♪ we have created a terrible situation here for the riding public, and for our members. >> commuters are waking up to a worst case scenario. less than five hours ago, b.a.r.t. workers announce, they are on strike. >> right now we take outside to give you a live look it at the bay bridge toll plaza. if you're getting ready to hit the road, prepare for a very rough ride into work. right now it doesn't look too bad, but, again, it's only 4:30. good morning, i'm marla tellez in for jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia cannon. we have coverage of the first strike since 1997 under way. it could be an ugly commute today. >> it could be. we're counting on hopefully

light lighter, some folks have taken time off. going to send thousands of people on to the road. this is oakland over my shoulder and a live look over here toward our maze, emeryville and the berkeley curve, a lot more traffic flow today. the reason why, let's outline on the maps here. as we look toward the bay bridge toll plaza, no problems now. but with the b.a.r.t. lines out of service right now, what we're going to have these folks hitting the roadway, or at least a lot of them. and they funnel to the single choke point at the bay bridge toll plaza heading towards san francisco. maybe you've planned ahead and an alternate route. a lot of folks have. the did dunbar bridge getting more traffic. and 880 and 101, more traffic flowing north and south because folks have to get to the bridges, as well. we have the bus alternates, as well. and of course we're following the transit strike so we'll send it back to you. >> thank you very much. b.a.r.t. says 400,000 people ride the trains to work every day. now the riders scrambling to

find a new way to work. >> we are live in oakland where on a normal day trains oh already be rolling in. christie, what is the scene like there right now? >> reporter: good morning, marla. that's right. right now we could see people going right through the glass doors here behind me downstairs, running to catch their morning train into san francisco. instead those doors are locked this morning. and what we're seeing is b.a.r.t. union workers on strike. some of them actually hit the picket line right around midnight when their four-year contract expired and when their shift ended. these are mechanics, station agents, clerks, some of the front-line people. a last-ditch effort by b.a.r.t. officials and the labor unions to avoid a strike, simply did not work out. with workers' contributions, to benefits, pensions and a wage increase, really some of the big issues that led to this. b.a.r.t. workers also said they have issues with safety concerns. but the real story this morning, 400,000 commuters ride b.a.r.t. each day.

the big route, of course, from the east bay into san francisco. the talks actually came to an end around 8:30 last night when union negotiators left the state office building in oakland that had been set up for this. b.a.r.t. p.d., though, they will remain on duty. b.a.r.t. has parking lots at 33 stations, those are open and free for casual carpooling. i did have a chance to speak with one of the workers this morning that said he said felt bad about the inconvenience but it said it had to come to this. a spokesperson, we're hoping to hear from him soon, as well. reporting live in observe land, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you, christie. and we're also live in fremont where b.a.r.t. has set up bus bridges to help out riders this morning. good morning. >> reporter: b.a.r.t. did hire several chartered buses to help with the commute this morning. there's one there. look between me and the bus, just a bunch of empty parking space, a little eerie feeling

here. this is one of four stations in the system that will run these chartered buses. the other stations with this free service are el sore eto, walnut creek and dublin pleasanton from 5:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. and bring you home from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. b.a.r.t. chartered 58 buses total. but they warn, the buses will only be able to carry between 2 and 4,000 passengers. the service is free, and it's for a round-trip. here's the deal. the buses will take you to the west oakland b.a.r.t. station, and from there, you will have to jump on another chartered bus, which will then take you on to the city. you cannot drive to the west oakland b.a.r.t. station and jump on one of those chartered buses. you have to have a special ticket obtained from one of the four selected b.a.r.t. stations. now to return to one of the four b.a.r.t. stations in the afternoon, you need to be at the howard street between fremont

and beal. and the last bus to bring you back to the east bay leaves at 7:00 p.m. now let me take you back out here live to the fremont b.a.r.t. station. a few passengers here are still awaiting for the other buses to arrive, not a huge crowd waiting for these chartered buses. we did run into a couple who did not know there was a b.a.r.t. strike today. we'll hear from them this morning at 5:00 a.m. the service again is free. it is not standing-room only. you have to have a seat, otherwise you can't get on one of these buses. live at the fremont b.a.r.t. station, nbc bay area news. >> very good. thank you, damion. the last time b.a.r.t. went on strike was in september of 1997, and look at the aftermath of this. the strike lasted six days, and affected 225,000 riders. the gridlock, as you can see, was just brutal. today b.a.r.t. serves as many as we have been saying, 400,000 riders every weekday. >> the good news, if there is

any, is transit will be available for riders today. officials say slight progress has been made in negotiations and will meet again tonight to continue talks. union contract expires at midnight. and workers voted to authorize the strike. so far, they're hoping to talk things out without walking off the job. other options for drivers, check 511.org or the 511 hotline for the latest traffic updates and commute alternatives. if you can can, tele commute or go into the office during nonpeak commute hours. try to carpool whenever possible. and make use of the extra bus service that will be offered today. and, of course, stay with nbc bay area for continuing coverage of the b.a.r.t. strike all morning long. on our website, as well. nbcbayarea.com, you will find b.a.r.t. strike resources to help you monitor road conditions and try to get around this mess and stay on top of all of the changes and cancellations for yourself. just click the b.a.r.t. strike bar at the top of the page. here's the thing, though. b.a.r.t. workers aren't the only

ones on strike this morning. more than 1,000 oakland city workers have walked off the job. the workers are upset over another 10% pay cut. so they have called a one-day general strike which started at midnight. the strike will impact parking enforcement, street sweeping, animal control, head start, senior centers and more. police centers and other emergency workers will not be affected. some services will be available online. it's the first general strike by city workers since 1946. we are also following developing news out of arizona where wildfires have killed 19 elite firefighters and destroyed 200 homes. the fast-moving wildfires burning near the communities of yarnell and glennisla, 75 miles northeast of phoenix. the firefighters were members of the prescott fire department's granite mountain hot shots team. so far, it's burned about 2,000 achers and prompted the closure of state route 89 and triggered

the evacuation of 150 homes. lightning sparked that fire on friday. winds blew the flames towards populated areas. this is the deadliest wildfire involving firefighters in the u.s. in decades. >> of course, that fire is burning in extreme heat. >> so sad. >> yeah, so sad. >> and that extreme, boy, felt it all weekend. today another hot one. want to check in with meteorologist christina loren. good morning. >> good morning. a lot of people are going to be exposed to that heat with that strike in place. so i want to make sure that you're ready for what you're getting into before you head out that front door. if you are one of the people who are going to have to wait for buses today, grab the water bottle, something that can keep you hydrated. electric row lights necessary today. a scorcher. and we'll climb through the next couple days. good morning to you. 63 in concord, 65 degrees in livermore. the best thing to do in this kind of heat is seek shade, find the water if you can. if you work outdoors, you don't want to overdo it. try to do your work in

increments. that way you're not exposing yourself to the heat. and it's going to be really hot. look at these numbers, noon, 99 degrees in antioch. lunch time. highs come in at about 5:00 p.m. so noon, we still have five additional hours of warming to go. that means highs today are going to rival records yet again. and we're talking about the potential for some thunderstorms, as well. so we have a lot to talk about today. because that then brings that elevated fire danger right back here to the bay area. 105 in livermore, 92 in fremont. 79 in san francisco and 103 degrees today in gilroy. hotter tomorrow. we'll talk about thunderstorms in my next forecast. let's talk about your traffic, a rough drive this morning, mike. >> good morning, folks. right now we're looking at a pretty standard flow for 880 past the truck scales and tesla. the hdlights heading south into the south bay. let's take a quick look at the maps. we don't expect much of the ripple effect to hit the south bay, but those b.a.r.t. transit worker strikes will affect all transportation around the bay area and that could also affect the cal tran system, already

taxed. folks on the south bay, you're okay, but farther up the peninsula, might have trouble. be aware of that, as well. over here, the b.a.r.t. lines extend to dublin pleasanton, not running today and so you will not have that option. more folks hitting westbound 580 coming through livermore. pleasanton and castro valley so watching that carefully. same for highway 4, where that is an alternate toward bay point. highway 4 moves smoothly westbound. so does 680 through walnut creek. this will not be an option for folks this morning. expect nor cars along this route, as well. we're checking traffic carefully. back to you. >> thanks. 4:40 now. start saving your spare change. california has the highest gas tax in the country. this morning, the statewide excise tax on gas jumped by 3.5 cents. taxes now account for 72 cents of every gallon of gas you pump into your car. by comparison, the average tax on a gallon of gas is 49 cents

nationwide. the increase was approved by the state board of equalization back in february. mean time, parking fines and municipally fees just went up in san francisco. starting this morning, the san francisco municipal transportation agency is raising the price of adult muni monthly passes by $2 to $66. most parking violation fines are going up $3. and expired meters will now cost you $75 in downtown san francisco. and $65 in other parts of the city. muni leaders say the increases are part of a plan to keep fare and fee hikes small and predictable. groupon goes high-class. the program aimed at getting you into the best restaurants in san francisco. and bay area county getting ready for same-sex marriages. one is even offering express service. and we continue to keep an eye on breaking news. b.a.r.t. workers officially on strike. team coverage. what it means for you and your

commute all morning long.

at 4:44, we continue to follow breaking news. b.a.r.t. workers officially on strike. a live look from our chopper this morning. believed to be over the dublin b.a.r.t. area. traffic certainly picking up as bay area roads expected to be

really packed today, since no b.a.r.t. trains will be running at all. taking a look at the san mateo bridge this morning, bridges all over the bay area also expected to be especially crowded this morning. you're advised to carpool, tele commute, go in later if you can. mike inouye will be along in ten minutes with a look at your morning commute and alternatives. 4:45. bad news this morning for bay area college students. some of the rates on their student loans about to double. seema mody is live to explain that. and also take a look at how futures are trading on this monday. seema, good morning. >> marla, good morning. futures right now higher as investors kick off the second half of the trading year. markets have had a good surge in 2013, even despite the volatility over the past few weeks. people fretting over what the fed will do with interest rates. the dow had its first best half since 1999 and both the dow and

sapp sp 500 index doing well. data out today on manufacturing and construction spending. watch out for that. the dow falling 114 points friday. nasdaq inching up by one. and the monthly payment on your student loans could be going up a lot. interest rates on government-backed stafford loans will double today from 3.4 to 6.8%. because congress failed to pass a measure to freeze them in place before going on summer recess. any deal reached once they come back with likely include a retroactive roll back. but that's little consolation for students trying to finalize loans for the fall semester. groupon is launching a new service today to let users book reservations at high-end restaurants at discounts of 20 to 40%. groupon is available in ten cities, including new york, boston, l.a. and san francisco.

no vouchers are required. the daily deal site will expand the service to include luxury spas, hotels and beauty salons later this year. kind of exciting. back to you. >> seema, you're speaking my kind of language. thank you so much. >> if you're going to head to an outdoor patio or something, better make sure they've got the sprinklers or something on. look at the beaches, the heatwave sent thousands of people to the beach over the weekend. this is what it looked like on the santa cruz beach boardwalk yesterday. people took to the chilly water to cool off. find a shady umbrella, whatever you could do. it was a hot one across the bay area. >> even in the shade, christina, still warm. >> that's where we take our temperature readings, to get that true reading. a little i didn't know sight for you. we're talking 108 degrees in the shade. yeah. it's going to be really, really hot. and those are the readings we are expecting tomorrow when this heat peaks. i can tell you right now, san thatta cruise, over 17. i was one of the thousands that went out there and by 9:00 a.m.,

saturday and sunday, it was jam-packed. so if you're going to be heading out there, the sooner you get out there, the better off you'll be in terms of fighting the crowd. 65 degrees in livermore now. 60 in oakland. it's actually warm enough to hit santa cruz. 58 degrees, no a bad way to start the day down there. but temperatures even in santa cruz are going to be down right hot yet again today. and a sunburn so make sure you have the spf 30. i certainly did. but i still got burned. this is what we're working with as we head throughout the week. we got this monsoonal flow. wrap-around moisture wrapping around high pressure, sucking in some sub tropical moisture. this is very typical down in southern california. also for nevada and arizona. for us, we don't usually see that flow creep up as far north as the bay area. but it is going to today as that big ridge of high pressure gains momentum and energy. so we're talking about temperatures in the triple digits and we also have a very slight chance for some thunderstorms to develop. the best chance in the south bay over the higher elevations later on today. but once you start to see those

cumulonimbus towers form, the situation gets dangerous when it comes to fire safety as we could see dry lightning strikes. so we're going to be watching that closely today. also, look at this heat. 105 degrees today inland. tomorrow, 108 degrees. rivalling numerous temperature records. wednesday, cooling off just a little bit. it will be noticeable. and thursday for the 4th of july, remaining hot. triple digits, 85. 78 at the coast. finally the heat will break, getting into this upcoming weekend but it's going to be another very hot stretch all the way through friday, ladies, back to you. >> 4:49. counties across the bay area will start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples this morning. santa clara county is offering an express marriage ceremony service. starting today, couples can get a license at the clerk recorder's office in san jose. and have their ceremony performed at the very same time. it will cost about $120 for most services.

historic court decisions and a record turnout made this year's annual san francisco pride parade an epic celebration. san francisco streets were filled with an estimated 1.5 million cheering, dancing and flag-waving people yesterday. adding to the celebrations, of course, the high court ruling yesterday allowing same-sex marriage licenses to be issued undeterred. that was after an emergency petition to stop them was denied. this morning, san francisco police are searching for the gunman who shot and injured two men as pride celebrations were wrapping up. police say someone fired several shots into the crowd near the civic center in the area of larkan and grove start about 6:30 last night. two men were shot, both in the leg, and taken to the hospital. investigators say at this point they don't know if the victims were the intended targets. they're looking for people who were in the area at the time who may have pictures or video of the shooting. it is 4:50, and this morning, nelson mandela remains

in critical but stable condition. it's the former south african president's 24th day at a hospital. the 94-year-old is being treated for a lung infection. mandela has been suffering from recurring lung problems since he contracted tuberculosis during his 27 years in prison. well-wishers from across the country have been leaving flowers and messages on a hospital fence. in the meantime, president obama made his first official visit to south africa. paying tribute to mandela by visiting his cell. meanwhile, the first family just landed in tanzania. we're getting live pictures right now. this is the last leg of president obama's african tour. a news conference with tanzania's president, a visit to the power plant where the president will unveil a $7 billion program to enhance africa's electric power network. it is 4:51.

san jose state makes a big move this morning. we will tell you about that. plus, could the warriors' only all-star be on the trade block? the new rumors swirling this morning. and a look outside to the san mateo bridge seeing good traffic flow here, and bump in the traffic to our feeder routes. of course we're watching the shift as we continue to track the b.a.r.t. worker strike and the effect on your morning.

it is 4:55. did you miss out on your chance to see beyonce tomorrow night in the south bay? well, here's another opportunity. this morning, tickets for a december 2nd show at the s.a.p. center in san jose will go on sale. ticket sales start at 10:00 this morning at livenation.com and range from $45 to $250 a pop. tickets for tomorrow night's show sold out the day after they went on sale in february. >> looks like quite a performer, too. rumors flying this morning as the warriors are in talks to trade all-star forward david lee. yahoo! sports reporting, moving lee makes financial sense. 30-year-old has three years and $44 million remaining on his contract. that's a pretty penny. he had hip flexor surgery in late may. san jose state may get a big move this morning. it officially becomes a member of the mountain west conference. this is a big deal for san jose state sports, by will now play tougher opponents such as boise

state, san diego state and fresno state. better opponents means better ticket sales at spartan football games. >> good for them. breaking news this morning. the b.a.r.t. strike. mike, take a look at the roads. >> that's right. even if you don't take b.a.r.t., it will affect roads around the bay. the bay bridge, most immediate effect. and we see these cash lanes stacking up. typically because not all of the toll tickers are open this time of morning. but this is a heavier volume flow of traffic, more cars than we see. looking at the berkeley curve, similar situation, lights right. a breakdown going on at the gore point as well and that will be handled, more volume of traffic. so far, speeds at the limit coming through oakland, tracking northbound with the tail lights, steady but the southbound side, slight volume there, as well as folks come past the coliseum. i'll keep my eyes on the san mateo bridge, as well. another relief valve. the bay bridge, so far moving smoothly. again, we're expecting the

ripple to hit the entire bay. back to you. >> we'll monitor it for you. bay area certainly bracing for a messy monday morning. >> i'm really deeply disappointed that it has come to this. >> b.a.r.t. workers are officially on strike. >> just ahead, what this means for your commute. and how you can avoid freeways that could soon look like parking lots.

we'll do the best that we can to come to a quick resolution, and to get, you know, keep the bay area moving. >> but this morning, the bay area at a standstill. b.a.r.t. workers on strike, which means all trains, all over the bay area, will not be moving today. >> take a look outside. looking out the bay bridge toll plaza, where there is expected to be much more congestion this morning. cars backing up in the cash lanes. good morning, just before 5:00 a.m., i'm marla tellez in for

jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia cannon. mike, seeing a dishfference on e roads yet? >> except for what marla showed, the cash lanes don't show that much of a backup, even though they're not all open right now. we'll see that and track it over the next 10, 15 minutes. the berkeley curve, the section with the red lights away from us to the right, good steady flow there and cars coming off 580 over the area, as well. we do see flashing lights off the roadway, not affecting the flow so much. look at the berkeley can curve itself, slowing through emeryville, as well. the concern, the folks hitting the roads, heading toward the bay bridge. you want to avoid the bridge, south toward the san mateo bridge, more traffic for 101 and 880. we'll get a live look at the san mateo bridge, traffic westbound, good steady volume there, nothing of major concern yet but watching the trend he