80s, near record warmth and then we get more rain all in the same weekend. those numbers coming out. >> that's certainly reason for slowing. i mean, look at how slick the roadway is. this is the golden gate bridge. we'll check out your commute. we'll talk about what we see on the live cameras as well as on the censors because traffic and weather systems are tied together. >> there we go. we're all tied together this morning. a live look outside this morning right now the bay bridge. it is 5:00. it is "today in the bay" on this march. thank you for joining us. from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> and a good wednesday morning. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. we do start with breaking news this morning. crews responding to what we're told is a two-alarm fire in san francisco's mission district. >> police have set up a command post in the area. stephanie chuang is on her way right now to the scene, and she's going to bring us a live report as soon as she can update us. >> let's take a live look outside. golden gate bridge this morning.

there are some sprinkles out there. slick roadways. be careful. let's check that microclimate forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> thank you, laura. good morning to you, sam, everybody at home. showers working their way through the bay area pretty swiftly. we're getting a free car wash out there as well. and looking to accumulate potentially a quarter of an inch of rain right here in the south bay. more like half of an inch north of the golden gate bridge. what you'll notice is we also have some yellow imbedded within that deep green. so those are some moderate to heavy pockets of rainfall. should be clearing off. by lunchtime, you'll still need that bril, then yumbrella. we're looking good for another round of rain over the weekend. but in addition to that rain, near record warmth. so stick with us. i'll take you through that full forecast. we are getting closer to the weekend, but you do have to work for it. mike's going to be able to get

do you there on time. >> i hope i can. my suggestion is leave a little early because i'm also suggesting you drive a little slower. water on the lens, water on the roadway. light volume of traffic. but slick roads. we're talking about green on christina's radar. green on the roadway index. it's going to be slick conditions all over where it's green. there's the bay bridge. those slick conditions, as we look at the foster city approach coming off the san mateo bridge, we see the glow from the lights as well. slicker conditions, and we're watching because of that oil and grease has had a chance to settle on the roadway. this little rain is bringing it back up. back to you guys. breaking news this morning, a u.s. helicopter crashed on routine training mission, and in the last hour, the mission turned from a search and rescue to now a recovery mission. >> kris sanchez joining us now with how many servicemen were lost here.

>> good morning to you both. there were seven marines and four national guard members who were onboard. a mission that was supposed to be a routine training mission. sadly now it was a deadly mission. we'll show you where it happened. the uh-60 blackhawk helicopter took off from destin, florida. the four army national guard members were based out of hannan, louisiana. the seven marines were special operations in north carolina. this is the kind of chopper that we're talking about, a uh-60 blackhawk helicopter. file video of the same kind of chopper here. last night's crash happened over the gulf of mexico. officials say most of the 11 crew members have now been recovered. as you likely know, it will be a very long time to determine the official cause of this crash. but as of right now, officials say there was heavy fog and a low ceiling at the time of the crash. however, we also checked with nbc's weather channel, which reports that at the time of the

crash, it was cloudy with light wind and fog developing, but that visibility was fine. no rain, no thunderstorms. about six hours after the crash, the u.s. coast guard discovered the debris field, inchluding th tail rotor. most of the crew members have been recovered. there was a second blackhawk helicopter that was on the same training mission. it managed to return to base safely, so whether or not it's a factor for them. and this is sadly a recover mission and not a rescue. >> and it will be interesting to see if that second one noticed anything, was in contact with them at all. all right, thank you very much. >> saddening news this morning. thank you very much, chris. police right now are investigating a burglary in milpitas where thieves made off with 800 computers. i will have more on that story coming up just in seconds. south bay cafes suddenly closed after law enforcement raids that certainly caught customers by surprise. we're going to tell you more about that story coming up in just a moment.

four bay area medical centers could be forced into bankruptcy after plans to buy the struggling facilities fell through. they're part of a chain of six california hospitals run by daughters of charity health system. prime health care was set to buy all six facilities for more than $840 million. but because the hospitals operate as non-profits, the sale needed the attorney general's go-ahead. prime health care pulled the plug saying conditions imposed by harris proved too restrictive. let's straighten things out this morning, try to find out what your commute is beginning to look like as that rain starts to come down. meteorologist christina loren tracking that closely. >> good morning. this is a good thing. we need this rain. we want our hills to stay beautil and green as they are right now. this is actually going to keep that going at least for two weeks. but i can tell you kind of a rough drive to work. i had to use my windshield wipers. there's nobody else out there on the road. of course, when we come in, it's very early.

but i did travel very cautiously. that means today you're probably not even going to be able to hit that speed limit at least in the south bay for the next couple hours. temperatures are looking pretty good as we get into this afternoon. we're going to hit the upper 60s, so it's still wintertime, but do watch out. very slick out there. some yellow imbedded within that green from walnut creek all the way down to san ramon. let me show you your future cast for today. those showers will start to clear up as we head throughout the second half of your day. keep that in mind. like we're talking about, we could be measuring a fourth of a half of an inch. it just depends on where you live this morning. we'll keep you posted. plus, there's another round as we get into your weekend. here's mike and your drive.

>> we're going to start out over here. you see again, water on the lens and water on the roadway. you want to slow those speeds down a bit. as we look at your map, you see there's no major slowing because of the light volume of traffic, but again, basic speed. you learn about this in basic training. keep that in mind. we're looking at lighter volume all around the bay. a little build out of the altamont pass is typical. there is water on the lens and slick roadways here. traffic through japantown should run as usual this morning after a nearly day-long closure. that's why, the intersection near taylor and 8th street took

hours to clear. a union pacific train traveling through san jose derailed yesterday morning. luckily, no one was hurt. first, the golden gate bridge. now the bay area's other bridges are also considering all electric tolling. a live look right now at that bay bridge as traffic starts to pick up a little bit. there could soon be no stopping and no person collecting a toll there. bay area transportation leaders decide today whether to hire a consultant to study the benefits of moving to all electronic tolling. here also is a live look at the golden gate bridge where fully automated toll collection went into effect a couple years ago in 2013. golden gate officials consider that move to be a success. >> south bay cafe suddenly closed after law enforcement raids that caught customers by surprise. "today in the bay's" bob redell live there where police say illegal gambling was just the tip of the iceberg. >> reporter: san jose police and the fbi put a year and a half into investigating south bay vietnamese cafes for alleged

illegal gaming before finally making their move last night. last night, law enforcement raided the xingxing cafe behind me, and ten other south vietnamese cafes located in east san jose in what was dubbed operation omni, designed to crack down on illegal gambling and other problems that come with it. officers and agents detained several customers, hands zip-tied together as they were questioned. law enforcement made no arrests at any of the 11 raid locations but they did confiscate what they say were illegal gaming machines. roughly 100 devices in all. police say all those electronic slot machines combined can bring in up to $100,000 per week in illegal gaming revenue. >> we do know that sometimes there is prostitution. there's drugs. and there's violence. and we want to remove that. these machines bring in a lot of money, so there's a lot of competition for that money and

we want to make sure that this does not continue here in san jose. >> i was shocked. just barged in. >> was any illegal activity going on in there? >> just the machines. yeah. >> that's it? >> yeah. >> that was a woman who works at xingxing cafe here in san jose. coming up, we'll hear from some of those customers to get their thoughts. it took place at 11 locations throughout the south bay. reporting live in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> lots of money being generated there. it's a page jewel heist in france. thieves making off with millions in jewels. details on that next. plus, a change of heart. why palo alto decided to back off of a plan to regulate sites like airbnb. could apple buy tess la? we'll take a look.

it is 5:13 right now. san jose says it's getting close to reaching its do or die fundraising goal. it's raised 60%. the deadline is midnight on saturday. company officials are being cautiously optimistic about researching that goal. >> and we're rooting for them. follow up right now. officials in san francisco are now considering several proposals as we reported on

yesterday to cut down on cravings for sugary drinks. a city tax on soda failed last year. now they're trying something new. the most radical proposal involves slapping a warning label on all advertisements for soda and sugary drinks. other proposals would ban city ads on city property. if they approve these proposals, san francisco would become the first city in the country to require those warngings. the city council considered the idea monday night, but decided ultimately it was just really a hot button issue. palo alto only received seven complaints last year about short-term rentals. sounds like some apple shareholders would like the world's most valuable company to buy tesla. scott mcgrew, you can say with certainty apple says no? >> no, apple didn't say no. it didn't say yes. didn't say maybe either. apple held its annual shareholders meeting on thursday. cameras not allowed, but tim

cook was there and he was asked by at least two shareholders, hey, how about we buy tesla? the shareholders know that apple has plenty of cash to afford it and apple is apparently working on developing some kind of car, so why not? well, cook gave a non-answer twice. he even admitted he was giving non-answers. so we can say this morning it's not a no. much more definitive answers meanwhile from ellen powell, she testified in her own lawsuit against the venture capital firm again tuesday. then faced cross-examination. we're getting to the very personal parts of the issue where she had to explain her affair with one of her co-workers and reveal her salary. $400,000, plus bonuses at cliner perkins, 250,000 at her job as interim ceo of reddit. let's turn to landon dowdy at cnbc with some hopefully good news. good morning, landon. >> exactly right, a very lousy

day for the markets. the dow going into the red for the year. investors citing that the fed may raise interest rates sooner than expected, and weighed down by a drop in oil prices. the dow tumbling 332 points to 17662. that's the worst point decline since last october. the nasdaq dropping 82 to 4859. back to you. >> rough indeed. all right, landon, thank you. sam and laura, netflix recently had a hack-a-thon. one of its employees came up with this. what it is, is a dual lock for certain shows. you get one pin, your spouse or partner gets the other. and you can't watch "house of cards" until both pins are entered, that way you can't cheat and watch the next episode without your partner. they compare it to the two-man nuclear launch codes. it's just a fun idea. they're just brainstorming. i know lots of people who complain, hey, you're not

supposed to get ahead of me. >> and they sneak and watch it, i hear. >> a lot of cheating spouses out there. not the traditional term of cheating spouse. thank you very much. time for a check of the forecast. the rain coming down. >> it's going to make a big impact on your morning drive. the time is 5:17. you want to give yourself ample time to reach your destination safely, and we need this rain desperately. already up to about a tenth of an inch in some parts of the bay area, expecting to potentially accumulate up to a quarter of an inch here in the south bay. we have some of that moderate rain rolling through, just getting some light pockets of moderate rain at this point, so they were definitely a lot more expansive earlier. you can see now things starting to let up, but this is just the first wave of moisture. we're going to see on and off activity as we head throughout the next few hours, all the way into about lunchtime. make sure you keep that in mind. it's probably going to be a slower than normal commute this morning. we'll be keeping tabs on that for you all morning long. right now, heaviest shower

activity down in the south bay, that will continue. until about 12:00, we'll get another wave of moisture at that point. showers right now near ft. bragg are going to continue to head south, and then between about 4:00 and 6:00 p.m., things clearing out. we'll see beautiful air quality as a result of the showers rolling through, and also, expecting those hills to stay nice and green, at least for the next couple weeks. so rain is a really good thing, and it's not our only opportunity. you'll notice in your seven-day forecast, as you get into your sunday, more shower activity moving your way. tri-valley today at 68 degrees. 67 in the south bay. temperatures still pretty warm to finish off day. part of the reason why is because we're starting out really mild with temps in the 50s. as we get into the next couple days, mid to upper 70s coming in and the warmest air of the season so far arrives as we head throughout your weekend. sunday with some shower activity. i promise to show you that future cast. here it is. we stop that clock for you at

6:00 a.m. good news is, everything clears out by about lunchtime. and that's fantastic news, because you know what's happening this weekend? the dublin st. patrick's day parade. that is on saturday. temperatures are going to be at 82 degrees. they've got the festival continuing for your sunday. 74 degrees out there. and what a beautiful day. no rain on their parade this year. that's the good news. finally, the hills are actually green in dublin. that hasn't been the case for the past three years. so it will look reminiscent of ireland. over to you. >> good thing you clarified. you were talking about the parade in dublin, california, not dublin, ireland, because why would we talk about that one? i'm sure they celebrate st. patrick's day. traffic flows smoothly. wet. slick conditions here. that sprinkle, the rain, wherever you are in the bail. let's look at the north bay. that has hit here as well. 101 showing that glow as they're kicking up some water as well. the sheen on the side of the road that we always use to show you whether or not there's still moisture up there.

we'll look at your map, because that will also show the same thing. we do have one crash on the system that's eastbound 37. just pops up here at lakeville. sounds like lanes are clearing. the green highlighted on the coast, as well as over here, the upper east shore freeway. here as well as zooming out to the rest of the bay. the entire bay covered in green, because that's where it's registering wet roads. slick conditions after earlier rains. after a break as well. that means oil and grease have had a chance to settle. i cleared off the green to show you the speed censors in general, so they're also green. we'll zoom in towards the tri-valley. the slower drive coming out of the altamont pass. i'll give you that live shot through dublin. there's the santa rita off ramp. that's where i'm really concerned. folks traveling down the freeway seem to be all right, but as you hit the off ramp, go slower than you think you have to.

back to you. investigators in northern california this morning trying to determine how a large tractor-trailer ended up on the tracks. just as an amtrak passenger train was coming through. investigators will be trying to determine why the engineer was given no warning before the crash. they will also be examining the locomotive's black box. the train slammed into the trailer earlier this week and derailed. 55 people were injured. all of them are expected to survive. >> an unusual loophole may make for an interesting day in ireland, where for one day at least, just about every drug legal. crystal meth, ecstasy and hundreds of other drugs are technically legal today. that's because an appeals court yesterday struck down a 1977 drug law there. the irish government is now scrambling to issue emergency legislation, but the earliest that a new law could take effect would be 12:01 tomorrow morning. heroin, cocaine, and marijuana are not impacted by the court ruling. >> how does no one see that coming? new this morning in france,

15 armed assailants attacked two vans carrying millions of dollars worth of jewels. the robbers threw the drivers out and drove off in the van. authorities are combing the burgundy region for the attackers. no one was hurt. the two vans were found burned in a nearby forest. so far, no jewels have been recovered. >> no one oddly walking around with rubies on their head. >> not just yet. the invention that is setting records on one crowd funding website, next.

if you've ever wondered what san francisco would look like after a massive earthquake, check out the new dwayne johnson movie. warner brothers just released the trailer for "san andreas." the film was shot in the russian hill and knob hill neighborhoods. it's set to come out in may. >> okay, but the world is fine right now and everything's great. >> the apocalypse is not here just yet. a new invention is setting the record on the crowd funding site. >> check out the flow created bay father and son team in australia. it lets you extract honey by just turning on the tap. isn't that cool? as of this morning, the team has raised more than $5.5 million. raised more than $2 million just in one day alone, setting an

indie go-go record. get a cup of tee and you're set. >> sweetness in the morning, that's been the theme here the last couple of days. let's go to our mooers chreteor christina loren. >> we need these showers. you know what's going to be really lovely out there, for the second half of your day, the showers are pressing south. you can see a dangerous commute shaping up right now on 101, all the way from gilroy, up through morgan hill, and san jose still getting some moderate rainfall at this point as well. showers will let up later today. we're going to let you know how much we're expecting where you live. plus, sneak peek at that weekend forecast coming your way with the inclusion of record warmth, and then boom, more rain on the way. we'll talk about that coming up. here's mike and your drive. >> we'll show you the san mateo bridge camera. a sheen on the roadway. slicker conditions around the bay, potential for some slick conditions, and we'll look at the maps all around the bay. so here's the green highlighted on our road weather index.

not a lot of traffic flow. you just saw that. not a lot of slowing either. pretty calm drive. i would urge you to slow it down a bit. we could potentially have some spinouts there on the on and off ramps because of that rain having had quite a break. there's oil and grease on the roadway. 580 shows a traditional build through livermore. your east bay starting to dry out a bit. >> thank you, mike. an update to breaking news in san francisco. a fire in an apartment building in the mission district. plus, the price of water going up. santa clara valley water district votes to raise rates. we're going to tell you how much more you're going to have to pay. you can find a new frontier.

there's nothing stopping you, and a lot helping you. technology that's with you always. this is our promise. it's never been better to wander, because wherever you go, you'll find us doing everything we can,

so you can. we continue to follow breaking news. military training mission goes horribly wrong. now 11 members of the military may be dead. we'll have the latest details in a live report. a manhunt in the south bay turns up no results. police still looking for this man. and we warned you that it was on the way.

rain has arrived. this will likely impact your drive to work this morning. it is not our only opportunity. we've got a lot to go over in your microclimate forecast this morning. >> we're talking about those slick conditions, like christina has mentioned, so we're looking at the build as well. those two things combined. we'll let you know how your commute is shaping up. a live look outside on this wednesday morning, downtown san jose. good to see the rain is back on this wednesday, march 11th. this is "today in the bay." >> from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> and a very good morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm sam brock. people in some parts of the bay area waking up to red roads this morning. this is what it looked like in san francisco just a few hours ago. we're going to check your microclimate weather forecast with meteorologist christina loren. you were saying on and off throughout the day here? >> yeah, but at this point, it's pretty widespread. everybody getting that really rich moisture, so do keep that in mind. highways are slick all across

the board this morning. temperatures are pretty mild out there. we're still in the mid to upper 50s, but this rain coming in, i do want to point out temperatures are going to climb into the upper 60s later on today. right now we're tracking heavy pockets. mostly in the silicon valley at this point. watch out. very kind of dangerous conditions, depending on how fast you're going this morning, from gilroy all the way up to san jose. that's where the heavy stuff is right now. the only place where we're starting to clear out is up in the north bay. but there's more rain on the way as we progress throughout your afternoon on and off activity will continue. and then throughout this evening, we will see clearing. then we're on our way to a big-time warming trend. we'll tell you what's in store for the rest of the week and your all-important weekend, that's coming up in my next report. right now, though, want to check your drive. >> christina's reports lead the way to the effect on traffic,

because it falls from the sky and then ends up on the road. over here, the bay bridge still showing you damp conditions on the lens and roadway. we're watching as we look at the map, green on our censors shows you a road weather index all over the east bay. roadways starting to dry out a bit. the rest of the bay shows the green highlighting as well. we have some slicker conditions, san mateo bridge just got hit with a little bit of sprinkles as well. back to you guys. >> thank you very much, mike. we do have breaking news in san francisco. five people hurt in an early morning fire at an apartment building in the michigan district. stephanie chuang live in san francisco. we understand several of those people were seriously hurt? >> reporter: yes. good morning to you, laura. that's what we're hearing. five people taken away via balance to the hospital. some of them in critical condition. we don't know what kind of injuries, whether it's actual burns or smoke inhalation, but we're here on 24th street in the mission district, where you can

see a large san francisco fire response with an engine ladder going up to the roof of that building. that's the second story of maurice's corner liquor store, and those are apartments. we understand it looks like there are several units. can't tell how many. but firefighters right now are at the top of that building. i think trying to knock down some hot spots. the fire was knocked down pretty quickly. it was reported at 4:30. so an hour ago, knocked down half an hour later, and the last half-hour, we've seen firefighters in large groups meeting. i think they're trying to discuss how to clear the scene to make sure that there are no more hot spots. again, five people injured. apparently residents of that second story apartment building. we are working to get more information right now. we just see that firefighters are on the roof. they've got their flashlights out and tools to make sure they can knock down some of the structure to again check for hot spots. awaiting an update from the battalion chief. we'll bring you the latest when we can. live in san francisco, stephanie chuang, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much, steph.

an update to breaking news now. a u.s. helicopter crashed on a routine training mission. most of the crewmen have been recovered, but it will take a lot longer to figure out the cause of the crash. >> does it seem like weather was a factor? >> we just saw a live picture coming out of florida, where a reporter is doing their work out there. it does look like it's foggy. we checked with our weather team christina and her producer and it seems line it was foggy at the time that the chopper took off as well. seven marines, four soldiers were part of this mission, which was supposed to be routine and sadly now we consider it a deadly mission. the uh-60 blackhawk helicopter took off from destin, florida. four national guard members were based out of hammond, louisiana. this is the kind of chopper that we're talking about here. it is a uh-60 blackhawk  helicopter.

and here's file video of the same kind of chopper. last night's crash happened over the gulf of mexico, and at this point, officials say most of the 11 crew members, their bodies have been recovered. as you likely know, it will take a very long time for the official cause of this crash, but right now, officials say there was heavy fog and a low ceiling at the time of the crash. i asked our weather team to look at conditions at the time, and though it was just overcast at launch time on the ground, visibility was quickly deteriorating. that went down from nine miles to less than one. about six hours after the crash, the u.s. coast guard discovered the debreais field, including t tail rotor and the bodies of most of the 11 crew members were recovered. another blackhawk managed to make it back to base safely despite that fog. and by the way, the identities of the crewmen onboard are being withheld pending the notification of their next of kin. so this is a developing story.

we're hoping to talk to some of those reports that are on the ground in florida in the next half-hour. >> we'll look forward to that as new information keeps coming in. thank you, kris. 5:35. a south bay crackdown on a string of cafes. this morning they're all shut down following gambling raids. bob redell joining us live. authorities calling this a hot bed of illegal activity including prostitution. >> reporter: you are right. illegal gaming allegedly going on at places like the xingxing cafe, they can put an end to what is the prostitution, drugs and violence that comes along with it. san jose police teamed up with the fbi last night to raid 11 vietnamese coffee shops here in east san jose in what was a year and a half-long investigation dubbed operation omni. and this is what agents and officers found in plain view in at least one of the businesses. those video devices you're

looking at right there, they're illegal gaming machines. law enforcement confiscated around 100 such devices from the 11 raid locations. all combined, those machines can bring in roughly $100,000 a week in illegal gaming revenue. law enforcement also detained several people. many of them customers. hands zip tied while they were interroga interrogated. eventually, everyone at all 11 locations were released. no arrests made. >> you don't know anything? >> i don't know anything. >> what were you doing inside? >> just drinking coffee. >> not gambling? >> this is a coffee shop. no gambling. >> i don't know what happened inside. i don't know nothing. >> don't say nothing. >> reporter: we did ask one woman who works at the xingxing cafe, was there any illegal activity going on inside, she said just the machines. the reporter said, that's it? and she said, yeah.

bob redell, "today in the bay." >> damian on the spot yesterday. meantime, a manhunt in the south bay for an armed and dangerous suspect. he is wanted for murder. officers from across the south bay were called in for that search, but they could not find him. police say quiros was involved in a shooting last year. berkley police may soon be teaming up with liquor store owners to fight crime. the berkley still council voted in favor of an ordinance requiring liquor stores in high crime areas install or upgrade their surveillance cameras. surveillance cameras help police put suspects behind bars in two killings in 2013 near bing'sling k -- bing's liquor store in berkley. backing off plans for a huge water rate hike now, but the santa clara valley waterboard says a smaller rate hike is still necessary because of a massive budget short fall caused

by the draft. last night, water district staff lowered their initial recommendation for the possible increase, the maximum increase of 32%. instead, they're now recommending a 20% hike. that would translate to about $5 a month for people living in north santa clara county. the board directed staff to look for more savings by delaying projects, selling district-owned property and not filling job openings. the board will set water rates in may. it's 5:39 right now. speaking of water, it's coming out of the sky this morning. >> yep, rain should be all day long here in spots. christina, joining us live now with our microclimate forecast. good morning. >> good morning to you, sam, laura, everybody at home. those showers are coming in steadily at this point, but i've got to tell you, we are going to see a nice respite. about 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., everything coming to a close. and then we have more rain on the way as we get into your all-important weekend. so let's take it to the radar and show you what's going on. thickest activity at this point between morgan hill all the way south to gilroy, but we've had

steady rainfall for the past 15 to 20 minutes all across the board. and for the past couple hours, it was coming down pretty heavily in the north bay, so things are clearing out as we speak. temperatures will jump into the upper 60s, and then i always like to let you know what's going on for your weekend. some big changes headed yur -- your way. 80s by saturday, then rain moves in by sunday. widespread. we'll talk more about that coming up. right now, want to check your drive. here's mike. >> i want to get this right on the board here. the traffic system looking pretty typical, as far as the pattern goes, but here's why it gets complicated. going to overlay the green right here. that's what our road weather index is showing. we do have one crash on the coast. highway 1, had a major commute concern, but it's a single car spinout. that's what we're warning about with slicker conditions. the bay bridge will end with this live shot at the toll plaza. it looks like they just turned those metering lights on. we will have 15 minutes of

nonstop news, traffic, and weather coming up next. everything online. our hout and our old internet just wasn't cutting it. so i switched us from u-verse to xfinity. they have the fastest, most reliable internet. which is perfect for me, because i think everything should just work. works? works. works! works? works. works.

you're watching "today in the bay." >> there's some good news this morning for millions of americans worried about student loan debt. paying off those loans may get a little bit easier thanks to a bill signed by president obama. tracie potts joining us live from washington, d.c. this will have a major impact, but especially here in california. >> exactly. because you've got more students and student loan debt than any other state in the nation. the bill that the president signed is known as the student aid bill of rights. it's beginning to make it easier for people to complain. the government is supposed to set up a new website for that by july 2015. it will simplify the loan process, all the red tape and dealing with federal student loans and make payments more affordable. that's really the crux of this initiative. they're also going to analyze some trends to see if they can recommend any changes down the

road. in california, 4.1 million students are carrying more than $112 billion worth of student loan debt. it's more than any other state in the nation. as a result, california could benefit more than any other state in the nation, too. >> that would certainly impact a lot of people here. thank you very much, tracie potts from washington, d.c. looming military action against isis may take a key step forward today. the senate's foreign relations committee will question three of america's top national security officials about new war powers to fight isis. the panel includes secretary of state john kerry, defense secretary ash carter, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general martin dempsey. new answers from hillary clinton about her personal e-mail account, and it appears that hindsight is 20/20. yesterday clinton opened up about using her personal e-mail, taking several questions. this, of course, as secretary of state, which she said was legal at the time. clinton said she did it because

it was more convenient. the former secretary of state also said if she had to do it over again, she would keep work and personal e-mail separate. clinton says the server that those e-mails were kept on was secure. last night, ferguson, missouri's city council approved a mutual separation deal with john shaw. it follows allegations of racial bias in ferguson's police department and the court system. in his resignation letter, shaw says his office never instructed police to target african-americans. the report suggests police used excessive tickets to generate revenue. another big rally is planned in madison, wisconsin. high school students skipped class to take part in the last rally. a madison police officer shot and killed tony robinson in a confrontation at his home. police say robinson assaulted the officer prior to being shot. we're going to look at your forecast. a live look outside san jose and

the south bay. one of the areas getting a little bit of rain this morning. >> it's good to see. i need a good car washing. >> i think most of us do enjoy a free car wash. good morning to you. the temperature outside pretty mild. and because of that mild start to the day, we are going to see a nice warm afternoon. upper 60s headed your way. as we get into the next couple days, things will change rapidly, so enjoy that rainfall while it lasts. if you're going to be headed into southern california, i've got to tell you, you'll be traveling with this cold front. so do keep that in mind. please travel cautiously out there this morning. it's been a while since we've had significant rainfall. the good news is the entire state getting that much-needed rain. we're all in the drought together, so that's good news. we're also going to see some pretty good snowfall out of this system. once it makes its way over to tahoe. so that's the good news. because it's occurring during the coldest point of the day, snow levels will fall to about 6,500 feet. we'll let you know how much we're expecting there.

plus we're also going to tell you how much more could come in as we head throughout the weekend. getting so close to it now. a lot of that heavy stuff is right now starting to push to the east of 101 through morgan hill and gilroy, but you've just got about 15 minutes worth of moderate rainfall, so please travel cautiously through there. temperatures will be comfortable today because we're starting in the upper 50s. about a ten-degree climb overall. 67 right here in the south bay with changes coming in steadily. keep that umbrella by your side, or at least in your car for today. on and off showers will continue at least until noon and things will start to clear up as we get into the second half of the day and evening hours. warming trend begins on thursday. we have a rapid warming coming your way as we head throughout thursday, friday, saturday. temperatures rising. the peak of this warming trend into the 80s. i'm going to show you the future cast in just moments. for today, this is what you need to know. tomorrow we're in the mid 70s. low 80s by saturday. temperatures drop off just a

touch for sunday. with that rainfall coming in. but you will notice that cooling trend beginning on sunday, and sticking with us through the first part of next week. more on that coming up. let's find out if those showers are impacting your drive. here's mike inouye. >> we're looking over towards the bay bridge. the earlier showers haven't hit the bay bridge. not calming down, but we have some slick conditions. there's some sheen on the roadway. tighter turns can be an issue, because the grease and the oil have built up. as we look to the maps and we do see no big effect from those metering lights. now there's the backup for 580 and the berkley curve, it's just starting to build. looking at the maps, the green here shows you where the wet roadways are, starting to dry out for the upper east shore. the north bay, san rafael moves smoothly. we're moving south now, looking over here toward the oakland area. a little damp roadways. not a major concern. a smooth drive, and we do have the build over there for both

580 and highway 4. traditional as you're coming out of the east bay and in toward the bay itself. westbound your commute direction. here in the south bay, we have no real problems through fremont into san jose. but northbound 101, we have this backup. let's look at the approach toward the crash. just north of this camera shot, but it's starting to show a little slowing. jammed up toward tully and we'll watch as that builds or clears. back to you. speaking of bridges out there, first the bay bridge, or i should say -- yeah, first the golden gate bridge. now the bay area's other bridges considering all electric tolling. a live look at the bay bridge this morning where there could soon be no stopping and no person collecting a toll. bay area transportation leaders decide today whether to hire a consultant to study the benefits of moving to all electronic tolling. now a live look at the golden gate bridge where fully automated toll collection went into effect in 2013. golden gate officials consider

that move a success. >> we'll see where it goes. meantime, how deep does it go? residents in san francisco's outer richmond neighborhood stumbled across a sinkhole. it's only the size of a big screen tv, but crews worry that problem underneath could be much worse than what meets the eye. crews are working on repairing the sinkhole and the cavity underneath it. no word yet on what caused the sinkhole. the odds of a massive 8.0 magnitude or larger earthquake striking california in the next 30 years has increased. according to a new study by usgs seismologists, they say nearby faults can combine in strength. before the study, the likelihood of an 8.0 mag any constitute earthquake happening was once every 600 years. now it's once every 500 years. >> a bigger area that slips all at once, the bigger the magnitude, the more energy is released. so when these faults all link up, they produce gigantic earthquakes. so as a result, our forecasts are slightly more large earthquakes. >> this forecast will now be turned into a shake map showing which parts of the bay area may be in for the most damage.

today marks the fourth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people in japan. officials concede that recovery throughout the region is lagging right now. nearly a quarter million people still live in temporary housing. radiation levels remain as much as ten times above normal in areas surrounding the fukushima power plant. utah could soon become the only state in the united states where the death penalty could be carried out by firing squad. a new bill would allow for a firing squad only if there is a shortage of execution drugs used in lethal injection. the bill has already passed both the house and senate. utah has used that firing squad before. the bill is headed to the governor's desk, but he has not said if he will sign it. >> they're looking for green, but not money. deputies in arizona are searching for four drivers who stole evidence during a high speed chase. check out this dash cam video from a chase just outside of phoenix last week.

those are bals es of weed. deputies were able to recover 17 of them. the rest snatched up by passing drivers. deputies are now looking for those drivers. a south bay student has just won what is considered the nobel prize for high schooler. >> andrew jin won and created an algorithm that could help decipher human dna. he received a $150,000 prize. >> not just him. saroon won second place in that contest. his work will help improve how well electronic data is stored. he received a $75,000 prize. perhaps the boys should not invest their winnings, though, in the stock market. >> not just yet. the markets were actually pretty brutal on tuesday. >> yeah. worst trading of the year, laura. the dow now negative for 2015.

we gave back all the progress for the year. the dow industrials fell more than 300 points. the nasdaq fell more than 80. it's all the usual suspects. many analysts will tell you there are fears the fed are going to raise interest rates sooner rather than later. they won't raise rates then, but they nay give further signals. another big factor is the european version of the fed, the european central bank a few years behind us. they're just now starting to have their massive push to change the economy with quantitative easing. easy money, easy euros. our dollar was already strong, maybe too strong. that makes exports expensive. fewer people can afford your products. oil is priced in dollars. it takes fewer of them to buy a barrel. you'd think that would be good news. except gas prices are actually

going up. oil's cheap. refineries aren't working. >> it's pushing those prices up. we were getting a little spoiled there for a while. >> we were indeed. >> it was fun while it lasted. 5:53 right now. we're going to be checking your microclimate forecast with christina. she had a very interesting tidbit that a lot of cities could be up to 100% of their average rainfall. >> yeah, or even more so, because we've had a really good 2015. you take a look around the bay area, you can definitely see that reflected by the green hills out there. i think those hills will stay good for a two weeks longer. what we're expecting over the weekend, showers are starting to let up in the north bay, at least from this first wave of rainfall. there is more on the way later on today with the heaviest downpours at this point coming through the south bay.

and then record warmth over the weekend before the next round of rain moves in. stick around. first, let's check your drive. here's mike. >> the rain coming through the south bay. a crash, as we look at your map, north 101 at oakland road. there's an earlier crash, and the slowing is still blocked because one of those vehicles, they can't get it off of the roadway right now. registered on our road weather index, that is the entire south bay and silicon valley commute. as we move out, we'll widen the map, show you the tri-valley and also the upper east bay. we're looking toward antioch, highway 4 with slicker on and off ramps as that rain continues to clear east and south. we do suddenly have a slowdown

for west 24 at 580. the bay bridge toll plaza has a typical backup coming out of the maze and berkley curve. back to you. according to airlines for america, air travel expected to be the highest in seven years. almost 135 million people are expected to take flight in march and april. that represents about 2.2 million fliers per day. ♪ welcome to paradise >> that will get you going in the morning. green day front man billy joe armstrong getting ready to open up a new guitar street. the store will be named broken guitars. it's set to open april 3rd. >> as long as the guitars actually work. robin thicke and pharell williams being ordered to give

it up. >> if you like the song "blurred lines" and you really want it, now is the time to get it. a little snippet of the music video there. jurors yesterday ordered thicke and pharell to pay more than $7 million for copyright infringement. jurors decided it sounded too much like gaye's 1977 hit "gotta give it up." his family attorneys are planning to ask for an injunction to stop all sales until an agreement can be reached on future moneys. >> an interesting one. we do continue to follow breaking news this morning. several people hurt in an early morning fire in the mission district. a u.s. military helicopter goes down during a routine training mission in florida. the beach now scattered with debris. we'll have the latest coming up next.

breaking news. an apartment fire overnight in san francisco sends several people to the hospital. >> also break at this hour, a military chopper crashes in florida. all 11 people onboard are feared dead. >> and busted by the feds. authorities swarm nearly a dozen potential fronts for illegal gambling and prostitution in san jose. >> and good wednesday morning. i'm meteorologist christina loren. showers working their way through the bay area. also some snow moving over tahoe. we'll tell you how much to expect for today and when those showers will clear before record warmth moves into the picture. >> and of course, with those wet roads, we're doing due diligence warning drivers, but i have a crash in san jose, which is causing a slowdown for the bayshore as well. >> let's take a live look outside at the beautiful bay bridge this morning. it is wednesday, march 11th. this is "today in the bay." >> from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay."