a rain storm poised to soak the bay area over the next 24 hours. it started in e a rainstorm poised to soak the bay area over the next 24 hours. it started in the north bay last night, but there is much more to come throughout the entire bay area and parts of the bay on flood watch. a section of highway 1 between valley ford in sonoma county had to be closed because of the water out on the roads. you can see it there. the russian river is also running very high. take a live look outside at the golden gate bridge. you can see water on the road there. drivers have to be extra careful because of these slick conditions. a much different picture in the south bay. for now a live look at san jose where rain is expected to move in later this afternoon. but things quite dry this morning. good morning and thank you so much for joining us. i'm vicky nguyen. let's get a check of that

microclimate forecast with meteorologist kari hall. good morning. thank you for joining us. >> good morning. we do have to give everyone a heads up because of that rain moving in. we have not one but two storm systems that will be moving in within the next couple of days. so this first one starts out with the possibility of one to three inches of rain today between this afternoon into the early morning hours. and then we have another one right behind that expected to move in on tuesday to bring some additional rain. but this is what it looks like now. the rain moving into far northern california and the heavy rain is already beginning around eureka, and that will be moving farther to the south. so as that moves in, we'll see that rain later on this morning in the north bay, santa rosa seeing the heavier downpours. and by noon most of the north bay is covered by rain. it starts to move into san francisco, the peninsula as well as the east bay. and not into the south bay until later on this evening. wrapping up in time for the morning commute. so i'll detail all of that what to expect as that continues to

move in. and once again, some soaking rains and along with that, we have some high winds that will be moving in later on today. >> okay. a busy forecast. thanks, kari. it's also bringing big waves. check out this shot yesterday afternoon in capitola. the high surf warpi inwarning l through today. click on the weather tab to find the live doppler radar. download it from the apple store or from google play for your android devices. we are working this morning to find out more about the man killed in san francisco after being run over by a double-decker tour bus. we're told the elderly man waved and screamed his armed before being hit near pacific heights. about 1:00 in the afternoon in broad daylight. we talked with witnesses. one says it looks like the man couldn't make it through the light in time. police say he was about 70 years old. the bus dragged the victim after

running him over. one witness reported running after the bus to get the driver to stop. >> but he seemed shocked. like what happened? he didn't know. >> the bus driver, the bus company, they're cooperating with our investigation. >> police say they will look for surveillance video to try and get a better idea of what happened. right now it looks like the victim died while walking against the light. and the hop on/hop off tour bus driver may have been distracted by another driver. witnesses say had just run a red light at that intersection. it has been a dangerous time for tour buses in the city. last month a double-decker bus collided with an suv on the embarcardero. nine people were hurt. it appears the suv cut in front of the bus in that incident. and back in november you may recall a total of 20 people were hurt when a bus careened out of control at union square. the driver said he heard an explosion before losing control. he blames faulty brakes. but the official cause of that crash has not been determined. a san francisco city worker

is in the hospital after a crash with a muni street car. the accident happened about 5:40 p.m. downtown. muni says the operator for the lines ran into a department of parking and transportation vehicle. the person inside that car has injuries to the face and knees. no one in the streetcar was hurt. new details this morning, four americans imprisoned in iran are free. they are being flown right now out of iran. they include a bay area native, "washington post" reporter jason was born in marin. iran arrested the newspaper's bureau chief in tehran on spying charges. "the washington post" calls the charges and his prison term, quote, ridiculous and a travesty. he spent a year and a half in custody. his cousin and other locals closely following affairs are overjoyed at his release. >> it's just great news for the whole family. i mean, it's spectacular news. we're just so happy.

>> these were american citizens, iranian-americans who are u.s. citizens who have unjustly been held. >> a senior u.s. official says reziaian and the other americans who wanted to leave iran boarded a plane in tehran just over three hours ago. they are now on their way to europe and then expected back in the u.s. their release is part of a prisoner swap. iran gets back seven of its citizens in custody in the united states on charges including sanctions violations. and hours after the swap was announced, an iran nuclear deal over two years in the making has moved ahead. the u.s. is now dropping sanctions that have been crippling the iranian economy. the u.n. nuclear agency has certified that iran is meeting all of its disarmament requirements. now, iran has access to world markets and also billions of dollars in frozen assets. well, an unexpected welcome party for travelers coming into the oakland airport this weekend.

occupy oakland protesters were there to greet them yesterday. the group chanted names of people allegedly killed by bay area police officers. a similar protest is scheduled for sfo today. the search continues this morning for a missing ski instructor near lake tahoe. rescue crews are up against the clock. carson may has been missing for near tly three full days and in that time more than four feet of snow has fallen. he was last seen thursday at sugar bowl ski resort where he works. using cell phone pings from may's phone, rescue crews have narrowed the search to a high-risk area for avalanches. search crews are now having to battle the elements. >> the area where the phone is pinging is extremely dangerous over there. we have been checking that area, setting off a few small slides. >> well this is kind of the worst of the worst. it's the perfect storm. we have a lot of snow that fell. we now have rain that's falling. >> about 75 people part of the search crew will continue

looking for carson may into the night. and new this morning, a search for this missing pleasant hill man. police say 25-year-old francisco tofmali is at risk. he was last seen at 8:00 last night. he cannot hear or speak. he's deaf and mute and is apparently despondent. he can communicate through sign language and writing. and pleasant hill police are now asking anyone who may have seen him to give them a call. a sign ruined by van cals, and now police are going public with their search for the person responsible. this sign sits on the expressway near coleman avenue in san jose. as you can see, someone stole quite a few of the letters last night. police tweeted this picture of the damage saying they need help finding the vandal. here's what the sign louised to look like. if you have any information on what happened, call police. much more ahead on "today in the bay," coming up, spacex gives it another shot. the company is about to launch another rocket. experts weigh in on its chances. and the countdown to super bowl 50 is on, but you'll be feeling

the impact of the game long before it happens. what to be prepared for. fremont - national wildlife

refuge your time now is 7:10. under a microclimate weather alert. kari hall will be along in just a moment to give you the details of where and when that rain will hit. for now, though, we're giving you a beautiful live look outside as the sun rises over the fremont national wildlife refuge there. absolutely beautiful. and no rain just yet. down on the east bay. well, to decision 2016. tonight all eyes on south carolina. it will be the democrats' turn to debate. it is their last debate before the iowa caucuses. bernie sanders is running strong in the polls in iowa. but experts say he may have trouble winning bigger, more diverse states such as south carolina. hillary clinton was off the campaign trail this weekend, but she had her husband, former

president bill clinton, step in on her behalf. >> she got the sanctions against iran and had russia and china going along with them. i confess, i didn't think she could do that. >> with the tight race in iowa and new hampshire, experts expect escalating attacks between clinton and sanders during tonight's debate. watch the democrats' fourth debate right here on nbc bay area. the iowa primary is in two weeks. our coverage starts at 6:00 p.m. a crucial test for spacex today. elon musk's company will attempt to launch and then land a falcon 9 rocket on a barge in the ocean. the company tweeted out this photo of the rocket on the launch pad yesterday. experts compare the test to, quote, throwing a pencil over the empire state building and then landing it on a shoe box. back in december, spacex successfully launched a rocket and landed it back on solid ground. that's after two failed attempts. the company's goal is to create a reusable rocket and boosters

to lower the costs of space missions. still ahead on "today in the bay," as the bay area ramps up preparations to host the super bowl 50, the pricing for tickets for the game are also soaring. what a seat is going for on the resale market. and we're taking a look at the satellite and radar as the next storm system approaches. i'll have the microclimate forecast and the weather alert. a heads up coming up. fremont - national wildli

let's give you another live look outside at fremont as the sky comes up. absolutely gorgeous out there. but some changes are headed our way. that's the fremont national wildlife refuge you're looking at. could be a little wetter come this evening as meteorologist kari hall tells us, some storms are headed our way as the bay area is under a microclimate weather alert. a seat for the super bowl is becoming very expensive. we are talking record-breaking expensive.

right now the cheapest tickets on resale sites are between $ $3200 and $3500. if you want a good seat, expect to pay thousands more. the average ticket is about 5,000 bucks right now. stubhub is calling it the silicon valley effect. a company spokesperson told the bay area news group the wealth in the bay area is likely driving up ticket prices. traffic around san francisco is about to go from bad to worse as we approach super bowl 50. take a look at this map. all of the red and yellow areas are being transformed into the ultimate super bowl fan experience. from january 23rd to february 12th, super bowl village will take over part of market street near the embarcardero. drivers in that area will have to take a detour onto washington to battery streets. there's as much concern as there is excitement regarding this upcoming event. >> this is bigger than fleet week, bigger than the running of the olympic torch. it's bigger than america's cup. >> we'll probably look forward to an extra hour-plus of commute

on at least the way out on those days. >> san francisco's municipal transportation agency says most public transportation lines will be running normally an extra 1 million people are expected to be in the city for the event. more details on the other areas that will be impacted by the super bowl. be prepared in the south bay because parts of san jose will be off limits to the general public during super bowl week. that zone includes notable places like the s.a.p. center, city hall and san jose state university. here are some rules if you are in those areas. you can't sell food or merchandise. you also can't give out free items or samples of any kind. and if you break these rules, it will cost you $1,000 in fines. we're counting down to the super bowl. kickoff at levi's stadium is 20 days away. for now, though, we have another countdown happening. some storms headed our way. let's get a check in right now with meteorologist kari hall standing by with a look at that weekend forecast and the week ahead. but you're tracking serious storms heading our way. >> yes, especially this evening when the winds start to pick up.

we already have a very soggy ground. and then you toss in some winds at about 25 to 35 miles an hour, and that could cause some downed trees and power lines. as we look at all of our microclimates right now, can you see the rain in the north bay. some spotty light showers there. elsewhere, we do have patchy dense fog. you can barely see what's happening in that camera in the peninsula. as the sun rises. san francisco, you can see that the streets are wet. visibility is low as you cross the golden gate bridge. and in the south bay, it is cloudy. now, into the day, that rain starts to move in. and our temperatures will be topping out in the upper 50s. some spots hitting the low 60s. here's a storm system now. you can see that rain as it continues to move into far northern-northwestern california and some heavy rain, some heavy downpours in spots. but it has not yet made it into the bay area. we will see that, whoing its way from north to south. in the meantime, we do have the coastal flood warning in effect. and that's where we could have some flooding in some of those low-lying areas.

and we also have a concern about mill valley, sausalito, the great highway and rio delimar. so those areas we'll be watching. also a flash flood watch for pretty much the whole north bay until 4:00 tomorrow morning. and runoff and debris flows will be possible once that heavy rain begins. we also have a high surf advisory. and that will be in effect until tomorrow morning. those waves may be getting up to about 16 to 19 feet. and a period of about 17 to 19 seconds. here's a look at the futurecast. and this is what we are expecting. this is what the radar could look like. when you see the greens, that shows that we could have a light to moderate rain. but then when it gets yellow and orange, that begins to move into the north bay. by this morning. and then starts to work its way into san francisco later on this afternoon into the evening. the rest of the bay area as well as the east, south bay and the peninsula seeing some heavy rain later on tonight. and it will be pouring for several hours. and then as we start out the day tomorrow, it's starting to wrap

up. but it still will be very soggy and some leftover light showers. and then on tuesday, the next storm system arrives with some heavy rain. so we are looking at the possibility of at least an inch of rain in many spots. nap that looking at an inch. fremont, maybe 1 1/2 inches. san jose, over 1 1/2 emplginche. that could create localized flooding. in the sierra, unfortunately this storm system, as it moves through, is very warm. temperatures there have been above freezing, and that is creating some rainy conditions there. of course, we need the snow. so not much snow in the forecast for them until the next storm system arrives on tuesday. and that will bring a more significant snow. but we will have some very warm temperatures there out ahead of that. here in the bay area, as we go through the next few days, we start out the week with the rain wrapping up early tomorrow. some warmer temperatures. we do keep the mild weather. and then that storm system arriving on tuesday.

some soggy conditions there. and then another chance to dry out on wednesday. in san francisco, we'll be in the upper 50s to lower 60s. some heavy downpours on tuesday, possibly a few thunderstorms. on monday, once again, the rain moving out for the east shore. there will be more storms ahead. so we do have the first one moving in between tonight and early tomorrow. the next one moving in on tuesday. once again more significant snow for the sierra shown by the white here on this is what the radar could look like. and then on wednesday, we take a break. on thursday, there's another storm system that could linger into early friday. and the weekend. as we get an early look at next weekend, also looks pretty wet. more active weather and the potential for a few inches of rain between now and the next seven days. this is what the computer models show. we have red pretty much covering the bay area. that shows the possibility of about 2 1/2 to 4 inches of rain over the next seven days. so not only a concern, vicky, of flooding today, but also as we go into next week.

>> thanks for the heads up. "today in the bay" is back after this break. coming up -- >> hands down, this was the scariest day, scariest time, scariest fire of my life. >> it is the untold story of heroism during the valley fire. how an entire neighborhood came to almost completely unscathed and who they are thanking for it. "valley fire." about 12- hundred

homes were destroyed. it has been four long months since the valley fire. about 1200 homes were destroyed. one of the worst fires in california history left entire blocks charred. this morning the untold story of heroism in the face of disaster and how one couple's determination changed the landscape of their neighborhood. garvin thomas has this morning's "bay area proud." >> by now many of us have seen a map of the valley fire. this is the final one that cal fire released.

the red area, of course, is everything that burned. but did you ever notice this small pocket right here? well, there are two reasons that didn't burn, and it turns out they're married to each other. >> reporter: rain. even just a little of it. what john and teri gormley wouldn't have given for a little rain on that day in september, the day they stood in this very spot on lake county's cobb mountain, convinced the valley fire was in the process of consuming their home not more than a mile away. >> oh, gosh. just overwhelming emotion. just holding each other and sobbing and just thinking, we lost it all. it's all gone. >> reporter: this, however, is the story of how the gormleys and 28 of their neighbors didn't lose their homes. >> and it started right on the other side of that hill a little ways. >> reporter: it begins really

just a couple of hours earlier when john, a current firefighter, and teri, a retired one, heard about a small fire burning near a friend's ranch and headed over to help. >> oh, i'm glad you guys are here. do what you can to save my house. there's grass right here. >> reporter: the grass rig, a pickup truck with a water tank and pump, would prove critical to the gormleys, just not yet. what they were facing here was no big deal for a couple with 44 years combined firefighting experience. >> wasn't concerned about it at all. we both were, like, in our t-shirts and shorts. >> it's like no big deal. it looked like a slow-moving grass fire. >> reporter: that was until john looked back toward his house. >> and that whole hill was on fire. >> reporter: john and teri jumped in the grass rig and raced home. once there, they scrambled to keep the fire from spreading to the trees behind their home. but no matter how hard they

worked, they couldn't slow it down. >> and now i'm getting scared. i'm, like, if this fire comes around this house, there's no way out, you're going to burn to death. >> it's coming up behind us now a little bit! >> nothing scares him. really nothing scares him. and to see him look scrambled and panicked just terrified me. >> okay. >> reporter: john eventually yells to teri, "it's time to get out!" >> i guess it's time to go now. >> reporter: the last thing she does is shoot this video from their back porch. >> oh, my god. >> hands down, this was the scariest day, scariest time, scariest fire of my life. >> reporter: which all explains how the gormleys ended up here. but doesn't explain what happened next. john spoke first. >> he said, i'm not a quitter. i'm not a quitter. that's not in me. i don't quit. and i'm not going to. are you with me? and i said, of course. >> reporter: call it reckless or heroic. john and teri returned to the home, finding the structure

still there and just enough of their backyard burned to give them a safe space. for the next 72 hours, john and teri kept the fire at bay. >> a burned tree fell onto their roof. >> reporter: without any help or any contact with the outside world, the gormleys patrolled their neighborhood in that grass rig using water from their creek to put out spot fires where they found them. >> it was very eerie. dark. you felt like you were the last two people on earth. >> reporter: it's just one neighbor's house burned, they might lose all of them. >> it was definitely teamwork. we could not have done this without each other. there's no way. >> reporter: today their neighborhood still exists. their neighbors back in their homes without a shred of doubt who is responsible. >> it's unbelievable. it's the most selfless thing ever. i mean, we can never thank them enough. >> reporter: as for john and teri, they say the whole experience has brought them closer together.

each saying they couldn't have asked for a better partner in life and on the fire lines. garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> goose bumps. if you know of someone doing something nice for others, garvin would certainly love to hear from you. just go to our website, nbcbayarea.com and search bay area proud. "today in the bay" returns in two minutes. up next, an nbc bay area investigation first exposed firefighters' staffing concerns at a bay area airport. now new e-mails from an airline questioning if there's enough emergency help in the event of a disaster. bears and mountain lions spotted closer to neighborhoods. the reason why these wild animals are straying from their normal habitat. a rain storm posied to soak the

bay area over the next 24 your time 7:30.

good sunday mondaying. a rainstorm moyesed to soak the bay area over the next 24 hours. it started in the north bay last night, but much more to come throughout the entire bay and parts of the bay area are now on a flood watch. a section of highway 1 between valley ford and sonoma county had to be closed because of the water. the russian river is also running very high. take a live look at the golden gate bridge. misty out there. no water on the road right now, but drivers do have to be careful because of these slick conditions. a much different picture down in south bay. for now, a live look at san jose and things are dry. rain, though, expected to move in later this afternoon. good morning and thank you so much for waking up with us. i'm vicky nguyen. and let's get a check now of that microclimate forecast with meteorologist kari hall. good morning. thanks for joining us. you've been very busy this morning tracking these storms. >> good morning. yes, getting ready for our next storm system. we do start out with light rain for the north bay. but you can see the bulk of the heavy rain moving into

northwestern california. that will be in the bay area later on today. it is a slow-moving system, and that will be part of the problem. as it gets over the bay area, it will take its sweet time getting out of here. so that will dump a lot of rain. as we take a look at the rain time line, by 9:00, we do see much of the north bay is covered. and then as we go into this afternoon and evening, it will once again just kind of linger. now, when we see the bright yellows and oranges, that indicates the heaviest of the downpours. and that doesn't get here into this evening. so we do have a coastal flood warning in effect. some of those low-lying spots and also right along the immediate coast may experience some flooding. and we do have flash flood watches in effect for all of the north bay until 4:00 tomorrow morning. i'll detail all of that, give you a closer look at the time line and what to expect as we go into the workweek with more systems moving in. so that's coming up. >> all right. looking forward to it, kari. thank you. the storm is also bringing along very big waves. take a look at this video shot yesterday in capitola. that's high surf there, and that

high surf warning lasts through today. you can always keep track of the weather on your smartphone or tablet. just download the nbc bay area app. and chief meteorologist jeff ra ne ranieri is here. >> we've made it easy for you to get the very latest information on your smartphone. all you need to do is just click on the bar that says "weather alerts," and you'll get the information you need to know right when you need to know it. i'm chief meteorologist jeff rainieri, and that's how you stay informed with the nbc bay area app. fire officials have increased the number of firefighters on duty at san jose ma net that international airport following an nbc bay area investigation last spring. at the time our team found only four firefighters worked any given shift at the airport. experts call that a safety hazard. now the airport has added more firefighters, but a senior investigative reporter steven stock reports, some say it's still not enough. >> sjc airport officials say they increased the number of

firefighters because of an increase in the number and size of airplanes now using san jose mineta international airport. even so, one of the nation's top safety experts says that's not enough. and he says the airport is risking passenger safety. >> reporter: last may we discovered that san jose mineta international airport had one of the lowest firefighting staffing levels compared to other airports its size in the country. only three firefighters and a captain were on duty at any one time at sjc. that meant that in the event of an emergency, those firefighters were tasked to drive two aircraft rescue and firefighting or arff trucks with the captain left in charge of coordinating the response, that left only one, one firefighter to help rescue and evacuate passengers from any airline wreckage. even if it was a massive passenger plane such as a boeing 777 like the asiana crash just up the road at san francisco

international airport. in fact, when asiana went down in july of 2013, there were 23 firefighters on duty. and on the scene, only minutes after the crash. the ntsb's crash investigation even credited san francisco's staffing levels as being, quote, instrumental in responding quickly and saving lives. >> i think san jose is marginally inadequate. >> it's terribly disturbing to me. >> reporter: just months after our story aired last year, the san jose city council approved more money for the airport to upgrade its firefighting capability, adding two more firefighters per shift plus another arff truck. >> we actually returned to the staffing levels that we had prior to the reduction when flights were a little more prevalent in those aircraft sizes. >> reporter: chief robert sapien oversees operations. >> i'm happy on a lot of levels. certainly the local economy is doing much better. we're drawing larger aircraft more frequently. it gives us the opportunity to provide a higher level of

service. >> reporter: with more international flights and larger airplanes flying in and out of sjc, the airport was required by faa rules to increase its emergency response capability. sjc had been classified as an index "c" airport, and as such, the four firefighters and two arff trucks there met the minimum requirements. but because of the increased traffic beginning in october, sjc was reclassified as an index "d" airport. that meant under faa rules, it had to have more firefighters and an extra arff truck at the ready. >> the new regulations for "d" require us to have three arff vehicles, and the proper amount of staff to operate those vehicles. >> reporter: john akin is assistant director at san jose mineta international airport. >> san jose, it's a safe airport. san jose hasn't had a major accident. and if we do, i feel confident that the san jose fire department will be here to take care of the situation.

>> reporter: several sources tell us that nbc bay area's story plus concern by delta airlines also played a big role in the increase in personnel there. according to these e-mails to sjc dating back to february of last year, delta airlines insisted on higher minimum staffing for safety. the e-mails show that delta even paid san jose to staff more firefighters before the airline would land at sjc with a chartered 747 aircraft. >> we had the extra truck. and so we accommodated delta so that they could meet their minimum. >> reporter: critics say it's still not enough. john carr wrote the book. literally on aircraft firefighting skills and procedures. he and colleague les omen served as firefighters at sjc back in the '70s. they then developed manuals and procedures or arff training which are now used around the world. >> it's all nice on paper. but when you don't have the bodies on the rigs initially,

it's hard to recreate them. >> reporter: especially, carr says, given the size of airplanes now regularly flying in and out of san jose mineta. >> no, there's just not enough people to do those kinds of major aircraft. and that's really the bottom line. >> reporter: airplanes such as this 787 dreamliner which carries up to 250 people, an aircraft that has 8 different exit doors and emergency escape slides. even with the extra personnel added, that leaves only two people instead of one left to man those eight emergency exit slides in the event of an emergency. john carr says that simply is not enough. >> in my honest opinion, absolutely not. i mean, how do two people even get close to managing eight exits on an airplane? >> reporter: we checked with other index "d" airports and found only oakland had comparable staffing levels. all other index "d" airports we checked with have higher firefighter rescue staffing than san jose. at least two more or as many as

nine more firefighters on duty. are there enough firefighters on site here? >> in our discussions with san jose fire, they are very comfortable with the fact that they can be here expeditiously with the additional staff and rigs to support the airport. >> reporter: john carr as well as two other safety experts in this field tell us that san jose mineta is not alone. they say too many airports have too few firefighting resources on hand in the rare event of an aircraft emergency. these critics blame the faa for not requiring more personnel at every airport. as for the faa, they told us its arff requirements are adequate. i'm stephen stock, nbc bay area news. if you have a tip for our investigative unit, give us a call at 888-996-tips. or send us an e-mail to theunit@nbcbayarea.com.

breaking news now. the u.s. is announcing new sanctions against iran for violating prohibitions against ballistic missile tests. the president will be speaking shortly. we will go live to the white house if that happens during this newscast. we'll be right back with more news in just a moment. stay with us. up close and personalwith not

only two mountain lions, but a bear. you're looking at well, up close and personal with not only two mountain lions, but a bear as well. you are looking at video captured by cameras at sugarloaf ridge state park. it's not that unusual to see mountain lions and coyotes on the park's cameras. bears are pretty rare, especially in the winter when they typically stick to one small area. experts say the recent warmer weather could be coaxing that bear to roam further. still to come on "today in the bay," it may be raining right now, but we still have a long way to go before the historic drought is no longer a factor in this state. political analyst larry gerston

joins us live in studio to break down a controversial proposal by the governor. it may seem odd to focus on

water shortages in this year of el nino, but goverr it may seem odd to focus on water shortages in this year of el nino, but governor brown has made long-term water supplies a key point of his political agenda. brown's latest proposal to move water from the north of the state to the south has polarized californians like few other issues. nbc bay area political analyst larry gerston is here to help us wade through the brown proposal and its critics. this issue has a very rich political history. >> it sure does, vicky. the idea of moving northern california water south goes way back to 1982 when, yes, then-governor brown first proposed a peripheral canal. now, that canal would have shifted fresh water around the delta, then south central california farmers and then southern california residents. now, the idea drew the wrath of

the state's environmental groups who warned that it would destroy the sacramento delta ecosystem including fish and other species on the food chain. now, they took action. they passed a referendum, and that referendum specifically rejected the project by a 63% to 37%. so an awful lot of pushback. >> and yet this issue hasn't died. take us through this current controversy, these peripheral tunnels. what's this project all about, and what would it do? >> yeah, you know, in many respects, it's just a replay. it's a replay of the peripheral canal proposal that was rejected 35 years ago. now, instead of a canal, the governor wants to move fresh water south via two tunnels under the delta. now, the same opponents are coming back. they've resurfaced only with more ammunition. why? from their standpoint, they point to four delta pumps in 1988 as a result of serious damage which has never recovered. they are really aiming their

guns this time. >> larry, it's obvious this is an issue of north versus south. but talk to us about the other issues that come into play and why this is so contentious. >> well, there are three things to think about here. first, california, we know, is the nation's most populated state. large agricultural component is included in that population. it depends upon water. in addition, the state's population has mushroomed. in 1970, we had 20 million people in california. today, the number is 38 million. that's nearly twice the number of just 45 years ago. and finally, increasingly, we know this, vicky, much of california looks like a desert. boosted by climate change. our water supply is less rivaled than ever as witnessed, of course, by the past four years of drought. so you put these all together, you know, and what we have is the very fact that we just don't have enough water to meet our needs. and several powerful groups including farmers, environmentalists, urban dwellers, to name a few. have their own ideas on how our

meager supply can be used. surprisingly, they just don't agree. so now there is a ballot issue circulating again that is passed would deny brown's new water movement plan, putting us right back to square one. >> and those images are powerful. staggering. so low. we know in year five now of this drought, how important water is. if people don't like the tunnels and it's likely to be opposed at the ballots, what are the other projects in the works? >> good question. peripheral tunnel opponents look to three changes, basically, that we have to do in california to better live within our means. first, long-term conservation. something the state has embarked on, at least in the short term this past year. second, repurposing california agriculture so that farmers plant crops that are less water intensive, at the same time, more efficient water use with drip irrigation. >> i'm going to interrupt you for just a moment. we're getting word right now that president is speaking from the white house about new

sanctions against iran. let's listen in. >> with the islamic republic of iran. for decades, our differences with iran meant that our governments almost never spoke to each other. ultimately, that did not advance america's interests. over the years, iran moved closer to building a nuclear weapon. but from franklin roosevelt to jfk to ronald reagan, the united states has never been afraid to pursue diplomacy with our adversaries. and as president, i decided that a strong, confident america could advance our national security by engaging directly with the iranian government. we've seen the results. under the nuclear deal that we, our allies and partners reached with iran last year, iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb. the region, the united states, and the world will be more secure. as i've said many times, the

nuclear deal was never intended to resolve all of our differences with iran, but still, engaging directly with the iranian government on a sustained basis for the first time in decades has created a unique opportunity, a window, to try to resolve important issues. and today i can report progress on a number of fronts. first yesterday marked a milestone in preventing iran from octobering a nuclear weapon. iran has now fulfilled key commitments under the nuclear deal. and i want to take a moment to explain why this is so important. over more than a decade, iran had moved ahead with its nuclear program, and before the deal, it had installed nearly 20,000 centrifuges that could enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb. today iran has removed two-thirds of those machines. before the deal, iran was steadily increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium, enough for up to ten nuclear bombs.

today more than 98% of that stockpile has been shipped out of iran, meaning iran now doesn't have enough material for even one bomb. before, iran was nearing completion of a new reactor capable of producing plutonium for a bomb. today the core of that reactor has been pulled out and filled with concrete so it cannot be used again. before the deal, the world had relatively little visibility into iran's nuclear program. today international inspectors are on the ground, and iran is being subjected to the most comprehensive, intrusive inspection regime ever negotiated to monitor a nuclear program. inspectors will monitor iran's key nuclear facilities -- >> okay, larry, perfect timing that we have you on set. we're going to switch gears from talking about water issues in california to what the president is announcing right now. just earlier in this newscast, we were talking about sanctions being lifted against iran and the prisoner swap.

but this is actually sanctions in reaction to ballistics tests. what gives? >> missiles, right. it's a zigzag of the u.s./iranian politics. on the one hand, we've moved forward with respect to their whole nuclear program. but on the other hand, we said, look, you're not going to do this. you're not going to do that. blah, blah, blah. a whole list of things that you can't do. well, they're going along and shipped out most of the nuclear material right on schedule. just two days ago. but at the same time, they've had ballistic missile tests. so the president has announced sanctions against 11 iranians for their involvement in this as a way of pushback to the iranians. don't try to get away with it. we're on top of it. >> this is separate from the nuclear deal as the president was talking about, the accomplishments and what he had hoped to achieve by setting that deal into motion. this has to do with the ballistics tests. and we didn't hear him say what the sanctions were. but what are you anticipating? >> well, probably they're going to control the flow of money. that's the first thing they do. they also will control the flow of travel of these people as far as the united states and other western european countries goes. that would be a logical guess.

but this also spills over, like everything in 2016, to the presidential election. and you know, from the republican debate we saw just a couple days ago, republicans are very furious that the whole agreement took place to begin with. and they're going to combine these two things very very quickly and say it points once again to how ineffective the united states has been in thwarting iran and it's going to put the democrats on their heels as they try to fight back and say no, you have to take these things one step at a time and realize you take a couple steps forward, step backwards and it's a long process of negotiation. a lot at stake here for the president and the republicans in the months to come. >> there is ironing in the timing in what's happening right now and then today announcing these sanctions. >> yeah. that's what happens. it's a multifaceted operation with iran. and because you get one part down doesn't mean you're going to see the other parts down. you know, it's going to be very interesting to see to what extent the president can regain some footing by pushing back, or whether the republicans can capitalize on what he's done. >> all right, larry, thank you

so much for your analysis on two issues this morning. stay with us. we'll be right back with a look at the last weather.

good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. we've issued a microclimate weather alert. rain will have the potential to cause flooding as we go into this afternoon. right now the storm is still far to the north of us but will be working its way into the bay area. we'll start to see that heaviest rain moving into the north bay as we go before noon. so here's a look at the time line and the futurecast shows the green indicating some light

to moderate rain. we're waiting on that orange to yellow shade to indicate some heavy downpours by this afternoon into the evening. that will continue to move into the south bay later on tonight and will pour for several hours before wrapping up as we go into early tomorrow. look at all the microclimates today. it will still be a mild one with highs reaching into the upper 50s to lower 60s. 59 degrees in brentwood and pleasanton, a high of 62. once again that rain working its way from north to south. and in the meantime, we do have the possibility of getting at least an inch of rain. here's a look at how much rain we could see all throughout the day and into tomorrow morning. anywhere from one to two inches of rain. and the wind will also be another issue. as we go into the afternoon, the winds picking up from the south up to about 20 to 30 miles an hour with some of those higher gusts. we'll have the potential to knock over some trees and the ground is already soaked, so that will be a possibility that we'll be keeping you up to date

on as we go through the day. >> good to know what's coming ahead. thanks so much and thanks for making us a part of your morning. more local news for you tonight at 4:30.

this sunday, the democratic showdo showdown. that object in hillary clinton's rear-view mirror is closer than she appears, she now knows she's in a dead heat in iowa and new hampshire. >> if he has a plan he should roll it out and explain it to people so you can make an informed decision. >> hillary clinton and bernie sanders join me this morning. plus, the republican, donald trump opening an even bigger lead. while the trump/cruz bromance comes to an end. >> bank loans from goldman sachs, bank loans from citibank folks. >> this morning, two republicans hoping to benefit from the trump/cruz fight, senator marco rubio and former florida governor jeb bush. and my sit down with amal clooney, the human rights lawyer