investigation shortchanged. some college students may not have money to cover their costs. the new financial aid meltdown just as a new school year is set to begin swimming in gold. team usa star katie ledecky delivers a master stroke of a performance of the 1500 meter freestyle. we'll take you live to paris to relive her triumphant moment. this is today in the bay maybe it was a lucky parka she wore. good thursday morning to you. thanks so much for starting your morning with us. i'm laura garcia, and i'm marcus washington. let's start with a look at what's happening with the traffic. this morning. mike inouye tracking some breaking news for that crash on westbound 80. it's causing some delays. yeah, this is different than the walnut creek crash. you just talked about. so i do have a deadly crash that happened just after 330 this morning. it's tougher to see there are low clouds, but i don't think

visibility played a part for the actual drivers. you can see the traffic, the lights moving over the two right lanes of westbound 80 are blocked as you get to ashby avenue, so that is an issue. let me show you on the maps. you can probably tell better west 80. coming down past university, things really bogged down. i think some folks are getting off at university because they heard about the crash. the freeways open, two lanes are blocked. a coroner has to arrive. probably about 530 is my guess from past experience. takes about as long as it does because they call them at 4:00. there's mild slowing now. there will be a build over the next half hour, and it may be as late as 6:00 until they can move the big rig that's involved in that crash as well. these are all estimates of mine right now. everything's moving smoothly down that portion of the east shore freeway with the only slowing in through berkeley. but we'll continue to watch that. the rest of the commute right now is moving very smoothly. but, kari, there are some low clouds. what else is out there? yeah, we are seeing some low visibility near the coast and in san francisco. and there the temperature is at 54 degrees. but then as we take a look at

much of the rest of the bay area, we're in the low 60s and those clouds are up a little bit higher. we're going to have a day very much like yesterday, where temperatures range from 60s near the coast to low 70s in san francisco, mid 70s for the east bay and then for the tri-valley into the north bay. we'll see 90s today, also low 90s for the south county, while san jose will reach a high of about 82 degrees into the day tomorrow. it's also a repeat with the hazy sky and just a touch warmer for spots like clear lake that will hit a high of 101 degrees. so a few of those triple digits there, and we'll talk about what's ahead for the weekend in the full microclimate forecast that's coming up a little bit later. back to you. all right. we'll check back with you kari. breaking news. we are following in walnut creek. mike mention where one person is dead, another in the hospital following an overnight crash. police are saying alcohol was involved. this is a live look at the scene on what is usually a

busy ignacio valley road near civic. at this point, both directions are still closed and will remain likely closed for some time. police say a speeding car struck a utility pole and the driver was not wearing a seat belt. she died at the scene. a man in the car walked away from the crash but was still transported to the hospital. there are also downed power lines in the area, but no word yet on possible outages. our bob redell is there. he'll join us with a live report in our next half hour, continuing our coverage now of san francisco's push to clear homeless encampments. police under new marching orders. when it comes to confronting the unhoused. now this as homeless advocates insist the city is getting it all wrong. today in the bay's ginger conejero saab live for us in san francisco this morning and ginger opponents later today actually planned to make their voices heard. what are they planning to do? well, they do that is correct, marcus. and they want to do that where city leaders

can see and hear them later today, supporters of the labor party will hold a press conference demanding for more programs for the working class and for the poor. they're also calling for an end to what they claim to be arrests of the unhoused. now, we were at a clearing operation yesterday morning in the tenderloin. there were no arrests or citations that we learned of, of that we saw yesterday. now, here's some video from that operation clearing operation along a two block stretch of willow street in the city's tenderloin neighborhood. it took about three hours or so to clear the 27 tents that were there in the morning. that is less than the number of tents that were there on sunday when people were first given notice of the clearing. now, before an operation like this takes place, the unhoused are given notice about three days out. then the morning of the clearing teams once again give notice and offer options of voluntarily leaving or accepting services and housing. most

according to the manager of the healthy streets operation cente, volunteered to leave instead of accept services or housing. i think this is a process. it's not something that you can do overnight. it's people that are heavily, engaged with multiple issues. it takes time to engage them to get a behavior change. now, since the grants pass, supreme court ruling, law enforcement has clearer parameters on what they can and cannot do. sfpd chief bill scott has issued a new directive. officers can now resume enforcement of the city's public nuisance street. objection, obstruction rather, and even sit lie laws that are already city ordinances. now even if other departments are not part of the operation, sfpd is able to, to enforce those city ordinances. officers were barred from enforcing those before the

supreme court decision. now, the five page directive reads in part, quote, this means members may enforce the below laws without first assuring that the city has made offers of available shelter. now, according to the city's healthy streets operation center, just in that two block stretch of willow street, they have had 550 engagements so far this week, so far this year, in 2024, 129 have been placed in shelter, 393 have refused shelter, and about 28 or so have already been housed or sheltered to some extent. now, san francisco police chief bill scott is encouraging officers to give people a list of the services that are available through the city. but as we saw yesterday, city crews have their work cut out for them. even after our coverage, our midday newscast shortly after, we saw some people go back to exactly to the area that was just cleared without their tents, i should say, but kind of staking

the their claim to that part of the block. so it is it is quite a cycle that the city is hoping to break. marcus. yeah. speaking to the mayor about that very issue, she said, you know, that is where the legal or possible arrest will happen if people keep coming back where they've been cleared from. so we'll continue to follow that. ginger. thank you. 507 for you right now. and it turns out that all recent financial aid problems for college students will likely continue, even as we are nearing the start of a new school year. the education department, acknowledging lingering problems with the free application for federal student aid, better known as fafsa. as a result, some students may not be able to access their financial aid money in time to pay their bills. the es, all this is all because the college will be unable to submit the so-called batch corrections for aid or corrections filed in bulk, grouping the redesigned fafsa application has been

plagued with problems ever since the first time it rolled out last december. 508 competition is back underway for team usa at the 2024 olympics. we have a live look at the eiffel tower and the olympic cauldron in paris. two women's gymnastics powerhouses face off for gold tonight. yeah, but they already have several olympic medals to their names over the course of their careers. but you know what? today's face off is set to make olympic history today in the bay's jessica gary. live for us in paris this morning. all right, so what competition are we talking about, jess? oh, god. you know which one we're talking about? this is going to be so good. this is the women's gymnastics. all around. i mean, individual all around for the ladies. all right. and this is going to be thrilling. two of the golden girls are going to be back at bercy arena tonight. and they're going to be facing off because they're going to be competing against each other. simone biles and suni lee, both of them have won gold medals in this event. and tonight they

compete against each other. biles, as you know, is the most decorated gymnast american gymnast in us history, she won the all around in rio back in 2016. she got the twisties in tokyo that forced her to drop out. that's when suni lee stepped up for team usa, winning gold in tokyo, becoming the first hmong american to win an olympic all around title. now, this olympics, both women competing under strenuous circumstances. we know we told you at the beginning that simone had that initial calf issue. that seems to be fine. suni, though, suffers from an incurable kidney disease. there is a very real possibility. so brace for this that they could actually take gold and silver for the u.s. and that hasn't happened since 2016, when simone got gold and team usa's aly raisman got silver. so this could be huge for team usa. all right, more women from team usa hoping to continue their domination in paris. the u.s.

women's basketball team plays against belgium in their quest for gold. now it is made up in part by chelsea gray, who lives in hayward and grew up in manteca. and of course, let's not forget that wnba superstar sabrina unesco grew up in walnut creek. that team made their presence known with the win against japan on monday. now, every morning i've been joining you guys here from paris in the mornings here. what you may not know is that the today show is right beneath me here and today. the folks from today who happen to be my new bffs invited me to join them on the set. yes, i got to sit on the today show sofa. i got that coveted seat. hoda, savannah, craig and al sharing a little bit of their insight. we chatted about how they divvy up all those great athlete interviews and hold a special connection with the women of team usa gymnastics, which she has been following for many years, especially her connection to simone. when you know what it

feels like, it's like you watch these little girls, which they were before, grow up and you know, and as you watch them, they get more confident. they just they they just become better every single year. so i think watching them from the stands, you want to hold their hand and i'm like, you got it, you got it. you got me and savannah. we're crushing each other's knuckles. seriously no, circulation didn't matter, but it was one of those things that i, we feel like proud parents kind of. it's like you get to watch your kids performing right in front of you on the biggest stage in the world. you really see it in simone's face from where she was in in you remember rio with her? she looked like a little girl, and now she's like a full grown woman. i mean, after tokyo two, you saw what she felt like when she was scared. we'd never seen simone. really scared. and now you see, i see her more confident than i ever saw her before. forget rio, like. and you will see that confidence on display tonight as the women schiff simone and suni lee compete in the individual all around. now, i have to tell

you. tell you, marcus and laura, i know that we've been having a good time here in the mornings and we've been vibing, but i got to say that hoda, savannah, as i like to call her now, the kris and al really loved hanging out with me, and they may be inviting me back. so i'm just putting that out there. what's not to love? loyalty. jessica loyalty. i'm going to think about it. i'm about it. i'll let you know. i've got my eyes on with you people. if they call, i may be tbd. okay, well, we still love you here. well, tonight, the men and women take to the water for butterfly and backstroke finals events and then catch a matchup between simone biles and suni lee in the women's gymnastics. all around final. and all of the action kicks off at 8:00 tonight right here on nbc. bay area competition is obviously underway. already in paris, meteorologist kari hall is

tracking how the weather has been shaping up in the city of light. they've had quite a bit of humidity. how are they looking today? it's still pretty humid out there. and where jessica is now, it is what, 213 in the afternoon now. so they're in the midst of some very warm and humid weather, but it will be slightly cooler for the weekend with our average high temperature there in paris in the upper 70s. we'll see that throughout the next couple of days with more cloud cover, but then getting a little bit warmer for the first part of next week with highs in the mid 80s, but not seeing any significant chances of thunderstorms there. so that's the great news. and the temperatures won't be in the 90s. now. we'll check out our 7-day forecast coming up in a few minutes. well coming up, driverless shuttle service expanding in contra costa county still ahead on today in the bay. the community that will now be able to use that service a tale of two silicon valley companies. nvidia doing very well and intel having a dickens of a time. and

as we head to break a look at the medal count, our coverage from paris continues all morning long right here on today in the bay

[ music playing ] as a professional athlete... get those knees up! ...the pressure of the game never leaves you. and back! go! go! go! go! again! again! again! [ radio announcer ] naomi girma may be facing her toughest challenge yet. kaiser permanente provides the tools to strengthen your mind and body... how's your hip feeling? nice and loose. ...for whatever challenge comes next. alright, lift up against my hand. for all that is me. for all that is you. kaiser permanente.

going on. the fed did as expected, held interest rates steady, but hinted at a rate cut. next month we get the big jobs number tomorrow. and then a

tale of two santa clara city chip companies right here. best of times. worst of times in that order. no. best of times, worst of times. intel reports its profits after the bell this afternoon. if it were intending to lay off employees, it would likely announce that this afternoon, after the closing bell, bloomberg among the organizations talking about the possibility intel in the bay area will lay off thousands. intel makes the primary processor in computers its stock down nearly 40% this year. meantime, shares in nvidia, a company just down the block from intel, rose 12% yesterday. variety of factors microsoft saying it would invest more in ai rumors washington may ease chip sales restrictions to china. nvidia jumped our scott budman, pointing out with the $330 billion single day jump in value, it was the biggest in history. many, if not most of

the nvidia employees who have been there five years or more are millionaires. the ai boom is the rocket fuel for nvidia and meta. the company we used to call facebook says it spent eight and a half dollars billion just in the last three months on ai and plans to spend $40 billion in the coming year. they are all in on ai now a few months ago they were all in on virtual reality. they even changed their name to meta for metaverse. whatever you call it, facebook makes so much money they can easily afford both projects. okay fascinating story on military.com says the army's advertising deal with dwayne the rock johnson to encourage kids to sign up for the army didn't work at all. the army has concluded paying the rock $1 million, a tweet did not lead to a single person signing up for the army. not only that, but the deal called for the rock to write five positive social media posts, and he only wrote two.

the report also concludes that a deal with the ufl that's a football league actually led to fewer recruits, like a negative number, though it doesn't explain why neither the league nor the rock marcus have responded to the findings. all right. thanks, scott. well, let's turn back to the paris coverage for you this morning. trending for you, stanford grad katie ledecky is making more history. winning her 12th olympic medal. it's going to back it up again here in paris. you see there ledecky slaying her signature event. this is the 15 free. her closest competition not even close. and a special moment caught on camera. take a look at this. yeah. right there that little girl right there just minutes later after winnin. young girl fanning out after ledecky just waved at her. you can see her. she's like. she waved at me. you can see her jumping up and down. look, i mean, she's in awe of that moment. oh, she's like, now i've got to sit down. that's how a

lot of people feel when they meet marcus washington. oh, yeah, that is. yeah. they're like, oh my god, isn't that? every morning we're like, oh, we walk in the news, we're like, oh yeah, don't look at me. i'm so crazy. they had to put me way over here. i know you got to close one day. yeah. these handlers kept me away. all right, let's move on to the weather. it's still feeling pretty nice out there. as we're getting started on this thursday morning. here's what to expect. over the next few days. we're going to see some more clouds coming in and slightly warmer for this afternoon, but we are getting some muggy air headed our way with the chance of some dry lightning. that's thunderstorms where the rain evaporates before it hits the ground. but we could still have some lightning strikes possible over the sierra, and the heat continues into the weekend. we're only seeing the heat in spots, so when you're in san jose, it's 85. it's comfortably warm, but it is uncomfortably warm in morgan hill, up to 93

today, 92 in concord and 95 in antioch. we'll see some mid 70s for oakland, so still pretty nice there and comfortable along the coastline in san francisco. looks really nice with some of our warmer temperatures only in the low 70s, but as you head through the north bay, it will be 89. in sonoma and 99 in ukiah. so we're going to see that surge of that tropical moisture once again moving in for the weekend. that could trigger some thunderstorms over the sierra. and as we go through the next few days, if you're going into the sierra or passing through, heads up that there could be some thunderstorms. but if it's anywhere across the region, it's of high concern because those thunderstorms could trigger some lightning strikes that could strike some dry vegetation and could mean new wildfires. so we'll be watching out for that as our highs head for the mid 90s. we'll see more of the same weather throughout much of next week. we're keeping it cool in san francisco with the fog and highs in the upper 60s. mike, you still have two major crash scenes. we do carry a slowing of

both of those scenes. those are the only things going on right now. but east westbound 80, the east shore freeway down to seven miles an hour at its worst point near university avenue. i think folks are getting off the freeway. there are a couple of frontage roads that will take you past the scene of the crash, just shy of ashby avenue. you're two right. lanes are still blocked, your three left lanes are open, but the distraction, the flares and the activity still goes on. no word on when they can clear that semi and the other sedan, but it will be possibly after 6:00. we're watching for that to be the case in walnut creek over at civic drive is an issue coming through city streets. 680 a better drive to the walnut creek interchange. back to you. thanks so much, mike. it is 522 keeping our communities clean. coming up next on today in the bay, the local events you can take part in to help tackle our climate in crisis. we'll be right. several

events happening focused on climate change and cleaning up our communities. if you're in san francisco tomorrow, there is a community cleanup in the inner richmond. volunteers will meet up at the taste buds coffee shop at 8:00 and head from there. and for the youth, the silicon valley youth climate action leadership summit is on saturday in cupertino high school. students, young professionals and industry leaders will be gathering to talk about climate solutions and strategies. you can register online and if you

need to shake off the sunday scaries on sunday at 10 a.m, manny's restaurant is also hosting a cleanup around the mission district in san francisco. for more ideas and stories on how climate change is impacting the bay area, what you can do about it, visit us on our website, nbcbayarea.com and click on the climate in crisis tab. laura. thank you kerry. well, happening today, the bay area's first driverless shuttle service is expanding. beep. a fleet of ai powered shuttles will now include a part of walnut creek, the senior community of rossmoor. the shuttles launched last year in san ramon's bishop's ranch. the new shuttles will start running later this morning and live at eight. in our streaming newscast, we'll talk with company leaders about the expansion. look forward to that. well next with top stories we're following today, including helping animals in need, the local animal shelter, stepping up to help those who are being forced from their homes because of ongoing park fire in butte county. a young woman is dead

after a horrible collision behind me in walnut creek. the reason why police believe alcohol was involved. sta

♪♪ whoa nelly! iphone 15 with tons of storage. i really want one! yo! you've won 14 times on the lpga tour! since when is one enough for you! that is true.. get your head out of the sand trap, switch to t-mobile and get four iphone 15's on them and four lines for just $25 a line. and you can save on every plan versus the other big guys. [glass shattering] swing big at t-mobile. get four iphone 15's on us. and four lines for $25 a line. fore!!! ♪♪ it's time to get away and cash in at cache creek casino resort. fore!!!

to rock and to roll. to go all out or go all in with four stars and rising stars. northern california's premier casino resort is the perfect place to do as much... or as little as you want. make your getaway now and cache in at cache creek casino resort. police at the scene of a deadly crash near walnut, downtown walnut creek. but first, here's savannah guthrie. hi, there. good morning. we're on the air

from here in paris with breaking news sources telling nbc news this morning of a multinational prisoner swap involving, among others, the u.s. russia and other countries. we are awaiting word on who is being swapped and where they are. this word just coming into our newsroom, i've got keir simmons with me here in paris. and of course, we don't know officially who has been released. the most high profile names that come to mind right now, being held in russia, the wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich and paul whelan, a former us marine who's been held a very long time in russia. this is word that there are multiple parties and that there's some kind of prisoner swap. that's right. i mean, there are a number of americans held in russia, and there has been talk about prisoner swaps over many months and even many years. and you remember that we saw that with brittney griner with a swap for a russian who was being held in the us, a viktor bout. so this is you're right, a very complex picture.

it is. it is happening right now. an administration official saying that we can report right now that that parties have agreed to a prisoner transfer and that they are now in a position where they're expected to soon be in us custody. now, is that evan gershkovich? he was held in march 2023. so he's been in prison now for more than a year. the wall street journal reporter and recently sentenced to a quite severe sentence. yes, he was. he was sentenced recently and that happened quite quickly. and that raised questions about exactly what the russians were doing and whether something like this was being prepared for. and then there is paul whelan. he's been in prison there, a lot longer since december 2018, and there were hopes when brittney griner was released that paul whelan might be released as well. he wasn't. could he be among those who are now heading towards a possible freedom? people very worried that he could be left behind again? nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. with us now. and, andrea, let's just be candid with our viewers. it's very, very delicate. we have word from a senior administration official

of this prisoner swap, but we don't yet know if these who officially who these prisoners are, whether they're in us custody, if they're safely in the hands of western officials yet. no. and in fact, we are we've been given a lot of information about this just to be totally honest. but we are not allowed to permit to report any of this until they are safely in american custody. and i think all of our viewers, every journalist, every human being with a heart in america would want to know that these people are in american custody, that anyone who has been in a russian prison and is being released, as has been reported, was in american custody. so until that happens, we cannot fully report and then we will have many, many details. what i did report on july 16th, the day of the sentencing, was that there was a key ingredient, a german prisoner. and once that prisoner could be released back to russia, he's an assassin. that that might open the way for

a lot more to happen. well, andrea, we have much to discuss in the coming hours, but the breaking news as we speak from a senior administration official at the white house, that there has been a prisoner swap involving russia, the us and other countries, whether the wall street journal, evan gershkovich or paul whelan are among those prisoners. we will continue to watch it and report back. this is savannah guthrie reporting from paris. of course, we'll take any additional special reports that may happen this morning. first back here local. want to say good morning to you and thanks. so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia and i'm marcus washington. let's get you started with that forecast this morning. meteorologist kari hall tracking what we can expect. i mean, look how beautiful it is out there. yeah we were just seeing a small little bit of it behind you, so i just wanted to show you it full screen. this is above the marine layer in the clouds that we're seeing settling over the bay area. as we go throughout today. the valleys will be a bit warmer tomorrow, partly cloudy and feeling more humid but ahead. not much change over the

next few days. so as you're heading out this morning, low 60s in dublin will reach back into the mid 80s. it will be very much like yesterday and that's what we'll see for all of our microclimates. kind of a repeat of yesterday, but a touch warmer in some inland valleys and mike what's the latest for the east shore freeway. well no change as far as chp information goes. we're talking about the two lanes that are still blocked. westbound 80. your commute direction now jams up just before golden gate fields. in fact, coming out of el cerrito and richmond and now really jams up toward about university. the speed sensors look like they're changing as you get closer to the scene of the crash. this deadly crash over here blocking your two right lanes at ashby avenue. this happened just after 330, and it's bogging down the east shore freeway. the other freeways in the area are moving well, pretty typical patterns for highway 37. and that build for highway four. my concern is that this crash on ignacio valley road will be affecting folks cutting through the area. for more on this crash, back over to you. all right. thank you mike. well, breaking news for you this morning out of the east bay, a young woman is dead.

this is after police say that she got behind the wheel drunk today in the bay's bob redell joining us live from the scene there in walnut creek. so, bob, have they explained what actually happened here? we've got a pretty good sense. unfortunately this is a horrific reminder of why you should not drink and drive. that is the remains of the car that the two people were in. we're here at ignacio valley road in walnut creek, which is shut down right now between civic and broadway. because of this accident behind me, in which an eight year old woman was killed. now, walnut creek police tell me that that around one this morning, this young woman was driving with a man, a passenger, also 18 years old, from pittsburgh, where they had been drinking. they were headed to the man's home in danville. she was going around 90mph, according to police, when she lost control, crossed the center divide and hit a power pole in the opposite direction of ignacio valley road. police say she was not wearing a

seatbelt, ejected and died here on the scene. she is still out here on the sidewalk waiting for the coroner to come remove her body. her passenger was wearing a seat belt. he did get out on his own, was taken to the hospital and has since told police that he and the driver had been drinking before they got into the car. so again, we're waiting for the coroner to arrive to remove the body. a pd expects this section of road to be shut down well into the afternoon, and i don't know if you can see in the dark, but there's a big power pole. you can see the lines going down as pg&e is going to need to come out here to fix that power pole. now, according to the pg&e outage map, there are 40 customers without power, but we're at a gas station and i can see traffic lights on. so the power does not seem to be affecting businesses in this area. this could be a main line that's affecting businesses down down the road. just don't know yet, reporting live here in walnut creek, bob redell today in the bay, as you said. a reminder there. do not drink and

drive and wear your seatbelt. all right, bob, thank you. 537 right now at a time, the university of california system is celebrating some record breaking admission numbers. the uc president is planning to step down today in the bay's kris sanchez joins us now with the look at the impact this will have. kris. well, the five years that the uc president serve have to be among the most difficult in recent history. doctor michael drake took over the uc system in july of 2020, toward the end of his 50 year career in education. he is stanford and ucsf educated, a physician and a professor, and the first black person to ever serve as uc president. doctor drake led the university of california's 300,000 students on ten campuses through the pandemic, remote learning, social unrest, labor strikes, and most recently, those prolonged protests against the war in gaza. he is also credited with negotiating a funding deal with the state to

provide more stability to the system, and he began the work toward greater tuition stability and debt free education in the years to come. now in a statement, doctor drake said, at every turn i have sought to listen to those i serve to uphold our shared uc values and to do all i could to leave this institution in better shape than it was before. he continues. i am proud to see the university continuing to make a positive impact on the lives of countless californians through research, teaching and public service. now, another of doctor drake's successes that he had part of the university of california enrolled the most diverse class in its 150 year history, 70% of first year california students were admitted. community college admits are almost up 8%. 45% of new students are from underrepresented groups, and 40% are from low income families. so adding to the diversity of the

university of california system. so doctor drake will not step down until next year. in the meantime, the uc board of regents will appoint a committee of students, faculty and staff to conduct a national search for the next president. laura, we'll see where it goes from there. thank you very much, chris. in butte county, the park fire is raging near chico, exploding in size. it is now burning across four counties. it ignited in chico and butte county. it has since spread to tehama, plumas and shasta counties. it's gotten so big, burning more than 391,000 acres. it's still only 18% contained. for some perspective, that is an area larger than the size of los angeles. hundreds of structures have already been destroyed. it's not just humans evacuating, it's animals as well. an east bay shelter is trying to help with those efforts. a shelter in chico requested help to move to make space for other animals sure to come in as the fire

continues to scorch more land. berkeley humane answered that call, returning from picking up 25 cats and ten dogs tuesday night, even as the shelter faces its own challenges. in addition to the park fire animals, we have 90 cats and kittens, so we were already at capacity, but we knew we had to respond to help them. about half of the animals had gone to foster homes, but it's forever homes that these animals will now need, the shelter says. check its website in the next couple of weeks. it will certainly get populated with the new park fire additions. that's a beauty. just had that conversation yesterday about adoption, but i'm still not ready. all right, 540 for you this morning. but i am ready for this funnel cake. anyone? of course you are. you don't have to ask me twice. well, look, if you're like me and you love those funnel cakes and all the fair food, sonoma county is the place to be. because sonoma county fair kicks off today, beginning 11 days of fun over at

the fairgrounds in santa rosa. it gets underway at noon and it will have all the fair food favorites. if you love those corn dogs, corn on the cob, the carnaval rides, well look, that will be the place to go. but you know what? you're probably wondering. okay, weather wise, when should i get there? meteorologist kari hall, of course, monitoring that. so, you know, it has been warmer. the last few days. so how should people prepare heading out that way? it will be warm and all. we. we just showed food. there are no rides. there's no carnaval rides there too. but there's like other stuff happening there, right? so as you're going on throughout the next several days, it will be warm during the middle of the afternoon, but it warms up and cools down nicely. so there will be a wide range in temperatures throughout the day. and in san jose there will be the italian family festival at history park. now, this is going to be one event that draws a lot of celebrities and mayors. it will be grape stomping this weekend and on saturday it will be in the upper 80s a little bit cooler for sunday, but overall a really nice weekend and i love this event. this is the world

dog surfing championship happening on saturday in pacifica and there. it's going to be cool, foggy, misting and drizzling temperatures in the upper 50s. so be prepared for the cool weather. mike, you're predicting a lighter backup at the bay bridge toll plaza? yeah, which is great for some folks, but it's not because of a great reason. we're looking over here and it is a little bit lighter. the bay bridge, though, typically doesn't show the backup for another 5 to 10 minutes on a thursday coming out of the summer months. over here, the east shore freeway is one reason why we'll see lighter traffic. look at the backup here out of el cerrito. really jammed up past golden gate fields all the way to university, where some folks are getting off the freeway. san pablo avenue is your alternate. two lanes are still blocked. your two right lanes. since just after 330 this morning, a deadly crash on scene. same thing for big rig. they need a larger tow truck and they need the coroner to complete the report. so those two lanes are right now remaining closed until we get further notice. we have a smoother drive outside of that one stretch of the east shore

freeway. another concern is here. westbound highway four holding steady with a pretty light volume. and that's good news. but as folks get through the morning, they're going to hit ignacio valley road, a major connector down in toward the walnut creek interchange. and as its civic center, that's at civic drive. as we've talked about, that deadly crash, some wires down, this will continue all morning. so avoid yvr at civic drive through walnut creek, rest of the bay moving well back to you ahead on today in the bay. donald trump shocking. more than just an auditorium with what he said about vice president harris and a live look at the olympic cauldron. so many fans are flocking to the city of light to watch the games. and don't worry if you couldn't make it to all the way to paris because you know what? you can still be a part of all the action. you can cheer on team usa at an olympic watch party in san ramon today. it's over at the lot at city center bishop ranch from 8:00

until 1030. tonight. there will be games, prizes, and of course, big screen televisions. keep it right here on today in the bay. because we've got a lot when we're young, we're told anything is possible... ...but only a few of us go out and prove it.

witness the greatness of anna hall on a connection worthy of gold: xfinity mobile. only xfinity gives you the most powerful mobile wifi network, with speeds up to a gig in millions of locations. and right now, xfinity internet customers can buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity. [ music playing ] as a professional athlete... get those knees up! ...the pressure of the game never leaves you. and back! go! go! go! go! again! again! again! [ radio announcer ] naomi girma may be facing her toughest challenge yet. kaiser permanente provides the tools to strengthen your mind and body... how's your hip feeling? nice and loose. ...for whatever challenge comes next. alright, lift up against my hand. for all that is me. for all that is you. kaiser permanente.

after donald trump questioned kamala harris race scott mcgrew trump spoke to a group of black journalists wednesday and questioned whether the vice

president was black. yeah, definitely big questions from all sides on this. it was a shocker to watch. let's take a look at what trump said. i've known her a long time. indirectly, not directly, very much. and she was always of indian heritage. and she was only promoting indian heritage. i didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black. so i don't know, is she indian or is she black? now the vice president is of course, both born to an indian mother and a black father. like obama was born to a white mother and a black father, or j.d. vance's children were born to an indian-american mother and a white father. harris's father, a professor emeritus at stanford, is from jamaica. vice president harris has written many times about her black heritage, though, as the white house press secretary points out, nobody needs me or anyone else to

explain or defend their own race. your heritage is for you to describe and celebrate. no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. that is no one's right. it is someone's own decisions. it is. i'll add this. only she can speak to her experience. only she can speak to what it's like. of course, this is not trump's first time questioning someone's background. he constantly karma born in hawaii, was not an american, and we've seen some of his supporters claim that if harris, who was born in oakland, hears the vice president, this afternoon. donald trump spoke at the annual meeting of the national association of black journalists, and it was the same old show. the divisiveness and

the disrespect. and let me just say, the american people deserve better. the american people deserve better. thousands of democratic delegates will vote today virtually to nominate harris for the presidency. voting starts at 6 a.m. our time ends at three now because it's an internal party vote. we won't have much insight into the process, but it's safe to say harris will win as she is the only candidate and will by this afternoon be nominated as the first black woman and the first indian american woman to represent a major party in the race for president. marcus. all right, scott, thank you. well, let's take a live look this morning over at the eiffel tower in paris as team usa, of course, has been showing off all of the skills there during the olympic games. going for gold, of course. now we want to test the skills of our very own today in the bay team. yes, with some

olympic trivia. our digital correspondent diana san juan has questions for us. let's all take a listen. the question today is when did men's soccer debut in the olympics? was it a london 19 08b paris 1900. c saint louis 1904 or d berlin 1936. all right team. so if you missed that question again, when did men's soccer debut at the olympics? a london 19 08b paris 1900. c saint louis, 19 04d berlin 1936 laura, you go first. oh, i'm going to go with. berlin 1936. okay. kari london, 1908. yeah, i almost went with that. mike tru. an okay. marcus i the only

reason i don't know, because i'm looking at the prompter. i was thinking i was thinking, no, it's not, it's not okay. i was thinking, okay, when was soccer. when did they even start soccer? i don't even know, say, london. but the only reason i'm going to say paris is because the games are in paris, so that makes sense. it's kind of like when you're taking, you know, standardized test, right? yes i don't know. so okay, so let's reveal the answer. the correct answer is men's soccer debuted at the 1900 olympics in paris. hey. all right, well done, marcus, but trust me, i had no other reason than the games in paris this year. guesser. all right. it's like mark, see what? hey, this is kind of cool, guys, if you want to a chance to actually win some olympic merchandise. why not go out and get the treat of meeting mike inouye hosting some olympic trivia at the 40th annual fremont festival of the arts this saturday. how cool. mike's going to be there saturday from 12 to 3, and he'll be choosing a contestant per round. and if

they answer three out of five olympic questions correctly, they can win a really cool olympic swag package. yeah, i guess we can't play because we know you, right? that's just true. i don't know, we didn't fare very well, so i don't actually have the swag with me either. so there's no use coming in being nice to me today and i don't actually know the answers as proven in the segment prior. that'll be fun. and you know, it's kind of the season of festivals. yeah yeah. fremont's got the biggest festival of its type outside festival west of the mississippi. so big time, big time. all right, well, we have some great weather. it's been a little bit warm during the middle of the afternoon as we take a live look outside in walnut creek. our air quality is of big concern as we go into the next few days. an air quality advisory in effect and with the weather setup that we have with the high pressure, it basically acts as a cap or a lid over the bay area keeping the smoke from mixing out. so we get the air that's sinking with high pressure, exerting a high amount

of pressure on the surface, and it also will trap any smoke and pollutants that we have as it sinks down in that cold air. also keeps it right over the bay area and especially in some of the valleys and near the surface. we'll have to deal with that smoke as we go into the next couple of days. in fact, as we take a look at our current air quality, we are going to continue to see the moderate air quality over the next couple of days. most likely with this setup and the hotter temperatures coming in. so if you are sensitive to smoke all the pollutants, you do want to limit your time outside. and when you do go out, wear a mask. and our temperatures will be heating up as well. as we've been seeing our highs headed for the low 90s in some spots, we'll reach 93 in morgan hill today, 85 in cupertino and in san jose. some of the hotter temperatures farther inland up to 95. in antioch, while oakland will see a high of 75 degrees. we are still nice and cool along the coast and parts of the peninsula

comfortably warm today, a high of 71 expected in downtown san francisco and parts of the north bay in the upper 80s and some 90s farther north, with ukiah today headed back to the upper 90s. and then we add in a surge of humidity. this mid level moisture will come in from the remnants of a tropical system moving into the bay area starting tomorrow with more clouds, but we'll be watching the sierra for the possibility of thunderstorms, mostly off towards the east, but of always high concern because of the lightning danger that may cause new wildfires. but our temperatures remain steady, warming up for the valleys while still staying nice and cool along the coast. as the fog lingers a lot longer in san francisco and mike, it sounds like you've got an update for the east shore freeway. we do. as the commute builds. westbound 80, the crash now only blocking one lane. a deadly crash tragedy overnight just after 330 in the morning. they still have to remove the big rig that was involved in that crash. the

sedan. i believe, has been cleared, so only one lane is now blocked for are open. but the backup the big slowing starts out of el cerrito through berkeley. it's jammed up to university. after you pass ashby, everything's clear. getting toward the bay bridge, where the backup really hasn't reached the toll plaza. i was wondering if more folks headed toward the richmond bridge to get across to avoid the backup. right now looks pretty standard. we'll continue to follow that, but there the rest of the bay showing a pretty smooth drive, which includes right here, north 101 through san jose. that first slowing, we see back to you. thanks, mike. happening now new federal protections for transgender students. take effect today, but judges have temporarily blocked their enforcement in 21 states, along with hundreds of colleges and schools nationwide. now, the new regulations also add protections for students who are parents or excuse me, students who are pregnant or who are parents already. it also lays out how schools must respond to complaints of sexual misconduct. ahead at 6:00 breaking news in a frightening crash overnight in the east bay, police say alcohol

was involved. we'll have the latest on the investigation and what may be a rough commute for some commuters. but on a lighter note, day six of the olympics already in full swing in paris. or should we say paris? just ahead, we'll carry with a bay area olympian fencing for gold at this hour. 556 you're watching today in the bay

you won't believe this but... wendy's has new saucy nuggs. buffalo. honey bbq. garlic parm. ghost pepper. sauce. and if wendy's found a way to make their nuggs even better... that means... anything is saucibllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! okay, not really. but wendy's nuggs are definitely now saucible. for a whole new way to nugg...gotta be wendy's. open 'til midnight or later.

walnut creek. we're live there at the scene with all the new details on what led up to the tragedy and that lengthy cleanup that may impact your morning commute. pushing back against