulf oil spill hits a big milestone today. >> i'm kris sanchez in sunnyvale, where it is good-bye to the blue cube which sparked the imaginations of so many during the cold war. meanwhile, readers digest has a new list of common medical mistakes. here's a few of them. taking an aspirin daily without talking to your doctor. using old antibiotics for a new infection. taking calcium supplements on an empty stomach. and taking over-the-counter medicine without reading the label. not that long ago, many families were priced out of an overheated housing market. but the times have changed. get the facts at remax.com. today, the dream of owning a home seems more attainable than ever. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. it is now day 100 in the gulf oil disaster. a live look at the deepwater horizon oil rig, kind of murky water there is. you see a few bubbles or something coming up. over the next few weeks, bp will move ahead with its so-called static kill and bottom kill operations. they will blast mud and cement from the top of the well and from deep underground. if the weather holds, the first relief well could be complete by august. bp successfully capped the leaking well about 12 days ago. 6:53 right now. the blue cube is shutting down. the fame onizuka air force station is falling under the budget ax. kris sanchez is live in santa clara near sunnyvale this morning with the story. good morning, kris. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. the party tents are going up behind us as we speak, but it will be a bittersweet good-bye for the blue cube, which is also formally known as the onizuka air force station. it is quietly helped to guide the nation's space program and was a major player in the air force satellite control network, which kind of sparked the imaginations of many people during the cold war years. the base was slated for closure in 2005 as part of the military's base realignment program. the operations of the 50-year-old station will be transferred to vandenberg air force base in santa barbara, so the good news there is that about 25 people will be transferred there as well. so they will keep their jobs. the bad news is that about 150 other people will be out of work. the complete shutdown of the station named for one of the astronaut who is died in the space shuttle "challenger" disaster will come in september of thnext year, but the closing ceremony is later this morning. if you are wondering what's in it for me, i don't work there, i don't know anything about it, well, eventually the 18-acre site will be turned over to the city of sunnyvale and the redevelopment plan is to turn it into an auto plaza. in sunnyvale, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> thank you very much, kris. now for some nbc bay area fast facts on the blue cube. onizuka was built back in 1960 on 11 acres of land bought from lockheed martin for $1. it was called the air force satellite test center until it was renamed in honor of ellison onizuka, who died when the space shuttle "challenger" exploded shortly after liftoff. the blue cube was finished back in 1968 and the satellite facility has supported every space shuttle mission in history. time now, coming up on 6:55. in fact, there it is, on the money. want to check your morning commute once again with mike. >> good morning, brent. we'll take you out to the east bay, where we have yet another issue for southbound 880. first, a disabled vehicle at 29, still reported in your right lane. now a new slow lane issue, right lane as you're approaching high street. don't see any major slowing past the scene. a pretty light volume of traffic and a nice easy drive so far in the northbound commute direction through oakland heading past that bay bridge toll plaza, where we get a live look out there. and we see no reason for meter lights and i don't see any metering lights reported on the chp report either. sunol grade moves very smoothly. we saw some slowing coming around the grade, so expect that coming out of pleasanton. out of livermore, the build cup continues approaching the dublin interchange and 680. there's the slowing heading down into the south bay. a little slowdown 101, but not a big deal. >> thanks so much. let's check in with rob. >> more low clouds this morning. as we go through the afternoon, temperatures pretty much in line with yesterday. los gatos, morgan hill, livermore, clo close to 80 degrees. otherwise, 60s and 70s today. closer to the weekend, friday and saturday, finally starting to feel more like july. should see mid- to upper 80s inland for a change to kick off the weekend. >> a heat wave! >> is it summer? >> you know, people really love the student project that was spoofing the old spice commercial. >> it was from byu. we showed it to you yesterday. >> well done. >> oh, my god. incredibly well done, to encourage you to study at the library. byu now has sort of a behind-the-scenes look. just take a look at this. >> look at your shirt. now back at mine. sadly, what the -- >> open your eyes. now open them again. where are you? >> look down, back up -- but if you stopped studying in a cage and started studying like me. >> everyone working together and you messing it up. you know, what i was honestly surprised by was how much string work there was. the fact that comes on little strings and they digitally erase it, which is exactly how they do it on the old spice thing. but surely it's got to be more complicated than that, no, it's just ropes. >> they got it done. very cool. >> thanks so much for joining us this morning. "today" show coming up next. >> and local news in half an hour. have a great day. advantage topical solution treats dogs... ( barking ) but destroys fleas. so ask your veterinarifo r ad age,r the flea specialist for gentle, but effective, flea control.
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