new this morning a security change coming to b.a.r.t. you'll see more uniformed officers on trains. we'll tell you why coming up in a live report. violence and bloodshed this morning. the death toll rises and tensions escalate in the streets of cairo as the army moves in. and the battle over smart phones heats up this morning as preorders go live for the veerizen iphone. verizon wants people to delay their orders. we'll tell you about it in a new report. we are looking at a live picture of oakland this morning. it is thursday, february 3rd.

this is "today in the east bay." good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. it is 4:30. let's get right to a warm forecast with meteorologist christina loren. good morning. good morning to you. yes, a warm february forecast. we are a little bit chilly this morning. you'll need to grab a jacket, especially in places where we have the 30s. fairfield, you're at 33 degrees. 36 in livermore right now. 40 in concord. as we head throughout this afternoon, we'll see full sunshine once again. and our temperatures will climb to 70 degrees. i think that oakland will be the warmest city in the east bay today. 70 for you. 64 in concord. 66 in fairfield where we are starting out just a little bit cooler. we'll talk about what's to come for the big super bowl weekend, so stay tuned for that. right now you probably have to get to work, it is a thursday. we'll go to mike about what's happening on the roads. a shoutout to oakland with

70. i'm going to give a shout out to oakland as well with a traffic break happening. you can see how quickly things cleared up. light volume near the high street on-ramp. the map shows no major delays through the area or for highway 580. a very clear drive and a very clear view across the cartinas and venetian bridges. yesterday we had high winds across the bridges. this morning maybe a gust or two, but not a big deal. we'll keep our eyes on the east bay. back to you. mike, thank you. new this morning, cay yost and conflict in egypt after violent protests sweep through the streets of cairo. you are looking at a live picture of cairo right now. it is just past 2:30 in the afternoon. barricades are up. you can see debris in the street but people are moving fairly peacefully. now, the earlier protests in

egypt increasingly violent as supporters of president mubarak moved into the heart of the protest. dan shennaman reports from egypt. >> reporter: the violence between egyptian friends and must be mubarak protests continued through the morning in the heart of cairo. there were sustained bursts of gunfire. they threw stones at each other well into the early morning hours. video shots of the scene show cocktails being thrown. the or may drove its vehicle into the square but that didn't calm the tension between the two sides. supporters of the long-time leader charged into the square riding horses and camels while others threw firebombs from rooftops. all day long the combat was intense, often hand-to-hand. the anti-mubarak forces claim the mubarak supporters are police in civilian clothes.

this week mubarak said he would leave office when his term is up in september. his opponents want him out now. dan shennaman, nbc news. meanwhile, an east bay family's prayers are answered now that their mother is safe home from cairo. we'll give you a firsthand account of the violence and uncertainty through their eyes. getting around the bay area is getting safer thanks in part to uncle sam. more b.a.r.t. police officers are now on the trains. "today in the east bay's" christie smith is live with where the extra money is coming from. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, scott. you know, sometimes when you see b.a.r.t. police officers roaming around you assume something may be wrong because, frankly, you just don't see them that often. in this case, though, it is about federal dollars coming through to help pay for more police officers, b.a.r.t. police officers, to just patrol the b.a.r.t. trains. that's unlike some of the other

officers who have more widespread duties, they patrol other areas, including parking lots and stations and platforms and whatnot. so this is really a change. the new officers make up a critical asset patrol team, part of a counter terrorism strategy. now, you may have seen them as they started on the trains january 10th. they are meant to be quite visible. seven officers and one sergeant paid for with a homeland security grant. they will be all over the system, but they will pay close attention to the transbay 2 and the area around the berkeley hills. most of the time they will be quite easy to spot. sometimes they will be in plain clothes. meantime, other b.a.r.t. officers are becoming more visible, too, on trains as part of this counter terrorism strategy. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the east bay." thank you. one youth court in the east bay responsible for giving hundreds of teenagers a second chance is

on the verge of closing its doors. money is running out for the mccullum youth court of alameda. the alternative justice center could shut down in the next four to six months. the nonprofit lost half its budget when a federal grant was canceled last year. this would be bad news for 400 children whose cases have not been heard. less than 10% of mccullum's kids reoffend compared to 80% of youth who go through the traditional juvenile system. desperate to increase funding for its schools alameda county's school board turned to voters for help. the board of education will hold a special election to vote on a tax that would cost property tax owners an extra $180 a year. it would raise about $3 million to preserve after-school activities and smaller class sizes. alameda county voters can cast mail-in ballots from april 4th through may 3rd. the measure needs a 2/3 majority to pass. after last year's sagging

tourist economy the hotel market is turning the corner in the bay area. the biggest improvements are in the east bay. the contra costa times reports just 13 hotels are in default during the final three months of 2010. that's down by half from the year before. in santa clara county 13 hotels defaulted between october and december. in san francisco eight hotels for the same time period. a company is accused of exposing people to lead and mislabeling products to pay millions of dollars to alameda and eight other california counties. the company will pay more than $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the nine counties. the company must also pay $100,000 to customers who ask for refund. now, prosecutors say the company exposed customers to lead and didn't include certain herbs as advertised. irwin naturals makes dual actual

clam and ten-day hudia pills. we have an amazing day ahead and an amazing weekend ahead in the forecast compared to the rest of the country. let's join christina. >> yes, we certainly do. we are seeing records in our area just like they are seeing on the east coast, only ours is the good kind of record. record highs in february. that's what we are expecting later on today in several east bay cities. but it is only going to get warmer heading through the next couple of days. this isn't the warmest day in the forecast period. 40 degrees right now in concord 456789 in oakland. 33 in fairfield. later today the sun will be out in full force. you will notice a couple high, wispy clouds coming through. we won't see as much today. full on sunshine, clear conditions. we have a really dry air mass overhead. high pressure is doing its job to keep all of the storms out of the area. nice and clear for today. clear conditions continue all

the way throughout this weekend. and it looks like the middle of next week. 70 degrees is if the forecasted high in concord. 66 in fairfield. livermore, you'll register at 67 degrees. lots of sunshine. then heading throughout the next few days, it will only get warmer. we'll talk about that coming up. the extended is on the way. if you are on your way to work, what can you expect in the east bay this morning? right now a smooth drive. that's a treat for anybody, but especially in the beautiful weather. clear skies and a nice view of the roadways. the bay bridge, here's a live look out there. no problems as far as travel on the east bay. right in the center of the screen you can see the toll plaza coming across treasure island. the headlights are a light, smooth volume. out of the city near oakland, a nice drive as well. here are travel times off the cartinas bridge. 18 minutes. a nice flow through berkeley approaching the berkeley curve. slowdowns here closer to 6:30 when they turn the metering lights on. construction on 880 both

directions near 182. we have a detour potentially for 92 near the san mateo bridge. that's just for the next couple of minutes. no major issues out of the livermore area. at month pass could see a gust of wind, but right now the roadways are clear. back to you. much more ahead on "tost in the east bay." coming up, a breath of fresh air fir kids struggling with asthma. how east bay kids are helping a tech giant put clean air in the palm of your hand. verizon customers breathlessly await the arrival of the iphone4. the phone company is asking some poo people to delay their orders. we'll tell you why just ahead. and how a nursery rhyme brew ed up this free throw shooter in a college game. you are looking live at pictures of the bridge. it looks slow in. we'll check with mike?

just a bit.

welcome back. this video just into us. this is live pictures out of tahrir square in cairo as people are gathering around what seems to be a armored personnel

carrier for a tank. something along those lines. we are having satellite feed problems or internet feed problems. but we are seeing more activity after a very, very violent night in cairo. full scale revolution, really n the streets of that capital city. it is just before 3:00 cairo time. we'll continue to mop or the monitor this picture. the bay area egyptians trapped in cairo arriving back to the united states safely telling stories of violence and uncertainty as conditions deteriorate there. some wonder in loved ones in egypt can stay safe or if they need to evacuate as well. "today in the east bay's" jean elle has a firsthand account of the unrest from a family. >> reporter: thousands of miles from the chaos egyptians and friends at st. mary and st. john's orthodox church in pleasanton play for peace in their homeland. safe in the bay area they feel

helpless as violence threatens their country. >> we are telling everybody to pray so that love may govern again. >> reporter: watching the situation escalate he worries egypt is on the brink of a civil war. his family is in the middle of the turmoil. he's concerned for their safety and their basing health. fighting in the street is making it nearly impossible to get regular medical care many older people need. >> there are many situations where people need to go to the hospital for dialysis, like my dad. >> reporter: this team had a special prayer for this woman stuck in cairo visiting her sister. she arrived home safely this afternoon relieved. she was able to get a flight out of egypt. she says what started as a peaceful demand for leadership change has turned violent. >> with the radicals getting into it and instigating struggle and killing and stuff like that,

i couldn't -- i didn't know when they were going to close the airport or shut everything down. >> reporter: she says what used to be a 20-minute trip to the airport took three hours. while she is safe, she is heart broken over what she left behind. >> we are hoping and praying that it doesn't, you know, backfire or it doesn't -- that they don't succeed in their attempts to destroy the country. >> we'll continue to follow developments from egypt throughout the morning. we have live feeds and nbc reporters on the ground there. "today in the bay" will continue to follow this as well. we'll continue to follow it on nbcbayarea.com as well. meanwhile, christina loren has a look at your forecast. >> good morning, scott. usually this time of the year we are talking about snow storms on the way, heavy fog, but that's not what we are going to experience today or for the next seven to ten days.

we have a very strong ridge of high pressure. it is firmly in control of our weather pattern. and it is going to bring our temperatures that are mostly in the 40s up towards that 70-degree mark in oakland later today. 45 degrees right now in oakland. 40 in concord. one degree above freezing in fairfield. but don't worry about that frost, maybe just a little bit. it is such a dry mass overhead we won't see a lot of frost develop with the freezing temperatures. the bay area looks really good. we have beautiful, clear conditions. just a few high, wispy clouds to move through yesterday. we won't see many clouds today. nice and clear. it will be hard to find a cloud later in the sky this afternoon as temperatures climb to about 64 degrees in concord. 67 in livermore. and 66 degrees today in fairfield. oakland, 70 degrees for you. even warmer heading to this weekend. and these temperatures are going to stay warm. we'll keep the sunshine in the mix all the way throughout next wednesday. no rain in sight. are there any problems on the

roadways in sight? we'll find out from mike inouye. we'll show you the area of the san mateo bridge of construction. it picked up on 880 approaching the bridge. we also have a stall there along the span. the taillights were slow heading across the bridge. there may have been a burst of traffic because of the two incidents letting up at the same time. the construction crew may be picking up there. we now see a smooth drive across the bay. a look at travel times approaching the bay bridge. an easy drive up 880 with light volume. all the construction picked up approaching the toll plaza. travel times show no problems as far as 880, 24 or the east shore freeway. back to you. tech fans love options. this morning there's some big ones to consider. do you want your iphone from verizon or will you stay with at&t? oh, and there's the iphone5 around the corner. "today in the east bay's" scott budman weighs in on the battle for the iphone. >> reporter: with verizon about to take preorders for its iphone you may be tempted to say they

will be better than at&t. we have crunched the numbers for you. here they are. they are the same when it comes to cost. both charge the same for the phone, $200 to $300. tech plans also the same price. they do offer different data plans. at&t will charge you as low as $15 a month. as high as $45 depending on how much data you use. verizon offering a plat $25 unlimited data plan. at&t boasting multi-tasking and says they are working to speed things up. one of the criticisms of at&t is dropped calls. here's a fly in the ointment to change everything. apple is known to update its iphone in the summer. could we be sitting on a brand new iphone5 with an incredible feature to make your decision to move? here's something to think about. make your decision carefully because it can cost you a small fortune to get out of the carrier contract. scott budman, "today in the east bay." meanwhile, the demand for

the iphone could be too great for verizon to handle right away. the website apple insider is reporting verizon is asking its own employees to wait to buy their verizon iphone. the website cites the company memo in which veryize on a verizon's chief operating officer says customers have waiting for years to see this product. demand will be unprecedented. the memo then reportedly asks employees to put those customers' needs before their own. now news nor your bottom line. weekly jobless claims for productivity in an hour. most reports are expected to be positive, but will they be enough to push the markets bard forward? we'll go to nicole lapin at cnbc world headquarters with more. >> reporter: good morning. >> the labor department on friday had its big jobs report. give us the number now, that would be great. >> reporter: positive.

well, we'll see. all right. futures are flat this morning, scott, as stocks virtually closed unchanged wednesday. i can tell you in hindsight markets may be down because of worries on escalating violence in egypt translating to higher oil prices. crude is hovering near $103 a barrel. sweet crude is above $91. motion asian markets are closed for the chinese new year. europe is a touch higher. we get all that data this morning. that could drive us. we are also looking ahead to ben bernanke speaking at the national press club this afternoon. the dow inched up one point. 12,041 is where we ended. the nasdaq composite fell to 2749. retailers also report january sales. they are expected to shed light on the impact of all the snow that fell last month. it was actually the snowiest january in six years. not for you but for the rest of the country.

bargain hunting shoppers may have stayed away from stores because fewer items were actually on sale. and among the stores analysts expect sales to rise 2.4%. do you need a big screen tv for the super bowl? the consumer electronics association says for the first time since '05 since lcd and hd-tvs hit the market sales are dropping. that's because 70% of u.s. households already have one. retailers have to clear out the old stuff to bring out the new models. that could mean major markdowns this week. scott, we are already seeing some sales at best buy and sears and all sorts of places. >> all right, nicole lapin, thank you very much. brent cannon is joining us, did you hear that? sales on really big tvs. >> really, really big ones, yeah. yo gabba gabba never looked so good. coming up, we'll talk to the

hayward woman up right now trying to watch the situation in egypt. her daughter and a good friend are there right now. and we will share their remarkable story for you. plus, another day, another admission by pg&e. we have the latest on the utility which broke safety rules. and we will talk to the south bay family who had one minute to win it. we'll see if they were able to win a million dollars coming up in a few minutes on "today in the bay." thank you much. some young minds in the east bay teaming up with a tech giant to help solve one of the biggest problems plaguing the bay area, bad air. with asthma rates on the rise this break through could change the outlook for people who suffer from breathing problems. vicky nguyen reports it is an air quality control in the palm of your hand. >> reporter: 11-year-old john fitzpatrick has dreams of being a professional basketball player. or maybe a pop star. while he's got the moves there's

one thing holding him back. john has severe asthma. >> when i run it gets me out of breath fast. >> reporter: he's not alone. 20% of children and 37% of adults living in west oakland have asthma. children here are seven times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than in the rest of the state. >> i wish we could live in a better area where there's not as much traffic continuously down the streets all day. we can't even really walk out of our door to school without coughing or perhaps throwing up on the way. >> reporter: 10,000 trucks pass through oakland each day, not to mention the emissions from 880, 980, 580 and the ships coming in and out of the port. >> we are in a good part of town but we need to find a place safer for him to live where the air quality is much better.

>> reporter: the children at this school are doing just that. this freshman is testing a prototype developed by intel labs to measure air quality in realtime. eventually intel hopes to put the air quality monitors in a more portable package like on your cell phone. >> some day you may be able to test your air quality indoors and outdoors before you do whatever you want to do. before you take a run or you take the kids to school. >> reporter: for john just knowing when to play outside could save his life. chicago ki vicky nguyen for "today in the east bay." christina loren has a look at your forecast now. >> you get the best air quality at the beginning of the day before the cars hit the highway. the worst is the rush hour in the evening. 70 degrees in oakland. you can't beat that. when it comes to february temperatures we are usually in the 50s. 58 degrees is the arch this time of the year. 70 degrees is much warmer than

normal. we could break some records across the east bay this afternoon. 71 degrees by friday. we are up to 72 degrees for the weekend. staying nice through the middle of next week. yes, as the east coast gets a winter wallop, we are enjoying beautiful conditions. i hope you like that, scott mcgrew. >> i do. i do. you'll like this. a clip this morning. we have e heard of basketball players getting into hot water because of the throw throw line, getting distracted by jeers from the team's fans. one team is brewing a distracting cheer with the help of a nursery rhyme. [ inaudible ] >> utah state's students singing "i'm a little teapot" at the top of their lungs. as you say, it is historic

against the shooter from nevada. utah state went on to win 67-45. well, coming up we have a live look at the clash of protestors and demonstrators in egypt. we'll continue to follow the unrest. brent and laura are coming up with the latest.

new this morning, violence escalates in egypt. protestors and pro-government