for americans freed from russian custody. we're going to take you inside the months long negotiations with russia, making streets safer, using artificial intelligence. the all new high tech action being taken in one

city and the people it'll likely protect the most. bringing home the gold and bringing down the house in paris. suni lee taking bronze. it's all absolutely incredible. i mean, to just be back out here is such an amazing accomplishment. so to have this medal around my neck means so much to me. we're taking you to paris this morning with our new one on one interview. fresh off of her performance. this is today in the bay. and what, a year ago, people didn't even know if she would make it to the olympics, but with their health scare. yeah amazing. look at that. inspirational that it is. and we're here to inspire you as well. good morning to you on this friday, whatever we can do. but nothing like that. yeah i was tired this morning and i got

up. we'll see what we can conjure up. and now with the splits, here's kari hall. oh, i can maybe do a cartwheel, but like, it's been so long, i don't know. right but we do have some great weather. if you want to try that out today, take a look at our view from up above the clouds. looking from our sutro tower camera. as the marine layer settles over san francisco. above that we have some high clouds and some tropical moisture coming in, and that's giving us a beautiful, colorful sky above the clouds so we can't see it. but it will be partly cloudy today, some more moisture coming in and the warm temperatures stick around throughout the weekend, at least for the valleys. not so much for san francisco, and there won't be a change ahead. so as we take a look at our high temperatures for the inland areas versus what's average for this date, we are going to have some above average temperatures with 90s in santa rosa and concord livermore in the low 90s, while san jose will reach a high of 86. and we'll talk about the weekend

coming up. mike, you're looking at friday light. that's right. so, you know, i guess friday standard because we often mostly see it's well here it is. bay bridge toll plaza. no backup, no slowing on the approach berkeley curves great. even through richmond where monday through thursday we typically see some slowing right around golden gate field. not today. just that first start we saw holding steady highway 37 out of vallejo. and the slowing we saw over the last half hour in concord has actually cleared. we'll see another burst of traffic kick in over the next half hour. we have a couple of incidents and then they may be the same one on nimitz as you're traveling south of highway 92. we'll get more details from chp shortly. the south bay, the first slowing cleared up. there you go. back to you. thank you very much, mike. well, breaking news we're following this morning. three released prisoners. now back on american soil after a landmark swap with russia. new video, in fact, of their arrival early this morning in texas. that is where they'll all receive a medical checkup. those freed prisoners include wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich, who was

convicted of spying in russia. but he's denied those claims. the trio first arrived back in the u.s. late last night at joint base andrews in maryland. president joe biden and vice president kamala harris greeted them as did family members. they were also greeted with cheers. former marine paul whelan was imprisoned for six years. he says he couldn't be happier to be home. we flew over ireland, then canada and into america and then i knew i was home. so getting off the plane, seeing the president, the vice president, that was nice. it was a good homecoming. before meeting the president and family members in person, they spoke with them over the phone. gershkovich and whelan were part of a swap involving the release of 16 people previously detained in russia. russia received eight prisoners being held in the u.s, germany, norway, slovenia and poland. our scott mcgrew, in fact, just talked to paul

beckett. he is one of the top editors at the journal and worked closely with the freed evan gershkovich. he tells us how important it was to keep evans name fresh in people's mind, just to try to get him home. well, we knew we wanted to create a landscape where successful negotiations could happen and we knew to do that, we had to keep evan prominent. but we're a big news organization, but we're not big enough. so it was really because so many people in the bay area at nbc, so many places around the country, rose up for evan and spoke for him when he was silenced. we're incredibly grateful for that support. just amazing. beckett also says gershkovich never did any spying, but was merely doing his job as a reporter. he thanked president biden and the government for bringing him home safely. scott is tracking the very latest. we'll check in with him. he'll bring us more at 630 this morning. 605 right now, and we are moving you forward this morning with the first look at the future of artificial

intelligence. san jose mayor wants to use ai. this is to improve safety on city streets. he's already secured some financing for the project today in the bay's kris sanchez. live for us this morning in san jose. and chris, talk to us about what this could mean for the future. so i think the first people who are going to notice any difference will be the people who use the extensive network of bike lanes here in the city of san jose. we are talking about the cyclists and the pedestrians. so the idea is to use ai to help detect anything that could be a hazard in those bike lanes, things like illegal parking or illegal dumping that could interfere with people who are on those two wheels or on foot with a camera and sensors, the city can quickly identify the problem and notify police so that it can be removed. that's a short term solution. but as san jose state engineering professor told us that this ai technology could eventually help with long term solutions as well, over

time you're going to start collecting more information about the behavior of the streets. so you're going to make a better decision about city planning. now, in a statement, mayor matt mahan said leveraging ai to keep our bike lanes clear, not only enhances public safety, but also exemplifies san jose's commitment to innovative solutions. now, you mentioned the funding there, marcus. the city has secured a $260,000 grant from the toyota mobility foundation to try this out. they will also be working with a nonprofit to deploy it in san jose. kris sanchez today in the bay. all right, chris, thank you. 606 right now, millions of americans no doubt glued to their tv screens for last night's olympic gymnastics all around finals. we have a live look from paris, the eiffel tower, simone biles and suni lee both making history in paris. for lee, it is definitely a moment where she bounced back to

take the bronze today in the bay's jessica aguirre just moments ago, when one on one with lee just fresh off of her big win and spoke with her about the journey to score that big team win with the usa. now if this isn't thrilling, look what i have. one of the golden girls with me right now. american gymnast suni lee. and this is so exciting to talk to you. not one medal, but two gold and bronze. it's so exciting. but i have to to say you, how meaningful is that bronze medal? because of what you've been through? i mean, the team is great, but you did that all on your own completely. well, it's just been incredible. honestly, i mean, i just got the okay to start training in january again, so it's only really been six months. so to say that i've gotten here with little with little training, is absolutely insane. and i was thinking about it like a year ago today. i probably would have been laying in a hospital bed just praying to be better. at the time. but

here we are, and here i am with my bronze medal. i'm so happy i couldn't be happier or prouder of myself because i did all the work that it took to take to get here, and that's exactly what i did. i saw you at the trials in san jose exactly a year ago, in 2023 and august, and you weren't doing all of the routines. you were doing a couple and had just become public that you had this kidney disease. and how hard was that for you to get out there knowing that that wasn't the level that you could do, and now you're back to it, it was really difficult for me just because there were times where i couldn't even look at myself in the mirror, just because of how different i looked. so it was hard to know that people on social media, or even on tv watching, would look at me and be like, oh, wow. like she looks different or like she gained some weight. like i got so many of those comments. so it's just like hard to have gone through that. but i'm so happy that i made it past that because it made me stronger at the end of the day and that's such an

inspiration to other young women who may not be olympians, but they face the same troubles every day of feeling that maybe they're not good enough at what they're doing. so you're just such an inspiration in that moment, so let's i want to talk to you a little bit about representing the hmong community, huge hmong community here in france. they were all out celebrating for you. my cameraman, mikey, is hmong as well, you are such an inspiration to that community. how meaningful was it for you? i know your dad was there for you to have that kind of support here. it means a lot. i know that my family has done everything possible to support me all along the way, so the community has brought so much positive energy, and it's just nice to know that i can always fall back on them, because they will always love me, no matter what. so i am grateful to be in the opportunity to be able to inspire others in the community. and i have to say, i think the thing that was so dramatic yesterday was, yeah, you were spectacular and everything you did, but you know what? you really look like you were actually having a really good time. yes, i was having the time

of my life. i mean, it was probably one of the most stressful meets that i've ever been a part of. just because i was double stressed, i was stressed for myself. stress for simone, obviously i want her to do good at the end of the day too, and we were the only two out there. so having her to kind of lean on and help me through everything, was amazing. you guys look like you have such a sisterhood out there. yeah, i mean, we've all created such an amazing bond. we went through. now two olympics together, so it's just even better this time around. and i think we are so much more mature too. so we know how to take it all in and just really enjoying the moments. because last time i feel like we were a little bit we were younger, we were naive, so we didn't really take it all in. and also like the olympics were different. so i came out of that thinking that's how the olympics were. but here i am. and that's not how the olympics work. so. and you're phenomenal. thank you so much for spending time with us. we really you guys. right. t this. yeah that's pretty cool

indeed. isn't that great? i love to hear the sisterhood and everything. oh, yeah. just like the support. and you see it too among them. how they keep cheering each other on and it's just it was really inspirational. i'm going to be honest. when they won the team medal, i kind of got teary eyed. did you i did, i'm surprised though. it's an emotional. yeah. it is. i mean, the hard work that they've been through and you know, what happened to simone last games. and then suni, we're dealing with her health issues and to see like what they've been able to do. and she did it. it's amazing okay. so there's more to come. you need to race to prime time coverage tonight. track and field events are kicking off including sha'carri richardson stepping on the track for the first time in paris. this, of course, follows that disqualification that she got from the tokyo olympics after testing positive for marijuana. but then tune in to see regan smith compete in the 200 meter backstroke finals. it's all kicking off at 8:00 tonight, right here on nbc bay area. the place to watch meteorologist kari hall is actually tracking the weather, how it's been shaping up in paris for the next

week of competition. we are looking forward to some beautiful weather in paris as we watch the olympics, and it's going to be nice to see sunshine and nice mild temperatures. highs reaching into the low 80s. no worries about any thunderstorms and it also will be very comfortable going into the weekend with upper 70s there and a few more clouds overhead, giving the athletes some shade that will be working outside. and we're going to see temperatures heating up next week. and you may hear them talking a little bit more about how it feels a bit uncomfortable, especially with the humidity as temperatures reach into the mid 80s. but then it will eventually start to come back to those normal high temperatures by the middle of next week. we'll be watching all of this, and i'll have a look at our microclimate forecast coming up. looking forward to it. kari. well, an a's logo painted over and you won't believe who's behind it. coming up next on today in the bay where it happened and the celebrity taking credit for it and the silicon silicon valley

connection to that prisoner swap we witnessed yesterday. let's go out to the futures this morning. we got really bad news about jobs. i'll have that for you as well. plus, surf's up for man's best friend. we're actually getting you stoked for this weekend's dog surfing competition. yeah, you heard me right, dog surfing competition. get ready to hang ten. because when we come back, it's on

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abysmal. this is sunpower. it's told california government, it's cutting hundreds of jobs, warned investors. there's substantial risk of it keeping going that that over there is big lots. it tells the san francisco business times it's closing all its stores except the in the bay area, except the one on hillsdale in san jose, just got the july jobs report. it's poor. just 114,000 jobs added in the month. the unemployment rate rises to 4.3%. now, these interest rate hikes that the fed had been making are working. they're slowing the economy down. that all but assures they'll lower the rates in september, intel did as expected and announced thousands of cuts as it reported its quarterly numbers yesterday. huge hit as many as 15,000 people, though the company says it thinks it

can get to that number through voluntary exits and retirements. intel recently the recipient of that multibillion dollar chips act money like 8 billion money for factories, though not for people. intel ceo says this is painful news for me to share. i know it will be even more difficult for you to read. this is incredibly hard day for inte. well, there's a silicon valley connection to that prisoner exchange arranged between biden and putin. the russians are getting a hacker back. a hacker that broke into computers containing financial information about silicon valley companies like tesla. the feds put vladislav kadushin behind bars, sentenced to nine years, found guilty of using information from quarterly reports from tesla and roku and microsoft to buy and sell stocks. before that information was public justice department says he made millions and finally, this week on our podcast, sand hill road, we talked to rob smith, who started

his first company not in silicon valley but in his family's home of beirut. he says, you think californians are entrepreneurial? watch out for the japanese. we have this entrepreneurial spirit. i saw my dad do it myself, so i watched my dad go from taxi driver all the way up to ceo of a major glass corporation. he worked his butt off to do that. and we do have that spirit. you can listen to silicon valley, sand hill road on anywhere you get your podcasts, listen to it on your way to work, and get to know the people who write the checks better. thanks. know the people that have the people that write checks for them? well, that's probably a good point. who named you on the check again? all right. 618 for you, this morning and new for you. looks like green day front man and east bay native billie joe armstrong is taking the ai's move pretty hard. oh, yeah. it's quickly becoming a big fan of the alternative team. last night, green day played toronto's

rogers center. this is where the blue jays play. armstrong posted this video appearing to show him using spray paint to turn the a's logo into b's logo for the ballers. of course, in the past, armstrong has been seen at the ballers game and he actually attended a reverse boycott event held by jilted a's fans. okay, so are you ready to see dogs riding on surfboards? funny, that was on my list of things to do this weekend. here you go. here you have it. the annual world dog surfing championships will take place at linda maher beach in pacifica, the world's best dog surfers will compete with others to see who is the top dog. there will also be other activities such as dog beach, fashion contest, and they're going to have adoption services as well. for one of the competitors, rip and rosie. this will be her third year competin. her owner, steve josh harder, says the event is always fun and

as a surfer, he always wanted a dog that he could actually take out on the water. rosie and i started stand up paddle boarding on a lake, and we got back to santa cruz and went out and caught some really small waves, and she was about eight months old and we just started surfing from there. i always wondered how it started, but i guess so that makes sense. stand up paddle board there. good luck to rosie the winner will receive the golden surf award. the surf competition starts at 9:00 tomorrow morning. that's cool and cute. pretty fun right? it looks like it. my dog will not go near the water because. oh, really? our daughter brought him into the pool one time and he's like, not again guys. well, that's good. fool me once. shame on you. that's all it takes. okay, cool enough to dip in the pool? absolutely. i mean, the hot enough there, it's going to be very cool. as we check out the forecast in pacifica for tomorrow. it's starting out foggy and in the upper 50s, and it will eventually start to clear up just a little bit with

some peeks of sunshine as we head toward the low 60s. but great but cool weather there along the coastline. now it's a different story for the valleys because we have such a wide range in temperatures across the bay area, we'll reach into the low 90s for morgan hill and gilroy. so yes, you want to find a pool or somewhere cool to go. we'll also see a lot of 90s in the tri-valley, as well as the delta, much of the east bay. walnut creek today 92 degrees and upper 70s for oakland. now we're going to continue to see temperatures like this ranging from mid 60s along the coast to low 80s for redwood city and palo alto, san francisco in the mid to upper 60s. and then we'll see our highs in the north bay up to 100, in clear lake napa. also very warm 92 for this afternoon. we're also getting a surge of tropical moisture coming in as that high pressure with its clockwise wind flow just basically pumps it into the bay area with the weakening tropical system. but that's going to ease up throughout the

weekend. then the high pressure will be moving off towards the east and kind of easing up on the heat that we'll see here eventually. that's toward the end of the forecast, but it's going to be slow to move and feeling a little bit more humid today with highs in the low 90s, more clouds overhead, mid 90s tomorrow and then eventually clearing up on sunday. next week. we'll see more 90s in the forecast as we settle into that pattern. but san francisco is keeping it cool and foggy with highs in the upper 60s. and mike, you're seeing that fog at the golden gate bridge. yeah, this is what kerry is talking about. cool and foggy and not a problem for drivers folks along the span doing all right. and there most of these folks drive travel through this area many days of the year. so we're watching that farther north, the sonoma county watch out. there's denser fog up there. chp warns about the situation. just advising actually not warning over here. highway 37 an easy drive. it's maintained about the same speed ever since the slowing started. oh, maybe a little more slowing once again coming into concord, a light commute right now. we had

slowing as they did traffic break this crash south 880 at alvarado. niles is cleared. so is anywhere south of here. back to you. thanks, mike. well next here on today in the bay nbc bay area responds. the state just outlawed hidden fees on things like concert tickets, but we still found them. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. we'll show you where and how you have new power to hold companies accountable. next

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hidden fees gone for good? consumer investigator chris chmura set to find out. good morning. a new state law just kicked in july 1st. it requires businesses to disclose your full price up front. there's no reason for hidden fees other than to lure in potential customers with prices that are simply not true. so our businesses following the law, we just spot checked a notorious hidden fee hideout concert and sports tickets. we checked more than 25 bay area venues, events and shows. you can watch our full story on our website right now. head to nbcbayarea.com. slash responds, and if you spot hidden fees, you can let us know! scan the qr code on screen right now to fill out our consumer complaint form online. have a great weekend. you too chris. we've got a lot more ahead at 630, including that landmark prisoner swap bringing

three americans home from russia. this morning, the three are talking for the first time since touching down on u.s. soil. our scott mcgrew, tracking the very latest. plus a new strategy in san francisco in response to the homeless crisis. up ahead. we'll tell you the first option that will be offered to the in house. and it tops city services and shelter. and later get ready for some smash tacular action. we're talking about the return of monster jam. bob redell gives us a look at the weekend fun coming to the east bay. we'll be right back

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wrongly detained in russia are home in the largest prisoner swap since the cold war. we'll hear from those americans, as well as one wall street journal editor and close coworker of the freed, evan gershkovich, with inside details on his release. san francisco employees surprising new tactics and the response to his homeless crisis. the instant controversy is generating among advocates and cheering on team usa. from men's soccer to track and field. plus the one and only suni lee. we're

live in paris previewing the busy weekend on tap for the olympics. this is today in the bay it has been so much fun to watch. more to come as well. good friday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia and i'm marcus washington. let's get you caught up with that gold forecast for you. meteorologist kari hall of course. been monitoring that. oh my gosh, that that's gold right there. absolutely. i mean, this is beautiful. and i'm picking this shot not only because it looks amazing but also it shows you what's happening above the marine layer above san francisco. so we see the low clouds and fog, but up above that we are getting some tropical moisture coming in those high clouds. and once the low clouds clear out, that's what we'll see today. partly cloudy as we go into this afternoon. in fact, clouds will be increasing today. and then for the weekend, these warm temperatures in the inland valleys will stick around ahead. there won't be a much of a change in our pattern. so as

you're stepping out the door in oakland, you're heading to work. it's going to be mostly cloudy temperatures in the upper 50s. we'll start to see some peeks of sun throughout today, but there will also be some clouds in the mix as our temperatures range from 60s near the coast to 100 farther north. so we'll be tracking those weekend temperatures coming up in a few minutes. thank you very much, kari. well, breaking news right now. a bombshell announcement from chevron as the governor of texas tweeted, the company is moving its headquarters out of the bay area to houston. chevron actually made the announcement early this morning ahead of its earnings call. but the company has been based in san ramon ever since 2001. before that, it was based in san francisco. it previously said it would move some of its workers to houston, but keep its headquarters in the bay area. in a news release, chevron says about 2000 workers remain in the bay area. it has about 7000 workers in houston. now to the latest on the american prisoners safely back

in america. scott mcgrew joins us now. we're learning more about the months long diplomatic work that really resulted in this prisoner swap that freed three americans. that's right. for instance, the russians wanted a prisoner freed from germany and assassin germany initially said no, but the chancellor there, according to nbc's reporting, finally relented, telling president biden, i will do this for you, mr. president. i'll tell you what, i'm not as good as your families are, phelan avenue they're all standing around the oval office desk here, and we just want to say how overwhelmed we are. the president talking to the freed hostages you saw there the family of evan gershkovich, the wall street journal reporter wrongfully detained. gershkovich was caught gathering information about russian military factories, and the russians accused him of spying. but of course, reporters gather information. it's what they do. more importantly, american intelligence agencies do not use journalists as cover. i talked earlier this morning with one of evan's bosses, deputy wall

street journal editor paul beckett. correct. and evan is not a spy. i mean, he's a reporter for the wall street journal, period. and a great credit to secretary blinken and president biden, national security advisor jake sullivan, presidential envoy roger carstens, they knew that from the get go. they really championed his cause and were incredibly grateful. and so happy that many others came out with evan and families were reunited. so we just have hearts full of gratitude. the fact that they charged them with anything was absurd, and i think you saw it play out over 16 months. how false and ridiculous those charges were. paul confirmed to us that evan's last action in russia before leaving the safety of america was to ask to interview vladimir putin. and then, during the prisoner swap, wanted to interview the prisoner released by germany as they traded planes in turkey. but the timing wasn't right. now, if someone could interview putin,

one of the top questions would be if he considered the american political situation. we are close to the election. donald trump had promised putin would release the prisoners for him and nobody else. and while the most important thing is that the prisoners are free, there are political ramifications to this president. vice president harris rather right there with the president and the happy american families as they celebrated their freedom and the hard work of the american government and our allies. here's the national security adviser, jake sullivan. we had to put pieces into place one by one. we were asking countries like poland and norway and slovenia and germany to provide russians for the exchange. and the president, one by one, worked through those, got the agreements and then finally, on july 21st, a couple of sundays ago, he spoke with the slovenian prime minister, and that was the final piece falling into place. at that point, we had a good sense this deal would happen, but we couldn't be sure until the

exchange actually occurred on the tarmac in turkey yesterday. now something else we've learned. this deal was so long in the works. it originally involved alexei navalny. the united states have been working to free him from a russian gulag. but of course, he died under mysterious circumstances. marcus last february. wow. all right. thanks, scott. 636 for you right now. and there is a surprising new strategy emerging in san francisco. this is in response to the homeless crisis. this option apparently tops other alternatives like shelter and housing. today in the bay's ginger conejero saab live for us in san francisco this morning. so, ginger, talk to us about what the mayor is doing. i know she's issued this new order based on some new information gathered. that's right. marcus good morning. data shows that 40% of the city's unhoused say that they came from a different county, or even a different state. now, that's up from 28% back in 2019, which leads mayor breed to issue this new

directive. and says the first option that will be offered to unhoused will be bus tickets to take them home if they accept. now, the new executive order came down thursday, which was yesterday from the mayor's office. and it comes amid a crackdown on homeless encampments after the grants pass, supreme court ruling allows city officials to enforce anti-camping laws. but before enforcement or even offering city services, the first thing city workers who interact with unhoused are supposed to ask is if they'd like a ticket home. then workers will ask if they need medical services, or if they want to accept offers of shelter or supportive housing. now, san francisco police chief bill scott has also recently issued a new directive. officers can now resume enforcement of the city's public nuisance, street obstruction and sit lie laws, even if other departments are not part of the operation. officers were barred from enforcing those laws before that supreme court decision came

down. now, his directive included that officers may enforce laws without first assuring that the city has made offers of available shelter. we were at a city clearing and cleaning operation the other morning, and now we're also seeing a bit of the importance of that clean cleaning in a story that you will find only on nbc bay area san francisco. man spoke to our gia vang about how he watched helplessly as aggressive coyotes blame is tray homeless encampments. that is what the man is being told. that's what he's learning from a wildlife ecologist with the presidio land trust, who helps manage the site alongside the national park service and the golden gate national park conservancy. so she just thinks that with the quantity of food that's available to them, they're just going to keep their ground and establish dominance, dominance over this area. now, the man did file a report with parks police. nbc bay area has also reached out to parks

police, as well as the conservancy and the national parks office. parks service, i should say, but have not heard back. we'll continue to update that story as well as continue our coverage on the push to clear homeless encampments here in the city. you can find that on nbcbayarea.com. marcus. yeah, it is a big push indeed. ginger. thank you. now, our investigative unit created an entire series called saving san francisco. we investigate one man's journey through homelessness and the criminal justice system in san francisco. you can watch it all. all six episodes. that is right now on our website or stream it on peacock. roku samsung tv plus and more. happening this weekend in the south bay. the return of the italian family festa. it starts with classic italian food, wine tasting, live music. but wait, there's more! go stomp stomp stomp. come on everybody, stomp stomp stomp tomorrow five. south bay mayors will compete in

a grape stomping competition. this is video from last year when san jose mayor matt mahan, he saw him there on the right. he actually won it on sunday. he'll go toe to toe or maybe foot to foot with tomorrow's winner, the festival gets underway at 10 a.m. and this just in our own cinthia pimentel will be the surprise mystery stomper in tomorrow's event. cynthia who? we're going to get her a pedicure afterwards, maybe before two. maybe before, before and after. she's no. but yeah, that's there's so much going on and we have some nice weather. it really will depend on where you are as to what kind of weather you'll experience. it will be a little warm in san jose starting out nice and mild, but we're headed up to 88 degrees during the middle of the afternoon and then down to the low 60s on sunday. it will be a touch cooler with a high of about 84 degrees, but really nice weather this weekend and also cool weather out there in oakland for the first fridays

this evening we'll start out at about 70 degrees and then see a dropping into the mid 60s and it will be mostly cloudy. bring the jacket. and then tomorrow we have the fremont festival of the arts. you'll see our own mike inouye out there, and we're going to see those temperatures in the low 70s on saturday. and then reaching into the low 80s, and it will be a great weekend, both happening throughout the weekend. and then for the santa clara county or sonoma county fair in santa rosa, it will be 91 degrees today. so really warm during the middle of the day. but then we're coming down to the low 60s, 90 on saturday and then on sunday, 84 degrees there as well. that's a live look at palisades tahoe. we're looking at a high of 83 today, watching out for a slight chance of some isolated thunderstorms for this afternoon. and then tomorrow we should start to feel some lower humidity, drier air with highs there in the upper 70s. mike, you're saying that the bay bridge metering lights have been turned on, but you'd never know it from this picture. you know what? this is an hour after it

typically is done monday through thursday. so friday light there. actually more traffic and more backup at the richmond to san rafael bridge. and it's not a big deal on the maps you see the speed sensors, good distribution. a new crash shows up around the maze. we'll get detail, but i don't see any slowing. haven't heard about any big issues. we do have a concert chase center olivia rodrigo. so there will be crowds. back to you. oh my gosh, don't tell my daughters. hopefully they're sleeping. 642 right now something's brewing at san francisco's anchor brewery, and it's not beer ahead on today in the bay. the odd smell, some neighbors say is popping up as the company works to get back to business. plus, some bob redell will take you live here to oakland for one of the biggest competitions this weekend. we're talking about the unicorn versus the bull. stay with us. you're watching today in the bay

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this case, it's a foul smell and it's leaving potrero hill neighbors wondering where it's coming from, the chronicle reports. the pungent aroma smells like human waste. and it's coming, they say, from the anchor brewing company. but a spokesperson for the new ownership group says it's actually from old wastewater treatment plants on the property that crews has since demolished. and now working to clean up the sediment. 646 for you right now,

and the olympics aren't the only big competition taking place this weekend. it's a busy weekend and today in the bay's bob redell joins us live from the oakland arena, where the engines will be revving out there. bob and you think of big rivalries. muhammad ali, joe frazier, larry bird and magic johnson, and of course, el toro loco and sparkle smash two of the eight trucks with their drivers competing this weekend at monster jam here in oakland, caeleb blood. how are you? good morning. you're, of course, the driver of this is el toro loco. like one of your biggest rivalries. oh, you know what we say, anytime we get on the track, we put that helmet on. we're all rivalries, but we're all really good friends on and off the track. but it is pretty cool what's going on right here, because i actually used to be the driver of el toro. loco did okay, but now you're sparkle smash. now we're all sparkle. we should not be. let our guard down when we see a pink unicorn

out here. absolutely not. because we are a fierce six ton unicorn and we mean business when we get out here. and we don't give these boys a chance. all right? and, well, you mentioned boys. this is a male dominated sport. what's it like being a woman in this sport? it's pretty awesome. you know, this weekend we'll have three females competing here me, ashley sanford and kristen anderson. and these girls are fierce too. we all bring a little something different to the table. and i this is such an honor to be a part of the women in monster jam, showing everyone around the world how we drive monster trucks. and you see little girls in the audience. do they come up and say anything to you or do you say something to them? oh my gosh, they're so excited. i did sometimes and whenever they see sparkle, smash up close or just see any other girl drivers that are driving a monster truck, they're just so blown away by it. and when they see us out here competing on the floor and actually winning, oh my goodness, it's amazing. and to see their reactions, you know, in social media we get videos all the time from parents. and it truly like melts your heart and makes you remember why you do what you do. oh that's awesome. yes sparkle

smash has been injured a couple of times. this is horn number three. yes. i mean, how do you i mean, that is kind of like an obvious thing that's going to break off when you roll over, obviously. yeah. so monster jam is known for carnage. that's what we're known for. we're going to have crashes and rolls. but you know it's got a little cool while you're doing it. right. yeah. so we have great technicians that are always putting us back together. and as well as body guys who are out here fixing the fiberglass. anytime we have a break in it. yes, i noticed the chicklets got hurt. okay, sparkle smash, even though the name is, doesn't suggest strength, the sound is correct. oh, yeah. do you want to fire her up? yes absolutely. let's do it. okay, i'm going to back up while kayla gets in there. okay. monster jam saturday, 1 in 7 here at oakland arena. sunday 1:00 arena. and then next week in san jose in the south bay. that could cause some serious possible sparkle. smash magic. awesome. kayla thank you. good luck this weekend. thank you. sparkle smash magic wow. or bob's

lawnmower on the weekend. same sound. well, getting out of this weekend weather should be nice. we're going to cut the grass, swim in the pool, whatever you want to do. whatever. camping, watching the olympics, camping, you know, going to some of the festivals. there's a lot going on and we have some weather that at times may be a little bit iffy in some spots where we see some high clouds coming in, you're going to feel a little bit more humidity. and for the sierra, we'll be tracking the possibility of some thunderstorms and maybe even some dry lightning. those are the thunderstorms. the rain evaporates after it leaves the clouds and before it hits the ground. but still some lightning strikes will be possible. and then, looking ahead, warm and seasonal weather for next week. but we're starting out this morning in the mid 50s for san francisco and san mateo. it's 58 in fremont and it is 63 in livermore. but then as we look at our high temperatures for today, we're back to where we were yesterday with some mid 80s in the south bay, low 90s for the south county, gilroy today

reaching a high of 93. also 93 in antioch, pleasant to 90 and 80 in fremont. while we'll be in the 70s for oakland and hayward and near the coast, it will be in the mid 60s, up to 83, in palo alto today, and for san francisco upper 60s and low 70s north bay temperatures up to 92 in napa and 100 in clear lake. so we're getting a surge of tropical moisture, bringing us some clouds. and that possibility of thunderstorms that will start to ease up by early next week. and also the high pressure will be moving away so that will allow back to our normal weather pattern when we get the cooler ocean breeze. that helps cool down our temperatures even in the inland areas, but we'll have to stick it out for a few more days with 90s in the forecast for a warmer spots inland and san francisco. here we're having a place to escape the heat. it will be in the upper 60s throughout the weekend. and mike, you're looking at a friday light commute. yeah, we're looking at the typical directions for some slowing. no big deal for the crash near the maze. haven't

heard much about it. there is some fog up here. watch into north sonoma county for 101 coming down towards san rafael. then things clear up a smooth drive throughout the tri valley. that 680 corridor looks great out of concord, all the way down towards sunol and vasco road. even coming out of contra costa county, it's basically at speed down to 580. back to you. thanks so much, mike. happening now, governor gavin newsom is declining a pay raise as the state grapples with budget issues. that's according to our affiliate kcra. california citizens compensation commission voted to increase the salaries of all state elected officials by 3.5%, which will take effect in december, state records show. the governor's current salary is over $234,000. he says it's important to acknowledge the fiscal challenges currently facing our state, and we're back in just minutes with a look at our top stories, starting with that breaking news this morning. americans freed from russian custody touching down on american soil. the emotional homecoming months in the making. plus, she made history while

battling kidney disease. coming up, my interview with american gymnast suni lee and why she says it's that bronze medal that really means the most to her. i'm jessica aguirre, you're watching tay in the bayod

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on today in the bay, starting with breaking news. three americans now back on u.s. soil after a landmark prisoner swap with russia. new video of their arrival early this morning in texas. that is where they'll receive a medical checkup. the freed prisoners include wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich, who was convicted of spying in russia. president biden and vice president harris were there to greet the three americans at their first stop

late, last night at joint base andrews in maryland. family members were also there for an understandably emotional reunion. also breaking a bombshell announcement from chevron, which is moving its headquarters out of the bay area. the company says that it will relocate the houston really relocate to houston, starting next year, with most positions rolling out of san ramon over the next five years. the company has been based there ever since 2001. before that, it was based in san francisco. san francisco's mayor london breed, now directing city workers to offer homeless people bus tickets. it's an effort to get them out of town before offering them services. this follows new data that found 40% of the city's unhoused say they came from another county or state that is up from 28% in 2019. well, team usa powerhouse returns to the olympic stage today in the bay's jessica

aguirre joins us live from paris. no doubt track and field fans have been waiting for this one. yeah, they certainly have. laura and marcus, and it's an emotional return to the international stage for sha'carri richardson. you may remember that the gold medalist was disqualified from the tokyo 2021 games because she tested positive for marijuana. she did apologize and she says she wants redemption for that. so she is back here again. richardson says she only used it the pot after learning about the death of her biological mother. but she has a fresh start here in paris. she already competed overnight in her first heat. you can watch that race tonight in primetime here on nbc bay area. okay. you ready for some football? yes. we're talking soccer team usa's josh atencio facing morocco at this very hour. that matchup right now underway and glued to his tv right now, no doubt. cal state east bay professor matthew

atencio cheering for his nephew. and you saw it here within the last hour. i got to speak one on one with team usa's suni lee. if you remember, lee took gold in tokyo and with this win, she is now the first female all around winner to earn back to back individual all around medals since nadia comaneci. and you have to be old like me to remember who nadia is. we're talking 1976 and 1980, and let's not forget that suni did all of this while battling kidney disease. i spoke with her about that really inspirational journey just to get this far. i was thinking about it like a year ago today. i probably would have been laying in a hospital bed just praying to be better at the time, but here we are, and here i am with my bronze medal. i'm so happy i couldn't be happier or prouder of myself, because i did all the work that it took to take to get here, and that's exactly what i did. boy, did she do all the work. you

know, you see them on tv or you see them when they're competing and they look so, you know, poised and then you remember she is 21 years old. what a journey she has had. you can see more of suni lee coming up right after this on the today show. she is one hot ticket. i got to tell you. oh, amazing. so happy for her as well. absolutely. okay, so race to primetime coverage tonight as jess mentioned track and field events kick off, then tune in to see regan smith compete in the 200 meter backstroke finals. it is all kicking off at 8:00 tonight right here on nbc bay area. so much excitement. big time. well, thanks for joining us here good friday morning. from our plaza here in paris. >> where we are ready to celebrate after a banner day for team usa, it is august 2nd. this is "today."