new this morning, here we go. the early returns are already in. details coming up. controversial issues on the ballots across the u.s., including three states considering a plan to legalize same-sex marriage. here at home, a number of issues face california voters, including how to fund public education. here in california we are a few hours away from the polls opening. this is a live look at cincinnati, ohio. a very important swing state. they're already voting under way on this tuesday, november 6th, this is "today in the bay. ". we are on our way to 4:30 right now, i'm jon kelley.

laura garcia-cannon. >> what a beautiful day yesterday and we're going to get spoiled with more of the same. 54 degrees in oakland to start out we're at 51 in sunny valley andflated to crash records, yet, again. we had about 15 records set across the bay area and expected more to fall throughout this afternoon. we'll take you through your forecast, but don't get too comfortable. lots to talk about. first, let's check your drive. good morning, mike. >> look at this bay bridge. this beautiful view from emoryville, we'll look farther east, though. westbound 580 at the map and your commute route and moving smoothly right now, but a car

fire reported, actually, early reports of a car fire got updated and just a small brush fire off of west 580. now, the details come in from the chp and the fire crew. so far, it sounds like just a small thing and they'll put it out quickly. >> all right. 4:32 and decision 2012. it's a day the nation heads to the polls. 30 million americans have already voted and the rest get a chance today. just today vice president joe biden walked into his polling place in delaware casting his vote. polls will open in california later this morning, but voters already added on the east coast. tracie potts has more on that plus the candidates' last-minute push in the race to the white house. >> for the first time ever and with its lowest turnout in almost 50 years, a tie this morning in tiny dixville notch.

they cast five votes for president obama and five governor fromney. >> the last months of our campaign have seen the gathering of strength of a real movement across our country. it's evident of the size of the crowds tonight like this, my goodness. i understand there are a few thousand people outdoors that couldn't get in, too. >> reporter: after voting near boston, he hit the road, develop, thanking voters in pennsylvania and ohio, two key states he hopes to win. president obama wakes up back home in chicago. he plans to continue an election day tradition. a game of basketball before watching results tonight. last night his final campaign rally ever in iowa where he first won four years ago. >> as long as there is a child in des moines, anywhere in iowa, anywhere in this conlalanguishi

poverty, our work isn't done. our fight for change goes on. >> reporter: the president promised a betder tomorrow, if elected. that tomorrow may or may not begin today. tracie potts, nbc news, cincinnati. election officials in colorado right now on high alert this morning. keeping a very close eye on some voting machines after a few apparently malfunctioned during early voters. two machined switched their presidential choices. election officials stepped right in and tested those machines, but they were not able to reproduce that problem, so, both the voting devices have now been since removed. today voters will not just be deciding on whohe next president will be, also weigh in on controversial topics. voters in maine, maryland and washington will decide to legalize same-sex marriage and in minnesota amend the state

constitution to ban gay michigan. in washington, oregon and colorado voters will be asked for recreational use of marijuana. los angeles voters will decide whether porn stars should be required to use condoms while performing in adult films. one of the big items here in california will be voting on today's proposition 30. it is the governor's tax initiative and this one has some big politicians behind it. a yes on prop 30 and a rally was held yesterday in san francisco. governor jerry brown was there with some political heavyweights like senator dianne feinstein and former mayor willy brown. former democrats are beyond yes on 30, but plenty of people plan to vote against it. >> you are trying to get people to vote and trying to get them to vote for a specific reason. if you had to explain to them about the transition from state prison to local and how it has to be subsidized and all that,

no, that gets fuzzy. >> a false choice to say it's education funding or these cuts. it was tied to education because, obviously, that was the best way to convince voters to go along with this tax increase. >> they believe this proposition is in for a very tight race. coming up later on this morning, the hurtless prop 30, the hurdles prop 30 faces and what's at stake for every californian. now, prop 30 is up against proposition 38, another ed educati education-related tax. funded by molly munger. she is serious about this. she spent more than $47 million to promote the proposition and this would increase income taxes on a sliding scale for most californians and raise an estimated $10 billion a year for schools and to pay down state debt. now, both 30 and 38 happen to pass. the one with the most votes will ultimately win. >> you know, john, there is a

little bit of controversy surrounding prop 30 because $11 million in the campaign against the proposition was essentially laundered through an arizona nonprofit. the phoenix-base americans responsible for leadership released its records yesterday and admitted its 1 $1 million contribution came from two other nonprofits. the money was used to fight prop 30 and support prop 32, which limits how much can be donated from campaigns. outside groups are outraged by the amount of outside influence. >> this is something the country has to look at and our democracy and not about a single issue or a single race. this is about money influencing how votes are cast and inflewensing elections. >> the state's attorney general's office is determining whether the group has violated state law. if so, civil or criminal penalties can follow.

to make sure the voting goes smoothly, the investigative unit is on the duty. if you have any problems, please, give us a call here and tell us about it. call our investigative tips line at 888-996-tips and we will have our team investigating all reports of voter irregularity and polling problems. >> remember nbc bay area is your home for coverage results. our coverage of the live election starts at 4:00. updating you on the local and state races. our newscast tonight at 11:00 will have the results of all your local, state and national races. tomorrow morning, "today in the bay" is your home for the electi election results released overnight. that includes the weather department, as well. christina loren has the weather.

>> all across the bay area, temperatures chilly to start. novado at 46 degrees and 58 degrees, good morning to you in san francisco. take you down to the south bay where temperatures are pretty comfortable this morning. not too hot, not too cold for today. down right perfect. but by early november standards much warmer than we typically see. near record warmth yet again for today as we get through your wednesday fog and low clouds return as a result. temperatures 10 to 15 degrees cooler and we have another change in forecast as we head into the latter portion of the week. yeah, highs fall back into the 50s and we're expecting quite a bit of rain. in fact, our first mountain snow on mt. hamilton. we'll talk more about that coming up. but for today, your election forecast. 79 at the coast, 83 bay side and 86 degrees inland. i.e., the weather is not going to give you any excuses not to

get out there and rock the vote. one man who probably already voted, i don't know for sure, mike. >> i have not because we take both the kids and we go down to the voting booth and then i have to say, nope, can't do it yet, kids. you can do this, you can drive smoothly with these headlights. look how light the volume is. circle on the map where we have the camera and then farther north we look at an accident reported in. it is a big rig that went into the center divide and the guard rail there. stay over to your right, no injuries reported and the transition over there to 880 is fine. we'll look at a wider view and road crews, as well. crew there. as well as south 101 coming down towards 85, we have crews coming out of palo alto. shows us no problems southbound with those taillights and northbound with the headlights

past university avenue. back to you. >> looks good, thanks, mike. 4:41. a mystery in the desert solved right here in the bay area. >> actually, i work today. mojave. >> a cross in a battle between church and state vanishes. state university talking another fee hike. this time they're targeting specific students.

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us.

maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org. welcome back, everyone. as we start our day here in california. this is a live look at columbia, south carolina. you see folks already at the polls this morning. a big election day. it is 4:44. a missing cross honoring our nation's war heroes has been found in the bay area. the mojave cross was stolen from a site in the mojave desert. someone found it near half moon bay road yesterday. the cross was dedicated as a memorial in the 1930s. vietnam veteran raymond wong was upset when the cross was stolen but is grateful it has been recovered. >> upset to say the least because i, i actually thought,

what happened to the cross? why we can't find it and then i found out it was stolen. >> when the cross was found, it had a note attached that read in part, this cross is an important historical artifact. i would be grateful as to notify the proper authorities of its presence here. changes gears, we all know the giants winning the world series was a beautiful thing and it's having an impact on san francisco's economy. the city spent $225,000 to hold last week's victory parade, that sounds like a bargain, but the giants helped foot $1 million for the remaining costs. how about this, city officials say more than worth it, the price was offset, compliments of visitors spending between $18 million and $40 million during that entire playoff championship run. the markets flood as investors wait to see who will win the presidential election. more details on that and the rest of our news before the bell. we turn to jackie deangeles at

cnbc world headquarters. >> good morning, laura. stock futures are higher after the markets didn't move much yesterday. investors definitely cautious, not wanting to take any positions ahead of the outcome of today's election. not expecting any major economic data today. just a handful of earnings will come out and media companies are front and center like aol and news corp. yesterday the dow rose 13 points and the nasdaq was up 17, closing at $29.99 meanwhile, suzuki is shifting gears into park mode. they will focus on sales of motorcycles, atvs and also boats. suzuki has sold cars in this country for three decades, but fighting a strong yen and slumping sales. the company's soul u.s. distributor is fighting for bankruptcy. it will compensate car dealers. back over to you, laura. 4:46 right now.

and christina loren is back. it looks like a beautiful day in the neighborhood before we get rain later in the week. >> cold, cloudy, kind of ugly around leer. enjoy the sunshine, one more day of record-breaking heat across the bay area and temperatures really comfortable out there to start. you probably have not had to run your heater or ac over the past couple days and that will continue today, but then tomorrow temperatures drop by 10 to 15 degrees and even more so as we head into thursday and friday. we're talking about highs as warm as they are right now. 58 degrees, that's your forecasted high in san francisco come thursday into friday. keep that in mind. right now chilly in gilroy and 54 in san jose. we're headed towards the 80s. again, high pressure is still in control bringing about a november heat wave and we smashed records across the bay area and expecting more to fall as we head throughout this afternoon. what's different about today, more low cloud cover to start and thinner bay and right at the immediate coast will be cooler

for today. so, we've taken your temperature down from 88 degrees to 82 degrees in santa cruz. you almost hit 90 yesterday and 86 degrees in livermore and really, really unusual to hit these highs at this time of the year. days are shorter, as you know. we don't get as much sunshine and our big energy source, the sun, goes down at 5:00 p.m. we're hitting at our highs at 2:00 p.m. the warmest time of the day. as i said before, very unusual, we could break all-time november records before all is said and done today. thursday into friday, rain arrives and snow levels fall down to 2,500 feet and an indication of how cool it is going to be. saturday and sunday we stay nice and cool and next week overall is looking cool and cloudy and tuesday into wednesday. our pattern is significantly changing. one last hooray of sunny, warm weather for today, guys. back over to you. out in new york city, a very good day and the 9/11 memorial reopening a week after

superstorm sandy just flooded that site. water rising as high as ten feet in some spots. this one took days for all the huge water pumps to drain out tens of millions of gallons. a lot of the artifacts that survived the 9/11 attacks were spared from the devastation left behind by sandy. 4:49. traffic is flowing, again, linking southern california and las vegas. interstate 15 closed yesterday because of a wildfire. more than 200 firefighters along with ten aircrafts battled those flames trying to keep it away from the roadway. fire officials expect to fully control the blaze by later today. investigators believe gusty, hot winds ignited that fire. tuition at csu schools could get more expense frv thousands of students. the board of trustees considering to raise fees for students who take extra credit, stay in school too long or repeat classes. the fees would encourage students to move through school quickly, but ensure courses are

available for everybody. these new fees would be on top of a planned tuition hike which would go into effect if prop 30 does not pass today. if prop 30 does pass, the fee would still take effect next year, but be much smaller and the fees would affect about 53,000 students in that csu system. it's 4:50. coming up the driver of the muni bus that was attacked the night the giants won the world series gets a special honor today. details next. look outside. 880 through fremont. we'll show you where things might get a little slow, shthou, coming up.

welcome back, everybody, on this election day, 2012. we give you a live look at the white house where the sun is already up and the nation out today voting. a lot of things going on across this country, a lot of big issues and items to be voted on right here in california. moving to other news right now, 4:53. a muni bus driver set to receive a very special award today. he was just driving his bus through downtown san francisco on the night the world championship giants got it done. the big celebration and a big group of rowdy fans started attacking that bus. smashed that windshield in a now infamous shot. everybody got off that bus very safely and orderly and today the mta honoring him for keeping

everybody safe and staying very calm through the entire ordeal. congratulati congratulations. meantime, one of those alleged vandals facing felony charges. 22-year-old gregory granis pleaded not guilty in court yesterday. police believe he's the one there in the photo that through the barricade through the windchiwin windshield of the bus. he is one of 11 facing charges. the fate of the shark season could be decided today. nhl and the players' association holding formal talks in new york today. the first in almost three weeks. both sides appear to be far apart on the deal, experts say neither side wants to see the season canceled, nor do the fans. right now the league canceled games through november 30th. >> keeping hope alive. our producer erica wants to see that. let's check in with mike

inouye. >> not a lot happening. we like that. that is a treat, but certainly change over the course of the next hour, if not half hour here. you can also see clearly the east shore freeway. i marked it on our maps in the commute direction heading down towards the bay bridge and not a lot of volume of traffic here. both sides between 23rd and 980 just a couple lanes blocked in each direction and not a major concern. oakland coliseum camera just a little further south from there. volume steady for the nimnimitz either side of the bay looking clear right now. sources close to lucas film say harrison ford is in talks to jump back into his outfit. ford has said in the past that solo was one of his least favorite roles and he wanted the

character to be killed off in 1983 when "return of the jedi" was released. mark hammel and carrie fisher in the original trilogy said they're open to an oncourse appearance in the new film and it's tentatively set to be released in 2015. "star wars" fans exciting at the thought of that. >> the golden years. >> the golden years, right. 4:56. our election day coverage continues, next. break down some of the key propositions on california's ballot, including a plan to get rid of the death penalty and replace it with a life sentence. right now with the city of oakland and the entire state of california waiting for the sun to come up, also means soon time to vote, just a couple hours away. take a live look at the oakland fire department engine number 6. if you're in the area, stop on by and cast your ballot, it is 4:56.

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating?

the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org.

the polls open in just two hours here in california. i'm cri i'm christie smith. that story coming up. plus, an in depth look at some of the most controversial proposition on today's ballot. and we've got a great-looking day shaping up for you to get on outdoors and rock the vote. big-time changes ahead, though. rainy, cold weather in just 72 hours. and no problems on the road, if you're going to the polling places, little early for both the commute and the polling, but we'll keep an eye on things, coming up. and a live look outside. beautiful bay bridge on this tuesday, november 6th. this is "today in the bay." goodni