the 49ers...the rams...and us. we are counting down good afternoon. we are live at levi's stadium. not many people here. we are used to this by now. the 49ers are here. the rams are here, and we are here. counting down to kickoff sunday night football right here on nbc bay area. thanks for joining us for this special 3:00 p.m. edition of our newscast. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm janelle wang. it's great to be back for the second time in three weeks. the 49ers hosting sunday night football. the team hoping to turn things around this time into the national spotlight with a national audience watching. right now they are 2-3, all three of their losses right here at home at levi.

if they don't win tonight, this might be a lost season for them. >> glass half full. jim g., of course, that's the big concern. had a good week of practice. he's ready to go. the team needs to come out angry. >> they need to be fired up and pumped out. >> kind of ticked off playing tonight. the 49ers have a new look. you'll see it when they take the field. they are going back to the future, old school. 49ers wearing their 1994 throwback white jerseys. remember these? same as the last time this franchise won the super bowl. even more notably, their helmets in honor of hall of famer fred dean. a number 74 decal on each helmet. you see that number right there. fred dean. that ferocious park rusher. his former teammates said he had covid-19 and died a few days ago, last wednesday. fred dean was 68 years old. >> we will remember him fannond. and a homecoming of sorts for

jared goff. we've seen him grow up right before our eyes. he was number 16 in honor of joe montana. his favorite all-time player growing up. the 26-year-old has the rams off to a great start, 4-1. and in the new normal of the nfl, we want to give you an update on the covid cases. a lot of teams have been hit and it's caused schedule changes. just this past week, six teams have at least one person in the organization test positive, including the eagles, panthers, and patriots. now so far, the niners have all tested negative. so today all games were played. >> yeah. just to get into this structure, into this facility, you got a test, make sure it's negative. you got to go through all sorts of security procedures from the media to the players, so it's very secure. remember last time we were here? the smoke quality -- >> the aqi. we were concerned about that, and it was fine. but on the border. today, we don't have to worry about that. >> it's great. we'll bring in our meteorologist

to talk about the forecast here for game night, also across the bay area. take it away. >> yeah, you know the weather there obviously air quality not a concern, the throwback jerseyers from 1994 on the field. they're getting a throwback to more august-like weather around the bay area. numbers in the 80s and 90s inland. kickoff temperatures expected to be in the mid 80s. so raj and janelle, i know you're enjoying the shade, the breeze picking up. look at that -- you got kittle's number, 5, kickoff at 5:20. cooling through the 70s as the game goes on. speaking of cooling, signs are there, the sea breeze begins to pick up. even though it will be a bit of a summer-like start at levi's stadium, we're expecting northwest wind to pick up and cooler 70s for the second half of the game. back to you. >> okay. that's one benefit of not having fans today. 8 a 85 is hot, you could be baking

right now. probably more comfortable in the comfort of your own home. >> we have a lot of vips in real life and on cardboard. let's bring it in to talk about the headlines this afternoon. >> thank you. janelle is staying in her box, and walking on the sidelines is raj mathai. we'll check on them in a little bit. to the news. with just over two weeks until election day, both major presidential candidates are busy drumming up support on opposite sides of the country. president trump made a quick stop in southern california for a private fundraiser in newport beach. before that, he attended church in las vegas and will end the day back in nevada at an evening rally in carson city. the president said today that he's ready to sign a trillion-dollar coronavirus stimulus package, but he's claiming democratic leaders want to wait until after the election for political gains. >> i want the money by tonight. but nancy pelosi doesn't want to approve it because she thinks it's good politically for her not to approve it.

>> democratic presidential candidate joe biden, he is in durham, north carolina, slamming president trump for what he called, quote, continuous lies about covid-19. >> and now as a consequence of the overwhelming lying, negligence, and irresponsible action, comes to how many chairs were empty at the dining room tabt last night because of his -- take last night because of his negligence? folks, we're so much better than this. >> the rally was a drive-through event meaning honking and cheering from the cars. tomorrow is the last day to register to vote on line. if you missed the deadline, you're still able to make sure your vote counts. the deadline tomorrow is for the formal registration process which means people can still register to vote up until and on election day. if you live in san francisco and want a ballot mailed to you, you have to register in person at the voting center in civic center plaza or on line up until midnight tonight. if you can't get it done today,

you can still participate in this year's election by registering on election day at your polling place. >> we have 588 polling places in san francisco. so there's a tool on our website, people can use to find their assigned polling place. even if they're not registered, thought put in their address and the tool will tell them the location of their precinct's polling place. they can register at the polling place or come to the outdoor city hall voting center. >> so far about 23% of registered voters in san francisco have turned in their ballot which the city's department of elections says is really good. this upcoming week is expected to be critical in terms of determining overall early voter turnout. young voters are expected to have a big impact on this election. some voting for the very first time. we break down what they should know in a digital original. check it out. >> now that you're registered, what happens on election day? well, if you're voting in person, you can find your polling place on vote.org. and here in california, you don't need an i.d. to cast your

ballot. but in some states, you do. just make sure you know your state's requirements. the other way to vote is by mail. all registered voters in california will be mailed an absentee ballot. once you get your ballot, only use a black or blue pen to mark your choices because pencils and red pens are not allowed. >> that is our report there to see more about what young voters should know. head to nbcbayarea.com. an unusual sight outside the orinda country club. donning costumes, but two dozen members of the group east bay democratic socialists of america performed a satirical skit. they chanted things like "who needs firefighters" and "golfers against good schools." the protesters say the goal was to shed light on elite clubs like the orinda country club, funding opposition to prop 15. if passed, though, prop 15 would generate billions of dollars a year for education and government services. the funds would be created by

taxing large commercial properties at market value. >> i'm sure that many of the members of the country club may have very different positions. i don't know how many of them are even aware that this money was spent out of their club dues and whatnot. i would like to say everybody vote in favor of prop 15. >> reporter: supporters say the tax revenue would go to improving the state's parks, libraries, community colleges, and private transit systems. you really cannot call it just a ferris wheel. a 150-foot observation wheel starts to spin in san francisco's goelden gate park. look at this thing. it was delayed by the pandemic. it's here to celebrate the park's 150th anniversary. it's 15 stories high. it's going to provide a spectacular view of the city, the bay, from inside temperature-controlled gondolas. the observation wheel will follow strict covid safety precautions, including special seating and cleaning in between each ride.

riders will also need book times so as the limit -- that's going to be wild, the wheel opens wednesday. >> okay. let's take you live to levi's stadium. we are counting down to kickoff sunday night football. the 49ers hosting the l.a. rams. >> out there having a heck of a good time, raj and janelle. a special weekend in santa clara, you two. >> it is. it is a special weekend. it's alumni weekend. you know, by the way, talking about terry and anusha, if they come after the newscast, there's a lot of seats available there for them. >> yeah. you could sit there and enjoy the view of the stadium. it's weird how empty it is. we have specialita cardboard cutouts. >> they're they're being honored, a lot of the living legend are here, at least in cardboa cardboard, jerry rice and roger craig, and the legends no longer with us, as well. late debate clark and bill walsh. you can see it here.

also in cardboard is kent jones, from leland high school in san jose to santa clara university to the 49ers. a true local guy. three super bowl rings and a lot of passes from montana and young. even for the alumni, the big topic of discussion, janelle -- >> jimmy g. >> jimmy g. can he bounce back? >> every player will tell you, yeah, i don't think about it. that's a lie. every player that comes back from an injury is thinking about it. he might forget it at a point or two during the game, but he's thinking about it, especially if he feels it. and so you just have to put your mind over the matter, and you just to deal with it. >> always cool to catch up with brent jones. as for jimmy g., he said his injured ankle feels great. he had a good few days of practice. curious to see what happens tonight after last sunday's embarrassing loss to the dolphins where he threw two interceptions and was eventually

taken out of the game. >> taken out about halftime. we saw brent jones there. he's currently in a friendly competition with other 49ers. other 49er legends raising money for the golden heart fund, raising money specifically for some of their former teammates battling mental and some health i. >> it's called 49 in 49. the idea, get people moving. you go 49 miles in 49 days. how do you do 49 miles? >> any way you want. >> you can walk it. you can crawl it, you can run it, you can swim it. any way to do it to help the older 49ers. >> the team captains, you might have heard some of these guys, jerry rice, steve young, joe montana, roger craig, ronny lott, eddie debartolo, patrick willis, jesse supolo. the list goes on and on -- >> and you -- >> and even me. i reached out and got hold of the great george kittle. and now my team is a combination

team jones/kittle. and we've been through the roof. we're gaining, we're in second place. we want to finish in first. all the proceeds from this great competition go to the golden heart fund. i mentioned that before. we established it, a few former players founded it a few years ago to help guys after they retire. a lot of people think, gosh, you know, pro football players, they're all millionnators, this, that, and the other thing. this is applicable to most guys that played when you weren't making that much money. and you get out of the game and you hope you have a little savings. so if you're listening to this and you want to sign up, make sure you sign up for team jones/kittle, and it might as well be team kittle/jones. i got the best recruit i could get. >> any team is good. i like the team kittle/jones -- >> jones/kittle -- >> jerry rice, the whole deal. to sign up go to goldenheartfund.org under the

race home tab. it helps your old-school legends. coming up on this special edition of nbc bay area news, where does the noise come from when you're watching at home with no fans in the stands? one person is responsible for piping in that crowd noise. we're going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how it happened. around the rest of the bay area, you may be hearing the sound of an increasing sea breeze. some cooling relief from the summer-like heat. but it may not stick around all that long.

welcome back to levi's stadium. our special live pregame coverage as we count down to sunday night football. a bit eerie. this is what it looks like walking into the stadium. just a few hundred of us are here.

usually this is packed. just to get you through takes 15, 20 minutes. it's a straight up the escalator to the concourse level. >> i like your photography, raj, very nice. like you're on a moving escalator. well, it's going to be a great time here. as you know, there's no fans so they pipe in the noise that you hear on tv. one fan is using a few buttons to cheer on behalf of the thousands of people not here. and nbc bay area's jonathan bloom takes a closer look at the technology creating all the fake crowd noise you hear at home. [ cheers ] in the end zone -- caught! touchdown. >> without the crowd noise, you would think you were watching a practice at any high school field in america. >> literally the sound of 22 kids playing in the back yard. >> the field is freshly painted, the teams are in uniform. the own thing missing here at levi's stadium is the fans. that means 49er games could sound awfully strange this

season. but they're getting a little help from some tv magic. ♪ it's the sound of sunday night football, and the man who mixes that sound is wendell stevens. >> the way i do my job is i look at a tv picture and say i need to make it sound like that picture. >> reporter: this year, the picture is a little off. there are faces in the crowd, but they're not doing much cheering. >> it gets really dull quickly. i mean, there's just no energy. >> reporter: but a call from nfl films changed everything. >> they said, we have curated audio from every single stadium. >> reporter: authentic cheering -- [ cheers ] >> caught! >> reporter: from the real fans of every team in the league. >> we were just doing that to capture sound for our library. >> reporter: vince caputo's team had only months to turn it into a sort of musical instrument that plays crowd noise. ambitious project, wasn't it? >> we didn't realize how ambitious it was. >> reporter: what they built was

this -- for every team in the league? >> we built 32 systems. >> reporter: each would be unmistakable sounds of the home team's fans. the right hand controls the ambiance. >> moving it up, you hear the crowd kind of intensify a little bit. all the way up until you get to level four, the loudest -- [ cheers ] >> reporter: then the left hand moves the peak fader, the excitement that builds during a play up to the moment the crowd reacts. >> there's something negative that happens -- [ cheers ] >> reporter: the reaction are chosen at random, so each is different. the operator just hits low, medium, or high. so here at levi's, a 49er touchdown could sound kind of like this -- [ cheers ] [ horn ] but the same touchdown on tv -- >> the end zone, touchdown. [ cheers ] >> reporter: are there buttons

you would add? are there changes you would make? >> i hope we get to the point where we can put people back in the stadium. we miss them. we want to be safe, but we really, really miss them. >> i love the fog horn there. okay, the absence of fans here, you kind of hear other stuff happening on the field. some colorful language coming from the players. >> there's some bad words that you hear. there is a fix for that. for the full story, it's worth watching, our full story go to nbcbayarea.com. let's talk about the weather and bring in rob. every time janelle looks at me, the wind takes her hair this way. >> it's all about the angles, rob. all about the angles. >> that's the janelle-omometer, the northwest winds picking up in the shade. downtown san jose and nearby in santa clara, too, still seeing temperatures in the upper 80s. let's take you outside. see something signs of cooling out toward the golden gate. the fog making a bit of a co

comeba comeback. a welcome sight. san francisco, a big change. 73 degrees. yesterday in the low 90s. things have cooled off. things have not changed at all, though, in walnut creek. still 91 degrees far away from the influence of the marine air just yet. san jose, just talked about it, 87 degrees. downtown san jose, it will be a summer-like start to this football game here on nbc bay area. keep in mind on the field, out in the sun, it's going to feel hotter than this 85-degree kickoff temperatures. you might see the players trying to stay well hydrated as it is a summ summer-like start. temperatures almost 15 degrees above where they should be for this time of year. for the morning, the fog spills across the inner buy. temperatures mostly in the 50s. tomorrow's highs noticeably cooler. valleys dipping back into the 80s. low 70s from san francisco to oakland. the item to watch, however, will be our friends in the north bay. we have those fire weather watches back as north winds will pick up across the higher hilltops of the north bay tomorrow night into tuesday.

so notice san francisco, temperatures cooling a little bit as we go through the week. for most of our valleys, too, out of the mid to upper 90s. but dry breezes, we'll have to watch for the cooling trend we're seeing now. not going to stick around too long as temperatures try to rebound toward the middle of the week. much like the 49ers, rebounding tonight against those l.a. rams. back to you. >> yeah. fingers crossed. >> the janelle-omometer for the hair -- >> windy. >> speaking of the niners and the rams, jimmy g. also, a fixture at every 49er game, he's not here now, banjo man. we caught up with him this week to see what he's been up to. stay with us. woman 1: get your vote-by-mail ballot?

woman 2: you can stay healthy and fill it out from the safety of home. surfer: or you can fill it out anywhere. man 1: it's easy to mail it back. you don't even need a stamp. man 2: or you can use an official drop box.

woman 3: you can even drop it off at the polls. man 3: then, track it to confirm your county got it. see? they got it! woman 4: mail ballots are the simple, safe, and secure way to ensure that your vote is counted. proposition 16 takes some women make as little as 42% of what a man makes. voting yes on prop 16 helps us fix that. it's supported by leaders like kamala harris and opposed by those who have always opposed equality. we either fall from grace or we rise. together. proposition 16 provides equal opportunities, levelling the playing field for all of us. vote yes on prop 16. all right. we are two hours away from kickoff. a live look on the field at levi's stadium. that is jimmy garafalo taking

some practice shots, warmups. his ankle, he says, is fine. we'll see when kickoff happens. we'll see if he's much better, any better than he was against the dolphins which was not a good situation last week. >> he looks good now. one person that's missing from the game is banjo man. you recognize him for his propeller hats -- >> this guy -- >> and his cape, his banjo. he's sidelined like all the fans. but we caught up with him. check it out. >> this is the first time in actually 40 years because i've been at every 49er home game for the last 40 years. this is the first time i've ever watched a home game on tv, in my living room on my couch. in 40 years. haven't even thought about that, but it's pretty crazy. >> what was that like? are there any benefits to being, you know,a the ho at home on yo? >> it's a lot less effort than getting up at 6:00 in the morning and driving to santa clara. you essentially miss being with a lot of people and -- what's a

better place to be than 50,00049er fans? >> what's going on with our niners? i thought -- the season is started off easy, and they can't seem to pull off a win. what do you think is happening? >> i think we're going to come roaring back. i think we had a great wake-up call. though it wasn't much fun to watch. >> what have you been doing through this pandemic since your life revolves around sports? what have you been doing since you have more free time? >> well, i've done a lot of gardening and i do a lot of shopping. i'm shopping with my wife and three kids. swimming. i've been trying to get some good exercise by swimming like 15 laps every other day. things like that. just watching a lot of news. what else can you do these days except sit and watch the news? >> you're still playing your banjo. >> all the time. i play every day at my home. as many times as i can in people's back yards. social distancing. >> well, thank you so much for talking with us today.

we are rooting for our niners. hopefully they'll beat the rams. and can you play us out? >> absolutely. i'll stand up for you and hope we get a view of the cape and everything here. ♪ >> we're number one! we're number one! ♪ >> love him. and i love his interstellar propeller hat. he sold two million since he came up with it in the 1970s. you can get one at propell propellerhats.com. we're back in a moment. when was the last time your property tax bill went down? what? never. are you kidding me? for years, the residential burden has gone up.

while the corporate burden has gone down. prop 15 reverses that. it closes corporate loopholes and invests in schools, small business, and firefighters. and when the big corporations pay more, your tax bill goes down. that's right. a savings of a hundred twenty-one dollars a year for the average home. give homeowners a break. vote yes on 15.

welcome back to our pregame

coverage. i'm raj mathai along with janelle wang. you know what camera we're coming on? this camera. >> hey. >> we've got all sorts of cameras here. that's the one right now. we're going to talk about social justice here. the 49ers were one of the first teams in all of pro sports to do this, to make a commitment to fight against social and economic inequality. >> yeah. this week the niners led a financial workshop for nine single mothers struggling due to the pandemic. at the end of it, samuels, fred warner surprised them with three months of free rent. the players credit their own single mothers for where they are today. and warner shared this story. >> i have a little brother, little sister. we grew up in a little mobile home house down in southern california. you know, we didn't have a lot, but she always made sure that we had everything that we needed. >> the event was held through operation hope. one of the nonprofits who received a grant through the team's multimillion dollar

social justice pledge. >> really cool. that's going to do it for us. we are ready now for football. 49ers, rams, kickoff at 5:20. we'll leave you with a closing look at the field as the team starts to get ready. >> sunday night football on nbc bay area. tonight, going on offense. president trump in nevada and joe biden in north carolina, try ing to flip states their parties lost in the last election. the president facing criticism for his comments about michigan's governor. >> lock 'em all up. >> the governor hitting back today. the fall covid surge is here. 30 states seeing big increases. hospitalizations hitting new records. many icus approaching capacity. one state only has 20 beds left, as packed parties continue in another hard-hit state and a