ones lost escorted into the area now being looked at as a crime scene. >> it's just so fatal and so fast. >> reporter: and first responders process what they have seen. jd nelson says some of the victims were found trying to shield each other from the uki flames. >> they were both lying on the ground and he was kind of in a position where he was maybe -- what looked to our investigators, covering her. >> reporter: nelson says most died from smoke inhalation. >> in my heart, i hope it was for the victims, it was fast. so they didn't suffer. >> reporter: firefighters have searched most of the charred warehouse, but in order to access the last 10%, knocked down walls in an area they have already searched. >> we're going to bring closure when they search the rest of the 10%. >> reporter: meanwhile, avalos says he doesn't blame, but says everyone who lived there knew the dangers inside. >> we had fire extinguishers because of that. >> reporter: and the district attorney has said whoever is found responsible for this fire could face charges, ranging from murder to manslaughter. meanwhile, we just learned there will be another press briefing here at 5:45. we will, of course, have updates for you coming up at 6:00. reporting live from oakland, elyce kirchner, nbc bay area news. >> and take a look at this video. nbc news has obtained video showing oakland police inside the warehouse just a couple months before the devastating fire. this was back in october. in the video, police are argue someone in connection with the complaint tied to a party. the live-in manager tells police he gave police access to the roof during that visit. tonight many are asking if this is proof of a missed opportunity for someone to raise concerns about the safety of the building. police have refused to comment on any visits to the warehouse into this fire. once again, he has chosen to share his story exclusively with nbc bay area and news. today he was emotional and frustrated. he was asked whether he should be held accountable. >> what am i going to say to that? should i be held accountable? i can barely stand here right now. >> the live interview with matt lauer on the "today" show. nbc bay area's jodi hernandez also sat down one-on-one. jodi, he remains remorseful. what else did he say today? >> reporter: well, it was a different derek al mena than the one yesterday. he was much more emotional today. as the pressure continues to mount, the man many say is at the center of it all appears to be having a tough time holding it together. >> it's not a good morning. what am i doing here? >> reporter: a rattled derek almena returned to the scene of the fire this morning, to answer tough questions from the anchors of the "today" show on national television. >> are you the man who should be held accountable? >> what am i going to say to that? should i be held accountable? i can barely stand here right now. >> reporter: with 36 people confirmed dead in the warehouse fire, the self-described grandfather of the space is now in the spotlight. he acknowledges, he leased the building, and together with others turned it into a collective for artists. >> i'm only here to say one thing, that i am incredibly sorry. and that everything that i did was to make this a stronger, more beautiful community. and to bring people together. people didn't walk through those doors because of the horrible place. people didn't seek us out to perform and express themselves because it was a horrible place. >> reporter: almena told us in a sitdown interview yesterday, he didn't realize, nor was he warned the building filled with hand-made wooden art, lights and tapestries posed any danger. >> never, never. it wasn't dangerous. >> reporter: and when confronted with his potential culpability again this morning, he became unglued. >> i'm a proud man. no, i'm not going to answer the questions on this level. i would rather get on the floor and be trampled by the parents! i would rather let them tear my flesh than answer these ridiculous questions! >> reporter: now, almena's wife told us yesterday they are cooperating with authorities. in fact, she said that he had been interviewed extensively by atf investigators. now today the d.a.'s office would not confirm whether or not they have interviewed almena but said their investigation is a possible criminal charges in this case could take weeks. reporting live in oakland, i'm jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> jodi, thank you. it is a revealing and fascinating interview. we have posted the entire segment with almena on our website. to watch it, go to the top story box on our front page, nbcbayarea.com. each day since the fire broke out, we have learned the identities of more victims. nbc bay area's scott budman is here with their names and more on who they were. >> we have a very brief look at a very diverse group of creative people. we just want to introduce you to a little bit of what these young people were like. for example, em bohlka transitioned to female, a friend online wishing she had more time to live as she truly wanted. mchale rah gregory, only 20. two jobs, one at a trendy clothing store, one at a mortuary. alex casten, a wonderful dad, son, friend. 32-year-old benjamin reynolds was a singer, a lot of musicians, both pop and jazz. mica danemayer, so full of life. feral pines, another person who we lost in the fire, a sinth genius, 29 years old, impeccable musical taste. and jennifer tonaway, worked at shazam and working on a documentary about pokemon. and jennifer norris, goodbye, old friend, we'll dance again in our dreams. and chelsea dolen, studied classical music. these are names added to the eight people we learned about earlier. just a glance, you guys, at some very complex lives that were cut short far too soon from oakland. raj? >> all right, scott. thank you. thank you for revealing how they lived in their lives here. we have more on the young lives lost, as well. >> she was an amazingly kind and beautiful person, who had the strength to be her true self, even when she knew that was not going to be an easy path. >> by sharing their stories, it's a way the family ares are able to cope with this and mourn and spread good news. nbc bay area's mark matthews talked to family and friends of the tragedy victims and how they said their loved ones to be remembered. our investigative unit has been working to uncover what led to that tragic night. city leaders pointing fingers at each other as questions mount about the ghost ship warehouse fire. who knew what, and when? senior investigative reporter, vicki nguyen joins us after a contentious hearing at city hall. vicki. >> reporter: well, janelle, councilman noel gallo throughout the city of oakland and city council woman rebecca kaplan supports an independent investigation. all of this unfoileding as we uncover more dwellings. inspectors have visited about three warehouse residences just yesterday. no residents answer the the door at this warehouse but a contractor told us it houses 34 units. he says they all have sprinklers, and the property owner called this just minutes ago, and said he is in compliance with all city regulations. we first told you about this warehouse last night. nicknamed "death trap," independent inspectors out there yesterday responding to a complaint about residents living in a commercial space. today we sat down with council woman rebecca kaplan to talk about the city's responsibility to address safety concerns. >> we spoke with some of the last survivors who got out of that warehouse. and they said, law enforcement and firefighters had been in that building many times. why wasn't anything done earlier? >> well, exactly. and that is part of why i am supporting the request of members of the public, that there be an independent investigation. because we don't yet know, did people go out and report the problems they saw and nothing was done? >> reporter: mayor libby schaaf's office did not respond to our request for an interview today. coming up at 6:00, we're going tell you about the changes the city is immediately pledging and who they want to hire right now to prevent another deadly fire. guys? >> okay, vicki nguyen reporting from city hall in oakland. the weather is also impacting this recovery and investigation. let's go back out live to our nbc chopper over the scene there in the fruitvale district. city officials are saying they're trying to get the bulk of the work done before the rain comes in. so that, of course, leads us to the time line of this storm and it's a pretty sizeable storm. let's bring in chief meteorologist, jeff ranieri. jeff, what are you looking at now? >> the way things are appearing right now, we're still for the rainfall to return throughout wednesday's forecast. what we have happening is the cold front just offshore and this large stream of sub tropical moisture feeding in from the south. currently on the scanning doppler radar, nothing in terms of rainfall just yet. high clouds increasing across the bay area but the time line starts to develop this rainfall by 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, just offshore and also to the north. and then eventually some widespread rainfall by 8:00 on wednesday night. i'll run this all the way through our next three days and how much rainfall coming up at 5:19. >> okay, jeff, see you shortly. three victims of the oakland fire. identified as transgender. i'm mark matthews in san francisco. we'll have reaction from family and members of the lgbtq community coming up in a live report. possibly seven figures of help for the victims. warehouse fire. i'm consumer investigator, chris could murrah. where the money comes from, next. in other news, how many cameras on the way to the south bay jail, where two inmates escaped. we'll tell you, next. another live look from our nbc helicopter over the warehouse fire in oakland. emergency crews continue to work 24/7 around the clock to come through the rest of this building. fire officials say they have gone through 90% of it. they expect to have the remaining 10% completed by midnight. there's another layer to this tragedy, and it's impacting the transgender community around the world. at issue, not just the deaths of these young people, but how they're filed filed. nbc bay area's mark matthews joins us in san francisco with reaction from family and friends. mark. >> reporter: good evening, raj. the reaction has come from all quarters in san francisco. this was a big memorial vigil last night here in san francisco. and talking today to members of the lgbtq community who are passionate about how these three victims of the fire will be remembered. the victims are cash askew, 22, of san francisco. active in the bay area music scene. part of a band, "them are us too." in a statement, a spokesman wrote, we were in awe her talent, gentle kindness and momentum. feral pines was originally from connecticut. in a statement, a friend wrote she was an anti fascist, last seen taking down swas particulara paraphernalia on the night of the fire. pine's sister is amanda peri. >> she was an amazingly kind and beautiful person who had the strength to be her true self even when she knew that was not going to be an easy path. >> reporter: the third transgender fire victim is 33-year-old em bohlka of oakland whose father wrote, you're communities must become more open and accepting of all people, all identities so everyone can enjoy a concert in a space that is not a death trap. today the former president of transgender san francisco told me, it's important to remember these three by the names and the gender they chose. >> it's about validating your identity, who you are as a person, and your gender. >> reporter: dolly says the name she was given at birth is her dead name. >> because it represents the life that we no longer have. the gender that is dead to us. >> reporter: in releasing the names, the sheriff's coroners have said -- the coroner's sheriffs deputies have said they will use names preferred by the victims' families rather than the victim' friends but tonight does not appear to be a conflict with those families. reporting, mark matthews, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, mark. the oakland fire is taking an emotional toll on all those involved and will most likely leave a financial scar on many. chris kimura says a little known safety net might help them and others. >> good evening. millions of dollars might be available here. when authorities labeled the charred warehouse a crime scene, it began opening doors to financial help from the state of california. today we contacted the california victim compensation board, which gets about $100 million a year to assist people whose losses are determined to be the direct result of a crime. the program confirms today those affected by the oakland fire can apply for help. emergency expenses like funeral costs, medical bills, lost wages, rehabilitation and mental health counseling all can be covered up $63,000 per claim. a representative of the alameda district attorney told us it has staff actively assisting fire victims with applications right now. it's worth noting that the victim assistance program isn't just for mass tragedies like the warehouse fire. it's designed to help other crime victims too. if that's you, you'll be required to report the crime and show documents and receipts that will help demonstrate your need. people are encouraged to apply at their local district attorney's office or file a claim online. to learn more about this, or to share the information, perhaps, with a victim you might know, or to start an application yourself, we have posted a link on our website, nbcbayarea.com/response. that page will also put you in direct contact with me. if you need other help. if you prefer to call us our tip line is 888-996-tips. >> chris, thank you so much. our fire coverage continues on our website. you can also find photos and more information on those who died in the fire. that's at nbcbayarea.com. let's bring in chief meteorologist, jeff ranieri. another big news event this weekend is this rain about to come in. >> yeah. and it will be a widespread event here across the bay area with some heavier pockets of rain at times, and also slick and slippery travel for this year, as well. i want to get a look right now at our microclimate weather and we start off with the storm system. it will bring us three days or three chances, rather, of rainfall over three days. it is one storm system we're following. sub tropical moisture ahead of it that gives this storm system an extra boost. so with a lot of different stuff coming up about this storm system, i wanted to go ahead and narrow the focus for you on some of the top things we're watching out for wednesday night, right through friday. pockets of heavy rain at times. we may get some isolated street flooding where some of the gutters have not been cleared out. winds likely gusting as high as 30 miles per hour out of the south. of course, this will make the roadways very slick. and if you're heading up to tahoe, a huge warning, maybe some freezing rain mixing in with snow at times. so please, please, take it slow. as we head into tomorrow morning's forecast, it will be chilly to start. we'll see clouds on the increase, but no rainfall just yet. 42 for the south bay. 44 in the peninsula and 39 in the tri valley. we'll go down to the north bay with an average of 39. 47 in san francisco. and for the east bay, 45. so now let's go ahead and spend some time on that rain time line. it has been a while since we have seen more of a moderate storm system moving in across the bay area and really the way we see it, the timing has only sped up just by a couple of hours. so no big change on the storm system, as we bring you this today. we get this bulk of the rainfall developing by 2:00 p.m. on wednesday. then likely widespread areas of rainfall developing by 8:00 tomorrow night. and as we have been mentioning, it won't just move in and out. we'll potentially see areas of rainfall continue right into thursday morning, and possibly into the afternoon on thursday, as well. then eventually it will start to break up by late thursday night. also into friday morning, as well. rainfall totals, depends, of course, on where you are. a lot of colors on this map. check out the key at the top. find your city on the map and you'll be able to see the general idea of what we expect. a lot of the peninsula south bay and east bay in the blue. a half inch to one and a quarter inches. for the north bay. and the higher elevations, we could see one-and-a-half, maybe 2 inches of wet weather. how about the sierra. totals generally, 7 inches. a few higher amounts near 10 inches as the system rolls in. let's get you into the extended forecast. temperatures will stay cool across san francisco in the 50s. again, wet weather here as we head throughout wednesday night, thursday and friday. it will also be cool across the inland valleys with just 52 for a high tomorrow. if you thought it was chilly today, it will feel even colder tomorrow. for sure. >> it's chilly in the studio right now. >> i know. i don't know if the heater can catch up. >> thanks a lot. up next, samsung beats apple with a supreme court decision meaning for the design of phones moving forward. ♪ ♪ jon batiste has mastered new ways to play old classics. with chase atms, he can master new ways to deposit checks too. easy to use chase technology for whatever you're trying to master. happening now, google says it has enough power to run completely on renewable energy next year. now with wind farms and solar energy, it says it has met the goal. and on our website, a photo gallery of some of the art lost inside the oakland warehouse fire. the warehouse was full of instruments and paintings. more news in two minutes. want to get back to our nbc chopper. these are live pictures from the scene of the fire. if you can see it there in the lower right-hand side of your screen, just barely in the shot there, you see a group of firefighters there. they have been onsite 24/, working 12 to 16-hour shifts. the firefighters either just beginning their next shift or maybe taking a break or ending. crews are expecting to finish their recovery efforts by midnight tonight. what that means is they'll have cleared all of the bodies and debris from inside the warehouse. you can see them inside there, working now, as well. but the criminal investigation will continue for months to come. some of the other headlines tonight, donald trump is reaching out to silicon valley, but it may not be reaching back. the president-elect's chief of staff and son-in-law has sent invitations to local ceos, asking them to attend a round table discussion with the president-elect in new york city next wednesday. the website apple insider reports apple ceo, tim cook cites an already scheduled meeting. the rest of the guest list is unknown, but a lot disagreed with trump on several issues. samsung in the ongoing legal battle with apple. the court tossed out a ruling that made samsung pay for copying apple's iphone patent. samsung argued it shouldn't pay full profits for only copying parts of the patent. the supreme court agreed and sends the case back to a lower court to decide how much samsung should really have to pay apple. the recent jailbreak at the santa clara county main jail will mean more cameras. the board of directors approved to buy and install surveillance cameras for the area that inmates escaped just before thanksgiving. the sheriff had cameras installed after reports of officer abuse and inmate fights. the older south wing did not get cameras because the facility is scheduled to be torn down and replaced. after four inmates escaped and recaptured, they decided not to wait. another update on the oakland fire when we come back. c'mon in, pop pop! happy birthday! i survived a heart attack. i'm doing all i can to keep from having another one. and i'm taking brilinta. for people who've been hospitalized for a heart attack. i take brilinta with a baby aspirin. no more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. or dying from one. it worked better than plavix. >>don't stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. don't take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. >>talk to your doctor about brilinta. i'm doing all i can. that includes brilinta. if you can't afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. before we leave tonight, one last week from our nbc chopper. you're looking at the front side of this warehouse on 31st avenue there in oakland. the crews continue to work. they expect to finish their recovery mode of this by midnight tonight. that's good news. considerable progress there at this warehouse. >> and in just about 15 minutes from now at 5:45, oakland city officials plan another news conference and give us an update on the fire investigation. we will be streaming live on our website, nbcbayarea.com, and, of course, full team coverage tonight on nbc bay area news at 6:00. >> thanks for joining us here at 5:00. we hope to see you back here in 30 minutes. tonight, nbc news exclusive, could a tragic inferno have been stopped? new video showing authorities inside the warehouse weeks before dozens perished. what we've learned about potential missed opportunities. lashing out. as police make an arrest in the apparent road rage death of a former nfl star, a sheriff unloads in a tirade fild with profanity and racial slurs. trump's billion dollar threat over the price of the new air force one, the president-elect using the bully pulpit against another big american company. l.a. terror threat. stepped up security, passengers being searched after the feds go public with a chilling phone call. and danger at the wheel. startling new

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