flashes of bright lights streaking across the night sky all across the western u.s. this morning. the mystery is solved, so what was it? and the torch is lit and passed along at the democratic convention with a hug. president obama and a cast of democratic a-listers make the case for hillary clinton. the devastation to our south continues. more homes going up in flames with thousands still threatened. "today in the bay" starts right now. very good morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. we're going to start with breaking news. all lanes of a major freeway are closed. let's get right to mike inouye. >> not a good morning for the nimitz freeway. today it is oakland.

just before you get to the coliseum. all the lanes are forced off at the 66th avenue off-ramp as you reach the coliseum. this jam-up starts at hegenberger just off the top of the screen. northbound approaching the coliseum. hegenberger is where you can get off and take coliseum way and get back on at 66 or get off and back off at the 66th on-ramp but you have to get through the backup. the rest of the traffic is clear. it is a deadly crash. one car is involved. so that will be an issue until about 6:00 when i i believe that should finish up with what they need to take care of as far as the investigation. we'll track this of course through the course of the morning and i'm going to hand it off to kari and we'll get a look at the forecast. >> we are starting out this morning, mike, with temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s. it's now 54 degrees in san francisco. 63 degrees in the south bay. 51 degrees in the north bay.

we have some cool spots but it will be hot again this afternoon reaching 102 degrees in the tri-valley. 95 in the south bay as well as the north bay. we still have the poor air quality. we'll talk more about that and look ahead to the weekend forecast coming up. sam and laura? we are also following breaking news in the south bay. a small grass fire right now is burning. this is video in from over night where fire crews are on the scene behind loslagos golf course. we're told that fire is 100 by 100 feet and moving slowly. at this point no homes are threatened. police in the area are directing traffic though. we have a crew on the scene keeping an eye on that situation. we're going to bring you updates throughout the morning. to our farther south we are keeping a very close eye on a deadly wildfire that continues to tear through parts of monterrey county. evacuations are now going expanded from the soberanes

fire. here's what we know at this hour. the numbers of homes burned is now grown to 34. firefighters say that more than 2,000 homes are still threatened. 3500 firefighters are still on the scene. yesterday we learned a forest worker died when his bulldozer overturned trying to clear open space. the soberanes fire at this fire at this point still only 10% contained. damian trujillo was out there. a large section of the angeles national forest is off limits. that closure was handed down late yesterday. from the sand fire burning 30 miles north of l.a. firefighters are making some progress. the fire is now considered about 40% contained. more than 38,000 acres have burned. sadly, one man died when the fire reportedly caught up to him as he tried to evacuate. did you see this from the bay area and beyond? as far away as utah and idaho.

people frantically grabbing their phones to capture the moment. bright lights streaking across the sky about 9:30 last night. and this morning we're learning a little more about what it might have been. for starters, it's not natural meteor shower. it was a space jump or a chinese rocket launched last month. ♪ while president obama handed over the baton to hillary clinton signed, sealed, and delivered the president does deliver a passionate pitch to america about the democratic presidential nominee. but will it help mrs. clinton? hillary clinton is making the case for herself today on the final day of the democratic national convention. >> last night, sam, democrat a-listers trying to remind voters that america is still great laying out a positive message for the future setting

themselves apart from republicaning. >> "today in the bay's" tracie potts has a wrap-up of the night's filled with major speeches. >> reporter: hillary clinton makes her final appearance at the dnc tonight. >> there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not bill, nobody more qualified than hillary clinton. >> reporter: the president got choked up passing the baton. >> and tonight i ask you to do for hillary clinton what you did for me. >> reporter: four key speakers launched a coordinated attack on donald trump. >> god help us. i'm a new yorker and i know a con when i see one. >> he's trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. give me a break. that's a bunch of mularkey. >> he just says, believe me. our nation, it is just too great to put it in the hands of a slick talking, empty-promising,

self-promoting one-man wrecking crew. >> reporter: they're reaching out to independents. >> i am asking you to join with me. >> reporter: to bernie sanders supporters. >> we all should feel the bern. >> that's right, feel the bern. >> reporter: to republicans. >> we've got a home for you right here in the democratic party. >> reporter: framing this election as a fundamental choice beyond politics. but, even after four days of fiery speeches -- >> still sitting on the fence. >> reporter: -- clinton still faces a tough task tonight. after the speeches clinton had a backstage moment with both presidents, then joined by the bidens and the kaines. a hud of unity that they hope will permeate the party. tracie potts, nbc news, at the dnc in philadelphia. >> thank you very much, tracie. now, not surprisingly trump made headlines of his own. he angered a lot of people on both sides of the aisle when he reached out to russia to access hillary clinton's e-mails. >> russia, if you're listening,

i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. i think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. >> some democrats said trump committed treason. house speaker paul ryan even warned trump that russia is, yet, a global menace led by a devious thug, end quote. coming up next, we've been talking about fire danger with the summer heat bearing down. let's check in right now with kari hall. >> as we start out this morning it feels nice and cool but, yes, it will be another sizzling day, effort inland areas. more on that coming up in the microclimate forecast. and another live look. this is 880 knnorthbound with tt jammed traffic forced off the freeway at 66 because of the deadly crash. we'll let you know what's going on and the timeline from chp. a person spots something that immediately raises red

flags and brings authorities rushing in. we'll be right back. a dramatic and deadly scene

playing out on the streets of los angeles - as a driver - s both a dramatic and deadly screenplaying out on the sdreets streets of los angeles as a driver slams through the front of a home last night. you see the car lodged in the middle of the it. and then the driver ran from the scene. firefighters are now saying the whole thing happened during a prayer group meeting inside that home. as a result, one person inside of the house died and at least

11 others were injured. witnesses ran in to try to help the victims. many of whom are elderly and some who were pinned underneath the car. no word yet on what caused the driver to hit the house but authorities say the woman who was behind the wheel is still on the run this morning. concord police are investigating a suspicious death after a man's body was found on the side of a busy road. the discovery was made about noon yesterday. police say there were no signs of trauma on the victim. it was foup on the side of willow pass road and linwood drive. someone passing by saw that body and called police. police say the victim is a man in his late 20s. no word yet on the cause of his death. nearly 20 years later and authorities still say they don't know who killed a man living near livermore. but the alameda county sheriff's department released this image yesterday hoping to generate some leads in what is now a decade's old cold case. on may 27th, 1997, a decomposed

torso was found along bruns road in unincorporated livermore. 19 years later with the help of new technology, dna collected from that torso allowed them to determine the victim's hair and eye color and gender and ethnicity. detectives believe the victim is a man in his 20s of western european decent. >> using computers and science they're able to turn that dna into a picture and basically put you back together and give us an image of the person that you are. >> investigators are hoping that that picture will jog someone's memory. if you know anything surround that case, please contact the alameda county sheriff's department. coming up, the latest on the breaking news this morning. just finding out a pedestrian was killed just south of oracle arena. live pictures of the scene right now. all lanes of northbound 880 completely closed. we've got a reroute going on. a lot of backup in the traffic. mike tracking everything for us.

he'll join us with more coming up right after this break.

at a quarter to 5:00 we're following breaking news. pedestrian was killed just south of oracle arena on the freeway bringing traffic to stand still. >> a person on the freeway now all lines of northbound 880 completely closed right now. mike tracking the backup conditions and also a reroute going on, mike? >> that's right. folks are forced off the freeway. let's show you the video of the scene. this is the 66th avenue

off-ramp. the smashed out windshield. this accord we believe is what hit pedestrian that was on the freeway for whatever reason. someone walking on 880 and was hit and killed. fire crew on scene. paramedic ars i've and try to lend help. crews are in the process as we'll look at the live shot of diverting traffic off the freeway. flares are blocking the traffic at 66. the backup goes back to 98. take san lee andro street. we're talking about overall the traffic flow is smooth. once again, it is the nimitz freeway. san leandro street is your alternate. you'll notice the rest of your commute moving well. we're expecting hopefully to clear all lanes by 6:00 but maybe a couple of lanes over the next half hour. again, tracking some chp but the live look from emeryville the traffic across the span for the

bay bridge moves smoothly. emeryville camera will have trouble seeing the bay bridge because of the low clouds. >> as we get our view there we also have the low clouds and fog near the coastline. the inland areas are clear. and we start out this morning with some temperatures that have been in the 50s and even some low 60s but this is where we're headed later on today with highs reaching 90 degrees in palo alto. in oakland, 83 degrees and fairfield up to 106. still the triple digit temperatures anywhere from concord down to morgan hill. and in san francisco, expect a high of 77 degrees. winds still coming in from the south that reduces the air quality again today. and that wildfire still burns in monterrey county. the same thing again tomorrow but it may be just enough of an inland breeze to help clear out some of the smoke but the winds only coming in at about 10 to 15 miles an hour. looks like friday pretty much a repeat but the winds start to shift a little bit more onshore.

so we do still have the unhealthy air quality conditions today as for the east bay as well as the south bay. it's good in the peninsula and the north bay but a "spare the air" alert has been issued for, again, today. so we are looking at this high pressure across the region that brings in that southerly wind and into the next several days. it will be slow to move and that's the reason why we've been stuck in this weather pattern day after day. a poor air quality sizzling temperatures and a lot of sunshine. it will still be above normal this weekend but it does come down a few degrees. we will come out of the 100-degree readings to about the 90s for the inland areas. and some 60s along the coast. so in san francisco expect a high today to reach 77 degrees. we'll bring it back to 66 degrees by sunday. i'll also that cooling trend continues inland but once again it won't be much of a cooldown. we're still hitting 100 degrees today. let's head back over to sam and laura. >> kari, thank you very much. following a developing story

this morning out of napal where several days of monsoonal rain is causing severe flooding and landslides that are now responsible for the deaths of at least 55 people. the nepalese government confirms 55 people were killed in one land side. many more are injured. more than 100 homes were swept away and thousands of people were forced to evacuate to higher ground. there you see just a river of mud. conditions are expected to get worse as well as relentless rains are continue for at least another day. pope francis is saying the world is at war after the terror attacks in europe. he made those comments as he visits poland today. the pope reacting to the killing of an elderly priest during mass in france this week by two isis followers. he said we must not be afraid to say the truth. the world is at war because it has lost peace. the pope also stressed that the

war is not a war of religion. germany is experienced several attacks recently now that country is cracking down on extremists. police have raided several buildings. those raids are coming after nine people were shot and killed in a terror attack in munich last week. a mosque that german officials believe to be hot spots for terrorists was also raided. germany's interior ministry says the targets were eight leaders of a militant group. german police tell nbc news the mosque was searched as investigators focused on banning the militant group. the next hearing in the fight over music icon prince's estate takes place later this morning. prince who died in april from an overdose did not leave a will. his sister and at least five half siblings believe they should be the heirs to the icon's estate which is estimated to be worth $300 million. a hearing last month discussed the best way to go about giving dna tests that could determine possible heirs. in business news this

morning, federal government is looking to crack down on debt collection industry. >> and apple is making headlines again with its irk phone. another milestone reach. for that and the rest of the news before the bell we turn to landon dowdy live at cnbc's world headquarters. good morning. >> good morning. the markets will try to start the day out in the green. futures are flat and stocks flipping slightly on wednesday with the dow fall for a third straight session. after the federal reserve signaled a willingness to raise interest rates sometime this fall. look for data today on unemployment. also the busiest day of earning season with reports from big names such as ford, google, and amazon. the dow closing down one point to 18472. nasdaq raising 29 to 5139. apple passes a big milestone selling the 1 billionthi cone last week. employee meeting on wednesday announced the news. one billionth phone was served. the details on the where the

phone was sold. the u.s. government is unveiling a major proposal to rein in the debt collection industry. focuses on keeping agencies from pushing people to pay debts they don't owe and inform borrowers of their rights and limit the number of calls collection agencies can make to debtors to six per week. >> per week. that's cutting it down, i suppose. thanks a lot, landon. big sleepover in the city. fans get a chance to pitch the tent near the pitching mound at san francisco's fabulous ballpark. first, happening right now as we've been reporting, following breaking news out of the east bay where a fatal crash on 880 and oakland has shut down all northbound lanes by the coliseum. we're tweeting out updates and we have live team coverage that will come up at the top of the hour. get realtime information by download ourg nbc bay area app. while you do that we will be back in two minutes.

russian plns are headed to rio this morning. they're gathering at the moscow airport. the kremlin held a sendoff ceremony for the athletes yesterday. the team is actually considered smaller, more than 100 russians from the 387 strong olympic team have been banned for a massive state-sponsored doping scandal. russian president vladimir putin calls the banned athletes victims of a campaign to prevent russians sport in a bad light. before the u.s. women's water polo team heads down to rio it had one final tune-up in front of a electrified crowd in front of stanford last night. in front of the sellout crowd. team usa was victorious. they beat the russians 16-7.

four years ago the americans won gold and they are the favorites again. the team is led by danville's own maggie stephans who is considered to be one of the not the best player in the world. fans say since many of them can't go to rio they were thankful they could catch some of the action right in person. >> it's great to have the rio spirit here in palo alto and great to be able to experience some of that here. this one and another little one down there, so we can't get away this time. >> they brought the full fam to stanford. team usa first game is on august th against spain. don't forget nbc bay area is your home for the rio games. jessica aguirre is heading down to brazil with live reports for "today in the bay" starting next week. here's something you don't see every day. no players in the outfield at

at&t park. giant annual slumber party. fans have been camped out on the field since yesterday. they will enjoy breakfast coming up in just a little bit. attempting to sleep in. the giants host the washington nationals later tonight and it is law enforcement appreciation night. quick check, kari hall, we know it's going to be hot as the week progresses. it has been all week. >> it has been hot all week. at least at at&t park they have comfortable weather there. still hitting the triple digits inland. coming up, the morning forecast in just a few minutes. we're looking at traffic being diverted off of 880 right he here. look at the news crews. we're there with that report including pete explaining what was going on and the reason for your reroute as well, coming up.

more trouble on 880. this time just a little farther north in oakland where a deadly crash has shut down all northbound lanes. we have live team coverage. and the torch is lit and passed along at the democratic conventi convention. president obama and a-listers make the case for hillary clinton. plus, spectacle in the sky. cameras capture a mysterious light show on the coast. this morning we might have some answers for you. "today in the bay" starts right now ask and you shall receive.

good morning. thank you for joining us on this thursday. i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. a busy morning already for computers. let's get to mike inouye with breaking news and major stretch of roadway. >> that's right. the nimitz freeway past the oakland coliseum. with human factor involved there, someone was killed as a result of this crash. but i'm going to talk about the technical details affecting your traffic flow. it is 880 through oakland which the only impact for folks' commute this morning. around hagegenberger where folk hit the brakes because traffic is backed up as their forced off the freeway at 66. there's a front of your road, a roadway called coliseum way between oracle and the freeway. folks are able to get off the freeway and on at the very same 66th avenue on-ramp. we suggest you get off earlier at 98th and take san leandro street past the scene. right below our camera, activity here for the crash. there's our nbc van. there'sol