nbc "today in the bay." >> good morning and thanks for joining us. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. >> want to get you started with going on with the forecast. >> good morning to you and brent and laura and to you at home. we'll pinpoint where the showers are headed throughout the morning. today's high right around 62 degrees. let's get you to work on time with mike inouye. good morning, mike. >> we'll take to you antioch, 66 so far on l street and debris reported northbound 242 but not a major issue. bay bridge toll plaza, watching that for crowds to build but so far not a big deal. more coming up. thank you very much, mike. the world is certainly watching japan this morning after word of a radiation leak at a nuclear power plant. japan's prime minister is telling people in the region to stay indoors. radiation has apparently spread from four reactors at the

nuclear plant in fukushima. there is also a threat of further leaks of radioactive substances. evacuations are under way. the leak was discovered after a third explosion at the plant. there's now panic buying in cities like tokyo. can you see store shelves are wiped clean of canned goods, batteries and a lot of bottled waters. officials are afraid hoarding will hurt the delivery of aid to people who really need it. george kiriyama in the middle of it from tokyo and joins us where many people -- to say where a lot of people are going just to flee some of the nuclear fallout. good morning to you, george. >> reporter: good morning, to you, brent and laura. good evening from tokyo. right now as we speak many residents and tourists are leaving the city. there's a different feel in the toke yeo as you see in the video, the colorful neon signs that grace the downtown skyline have been shut off to conserve

energy. tokyo train station, we saw long lines of people. >> just in case because the radiation. i got two kids, and i don't know if i can get away with it, if any panic happens, so i decided to leave now than later. >> reporter: when did you make the decision and why? >> this morning we made it. i really wanted to stay in tokyo. my home here is -- is here now. wanted to stay and just kind of gut it out, but things are progressing in a manner that it just seemed prudent to leave now before they got really, really bad. >> all right. george kiriyama reporting from tokyo this morning. we'll check back with him coming up. a search is on for two people who opened fire in the heart of san francisco's mission district. five people are being treated for gunshot wounds this morning. we want to get the latest on this with christie smith.

>> reporter: good morning to you. well, i can tell you that this is a very busy neighborhood near 16th and mission and a very violent shooting. i want to show you some of the evidence markers here. these are all over the sidewalk, and i wanted to show you the bar here out front. there are at least seven bullet holes right through the front door. next door the glass is shattered right in front. san francisco police were called to the area around 11:05 last night to help several shooting victims. when they arrived bullet casings in the doors, on the sidewalk, outside of el tin tan bar. five people were down, four of them were non-life-threatening injuries. one in much more serious condition shot multiple times. of course, all of them taken to a nearby hospital. san francisco police believe that this may very well be gang-related, but it's still a very active investigation. no description yet of the shooters, but we can tell you that a car was spotted leaving

the scene. so far investigators not sure exactly what role that it played, but the shooters were seen running away from this area on foot, and san francisco police are looking for at least two of them. reporting live in san francisco, san francis christie smith for "today in the bay." >> rescue workers are still searching the areas where the tsunami hit and just a few hours ago a 70-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble four days after the tsunami. it is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise tragic tale. we have new video from the disaster area this morning. the number of people killed has topped 2,700, but, of course, that is a fraction of what they expect it to be. tragically, officials think that the toll will jump dramatically to more than 10,000 people. survivors are struggling to stay warm as well in near freezing temperatures. that tragedy has many people in the bay area trying to figure out how they can help, and for

that "today in the bay" bob riddell is live in hayward with a look at what you can do. . >> reporter: the bay area is expected to police a significant role in this relief effort especially when you consider the connections this part of the country has with our friends across the pacific. only three japan towns officially in the united states. two of them are right here in the bay area, one in san jose and the other in san francisco. in san francisco the consulate general of japan, that office has reportedly received hundreds of offers of help, so much that they are actually setting up a special website just to handle the relief efforts from the bay area to going back over to japan. there are also several private groups organizing relief like the japanese cultural and community center which is directing money to non-profits in japan to help buy basic needs. there are long lines for food and water, basics like diapers are nowhere to be found, blankets are in short supply, and don't forget, that region devastated by the quake.

that part of japan is experiencing minus degree temperatures so it's very cold up there. this morning we spoke with a structural engineer who is in sendai who gave us a sense of just how desperate things are. >> there's so much a shortage of the fubl and food and especially in the sendai area, it's tremendous, and even in tokyo we have the first hours of the blackout to save the energy, and major transportation systems disrupted. it's amazing if you think about it how fragile the civilization is. that's just incredible, you know, and it seems to me japan has everything organized and very advanced technology, but this earthquake just killed the whole system of organization and the civilization of japan almost stopped in a sense right now.

>> we're live outside of one of hayward's fire department where a fire department has brought in an earthquake simulator and we'll hop you into this and we'll show you the difference between a quake that struck in 1985 and trying to compare it to the one that hit in japan just the end of last week. >> thank you very much, bob. >> yeah. want to check in with christina right now. certainly can feel the humidity in the air. >> yeah, it's kind of muggy out there. you know what? we have so much moisture just kind of hanging out, lingering in our atmosphere that we definitely have enough warmth and moisture for the possibility of some thunderstorms later on today. we're not seeing that right now, but every time i check i'm watching your dew points. i'm watching everything and i do think we'll see a few isolated cells capable of producing some thunder boomers later on today but right now everything we're

seeing coming through the bay area is light in nature and breaking its way apart once it makes its way on shore. the batch of rain on the way. this will arrive here in the next hour to half hour in san francisco making for a slippery commute. count on giving yourself extra time to reach your destination safely this morning. light scattered shower activity across the area. coming down all night so you'll probably find slick conditions. take it easy out there. no real opportunity for this water to accumulate. i think at best we'll see maybe a quarter of an inch up in the north bay and the further you live, the better the chance for rain today. we'll see some fog develop as high pressure is hanging out as well. tropical moisture coming up from the south and high pressure coming in. 56 degrees in oakland and turning over 60 degrees. won't have a chance to turn up all that much but not too bad. about a week away from the official start to spring. let's get you to work on time with mike inouye if you're

springing into your car. >> might want a little spring in your step to get you over the little puddles around. talked about that. late yesterday rains coming through livermore valley and still moving all right. 13-minute drive out of the altimount pass. portola avenue remains closed until they change things again, the isabelle interchange, and they don't foresee that reopening after the completion of that project so we're using airway boulevard. if portola was the exit, now airway is your exit. moving over towards hayward, 880, disabled vehicle at 238. that's cleared. a blip suddenly off 880 heading towards the toll plaza and a live look at san mateo bridge, a slowdown. rain coming through the area so keep that in mind if you're heading along the coast and

through the north bay. right now things are very light, brent and laura. now we send it back to you. >> thanks very much. time now 5:09. we continue to get the very latest on japan. coming up, we'll take a look at how that possible nuclear crisis in japan is affecting the markets this morning. details in a live report. plus, we have seen the damage a 9.0 magnitude quake can have on japan. up next, we'll take you live to hayward to find out what a quake ilin tou do in the bay area. >> a live look outside. stay tuned. we'll be right back. now, that's progressive. ving you mo- call or click today.

[ woman ] the first time i smoked, i was 13.g breaths ] i was in a hurry to grow up and wanted to look cool. big tobacco knew it, and they preyed on me. i'm here to tell you that big tobacco hasn't changed. they continue to profit... by selling kids the same lies... to get them to use... the same deadly products. don't be big tobacco's next victim. welcome back everyone. a good tuesday morning to you. kind of see the moisture in the air. you can actually see it on the camera lens as well. be careful as you head out the door. we'll check the commute and, of course, the forecast coming up. 5:12 right now.

>> fears of a nuclear crisis in japan are having a big impact on the stock markets. asian stock markets have been battered this morning. the nikkei index closing with huge losses, and today the bay's nicole lapin is live at cnbc headquarters with a look at how u.s. markets are faring in early trading. good morning, nicole. >> brent, it's looking nasty out there. u.s. stock futures are sharply lower as investors continue to monitor the broadening nuclear crisis in japan and the main index in toeio, the nikkei 225 fell 10%. the worst one-day drop since lehman brothers collapse in 2008. lost 6% on monday, more than $700 billion in market value. we're talking that has been wiped out since just friday. several companies are also asession the impact of supply interruptions from japan. one company specifically is texas instruments. they say they are going to lose revenue due to damage to two

plants over there. we're also seeing european markets at this hour trade lower significantly. futures were off about 260 below fair value so, brent, it's going to be a rough wide on wall street >> and we're hearing this is having an impact on gas prices that the average consumer pays at the pump. >> typically how this goes, the rough wide on wall street is trickling over to main street as well. the disaster in japan could impact what you and i pay at the pump. gas prices could rise even more as u.s. refiners try to make up for the losses at japanese refining capacities. japan's largest five refineries are shutting down crimping supply for oil, not gas that could be shipped in. tankers headed over to the west coast could now go to japan which is causing fuel prices in both countries to rise because simply there is less to go around. brent, i don't know if you saw this, but it was just yesterday

that hawaii became the first state to officially reach 4 bucks a gallon for regular unleaded. >> we were pretty close to that anyway because of the unrest in the middle east, but now you throw this on top of it and it could be a real rough couple of months, huh? >> what has been bad seems to be getting worse as we're trying to deal with all the geopolitical head winds, absolutely. >> appreciate the update. imagine trying to cope with what a quake that large that hit japan would feel like. there's an earthquake simulator in the bay area that can't even go as high at 8.9. >> we've seen the simulator but they can't even actually show us what happened in japan. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. this is called the big shaker, an earthquake simulator that's owned by a private company that makes earthquake straps and putty, that sort of thing. we've got dean reese over here. this only goes up to what magnitude? >> how about we do an 8.0.

>> reporter: not yet. i want to show a 6.9. show us a 6.9 and this will give you a sense. at home -- go ahead, dean. it will be -- it will be -- it looks like the battery might have died. something is not working. there you go. this would be 6.9. go ahead. loma prieta was 6.9, lasted around 17 seconds and it gives you a pretty good sense, if you don't have things strapped down what's going to happen. things will come flying off the shelves. in this instance they have the major furniture strapped town and that sort of thing. would people be surprised how prepared or unprepared people are? >> you would be surprised how ill prepared people actually are, and would you think living here in the most dangerous place

for seismic activity that people would be case but they are not. >> >> reporter: why is that the case? >> people believe that it will never happen and just like that it happens. >> reporter: this was a 6.9. coming up later we'll check this up to an 8.0, and if you're not aware, when you go from a 6.90 an 8.0 or an 8.9, which was the case in japan, it's not a geometric increase. it's exponential in the sense that it's hundreds of times more powerful, an 8.9 versus of a 6.9. try to give you a visual sense of that, brent and laura. >> it's a matter of it's inevitable here. >> and a lot of people have been talking about we need to be better prepared, you know. look at japan, one of the most prepared places, in the world and look at the devastation there. >> all right. let's check the forecast right now with christina. talking about how humid it is out there. you can feel the moisture in the air. >> yeah, you can feel the air. it has a weight this morning. good morning.

it actually always has a weight. air is a good insulator. that's why you have a parka jacket with all the feathers and air gooind combined it keeps you nice and war. this morning we're feeling the muggy sub tropical air coming up from the south and combined with some showers coming in from the north, we actually have those thunder boomers we were just talking about. picking up dry lightning strikes here just off the coast. realtime lightning strikes off the coast of santa rosa this morning. waking up in santa rosa, probably hear a little bit of that thunder this morning but not to worry right now. it looks like everything is happening over the ocean. we'll let you know as soon as that changes because the chance for some isolated thunderstorms inland today, definitely a possibility as well, especially when we see breaks of sunshine. enough to warm us up for thunderstorms. san francisco getting a little bit of rain right now. as we head throughout the day, we'll see the tail end right here. this little creeper is going to come through the bay area, but what's happening is we're also tapping into some of the sub tropical moisture so that's why it's so warm out there.

the cold front won't have a chance to cool us down though because of that subtropical moisture and high pressure is actually building in as well so the possibility of some fog this morning, we'll probably have to deal with that, too. mainly just want to give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination safely. 57 degrees in san jose and temperature wise, not going to be too bad. 62 as a result of all that warm air coming up up from the south. as we head throughout the remainer of the week, temperatures are going to fluctuate between the upper 50s and low 60s and we'll see a little bit of rain each and every day except st. patrick's day. that looks to be the driest day. ironically we won't see all that much green on the radar on thursday. back to you guys. >> a lot of green in the hills though. >> that's right. >> that's for sure. >> thank you very much. >> 5:19 right now. before you head out the door, we have an important recall that may affect your lunch break. >> twitter is very useful in a disaster and also easy to make a jerk of yourself. a look at that coming up in just a bit. >> as you're getting started on your morning commute, highway 17

moving smoothly through the city parts and getting through the santa cfoggmountains omprintyou dense fog cginom through the area. i'll let you know what else to watch out for on your morning commute coming up. in

good morning, everybody. 5:22. a live look across the golden gate bridge. nice and clear there this morning. christina will be checking the potential changes and whether or not we'll get some rain coming up in just a few minutes. >> well, new technology provided by the silicon valley will help you test out the drive from doyle drive, the unfinished portion to the golden gate bridge. san rafael's auto desk and construction engineers are unveiling a driving simulator to give people a virtual tour of the roadway like a video game. drivers get to grip the steering

wheel and test it out. the $1 billion doyle drive project is slated to be completed by 2014 but kind of a sneak peek. >> and people will certainly appreciate that on their morning commute this morning, or once that's completed. meantime, a check of what's going on with mike. >> a lot of people would rather do the virtual drive than the real drive. maps, the antioch area, things moving smoothly at 60. change dramatically over the next 15 minutes. the one on the right, the other 60 in the bay point, probably hold there for a while. debris reported northbound at 222 just around grant street. a lot of metal debris getting cleared from the roadway. a little slow coming up to concord and highway 4. not a major issue as far as chp is concerned. not a major condition, look at speeds. mostly towards the 70. 65-mile-per-hour speed limit and 880, volume through the area past oakland, a nice easy drive. smooth flow with the headlights. smooth all the way down towards

the south bay. 880 changes to 17, told you about the fog between the summit and here and the southwest of the south bay. keep that in mind either direction you'll travel through the pretty dense fog and the rest of the south bay looking pretty nice and the northbound commute directions, no major issues at downtown, 55 off highway 87 is not a major concern. back to you guys. >> thanks a lot. mike. the last surviving american of world war i will be laid to rest. frank buckles will be buried today with full honors. he died at his home in west virginia last month. buckles was 110 years old and the last living world war i veteran. he was just 16 when he joined the army back in 1917. his body will lie in honor in the memorial chapel this morning before he is buried. it's 5:24 right now. before you grab your lunch this morning, you better check it because they are making a big recall this morning of nestle food company's lean cuisine

simple favorites, the spaghetti and meatballs. the company says it may contain plastic. take no chances. the packages affected by the recall p-7991 with the best if used before date of november 2011. >> as we've seen, twitter can be a pretty good way to get the word out during a natural disaster but scott mcgrew says it's also a great way to make a spectacle of yourself. >> yeah. there are lots -- if you look on twitter right now, lots of people saying things about you that i'm not going to repeat any of them, but people just making jerks of themselves. one of them has something to do with a duck. >> hope he has insurance. >> aflac, really need it these days. >> the of a flack insurance company has fired the guy who makes the duck say aflac. gilbert godfrey tweeted something about japan that was

in poor taste. few people realize it but most of aflac's business is actually in japan. the voice of the duck is out of a job this morning. they will find a new voice. other things you won't see much more of, the microsoft zune. bloomberg reports that microsoft's ipod killer has been killed. the company will wind down its zune hardware line. the zune software will stick around, so if you have music downloaded from zune and you are probably the only person who ever did, you will still be able to listen to it. this is really going to bring up the whole concern about ipad competitors. this is the zoom, not zune, but zoom ipad competitor from motorola, and you can't help but sort of draw parallels in your head. lots of companies decided they were going to try to compete with ipod, brent and laura. they saw all that business that apple was getting and said we'll build something similar to the ipod. they all failed.

now they are doing the same with ipad, and i think it's reasonable to at least suspect the same thing will happen. >> all right. thanks a lot, scott. appreciate t.time now is 5:26. up next, continuing coverage of the disaster in japan, including worries of a possible nuclear fallout. >> and why some bay area businesses are keeping a very close eye on the recovery efforts in japan. >> five people shot outside of a bar in san francisco's mission district. i'm christie smith. we'll describe what witnesses say they heard, and we'll tell that you no one is in custody. that story coming up in a live report. >> and a live look outside.outsd once again san jose nice and dry for now. we'll check your forecast coming up.

new this morning, new worries over the nuclear crisis in japan and experts look at

what a potential meltdown would mean for the west coast of california. we'll tell you how the cries of help from japan are being answered right here in the bay area. that story coming right up. >> and how one east bay family is already helping giving some family friends a little peace of mind this morning. and a live look across the golden gate bridge. nice and smooth so far. we'll check your commute and your forecast coming up tuesday, march 15th, 2011. and good morning, everybody. thanks for joining out. i'm brent cannon. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's get a check of the forecast. how are we looking? >> it's moving in. active green, the bay area is lit up.

a little bit of rain coming down. not as strong as it looks here. just a little bit of light scattered shower activity and enough to get the roadways slick. it is on the slick side out there so take it easy. this is my concern. this is what will be moving in here over the next 15 to 20 minutes pushing into san francisco here in the next 15 minutes. get ready for some pretty steady rain. that will slow the commit down. let's find out how it looks right now with mike inouye. mike? >> a little rain and also a lot of cars so that's what's slowing things down. traditional time for that westbound commute to slow down. things start to dip over towards "a" street. the rest of the maze will pay off with more traffic coming through the area. the flow has started towards the bay bridge toll plaza and told you about slowing headed towards the san mateo toll bridge. >> engineers in japan are scrambling this morning to try

to keep a nuclear reactor leak from growing. the water in the water fuel shortage pool for the damaged reactor appears to be boiling and that water needs to be keep cool to keep rods from resuming nuclear reactions. if it's not cooling down, a lot more to worry about. people within 19 miles of the power plant are being told to stay indoors. 70,000 people have left their homes and 140,000 are in the new warning zone. as the zone grows, people are fleeing south, some to tokyo, some even further. george kiriyama is in tokyo and we'll talk to him later this morning about the atmosphere there. >> meantime, the nuclear crisis in japan is causing fear and speculation about what would happen if the radiation reaches the west coast. experts right now say there is no need to worry unless the disaster gets much, much worse. the chair of the nuclear regulatory commission says there is a very low probability that harmful radiation levels will

reach hawaii or the west coast. experts say much of the radiation will be diluted by rains over the pacific ocean. however, the fear has led to a nationwide rush for potassium iodine which is supposed to protect thyroid glands. a store has sold 100 bottles of supplements containing iodine since friday and japan is selling tablets to people in the evacuation center that are near the damaged nuclear plant. >> rescue efforts continue near japan as well. earlier this morning a man was pulled from the rubble alive. he was missing for five days before rescue workers found him. can you see the amazing rescue was all caught on tape. officials say the number of people killed by the earthquake and tsunami is above 2,700 as rescue and cleanup efforts to continue, that number is expected to rise to more than 10,000. the biggest wore they morning is getting aid to all of the

survivors. there are food and blanket shortages. temperatures in the area are near freezing so people are doing everything they can just to try to keep warm. >> help for japan is pouring in from all around the world, and people in the bay area are doing what they can to pitch in as well. "today in the bay"'s bob ridded is here with a look. >> reporter: a special connection with japan and the bay area because we're an earthquake country here, you can see we have a shake house, an earthquake simulator and there are two japan towns, two out of three in united states are located here in the bay, one in san jose and the other in san francisco. hundreds of offers of help are being received to try to get money and supplies over to japan, so much so that the office is setting up a special website just to direct that relief effort. there's also several private groups that are trying to direct

relief efforts, organize relief overseas like the japanese cultural and community center also in san francisco which is directing money to non-profits in japan to help buy basic needs. there are long lines for food and water, as we've seen video of. there's basics like dipers that are nowhere to be found, blankets are in short supply and don't forget that region, you know, was devastated by the earthquake and is experiencing minus degree temperatures. this morning we spoke with a structural engineer who is in sendai, the area hardest hit by the quake and gave us a sense of how desperate things had. >> reporter: >> japan went through these type of disasters in the past. i'm sure if anyone can come strong, it will be japan, and i think they can do that, but they do need a lot of assistance though from many different countries. >> reporter: we're outside a hayward fire department, hayward

significant because of the threat posed by the hayward fault and a private company has brought out this shake simulator. coming up in 45 minutes we'll try to give you a visual sense of just how violent that quake was in japan. remember, that was an 8.9. this simulator only goes up to an 8. still, you'll be surprised how violent it is. reporting live here in hayward, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> hard to duplicate it. thanks, bob. a few lucky families have been able to make it out of island nation, if only for a short time. for this woman it was tears of sadness and relief. she says that she is relieved jen broad is allowing her and her doubters to live with them in the east bay until she feels safe enough to go home. she says people are really scared of more earthquakes and possible exposure to radiation from the nuclear power plant in japan. >> i guess it happened right when they left, the explosion,

so they are feeling that these two need to make sure that they are healthy and protect the. >> her husband had a ticket to come with his family but decided to stay in japan to help the government. the japan earthquake is being felt by bay area car dealers as well. companies like toyota and honda have suspended production for at least a week. that will impact the shipments of some of the most popular cars into the bay areas, like the prius and honda fit. dealerships are concerned about the supply of japanese vehicles which account for almost half of new car sales locally. and japan also does have a number of plants in north america. however, the majority of the parts that are needed are shipped from japan, so even the north american plants would be affected. >> 5:37 right now. also following an overnight shooting that put five people in the hospital this morning, and right now the search is on for two people who opened fire in the heart of san francisco's mission district. christie smith joins us right

now with an update. christie? >> reporter: good morning to you. this is a really violent shooting at a busy hour in the mission district. i spoke just briefly with a neighbor here who tells me he heard arguing inside the bar late last night and then he says in his words he heard a whole lot of gunfire. just look at the front door there. seven bullet holes. there are dozens of evidence markers out here. the rapid gunfire even took out the front door right next door. san francisco police say they are looking into whether this may be gang-related. they were called out to 16th and mission near the el tin tan bar on a report of multiple people shot. when they arrived just after 11:00, five people were hit. four of them had non-life-threatening injuries. one more seriously injured, hit multiple times, all of them taken to the hospital. there was a car seen leaving the area but it's unclear if that's actually tied to the shooting.

this is an ongoing investigation. police say there were at least two shooters involved and the one neighbor that i spoke with says he told police he saw them running down julian streets waving their guns right after the shooting. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much. meantime, taking a peek of the forecast with christina. just felt really warm yesterday afternoon. >> you know what. i'll take the warm showers over the cold showers any day. i don't know about you, but it is a good sign that we're transitioning into spring. the first official day of spring is monday and we're days away. not even a full week away. as you do see, we do have a pretty solid line of showers starting to move into the north day and getting ready to hit san francisco in the next 10 to 15 minute. once this moves in, a steady rain for at least half an hour and then off and on showers throughout the day but that's certainly enough to make the

roadways slick. take it easy out there. expecting a little bit of fog to develop in places where the rain clears the fastest. watching that for you. nothing major right now reported, but as we head throughout the morning i do think we'll see pretty dense pockets of fog throughout the area. mike inouye will be right along to let you know if those are interrupting your commute. in the 50s. 55 defreeze in napa and 55 in sunnyvale and not a bad day in terms of temperatures. won't need the heavy jacket because we're already in the 50s and will stay in the low 60s. let's get you to work on time right now with mike inouye. hey, mike. >> good morning, christina. you will be to work on time and no major delays out of the altimount pass. the middle 60s is portola avenue. east bend is the area that's affected so maybe the evening commute more than the morning commute. the exit is closed. you'll use airway boulevard as

your alternate from now until forever because that's the result of the isabelle interchange. eventually better for everybody but a little adjustment time needed. no problems approaching the san mateo bridge. fog not a factor yet but the north bay might get some visibility. >> thanks a lot, mike. >> time now 5:41. our coverage of the quake in japan continues. next, a live report from washington on how the federal government is reacting. plus, women at the center of the de anape seca, the woman at center of it. what she had to say in her testimony. ca

the instability of the nuclear reactor in japan is putting washington on edge this morning. tracie potts is live in washington despite wary lawmakers, the white house is still saying full speed ahead when it comes to pursuing nucleara5 power. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. for now the white house says this is something we need to continue to pursue.

it's a big part of the president's energy plan. he's asked power companies to produce 80% clean energy by 2035, nuclear power being a big part of that. the white house saying now for now we're moving forward but here on capitol hill some are concerned about that say that given what's going on in japan, the instability apparently of some of these reactors, how they are built, what they can withstand, we need to wait and see before we move forward with approving four new reactors later this year. they are all slated for approval, at least to begin the construction process by the nuclear regulatory commission this year. however, others here on capitol hill who say this is not the time to develop a reactionary policy. some companies have decided to scale back. germany, switzerland, thailand all looking at either suspending or putting some of their operations or approvals on hold or studying whether they should do so. also, the white house has put forward the chief of the nrc, nuclear regulatory commission,

to assure americans that our plants are safe. more than 100 of them in this country. however, he would not say whether they would withstand an earthquake as strong as what we saw in japan. that's now been upgraded to a 9.1. back to you, laura. >> amazing. thanks you very much, tracie. officials think that $40 million in damage was caused statewide in the tsunami. santa cruz harbor, 18 both sank and more than 100 damaged. ten still unaccounted for. the harbor is still closed and may stay that way for several more days. a 21-year-old rape victim told a jury yesterday that the alleged gang rape ruined every aspect of her life. remembers a party that took place at a home in san jose, nothing else afterwards exzemt september waking up at a

hospital. lawyers for the two men on trial will cross-examine her today. in 2007 criminal charges were dropped by the santa clara district attorney citing nearly everyone involved had been drinking. today is a deadline for teachers and administrators all around the state to get their pink slips. many districts have already cut music, librarians and counselors. some may cut the school year as well to make ends meet. others are closing campuses. hundreds of pink slips have gone out all across the bay area, but just because a teacher gets a pink slip does not guarantee that they are going to be fired or laid off. if the money is there, they could still have a job by the time the fall comes, but they won't know that for a couple more months. education leaders are not taking the cuts laying down. they are calling today red tuesday. there's going to be protests all over the bay area today, including in berlingame and oakland and the superintendent will be at the san bruno protest

this afternoon. >> 5:46 right now. let's see what the weather holds. let's check in with christina. >> kind of a gray week ahead. showers moving in and rain chances each and every day as we head throughout your workweek. as can you see right now, a pretty good batch of showers is pushing onshore. picked up a little bit of lightning. cry lightning strikes on our doppler radar this morning. you can see we have the realtime strikes just off the coast of santa rows az. came in, boomance, and went right back out. right now at the current time not seeing any of the activity but definitely warm enough out there. a lot of moisture out there and it's ripe for the possibility of isolated thunderstorms later on today. take a look at this batch of rain that right now is starting to push into san francisco. san francisco all along the peninsula, get red for pretty steady rain here starting up in about 15 minutes. looks like it will be continual lasting for maybe half an hour, hour, definitely enough to slow

down your commute. 54 degrees in nevada and 53 in san mateo. not a whole lot of warming but still the 60s. 36 degrees in fremont and 62 in san jose and 62 in redwood city. as we head throughout the remainder of the week as i pointed out at the top, rain chances each and every day but st. patrick's day, that looks like we'll see the driest day which is good news if you have to dress up like leprechauns like laura garcia-cannon. the giants play arizona tonight. coming off a tough loss to milwaukee. while the giants lost we heard matt cain looked pretty good. the cubs had the possible loss of closer andrew bailey. he spent the end of last season on the disabled list. during yesterday's game he appeared to re-injure his

surgically repaired elbow. he'll be headed to alabama to be evaluated by a doctor. >> not good. applications for london 2012 are on sale. they have some 6.6 million tickets up for sale. the chairman of the london organizing group says fans can take their time buying the tickets because all applications are going to be treated equally. will. >> you stand no greater statistical chance on march the 15th than you do at the end of the application. >> so take your time. tickets for the games range from just $32 all the way to $3,200, depending on what you get. time now is 5:49. ditch your lawn and get cash in return. which bay area county is offering that deal. >> keeping a close eye on japan. and california had its own nuclear accident once. we'll take a look back in

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is. good morning, everybody. a live look outside. 5:52. the east bay 880 moving fairly smoothly. a check in with mike in just a few. >> want to get paid to no mow your lawn? if you get rid of it all together, you could pocket up to $3,000. alameda county water district announced a plan to give rebates to homeowners who switch to more eco-friendly landscaping. helps to reduce the amount of water used on a typical home and lawn clippings dumped into area wheat fills. >> weeds are good. we want to check in with mike now and see what's going

out on the commute. >> i'll check in on that. i'm in alameda county and don't mow my lawn anyway. >> you're the guy. >> let's look over here. getting rid of some of the green on our maps. red and yellow throwing up in antioch. a slow spot heading over on highway 4. things okay in pittsburgh and concord, 680. the volume picks up coming off the carquinez bridge. fog and no major issues down off of the bridges. down to the bay bridge, 18-minute travel time holding up. no major slowing through berkeley. volume starting to increase. toll plaza area, a little slowing for the cash lanes as folks approach indicating more folks heading through the area, and we're looking at half an hour for a tuesday turnaround for the metering life. further to the south, alternate to the bay bridge is the san mateo bridge. an easy drive to the peninsula. christina is talking about rain

coming across the peninsula. travel times, speeds will start to deep as the rain moves through this morning. back to you guys. >> a disaster drill will take place in indonesia today and experts from japan are hosting it. they will attend the drill despite the massive devastation back home. however, half of the 300 members from japan did leave early to help with recovery efforts. several patients and ships had to leave the drill as well. 3,500 people from 27 nations will take part in that drill which runs through sunday, so still important to still educate people and learn the best we can, but they are going to have to go home so many of them to help. nuclear engineers in japan work furiously to step a meltdown there, scott mcgrew reminds us california had its own meltdown once. >> that's right. two operational nuclear plants, laura in, california. both are down south. a total of seven though nuclear facilities in california may

have driven past the val cidos nuclear power plant. hasn't provided power in 40 years. still has fuel on site and the one that interests us though is this one. california's very first nuclear power plant. in fact, the very first american nuclear power plant in simi valley. the santa suzanna plant suffered a meltdown. there were several fires. at one point they released radioactive gas. the suzanna plant has been shut down for decades. we're getting word out of europe this morning that germany is shutting down most of its nuclear power plants to run a review and the union union in general, laura, taking a look at nuclear power as we just watch japan and all of the problems they have having in their plants there. >> all right. thanks a lot, scott. it is 5:55 right now. a federal court will hear arguments today on whether san

francisco's right choice voting system is constitutional. right choice lets the public mark their first, second and third picks in a series of elimination rounds takes place to find the winners. both sides of the issue will state their case to the ninth circuit court of appeals. a group of voters led by a former district supervisor says the system sun fair. they say it's a series of small runoff elections. backers of the system says it saves the city money and stream lines the voting process. >> a palo alto environmental group wants to bring green energy to the city and they do have enough signatures to place an initiative on the ballot in november. a local landfill that is scheduled to be closed this year could become the site of a plant that converts organic waste into energy. however, some people don't like the idea. they say that that landfill was originally planned to be converted into a park. a minor league hockey team in central california hosted an unusual promotional event. they had a charlie sheen day. if you bring in a clean drug

test, you get in for free. >> really bizarre. the bakersfield condoriss, an affiliate of the minnesota wild of the nhl, hosted the event on saturday night. bring proof of a clean drug test, as brent mentioned and get in free or even drugs like one of charmy's tv or movie characters like that cute little boy. he can do it very well, and you get in for just 2.50. >> went really well. it was epic, epic. >> winning. >> winning, yeah. as a matter of fact, they did win. condors won. coming up, we'll check back in with "today in the bay's" george kiriamo who is live in tokyo this morning. >> and a look outside of the beautiful bay bridge. rain in a out on the last full week of winter. we'll check the forecast with christina. ♪ that airline is gonna nail that frequent flyer with restrictions

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