most delicious. good morning, i'm kris sanchez. coming up, the big game between the 49ers and the seahawks is finally here and has the bay area preparing for rowdy fans and possible vandals. the unusual precautions authorities are taking to ensure public safety. also destroyed in just minutes. why firefighters could not save this south bay restaurant even though they were right around the corner. and more record warmth for some bay area cities. we'll have that forecast for you. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you, looking live at the bay bridge and a beautiful start to the day. is it red and gold by design? who knows what kind of heavenly

fans are niner fans. thanks for joining us. i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slaughter who has a look at a forecast that's perfect for sitting on your couch inside. >> and for a win. i like how you spin that in there, all the angels in heaven. and it's a sunday, so that matters. we're waking up to clear skies as you mentioned and the beautifulness of all of this as yesterday you said your girls call it pinkilicious. you can see off toward the horizon today will be another beautiful day. unfortunately we do have to spare the air once again, but really lots of sunshine is going to set the stage for very comfortable temperatures. in fact this afternoon daytime highs will get back to the 70s. san francisco right at 70 degrees later on this afternoon. our inland valleys, back into the low 70s from the north bay. off toward the east bay and the south bay, we'll see a few records possible in places like san jose, even san francisco could set a new record for today

and even this past week. just think about it, january this past week two days san francisco set the all-time record high for the january temperature ever, so 2014 really starting off on a dry note. it's something we don't want to hear of course. we'll talk more about our rain chances coming up in just a little bit, kris. >> thank you very much, anthony. but we begin with the 49ers quest. muni changing things up in anticipation of celebrations on the streets of san francisco. several times before celebrating fans have climbed up on top of the street cars and been near the overhead wires, which are charged with electricity. so the agency is taking some of the historic cable cars out of service and some of the street cars as well, including the ones on the f market line. buses will run the market line instead. also the iconic cable car lines will be mostly out of service, starting this afternoon. the california line stops at 2:00 p.m., the powell hyde and

powell mason cable car lines will run only between fisherman's wharf and chinatown starting at 4:00 this afternoon. >> the celebrations do get out of hand, we can reroute around those celebrations so we can keep service moving or ensuring if people do climb onto an energized line, there isn't any energy running out that could be harmful to people who do climb onboard. >> plusses will already run in the sunset district where fans have been known to gather and sometimes take their celebrations to the rooftops of light rail vehicles. that guy we saw in the photo smashing a muni bus, he was prosecuted for that vandalism. kickoff is less than nine hours away and all the preparation is done. now it's time to see who will earn the right to play in super bowl xlviii. let's check in with mindy in seattle. >> reporter: the 49ers are just hours away from kickoff in their

third straight nfc championship, this one the first-time ever against their division rivals, seattle seahawks. colin kaepernick and russell wilson, the very talented second and third year quarterbacks haven't had much success against the other team, though. >> no, they haven't. they haven't solved the other team's defense. when you think about russell wilson, four games against the 49ers and he has yet to throw for more than 200 yards against him. colin kaepernick had his worst game of his career right here at this stadium in week two. and in two games this season, a quarterback rating of 41. that's not very good. so these guys have to play at a higher level and somehow solve those defenses on the other side. >> another player for the 49ers who is known to be just such a mismatch nightmare for defenses who hasn't had much success against the seahawks either, vernon davis. how do the 49ers get that tight end going? >> it's going to be difficult because the seattle safeties are very good. this is the same group, earl thomas, kam chancellor held

jimmy graham, one of the most explosive tight ends in all of the league to just one catch for eight yards last week in their win over the saints. vernon davis in his last four games against this secondary, only six catches for 68 yards. a lot of pressure will be on him too, aluong with those wideouts crabtree and boldin. >> thank you so much, matt. it's going to be an exciting one today. the 49ers look forward to advancing to their second straight super bowl, but of course they have to get to the seahawks first. a san francisco radio station is calling for a boycott because of seattle's refusal to sell tickets directly to fans in california. live 105 is asking niner f er fo say no to a list of products and services associated with washington state. they want people to boycott amazon and nordstrom and they want niner fans to turn off any computer running windows or any other microsoft system.

they also think true fans should also boycott starbucks today, and that's where some fans are drawing the line. >> i love starbucks, i'm going to drink it. >> i'll be at starbucks in the morning. >> the dj at live 105 says they're doing their part by sticking to a play list that does not include music from bands from western washington. well, we want to see your red and gold pride. this is oliver fitzpatrick. send us your niner selfies, or your kids or pets. we'll add those pictures to our slide show online. who knows, we'll get some of them on tv as well. and now to a follow-up to a story we first brought you yesterday morning. in a fire that took just minutes to destroy a popular restaurant in the south bay, though there was a fire station just around the block. we were on the scene just after the fire started at 6:30 yesterday morning at the flames

restaurant on hillsdale avenue in south san jose. there were some workers inside getting the coffee shop and bakery ready to open when the chef says he saw the wall shaking. he said he ran to the front of the restaurant and saw a huge fire already burning. it was too much for him and for his co-workers to handle so the chef ran across the street to a nearby fire station for help. it took 75 firefighters nearly two hours to get that fire under control, and it was a tense two hours because there is a gas station and other businesses nearby. >> i've lived in this neighborhood over 25 years and it's just really sad to think that one of the neighborhood places we used to go for breakfast, we'd have family gatherings there. i'm really sad. i hope they get to rebuild it. >> firefighters say kitchen grease fueled the flames, which destroyed the building and caused multiple sections of the rooftop to collapse. no injuries or reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation. several passengers who survived the asiana crash at sfo last summer are now suing

boeing, the maker of that plane. according to "the chicago tribune" the suit claims boeing's negligence contributed to the crash. that suit claims some of the equipment was improperly installed and defective, resulting in inadequate warnings for the pilots about air speeds. three girls from china died in the crash and the ensuing emergency response. about 100 passengers are listed in that lawsuit. a memorial is growing for the furnish-year-old girl who was hit and killed by a light rail train in south san jose. friends are honoring her with flowers and signs near the acted scene. deputies say danica was riding her bike on southwest expressway friday morning when she was hit just across the street from her very only high school. friends say danica was a kind girl. >> she was an open girl. she could care less what people had to say about her. she was just so kind and caring.

>> extra counselors are scheduled to be at del mar high school on campus when classes resume on tuesday. police on the peninsula are searching for a man who is exposing himself on a busy street. here's a sketch of the man who is described as being middle eastern or hispanic and between the ages of 30 and 35 years old driving a new black four-company toyota camry. saturday before 6:00 in the morning a woman spotted the man touching himself while inside his own car. she knocked on the car window and yelled at him. she says the man was able to drive away and she called 911. if you have any information, you are asked to call the palo alto police. if you'd like to see the sketch again, go to nbcbayarea.com. in the bay area the flu has claimed the lives of more than 20 people and now health officials are urging everyone to get vaccinated. folks in monterey county got to get a free shot without even

getting out of the car. the county health department contributed 700 doses of the vaccine to that clinic. the emergency room there has seen 55 patients with flu-like symptoms since november. three of them had severe symptoms. it is flu season, but the weather feels more like summer. coming up on "today in the bay" the california drought and the impact it will have on the rest of the nation. this after 18 years of trying to find mr. smith, finding jim smith, who we had. >> one woman's search for a war-time hero has an unexpected ending. our bay area proud story is still ahead.

good morning to you. looking live at the sunol grade and those hillsides that have been so brown for so long, should be green this time of

year. 2013 was the driest of all the years for which the state has records. the governor declared a drought emergency in order to call in more resources for cal fire and other agencies, and it's no wonder why. the destructive wildfire that's been burning for days in northeast los angeles isn't out yet and there are dry conditions just like those up and down the state. nbc's joe fryer shows us how the impact will stretch beyond those dry hillsides to the produce section of your supermarket. >> reporter: the fiery images coming out of california this week seem to defy the calendar. this winter wildfire east of los angeles is a symptom of the drought that now covers parts of 11 states, including the majority of california, seeing the least amount of rainfall in more than a century. >> it shouldn't be this dry. >> reporter: for this farmer his concern is many of his crops won't be growing. >> now we're looking at our proposed cantaloupe field. >> reporter: in a normal year he

would start planting his cantaloupe fields in late march, early april, but this year he's in limbo. >> it makes no sense to plant it if you don't have water. >> reporter: in the 2009 dry spell his payroll shriveled by 35%. just now getting back on his feet, here comes another drought. >> it will hurt us economically. if we have a drought again next year, it could be the end of my farm. it really could be. >> reporter: california governor jerry brown has now declared a drought emergency and is asking rez doents cut back on water use by 20%. >> this is a zero sum game. >> reporter: some cities have placed restrictions on water use, others are considering it. all of this happening during a time when california typically catches up on rain. >> the drought is bad here in california and throughout the west and we are not seeing any significant changes coming this way for several months. >> reporter: and the message on joe's license plate as a reminder, the impact stretches

beyond california. >> if the ground is idled, there's not going to be those fruits and vegetables in the produce section. >> and that was joe fryer reporting. firefighters, though, are making progress in their battle with the flames east of l.a. and it could be contained as early as today. they say the stadium in seattle is the loudest in all of the nfl. coming up on "today in the bay" we send bob redell out to show us just how loud it will be inside centurylink field during the 49ers game today. and another record warm day across the bay area. not only that but we'll have to spare the air once again. we'll see if there are any rain chances in our own forecast and let you know what the forecast looks like for today for the 49ers game. it's all coming up after this.

from the south bay to the north bay, east bay, every around the bay, folks are ready for the san francisco 49ers

game. temperatures will be near record warm and beautiful, but we could use the rain. we are just hours away from the 49ers quest for six. the niners aren't just going up against a tough team this afternoon, they're going up against one of the loudest crowds on the planet, according to the guinness book of world records, so how should the team deal with all that noise? bob redell tries to find that answer from a man who deals with noise on a daily basis. >> reporter: when colin kaepernick and his teammates line up against the seahawks, it could sound something like this. >> right center, center, hut, hut. >> are you talking to me? >> reporter: that jet engine will be about as loud as the fans in seattle. 140 decibals versus the almost 137 decibals that is a world record last september when the niners played the seahawks inside centurylink field. >> that's painfully loud actually. that's certainly above that threshold -- what we call the

threshold of pain, which is about 120 decibals. >> reporter: erica frederick, a consultant in san jose doesn't credit her former fan mates with exceptional lung capacity, rather the unique design of the stadium, the overhang and unusually slanted seating areas that combine and trap the roar of the fans. >> and reflects it right back down on the crowd. >> so how is kaepernick to call his audibles overall the noise? 49er die-hard would suggest the techniques he uses as southwest ramp supervisor. >> ear plugs and hand signals. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> that's not a hand signal. >> reporter: that's hard when your teammates aren't facing you. >> what do you tell him as far as psychologically dealing with this noise with four quarters. >> it's kind of mind over matter. try to take the crowd out of it. as you can tell with you and i

talking, it's very loud out here. it's going to be really tough. >> reporter: the advice is there is no advice, unless kaep can find a way to shove those head phones he likes to dangle around his neck underneath his helmet. in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." let's check in with anthony slaughter who has a look at the forecast. you see my flag flying. >> it looks so natural. >> it is wind y. >> yeah, it is windy in san francisco right now. we do have to spare the air once more for today, kris. unfortunately the north bay, peninsula and the east bay are all talking about unhealthy air quality. there's that flag you're talking about flying in san francisco. our winds right now are not too strong but they did shift a little bit overnight to more of an onshore direction. in san francisco waking up. we don't have a whole lot of fog but those winds will aid in lots of sunshine and the onshore breeze will at least make it

feel more comfortable. even with 68 degrees for this time of year, very unusual, but i think we'll take that. overall, though, today's highs will be back in the low 70s for the most part. san francisco right at 70 degrees, east bay at 70 as well. we'll see a good mix of low to mid-70s, even in the north bay same story there. what's responsible for all of this heat is an area of high pressure sitting on top of us. not only is it going to produce temperatures in the 70s today but that's record territory. if livermore gets up to 74 degrees they'll break the old record of 70 degrees. san jose getting up to 72 would be very close to the old record of 73. san francisco, if we do go down in the history books for the weather department, at least we'll talk about temperatures in the 70s. i know we'll go down in the history books for the 49ers as well. let's talk about the forecast for the next 12 hours. you'll find plenty of sunshine across the south bay, same for the peninsula, a little cooler

by a degree or two. off toward san francisco as i mentioned earlier, lots of sunshine, no fog to report. it will be bright and temperatures near 60 by noon. off to the east bay, north bay and tri-valley, that's when you'll see the temperatures by noon into the low 60s. by this afternoon, again, we're talking about temperatures in the 70s. now, why have we been so dry? we do have storm systems out across the pacific. you can see this area of low pressure spinning, headed up towards alaska and will eventually move through the upper parts of the united states. we've got this area of high pressure that's been positioned on top of us really since spring of last year. what happens is you get these storm systems that try to come in but this thing is so incredibly strong. as each storm system tries to move through, it doesn't happen. this is known as a blocking ridge so what happens is it sets up in the atmosphere and all the storms have to go up and over it. once this establishes itself, really there's no hope of getting any storms in here

unless we get a storm system that's stronger than this area of high pressure. so we'll keep our fingers crossed. we still of a few more months in january to pick up much-needed rain. at least there is some good news. the 49ers taking on the seattle seahawks today. temperatures back in the 40s. here's the thing i think that's interesting. by 3:00, our temperature 49 degrees. i did not make that up. i'm just saying. it might be a good omen. >> so we have the 49 grows at kickoff time and the sunrise was red and gold. >> there you go. we're on to something. >> we're reading the tea leaves. still ahead on "today in the bay." -- >> i dream came drew after all these years, after 18 years. >> it is an inspirational story with an unexpected ending. the search for a man who saved this bay area woman's life. ♪

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area proud" is about a personal quest sparked by a world-changing event. the vietnam war. here's the story of a san jose woman and her decades h-long journey. >> reporter: a single picture has the power we all know to tell the story of a moment in time. but put two together and you just might see the story of an entire lifetime. with these two, kim's lifetime. >> when i think about in the beginning it seems like just eons ago now. >> reporter: the first photograph is kim as a young girl with her mother and relatives on an apartment cal bo -- balcony in saigon in 1975. kim would be among the last to flee. kim was adopted by a family in florida, her childhood years

spent desperately not wanting to be different. but her skin, her hair, her eyes made that impossible. >> it was really hard on me growing up because i just dreaded talking about where i was born. >> reporter: it all changed, though, one night in 1992 when kim sat in a broadway theater with her now husband, peter. the show was "miss saigon" and the story of war tearing apart mother and child stirred something in kim. >> i remember telling peter, who was my boyfriend at the time, we need to go back to vietnam. it's time. >> reporter: two years later, following a handwritten map, kim found her family and began unearthing her story. she learned her mother was supposed to escape with her, but went first to say goodway to relatives and missed the flight. she died six years later in a refugee camp, one day before she was to immigrate to the united states. it was then kim first also heard

the name jim smith. the american, kim was told, was instrumental in getting her on that plane that got her out of the country. but who jim smith was, why he did what he did, and what became of him remained a mystery. for 18 years kim and her husband searched for jim smith, follow dozens of promising leads, always coming up empty. until, that is, kim's adoptive father found a dusty folder in an attic with an address that proved to be the clue that led to a gravesite in florida where jim smith had been buried in 1980. >> my dream came true after all these years, after 18 years of trying to find mr. smith, finding jim smith. >> reporter: kim learned that jim smith was a civil contractor in vietnam. her mother, his house cleaner. they actually lived in his apartment. the one with the balcony on

which this picture was taken. the one kim was able to return to recently with her son. but not all successful searches are satisfying ones. kim also wanted to find jim smism smith's relatives to thank them and learn more about the man. but jim's one son, for reasons not entirely clear, has declined to meet with kim. still, kim is happy to have learned what she did. for one can't know how long a journey has been unless they know where it started. garvin thomas, "today in the bay." still ahead on "today in the bay" we'll go back to seattle for one more look at the 49ers quest for six. also, first it was target, then neiman marcus and now security companies say more retailers are under cyber attack. what it means for you. plus, california is under a drought emergency. farmers and skiers are worried, but we'll show you how the lack of rain is helping to solve a

decades-long mystery as well.

good morning to you. looking live at a very pretty shot from san ramon. maybe you recognize this house. it is the david glass house. a beautiful start to the day. thanks for joining us. i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist anthony slot augh. you see the 49ers flag waving behind me. we are hoping in celebration later, right? >> and all the beautiful sunrise colors we've been looking at, the gold and orange setting the stage for a 49ers win and we've got on our red, supporters kris and i. this morning we're waking up to the 30s and 40s. still very cold so if you're headed out for an early jog or headed to church, grab a heavy coat. by this afternoon, temperatures are really going to shape up to be really warm. in fact unusually warm for this

time of year. you'll notice the sunrise, clear conditions from every microclimate region this morning. the other thing to note here, once we hit the afternoon hours, temperatures will soar back into the 70s. we're talking about san francisco, even san jose and livermore, that's where we see temperatures in the 70s for this afternoon and again we do have to spare the air unfortunately with this unhealthy air quality. we will talk more about if there are any rain chances in our forecast. you may get a sneak peek down at the bottom of the seven-day forecast but we'll take a peek further beyond to let you know if there's any rain headed our way as we head february. how about that for a tease. we begin with the 49ers quest for six and muni is changing things up, anticipating celebrations and possible vandalism on the streets of san francisco. as you might recall several times before, celebrating fans have climbed up on top of the street cars. this guy was prosecuted for smashing a muni bus. the danger too is when folks are on top of those buses, they can be near overhead fires, which

are of course charged with electricity. the agency, therefore, is taking some of the historic cable cars out of service and some of the street cars as well, including the ones on the f market line. buses will run the market street line instead. also the iconic cable car lines will be mostly out of service starting this afternoon. the california line stops at 2:00 this afternoon. the powell hyde and powell mason cable car lines will run only between fisherman's wharf and chinatown starting at 4:00 this afternoon. >> the celebrations do get out of hand. week reroute around those celebrations so we can keep service moving or ensuring that if people do climb onto an energized line, there isn't energy running out that could be harmful to people who do climb on board. >> cal buses will also run in the sunset district where fans have been known to gather and sometimes take their celebrations to the rooftops of the light rail vehicles. of course most fans celebrate responsibly. we are now about nine hours

away from kickoff in seattle and the 49ers are just one win away from their seven have the super bowl appearance. let's check in one last time with mindy and matt, who are at centurylink field in seattle. >> reporter: the 49ers have not had much success here in seattle over the past two seasons but they are fully aware they need to overcome that. they are confident they will in their third straight nfc championship game. matt, one of the biggest reasons that the 49ers have struggled up here, particularly offensively, is the communication issues. they know how loud it can get in centurylink. it's difficult to hear on offense. how do they counter that today? >> the 49ers will have to streamline what they do offensively. a lot of games what they do, they'll give colin kaepernick two plays to call in the huddle. he has to communicate that to the other ten guys in the huddle. then he gets up to the line of scrimmage, looks over the defense and decides which play to go with. i think for the 49ers early in this game they have to give him one play call, get up to the

line of scrimmage and get the snap off. as we saw last week in carolina, they did very well as far as the mechanics of that. it's going to be a lot more difficult here at centurylink field. >> that's what's amazing about the 49ers. they have been one of the best teams on the road since jim harbaugh took over in 2011. seattle being the exception for them. what makes the 49ers so good on the road and can they extend their current road streak to four games? >> that's pretty much unheard of, a team going on the road four straight times and perhaps coming out with a fourth straight victory. but this is a tough hi mindi-mi. this is a veteran team and have been through this before. last year they had to go into atlanta in a dome stadium, a very loud environment, and win the nfc championship game there so they're hardened up to this kind of challenge. based on what they have done to get to this point, going to green bay, not an easy place to play, going to carolina, not an

easy place to play. so those two were good primers to get to this point right here where they have gone through it and know what it takes to win at this level. the problem is it's a lot more difficult here than anywhere else in the nfl. >> it definitely seems that this is a team that thrives on the challenge and rises to that. it almost seems like it's motivation for them, would you say? >> i would say so, it's a challenge. >> we'll see if they're able to meet that and advance to their second straight super bowl. for matt, i'm mindy bach in seattle. we'll have more on this coming up. watch nbc bay area all throughout the day as well as comcast sportsnet bay area for your latest 49ers news. >> of course we have more of it coming up this morning and online, nbcbayarea.com. also this morning, a warning. the cyber attacks that stole data from millions of shoppers are not over. the cyber security team intercrawler says at least six other retailers are now under attack. they're not naming the hacked companies, but say customers'

card numbers, pin numbers, phone numbers and e-mails are all in jeopardy and they say this may only be the beginning. >> it's highly probable that more merchants will have to come forward and let their consumers know there's been a problem. >> while the extent is not known, an intercrawler said a 17-year-old hacker from st. petersburg, russia, is behind this attack. a separate report confirms target's network was hacked with a russian virus. while the drought is challenging farmers and also folks in the sierra, low water levels at one california lake have renewed a search for a small plane and three passengers that disappeared in 1965. for the third straight day a team of deputies and volunteers were out at folsom lake east the sacramento. crews found several large objects covered in heavy silt. then they sent in a robot with

cameras to take photos. crews still can't tell if what they found is part of the plane, a boulder or something else. >> we are going to regroup. there's several images that were captured at various points in the lake that we will go ahead and evaluate. >> the crew says after evaluating the images, they will decide which steps will be the right steps to take next. people worldwide are honoring the memory of dr. martin luther king jr. this weekend including tributes here in the bay area. san francisco recreation and park department honored dr. king's accomplishments yesterday with a march. they took the group from the bayview opera house to martin luther king jr.'s swimming pool. once there they teamed up with habitat for humanity for some cleanup. >> we were fortunate enough to get some support from kaiser this year so we're able to ramp up our efforts and do a little bit more work and really focus on some projects that the staff isn't able to get to. we're happy to be here, it's a

beautiful day. we're excited to have so many folks come out on such an important and celebratory day. >> about 200 volunteers were part of the tribute and cleanup effort and several events are still planned throughout the bay area tomorrow. still ahead on "today in the bay" we have heard from the experts. now we'll hear from the team themselves about today's nfc championship game. [ wind howling ]

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and it gives you what you are looking for to live a more natural life. in a convenient two bar pack. this is nature valley... delicious granola bars made with the best ingredients in nature. nature valley. nature at its most delicious. and we are looking live at oakland this morning. just a little bit of haze but that's going to burn off and it's going to be a beautiful day once again for sitting aside with your favorite fans and rooting for your favorite team. it won't be easy, but the 49ers once again will have to win on the road to punch their ticket to the super bowl. over the past two years, the seahawks are 16-1 at home but the 49ers say they're not intimidated. >> i do believe players like to play in these kind of games, you

know. big games. why wouldn't you want to play in that as a player. it doesn't get any better than that. it's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of fun for all those players. >> hopefully we win, you know. i just think we're playing football. we know what we've got to do. we split with them and we happen to be up there and are ready to play. >> kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 this afternoon. the niners are 6-8 in championship games, including the 28-24 win in atlanta last year. of course we can't forget the new england patriots square off against the denver broncos in the afc championship game. that comes up at 12:30. that's when we know who the niners would play in the super bowl. the beautiful weather that we're having is just a mask for the state's pup iburning drough. coming up, larry gerson tells us what the governor's emergency declaration means and also talk about what's changed since dr. martin luther king jr. called

for racial equality so many years ago. good morning. there's lots to do today in bay. in memory of civil rights leader dr. martin luther king jr., tomorrow is a school holiday but you can still get your learning on. at the hall of science you can get a preview of the exhibit called x-treme bugs. you can create bug sculptures or design a jitter bug robot, maybe catch their 3-d film that's new about insects as well. admission is on a sliding scale depending on age, but even as big kids, we're only $12. on to the smaller, more low profile museum in palo alto. today is the final day for the annual holiday lego extravaganza. here the bay area lego uses group and the training club have once again set up a mega mini marvel with structures and vehicles that aren't found in any toy store kit. you'll see bay area land

maurngs, trains and many cities and more. one scene from last year's exhibit even showed the sea lions at pier 39, a local favorite for over a quarter century. in fact to be exact, its 24th year. i know this because this weekend is also the 24th anniversary of the sea lions arrival there at the real life pier 39 in the city continuing through tomorrow. you can participate in the sea lion encounter and enjoy naturalists for a free 20-minute educational walking tour, including the new nature center on the second level of the pier. that raises the level of the sea lion experience up a level. tours are hourly from noon to 4:00. this is video from their field camp. there's no odd crow but there's also no fragrance. it's sunday out there and there's a ton of things to do. so go niners.

this week governor brown declared a drought emergency after the driest year for which

california has records. nbc area political analyst larry gerston joins us. thank you for being in this morning, nice to see you. >> sure. >> so what does this official declaration mean? usually it means that there are resources that can be freed up. >> there are resources. for example, the governor is hiring more people to fight fires. he's allowed local water districts more latitude in determining when and how they want to restrict the use of water. and finally there's this whole question of federal resources. once you do this, the federal government frees up resources, whether it's aid, material, money for firefighting, you name it. so the state moves into an area the governor would not like to have done because it does create a sense of urgency for people. but nonetheless the time has come, the support for what he's doing is there and now we just have to sit back and do the rain dance. >> what would be the downside of declaring a drought emergency? sometimes we see officials like hold off until the last possible

minute. >> you don't want to create a sense of urgency unless you have to. you don't want people worrying about water, farmers and others worrying about water they may not get but these guys are smart. they have got their own private weather forecasters. they know the land better than anybody else. and they were really waiting for this to happen. now it's a matter of whether in fact the water will come some way or another. we know it's going to be a bad year, the but the politics get kind of interesting because it raises up this whole issue once again of a water bond, which was on the ballot twice before and yanked off both times. now the question is will they put a water bond back on the ballot in november. >> and so does the drought help the chances for that happen, do you think? >> most likely. when you see a sense of urgency, things happen. the best time to put a drain water bond for the streets is after a wet winter. well, conversely, the best time to put a water bond, building

da dams, moving water is after a very dry winter. the problem with that is that the state has had a lot of bondbond indebtedness moving from 36th in 1990 to 10th in 2010 on a per capita basis. we hoe more than $100 million already in bonds and that's led people to be reluctant about it. >> understandably so. we also want to talk about the celebrations of dr. martin luther king jr.'s life and legacy. where are we in terms of racial inequality not just in our state but in the nation? >> things change, there's no question about it. we talk about the du juor segregati segregation, segregation by law. that's totally outlawed. but you look at things like segregation in the de facto sense. separation in fact. well, de facto separation or de facto segregation is still very much a part of our landscape

although it's sometimes hard to see. in california, for example, we have a highly diverse population, yet there are signs of inequality. >> right. and so let's talk about some of those areas of inequality because they kind of perpetuate. >> yeah. >> the inequality that exists already. >> you begin with something like public education. even though there's no official segregation housing, we know that, it still takes place. patterns are still there. people of the same races often have similar incomes, they're largely in the same schools with radically different funding formulas. some areas, santa clara county, some districts have twice as much money because of the housing and whatnot as others. that results in different dropout rates. there's a connection here. so you look at what's going on in california, recently 2010, 15% of whites drop out of high school. 30% of latinos drop out of high school. 42% of african-americans drop out of high school. those are pretty significant

differences. and those dropout disparities, kris, sew the seeds for incarceration which is very different by race. whites, 24% of the prison population, african-americans 29%, latinos, 41%. guess what, it's fair to argue that there's a link between education, the funding for it and incarceration and much of that begins with those housing patterns. >> right. i don't think you'll get an argument from many people about that. so the question is where do we go from here? what is the solution? >> these are just interesting times. as of march this year, latinos will be the largest population in california. as of 2043, not so far from now as we know, nonhispanic whites will be less than the majority of the united states. so you put all that together, on the other hand you've got recent

u.s. supreme court decisions that have all but eliminated affirmative action programs and reduced the government's ability to fix race based -- the country may be at a crossroads and how things turnpike o out remains t seen but there will be a lot of activity in the polls in response to these developments. there's a lot to think about this weekend, martin luther king, the drought and of course the 49ers. >> i knew you were going to fit that in. thank you very much, larry. we'll be right back. ♪

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welcome back now. 7:55 the time. one quick final check of your forecast does show we're talking about another spare the air day for today. the most unhealthy is off toward the north day, peninsula and east bay. keep that in mind. do not do any burning of any wood substances. as we take a look outside, clear

conditions. a little breezy in san francisco. beautiful sunrise across the peninsula where we're seeing that golden color. a good sign that the 49ers will bring home a win later on this afternoon. now, we do have this area of high pressure that's been sitting on top of us really the past month. now, as we continue into the end of january, this thing is not going to move so we're talking about another weekend where we'll see record-breaking heat, unfortunately poor air quality. the hinge thing to note is firer will stay high with such dry conditions and no rain in sight. it does look like that will be something to pay attention to as well. overall temperatures will be delightful today. 73 in morgan hill, 71 in san jose. the peninsula rch, you'll see 7 san mateo, 72 in palo alto. san francisco will be right near 70 at the water, a little cooler towards the airport but overall you'll find the north bay, east bay and tri-valley, everybody here expecting to see a good mix of low to mid-70s and again no cloud cover really in sight.

plenty of sunshine here for your sunday. now, i fast forwarded this and notice what's happening. this is next weekend and look at that. you find some showers that could be approaching the california coastline. again, not this monday but next monday, which would be the final week of january. this would be the only hope we have as we move toward the last few days of january, getting into february. you can see this area of rainfall does get very close to the bay area. as we round out january, again one of the driest months this year starting off and one of the driest climate logically speaking this could be very good news as we head towards next week. we'll continue to track that and of course those very warm temperatures will be staying for today. enjoy it, though. >> thank you very much, anthony. thanks for making us a part of your morning. we have more local news at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. of course any time of day nbcbayarea.com. we leave you with a look at the 49ers flag flying in san francisco. don't forget to send us your fan

photos, your baby, yourself, your dogs, whatever. go, niners. we'll see you soon. of the london games was the most watched television event ever. so, what's next? the upcoming winter games from sochi. where every second of nbc universal's coverage will be available on every device. on tv, online or streaming on the nbc sports live extra app. beginning february 6th, experience the winter games everywhere. welcome to what's next. comcast nbcuniversal

washington, the world's longest-running television program, this is "meet the press" with david gregory. >> given the unique power of the state, it is not enough for leaders to say trust us, we won't abuse the data we collect. for history has too many examples when that trust has been breached. >> good sunday major. no matter what you think of edward snowden and his decision to spill secrets about how the government conducts domestic surveillance, he started one big debate. without him and what he did, it is hard to imagine the president giving the speech he gave this week, bottom line, the spying programs are here to stay, it appears. but the president says he would like to protect your privacy better. so i'm going to have reaction