bay" a suspected serial killer goes to court in marin county today. >> reporter: the waiting is over. this morning san francisco is expected to get a new police chief. he's got 30 years with the department and not without some controversy. i'm christie smith. i'll have that story coming up. >> reporter: and i'm bob redell talking to people about the identity crisis that continues for a popular venue here in the east bay. what they want to now call the oakland coliseum. we'll have that coming up. and you're looking at a live picture of the golden gate bridge as the sun comes up. it's wednesday, april 27th. it's 6:00. it's "today in the bay." good morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. i'm scott mcgrew. >> and i'm marla tellez. both brent and laura are off today. >> let's get your day going with an hour-by-hour forecast as

christina loren joins us with a fantastic forecast just ahead. >> that picture behind you is fantastic. good morning to you. yeah, we've got clear conditions, especially if you live in the city and you're used to waking up with fog at this time. it is gorgeous, crystal clear out there. our temperatures are relatively mild. you don't need that jacket in places like oakland if you're tough and hayward at 51 degrees. 43 out in gilroy and 46 in fairfield. overall, though, running 5 to 7 degrees warmer this morning than we were at this time yesterday and that's going to make for a warmer afternoon. our temps are headed for the 70s. i'll let you know what's to come. we do have a little bit of a change for you tomorrow. any broken down vehicles slowing you down out there? >> none reported from chp. that's good news for vehicle drivers as well as folks trying to pass anything on the roadway but you do have some slowing. this is westbound 580. looking at slowdowns coming out of the altamont pass in your commute direction but a lighter

direction. it is a wednesday and a vacation week for a lot of schools in the area. we'll look at the nimitz freeway past the oakland coliseum. a smooth drive both directions for the nimitz. we'll follow that as well and send it back to you. we have a developing story for you this morning. president obama we have learned will name the current cia director as the new secretary of defense. leon panetta, a graduate of santa clara university, will replace robert gates in the post. panetta was born in monterey. he calls carmel valley home. already confirmed cabinet official who has strong ties to the white house and capitol hill. now, general david petraeus is going to replace panetta, we hear, as the head of the cia. president obama will hold a press conference later this morning to talk about these appointments. that will come up at 6:45. a 30-year veteran of the san francisco police department is set to be named chief today. now, he is well liked amongst the rank and file but he has a

checkered past with the department. christie smith is live in san francisco with more on today's announcement. >> reporter: good morning, martha. yeah, he's got 30 years in the san francisco police department, and from the sound of it, captain greg suhr has done it all. he's ran two of the city's toughest stations. he's also handled riots here in the city, but there was even an indictment for allegedly conspiring to obstruct justice. now, we'll get back to that in a minute. but captain suhr is 52 years old. the rank and file, as you said, they like him, they respect him. he's got the backing of attorney general kamala harris and the powerful police officers association. homicides in the city's high crime bayview district dropped about 50% while he was in charge. he's managed a number of protests and riots, including some in the mission, certainly not an easy job in a city like san francisco, but he was also tied to that infamous story,

fajita-gate, that didn't go away. he was one of the command staff indicted for allegedly conspiring to obstruct the investigation where off duty cops allegedly beat up two men over their take-out food order. a judge ultimately threw it out, though, as baseless. the former chief also demoted him for allegedly not following proper timeline procedures in filing a domestic violence report. but looking forward, mayor lee says he's got a big challenge in front of him. certainly we're looking at the department's allegations of improper drug searches. there are budget cuts ahead. but the mayor says that he believes that suhr is up for it. he's expected to be sworn in this morning at city hall at 11:00 a.m. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." san jose stands to lose dozens of police officers because of budget cuts. the city says it needs to layoff 100 police officers and demote 20 others to help balance that

budget. the officers are part of more than 600 city kbhoiemployees wh jobs are in jeopardy. if the police union agrees to a 10% pay cut, some of those jobs could be saved. the firefighters union has a similar pay cut, but still stands to lose 20 firefighters. this morning a man suspected of killing four women decades ago could enter a plea in a marin county courtroom. 77-year-old joseph naso is accused of killing two women in the late 70s and two more in the '90s. all four women had first and last names that started with the same letters. the bay area news group reports investigators are fanning out across the country to see if naso had anything to do with other cold cases involving missing women. naso was arrested at his home in reno earlier this month. 6:05. one of the two men on trial for a triple murder will be under scrutiny when testimony resumes

this morning. yusef bey iv confronted the judge yesterday. he was upset on the rule on the admissibility of part of a taped statement his former girlfriend gave to police back in 2007. in it she seems to confirm bey wanted chauncey bailey dead. it was also revealed the co-defendant, antwan mackey, was found at the scene of another murder. bey and mackey face murder charges in the deaths of bailey and two other men back in 2007. attorneys will meet today to talk about a possible retrial in the sanity phase of the alexander ushock trial. he walked into a hillsdale campus in 2009 armed with pipe bombs, chain saw and a sword. he tried to kill a former teacher and detonated a couple of bombs before he was subdued. jurors were unable to decide if he was sane at the time of the attack. the district attorney must now

decide if he wants a new trial to determine his sanity. the driver responsible for a deadly pile-up outside an east bay high school is entering a plea deal. lawyers for 42-year-old david caspillo say he was in the middle of a manic bipolar episode when he crashed into a row of cars in lafayette back in 2007 killing 55-year-old dale zenner. prosecutors say he was going between 50 and 70 miles an hour and did not attempt to swerve or even stop. he initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but is now pleading no contest. he faces a year in county jail plus two years probation. livermore police are warning female joggers to be extra careful this morning. since 2007 there have been six reports of a man who approached runners from behind and then pulled down their pants before taking off. the attacks happened at different times on various days at patterson pass road and

holmes street. in most cases the women were listening to music so they were taken off guard by the man. investigators do not have a detailed description of the suspect because of the fact that he surprises his victims and then runs away. big news for bay area sports. the a's and the raiders are getting a brand new stadium name. bob redell is near what may be soon named the overstock.com coliseum. >> reporter: they are willing reportedly to pay $1.2 million a year for the naming rights of the oakland coliseum. approval expected sometime today to make it official. not exactly clear then when the official name change would take place, but you know the oakland coliseum, if you've been in the bay area a while, you're well aware that it's been going through an identity crisis the past several years. it used to be network associates, then it went to mcafee coliseum. then a few years ago back to

oakland alameda county coliseum and now word from the "bay citizen" reporting that it would go to overstock.com. $1.2 million a year, half of that going to the raiders, the other half going to the stadium authority. if you're sitting there and you're a huge a's or raiders fan and you're grimacing, you're smirking, you're frowning, you're going come on, not again. at least oakland is not, there you go, jobing.com arena outside phoenix, how about the bagley field at dowdy-ficklen stadium in greenville. superpages.com center in dallas, national car rental center in florida. that's original. how about the amway center in orlando. and so overstock.com apparently coming to the oakland coliseum here and oakland -- i'm just getting breaking news, you're not going to believe it. don't get used to that yet, i know you probably already are. but there is word that overstock.com is changing their

name online to o.co. the letter o dot c-o so it could soon be known as the o.co. rolls off the tongue. it doesn't make sense but definitely rolls off the tongue. we've been talking to people buying coffee here in oakland all morning long and a lot of people -- well, it's not the biggest issue concerning everything going on in our world today but they're just kind of like, you know, i don't care. just how about we get them a new infrastructure and new stadium itself and forget the name. >> bob, makes total sense to me. >> and win games. >> keep the a's in town, win, better coliseum, then the name. decided. next order of business. >> weather. 6:10. >> let's just drop that dot right now. you know people are going to call it the oco if that happens. we are looking oh, so clear this morning. it's gorgeous out there. i really enjoy weather like this, i bet you do too.

high pressure is moving in. this afternoon you can give the ac a break, give the heater a break, it's going to be absolutely perfect. just open up those windows and let your house air out. tomorrow a little bit windy. low pressure will drop into the area and that will tighten up the pressure gradient and create some pretty gusty winds. also something we're concerned about, your pollen levels. here's the forecast for you from pollen.com. wednesday we are in the medium, medium high range. that count is going to go up. our levels will be higher as we head into the weekend. if you are someone who suffers from allergies, keep the allegra and claritin handy because the numbers will be creeping up. it's cool this morning but not all that bad. 51 in oakland, 45 in sunny veil and 45 in santa cruz. if you're on spring break today, santa cruz will be absolutely lovely. 60 in oakland. at 5:00 p.m. tonight temperatures are going to be very, very comfortable. 71 for livermore, 72 in gilroy. take a look at where we're

headed as we head through the coming days. temperatures continue to climb. 78 by friday. some of the warmer spots in the bay area will touch on the 80s and then text week monday into tuesday, temperatures hovering around that 80-degree mark, maybe even some 90s next week. so get ready for a warm-up, mike inouye. how are they driving out there? >> well, if this were a thermometer you'd be seeing the red because of the temperatures but the red here is because speeds are below 20 miles an hour westbound highway 4 heading through antioch. that's a typical pattern, typical spot for the slowing and it's not as pad through pittsburg and bay point. a smooth flow out of the altamont pass as well. 15-minute drive registering westbound 580, that's your commute direction, and a lighter flow through livermore because of spring breaks in many spots around the bay area continuing this week. looking at the east shore freeway. the bay bridge toll plaza with light backup for one of the cash lanes. looks like one is not open.

we'll follow that as well as the north bay with things moving smoothly but slowing around lincoln avenue. back to you. 6:12 now. still to come on "today in the bay" more security on some bay area trains today. we'll explain why. and the owner of the giants' big ets rival heads to new york ue make his case for major ebleas bl.alaga live report from l.a. coming up next. looking at a live

picture of the golden gate bridge. we'll check in with mike in just a moment. dodgers owner frank mccourt goes to new york after hoolosin his team. he's off to make his case to major league baseball. john cadiz klemack is live to tell us what's on his agenda today. >> reporter: good morning to you.

this morning we're going to wait to see to find out what happens in new york as frank mccourt makes it way over there. he's going to have some pretty heated exchanges perhaps with major league baseball executives. not going to be there is bud selig, the commissioner of baseball. it's possible depending on how this meeting goes, frank mccourt may end up suing bud selig over what's happened. it was last week when they appointed a monitor basically over the dodgers to take care of the daily dealings. that is thomas schieffer, a former texas rangers guy. he is going to be in los angeles today making his first public appearance to talk about his plans as to what's going to happen with the dodgers and what it's going to be like under his helm. it's also possible he may talk about whether or not frank mccourt will have a role in this new game here at los angeles at dodgers stadium. but the big news of course today is what's going to happen to new york, this meeting with major league baseball executives. frank mccourt hoping he can show a new deal with fox sports will be able to prove that he is financially stable to head the team. it remains to be seen though. that's the latest from dodgers

stadium, i'm john cadiz klemack, back to you. this morning amtrak stepping up security on its trains in the east bay. police officers and city leaders will ride an amtrak train today at 10:00 looking for pedestrians trespassing on the tracks and cars illegally driving through rail crossings. amtrak also recently announced it will recruit riders to keep an eye out for suspicious activity as part of a new program called partners for amtrak safety and security. it is never too early to talk ice cream. baskin robbins wants you to support firefighters by having a scoop of its ice cream. it's holding the fifth annual 31-cent scoop night, which starts tonight at 5:00. the nationwide event is being held in support of the national fallen firefighters federation. as the name suggests, each scoop of ice cream will only cost you 31 cents. baskin robbins will make a donation of $100,000 to that

foundation. the offer will not last long, it ends tonight at 10:00. five hours to get that ice cream. >> and perfect weather for ice cream. it's going to be warm and fantastic. christina joins us with weather. >> you're not going to do the joke where you scream and i scream and then we all scream for? come on, guys! i know it's wednesday. scott mcgrew, never does things like the rest of us. we're looking pretty good today. all of us will enjoy clear skies to start. a few clouds pushing in a little later on today but mostly sunny overall. then the warm-up kicks into high gear the next couple of days. high pressure in control, low pressure to our north. we will see some high, cirrus clouds move through that ridge. our temperatures are going to be on the mild side. 51 in hayward, 51 in oakland, turning over to the 70s. i don't think san francisco will see the 70s just yet. i think you'll have to wait until tomorrow, maybe even

friday. but 68 degrees not too shabby for today and a lot of sunshine expected in the city. 73 in los gatos, 70 in fremont and 70 in concord. livermore today, 71 degrees. here is your futurecast. you can see here clear conditions over the bay area all the way through friday. we're not going to see any sort of rain, any sort of significant cloud cover even all the way through friday so a lot of sunshine, very little in terms of the fog that we're expecting. that marine layer is being pushed way out to sea so the clear conditions are going to make for some gorgeous days. 78 on friday, 75 for saturday. and i know marla and myself have been waiting to wear those open-toe shoes, girl. we're going to get our chance this week and next week. back to you. >> i have mine on, of course. >> wing tips again. the time is 6:19. coming up on "tech today" sony says hackers may have gotten a look at info for millions of network users. and then how about some more open-toed shoes plus some guys will slip into high heels for a

good cause today. scott, you could join the walk. >> oh, sure. but no need to walk for 880 this morning. unusually green because unusually light. we'll follow where there are backups for your morning commute because you can't outot some ofw without some of those.

welcome back. if you're just getting ready to head out the door, you want to know how the roads look.

let's heck in with mike. >> we're looking pretty nice right now. a little lighter because of spring breaks through many parts of the bay area. we'll show you the toll plaza itself. we to have backups in basically all the cash lanes as well as fastrak lanes building evenly, which is an unusual pattern. chp has not updated saying they do have the metering lights on -- here, we go. refresh. metering lights are now on. that's the reason for the backup. the pattern a little different than we typically see. approaching the toll plaza we see travel times and speeds really nice, you're close to the minimums. the east shore freeway an 18-minute drive. no delays coming out of the caldecott tunnel. it's right there at the toll plaza with the backup. as you're coming through the rest of the commute, some other spots. the peninsula, we just have slowing 101 into san francisco just north of 280. but 101 and 280 moving smoothly through san mateo. all that construction overnight has cleared up from both directions of highway 84 without

delay. the south bay looking really nice, although a blip or two for 280, 87 and 101 right around that 680 hf 280 interchange because we're getting close to that time where volume starts to bump up in the south bay. it's a nice day to take a stroll and today it's the only mile-long walk in the south bay where you don't need tennis shoes to participate. hundreds of people are expected to strap on high heels today for the annual walk a mile in her shoes event happening in downtown san jose. women and men will get together at 5:00 at plaza de cesar chavez and walk to call attention to sexual assault awareness month. proceeds support the wyca's rape crisis center. in the state capitol today lawmakers will ditch their suits and put on jeans. another event that calls attention to sexual violence. several lawmakers will participate at the annual rally on the west steps of the capitol

building. they're going to be wearing denim to call attention to a court ruling from back in 1999 when the italian supreme court overturned a rape conviction because the victim was wearing tight jeans, which according to the court made it consensual sex rather than rape. well, sony is sending out e-mails warning a staggering 70 million people their personal information may have been exposed to hackers. scott joins us now with the secrets that may have been given away. >> yeah, that's the interesting question. it's not completely clear what secrets were given away. not even sony can say for sure. it could be names, e-mails, possibly credit card numbers. this comes as sony's network enters its eighth day of outages. they say they are the victim of a hacker attack. it's knocked gamers off line but also people that watch movies or listen to music. the company is going to keep the network offline until it can

secure it. sony's service is generally free so there are far fewer credit card numbers in that system than there are in the xbox live network or apple itunes. it is a good reminder that you can secure your own computer all you want with anti-virus software or fire walls. your personal information is mostly contained outside your personal sphere. it's in places like sony, xbox, netflix and amazon.com. reports say youtube will expand its offering of rental movies. this is a look at the current offerings on youtube. lots of people don't even realize this page exists. youtube has reportedly signed a deal with universal, which is part of this tv station's parent company along with warn brothers. it hasn't picked up disney. >> how much does it cost to rent? >> it's competitive. from $1.99 up to $4.99 but

renting movies online and streaming them to your tv set are growing in popularity. 6:26. palo alto is going to spend a whole lot of money to check gas pipelines. and san francisco' choice for a new police chief is revealed. we'll look at the highs and lows of his career coming up in a live report. >> reporter: and i'm bob redell. what's in a name? well, apparently not oakland coliseum, not for much longer. we'll find out what you think about the name change coming to this popular venue here in the east bay. that story coming up.

coming up on "today in the bay" pg&e finds its records are wrong about miles and miles of gas pipelines. >> reporter: identity crisis here in the east bay. what they now want to call the oakland coliseum. i'm bob redell. we'll have that story coming up. and a beautiful shot of the golden gate bridge as the sun rises on this wednesday, april 27th. this is "today in the bay."

good morning to you. thank you for watching. it is 6:30 right now. i'm marla tellez. oh, we got some serious camera action going on in the studio. if you could only see behind the scenes. brent and laura are off today. scott mcgrew will be back in just a few minutes. he's on the radio right now with knbr. we begin with a look at your beautiful forecast, christina. >> good thing we have a traffic reporter in house who can tell us how thee collisions happen. 45 degrees in napa, 51 in oakland and 45 in sunnyvale. a cool start, grab a jacket on your way out that front door but, hey, you can give your ac a break today. we are headed towards perfect temperatureses. i've got your complete forecast on the way. let's get you to work right now. what's happening outside of the studio, mike? >> you know, first we'll talk about inside the studio, a

little finer fender-bender between cameras 1 and 2. 580 we have a nice flow of traffic coming

this morning san francisco police are reportedly ready to name a new chief known for cracking down on crime in the city's toughest districts. but the new chief's name is also linked to a few department scandals. christie smith is live in san francisco this morning with a look at the new chief and his rise to the top. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, marla. yeah, his name is captain greg suhr and he certainly has a long resume here in san francisco. started as a patrol officer 30 years ago, moved his way up and handles riots, handled two of the department's toughest stations. even climbed kilimanjaro on behalf of a fellow fallen officer. suhr is 52 years old, ran the bayview station where homicides dropped about 50% under his watch. he's handled protests and riots. he's got strong backing from the

state attorney general and the police officers association, but of course there's also controversy. the chronicle reports an indictment for allegedly conspiring to obstruct justice in the fajita-gate scandal where off-duty cops were accused of beating up some guys over their take-out order. but that was ultimately thrown out. mayor ed lee, though, says he's watched him up close and was very impressed with what he saw. and here's something different. also in 2005 he was part of a group making the 19,000-foot climb to kilimanjaro on behalf of officer isaac espinoza killed in the line of duty here in san francisco. looking forward, though, suhr has some big challenges. the department still recovering from charges of improper drug searches. budget cuts could mean laying off officers. he also may have to trim some administration. but looking forward, mayor ed lee says he's very confident in him and considers him a very good leader for the police department.

he's expected to be sworn in here at city hall at 10:00 this morning. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." 6:33 right now. the city of palo alto says it plans to spend millions of dollars to search for potentially dangerous gas lines. in june city staffers will ask the city council to sign off on spending $3.8 million to inspect the pipes near homes and businesses. now, what they're concerned about is something called a cross bore. that's where the gas line intersects the sewer line. city of staffers say funding will come out of the gas funds and customers won't be affected. they have found 34 miles of pipeline that have been falsely rr reported as seamless. false records are in the middle of an investigation regarding the deadly explosion in san bruno. records exploded that pipeline as seamless when actually it had welds. one of the welds was at the rupture point in the explosion.

the tl34 miles of pipeline are among the 152 miles that will be tested over the next year to try to uncover those weld problems. san francisco is giving people a chance to voice their concerns over the budget. this is happening tonight. mayor ed lee and supervisor eric marr will host a town hall meeting at 6:30 tonight. they will answer questions about the city' budget deficit and how this fix things. tonight's meeting is at the richmond recreation center and it's also streamed live on sfgovtv.org. the oakland coliseum is going through another identity crisis. bob redell is near the venue, which is going to have another name change. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning to you, scott. we're just trying to talk to people coming to get their coffee about what they think of the oakland coliseum being changed again to overstock.com coliseum. this is expected to be approved today, according to "bay citi n

citizen." if it is approved. the online retail will be paying $1.2 million a year. half of it going to the raiders, the other half going to the stadium authority for the naming rights of the oakland coliseum. we're saying they're being changed again because over the past decade or so it used to be network associates coliseum, then mcafee coliseum and a few years ago went back to the oakland alameda county coliseum. if you're an a's or raiders fan and thinking, boy, not again, well, at least oakland is not the raleigh entertainment and sports arena there in north carolina. that's a real original one. energy solutions center in salt lake city. excuse me, sir, are you an a's or raiders fan? he's not even a fan. what are you doing in oakland? quicken loans arena in cleveland, the ipayone center. and here's the newsroom favorite, the jobing.com arena just outside phoenix. sir, did you hear what they're doing to the oakland coliseum?

>> changing the name? >> reporter: changing the name. do you know what they're changing it to? >> i heard and i already forgot it. >> reporter: overstock.com. >> go figure. >> reporter: they have had network associates, mcafee -- >> i'm traveling from los angeles so it probably doesn't matter much to me. >> reporter: well, you guys gave us the team back so thanks. >> at some point. >> reporter: well, best of luck to you. did you hear they're changing the name of the coliseum to overstock.com coliseum. >> i heard that. >> reporter: do you care? are you a big a's or raiders fan? >> i like the a', yeah. >> reporter: are you tired of the name changes? it's the fourth name change in just over a decade. >> that's kind of expected, right? >> reporter: if they could just get a new stadium, right? there you go. by the way, overstock.com, this is no joke, they are getting ready to change their name to o.co. the letter o dot c-o. if that goes through,

overstock.com coliseum. get ready, it could be changing again to the o.co. >> i think it's a good idea if you get the people on their way out of starbucks, once they have had their caffeine so they're a little more lively. >> i'm just amazed with starbucks' patience with you. name change once again in oakland. let's check in with christina loren. >> good morning. i bet you that that starbucks as well as many starbucks across the bay area are hopping this morning because it's so nice out there. it's always easier to take care of those last-minute tasks when it's nice out. mostly clear, mostly sunny later on today. warm and dry this weekend. great beach weather. if you have the opportunity to hit santa cruz in particular, it's going to be really nice out there. enclosure conditions this morning, but we are going to see some clouds come through today. let's go ahead and put that in motion for you right now. as you can see by 1:00 p.m., some high cirrus clouds will move over the bay area but they're not going to hang around

long. once they clear out of here, by 5:00 a.m. the clock continues but the clouds stop coming. all the way until saturday morning mostly clear conditions so a beautiful day on tap today. temperatures in the 70s as high pressure really warms us up. a little windy tomorrow, but here are your numbers for today. 69 in oakland and 72 degrees in santa cruz. let's check your traffic with mike inouye. well, take a look at the maze. the metering lights are on but further north let me zoom into an accident just reported. now, the accident in the chp report says it's westbound 80 at cutting boulevard but i think it's a little before you get there so i'll say near cutting boulevard because there is slowdown approaching san pablo avenue. so we do have an accident involving four cars. two of them are moved to the shoulder. no injuries reported. but one car is still wedged with his bumper underneath another car. that's in your second lane and will be a big slowdown. we'll end with the bay bridge

toll plaza. the sun is in your eyes getting off the lower deck. just about 6:40 now. coming up, a guy who has yet to get a hit in the big leagues is already a hero for the giants. and this guy will be at the royal wedding on friday. find out who he is and why a lot of people will be keeping their eye on him. westminster abbey is now closed until the wedding. see what's being done to get it ready for the big day coming up in a live report from waington. on san francisco. a place with natural beauty and a forward-thinking spirit. at bank of america, we've been fueling economic growth here for over a century. today, we're investing in innovations that will define our future. every day, we're working to help set opportunity in motion. from financing a solar project for the milpitas school district to funding the institute at golden gate. because when you're giving, lending, and investing in more communities across the country, more opportunities happen.

welcome back. it's 6:42 now. in just days the who's who of british society flaux to westminster abbey for the wedding of the century. >> but this morning all the king's men got their marching orders at a dress rehearsal that lasted until dawn. tracie potts is live in london. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: hey, guys, good morning, everyone. it was very early this morning, but that did not stop people from lining up along the processional route watching this predawn full dress rehearsal by members of the military. also today, they're sprucing up the grounds here at buckingham palace. we've seen them working in the gardens and do all sorts of things making sure everything is perfect on friday. over at westminster abbey where the service will take place, lots of flowers and plants and trees being delivered today. it is now closed to visitors officially until after the

service, but we do understand that prince william and kate middleton are or will be in town today at some foint their own rehearsals. they are separating temporarily before the wedding. he'll be at his official residence and she will be with her family and later here at the hotel where she and her family and the wedding party will be before the ceremony on friday. back to you in the studio. >> thank you much. royal fans don't have to get out early to enjoy the festivities, they can do it from the comfort of their own home. the "today" show will have a special royal wedding coverage that starts at 1:00 friday morning and we'll have cut-ins starting at 4:00 and local news at 6:00. what wedding would be complete without a wild card at the reception. and, boy, does the royal wedding have one, believe it or not. meet kate middleton's uncle gary. he is on the guest list. gary goldsmith is the brother of kate's mom.

it may be hard to tell from this picture but he is a self-made millionaire. i'm not sure what's going on with him an his belly. he was caught in a scandal in 2009 when a tabloid showed him with cocaine. betting sites have uncle gary as the odds-on favorite to embarrass himself at the reception. >> everybody has an uncle gary. the giants will start a winning streak now that they have ended their losing streak. today's game in pittsburgh starts at 4:00. darren ford, a rookie who's still looking for his first big league hit, but he had a big night against the giants last night scoring on a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the eighth. the game went into extra innings and in the tenth ford really showed off this speed. the pirates second baseman throws to first. ford will race home to give the giants the lead. zoom! brian wilson came on to get the save. giants win 3-2. the a's, meanwhile, are in desperate need of runs but they

may have to get him without coco crisp. he's doubtful for today with a sore leg. oakland trying to avoid a sweep in anaheim. they lost yesterday 8-3. on the mound for the a's today, oakland native tyson ross. we're going to go to a special report out of washington right now. we are awaiting a statement from president obama from the white house in just a couple of minutes from now. the president is expected to address the so-called birther issue that first erupted during the 2008 presidential campaign. in response to questions about where president obama was born, just this morning the white house released a long form copy of the president's birth certificate. this also comes on a morning when we learned word the white house is going to announce a major shakeup to the nation's top military and intelligent posts. let's bring in nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd. chuck, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> on the birth certificate issue, the white house has wanted to not talk about this issue for a long time, not wanting to give it credibility.

there was some speculation they actually liked to talk about it because it put these people out on the extreme right. why are they discussing it so openly and in such a high profile way this morning? >> matt, if you look at recent polls, the recent uptick in conversation about the president's birth certificate led mostly by donald trump has risen the number of republicans, and this is only among republicans, who somehow have questions about where the president was born to record highs. at this point according to a white house briefing this morning that was off camera, they felt the need that they had to put to rest this conspiracy theory. it's an extraordinary moment, kind of shocking snd surreal. even everybody -- the conversation and chatter here in the pressroom, people are scratching their heads because this statement by the president is going to be about the birth certificate. it's not about these changes. the changes, the announcement about the new defense secretary, leon panetta and new head of the cia, david petraeus, that's still going to come today. so today's statement by the

president is solely on the release of now his long form birth certificate. surreal. >> the president has called this issue a distraction. as you just point out with this major news coming in the defense department and the cia, here we are talking about something that is a distraction to those key issues and to so many other issues that are facing this country. donald trump is in new hampshire this morning. chuck, i see the president behind you. let's listen to what he has to say. >> now, let me just comment, first of all, on the fact that i can't get the networks to break in on all kinds of other discussions. i was just back there listening to chuck. he was saying it's amazing that he's not going to be talking about national security. i would not have the networks breaking in if i was talking about that, chuck, and you know it. as many of you have been briefed, we provided additional

information today about the site of my birth. now, this issue has been going on for two, two and a half years now. i think it started during the campaign. and i have to say that over the last two and a half years, i have watched with be musement, i've been puzzled at the degree to which this thing just kept on going. we've had every official in hawaii, democrat and republican, every news outlet that has investigated this confirm that, yes, in fact i was born in hawaii august 4th, 1961. we've posted the certification that is given by the state of hawaii on the internet for everybody to see. people have provided affidavits

that they in fact have seen this birth certificate and yet this thing just keeps on going. now, normally i would not comment on something like this because, obviously, there's a lot of stuff swirling in the press at any given day and, you know, i've got other things to do. but two weeks ago when the republican house had put forward a budget that will have huge consequences potentially to the country and when i gave a speech about my budget and how i felt that we needed to invest in education and infrastructure and making sure that we had a strong safety net for our seniors, even as we were closing the deficit, during that entire week the dominant news story wasn't about these huge monumental choices that we're going to have to make as a nation, it was about my

birth certificate, and that was true on most of the news outlets that are represented here. and so i just want to make a larger point here. we've got some enormous challenges out there. there are a lot of folks out there who are still looking for work. everybody is still suffering under high gas prices. we're going to have to make a series of very difficult decisions about how we invest in our future but also get ahold of our deficit and our debt. how do we do that in a balanced way. and this is going to generate huge and serious debates, important debates, and there are going to be some fierce disagreements, and that's good. that's how democracy is supposed to work. and i am confident that the american people and america's political leaders can come together in a bipartisan way and

solve these problems. we always have. but we're not going to be able to do it if we are distracted. we're not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other. we're not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. we're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers. we live in a serious time right now and we have the potential to deal with the issues that we confront that a way that will make our kids and our grandkids and great grandkids proud. and i have every confidence that america in the 21st century is going to be able to come out on top just like we always have,

but we're going to have to get serious to do it. now, i know that there's going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out this issue will not be put to rest. but i'm speaking to the vast majority of the american people as well as to the press. we do not have time for this kind of silliness. we've got better stuff to do. i've got better stuff to do. we've got big problems to solve and i'm confident we can solve them but we're going to have to focus on them, not on this. thanks very much, everybody. >> the president at the white house this morning in the press briefing room taking on the issue of his citizenship in an extraordinary moment saying that we've got lots of big problems to face in this country, we don't need distractions to these real problems, we can't solve them if we're dealing with sideshows and carnival barkers.

i believe that we've got chuck todd. chuck, are you still with me there at the white house? >> reporter: yes, sir. >> first of all, you got called out at the beginning. it's extraordinary what we just watched. >> reporter: you know, somebody was joking around here, it's almost like out of the episode of the "west wing" that you expect this in a fictionalized drama that you get to the point where the president felt he had to do this, but the problem was he brought up some important points, particularly among republicans, when more than half of republicans said they had questions about the president's citizenship, it made it so that it was becoming a distraction. he brought up the fact that, you know, yes, it may be -- he was blaming the media but this also has a lot to do with the fact that you had a lot of republican leaders or unofficial leaders talking about it to the point he couldn't talk about the budget. >> chuck todd at the white house. david gregory is also joining us from washington. david, donald trump in new hampshire today taking credit for this saying i'm glad i could play such a major role in

getting this information out there. what's your reaction? >> reporter: it's an incredible split screen. the president inside the white house using the backdrop of the white house to insist he was born in the united states and donald trump talking about how he played a role in getting this on there, all of this in the middle of what we're facing right now. >> david gregory, chuck todd, thank you very much. more information on this all day long on msnbc. we'll see you later, i'm matt lauer. this has been an nbc news special report. >> and we return back at 6:55. the president of the united states once again sort of playing the role of grownup. >> absolutely. >> in all of this. the president of the united states born in the united states. let's not repeat it from here on out and move on with weather. good morning. >> good morning to you. we have a beautiful day ahead of us. no matter where you're headed, you're going to find clear conditions. mostly sunny later on today, really nice. by this weekend our temperatures will be absolutely perfect. high pressure holding strong for a gorgeous weekend. you can make those beach plans

right now. right now we're looking pretty distingui good. we'll see some clouds throughout the day. low pressure sitting just to our north. that will drive some of those high, cirrus clouds through so filtered sunshine at times but the bigger component will be the winds we're expecting tomorrow. wind will pick up tomorrow and our pollen levels will creep up the latter part of the week and weekend. saturday medium high levels. and your predominant offenders are grasses and chenopods. 51 degrees in hayward, 51 in oakland and 45 in santa cruz. turning over to the 70s. room temperature weather for us today. 70 degrees in fremont, 70 in livermore today and 71 degrees in napa. this weekend is going to be perfect. i know there's a big festival in livermore this weekend. if you can get out there, it's going to be absolutely gorgeous weather. make sure you bring the sunscreen, though. we will see our spf levels definitely on the rise. 78 degrees for friday, 75 for saturday, a little warmer on

monday. let's check your drive with mike inouye. >> i'll be out in livermore so come on out. looking at the south bay, trying out for one of your best commutes in the area. we're zooming into northbound 87. there's an accident around taylor and slowing for 87 as well as 101. a backup on the east shore freeway, the upper portion out of hercules and in towards san pablo. an earlier accident around cutting boulevard has cleared. smooth through berkeley and emeryville. there's a 27-minute drive but it should start clearing up. the san mateo bridge because the bay bridge toll plaza is a very easy drive. we'll just -- there you go. beautiful view over to the peninsula where there are no delays. we'll send it over to you with that nice, beautiful look across the bay. the other news out of the white house this morning, president obama is going to be appointing cia director leon panetta as the new secretary of defense. i'm sure the "today" show will cover both. that's coming up next. thanks for joining us. >> have a great day, everybody. i am a sneeze whisperer.

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