in the news starts right now. good evening and thank for being with us. we are on early tonight as we expand our coverage of the final presidential debate. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. we'll start with breaking news to share with you out of the oakland. a tense standoff is going on into its fifth hour. police say a man wanted in connection for a double homicide barged into a shoe store. most of the employees made it out, but one was taken hostage and that person eventually released. that employee was finally let go. you can see the worker walking with officers in tactical gear. they just heard a gun shot from inside that store and let's go to melissa colorado in east oakland. what do we know? >> reporter: raj, this continues to be a pretty tense situation. minutes ago we heard from a

spokesperson who described the gunman as feeling distressed and this police presence that you see right here on hyde street, it is not going anywhere. let's start with the good news. that hostage you're referring to is an employee at the shoe store in a strip mall on hyde street. hostage was released and is safe, but there are concerns the suspect might harm himself or anyone else near the store. police say he started off at least six rounds inside that store. >> at about 11:15 this morning, oakland police responded to a call that a man wanted in a double homicide kees stormed into a store on the 1600 block of hyde street in east oakland. employees sprinted for the door. >> we do know a lot of the employees were able to get out as the gunman entered the business and was armed with a gun. >> one man was not able to get out in time. according to employees who work in a nearby carden as market.

the store in question is wss which sells sneakers. opd dispatched the tactical team and negotiators who made contact with the suspect who police have declined to identify right now. >> emotions are high. there's a lot of anxiety. there's a lot of stress associated with it. police quickly evacuated the shopping center and told people who live nearby to shelter in place. some time in the early afternoon, police say the gunman shot off a round inside the store, but did not strike anyone. >> our number one focus is the safe release of the hostage. >> shortly before 2:00 p.m., opd's negotiations team convinced the gunman to let the hostage go. from there, the focus shifted toward getting the gunman to put his hands up and come out. a little before 3:30, another gunshot was heard from inside the store. >> in a safe, surrender and peaceful surrender of the gunman, that's our number one focus.

>> opd is asking those who live nearby to please stay indoors because they are dealing with a person who is actively shooting his gun inside that store. so far we have heard at least six rounds thus far. i'm melissa colorado, nbc bay area news. >> that is a frightening situation for sure. thank you, melissa. a sigh of relief for thousands of people. pg&e has canceled planned power outages, the lights will say on in contra costa, alameda because of weather conditions. even though the power will stay on that doesn't mean the fire danger has disappeared. a red flag warning is still in effect for some higher elevation. let's get straight to meteorologist jeff ranieri. the shutoffs are canceled, but the conditions are still dicey. >> reporter: yeah, and you

really have to go up very high in elevation to get some of the gusts that i've been telling you all week long. that's going to be very isolated here. 2,000 to 3,000 feet up, we have been seeing some 20 to 40 mile per hour on and off gusts and that's really what i expect as we continue through tonight. so the red flag fire warning issued by the government still in place. you can see right now here for the northeast and parts of the south bay hills and we are seeing in mt. st. helena up 24 and mount diablo of 25 and we are only expecting max gusts of a steady wind of 5 to 15. let me show you that wind better and you can see on my hour by hour forecast and there's still a chance of a pop of wind near the north bay mountains and the yellow to red color and 30 to 40 mile per hour gusts and watch as this diminishes as we move through tomorrow and we will start to get a break on that wind at least for a little bit. coming up, i'm tracking not one, but two different systems. a big drop in temperatures and

maybe a little bit more wind. we'll get you already for the next several days and i'll have details on that in about 15 minutes. >> we'll see you then. thank you, jeff. firefighters are in position in case the fire does break out. strike teams are staging in 11 counties with contra costa, sonoma and alameda. the state office of emergency services as a preemptive move to fight those pfires in case they're needed. the nbc bay area app will update you in real time and we'll send alerts when conditions change. download it for now right on the app store and we'll stay on it. today a big achievement for foster-based gilead. the food and drug administration has approved gilead's remdesivir treatment for covid-19. it's the first drug to be approved for treating the coronavirus. remdesivir is sold under the brand name mcluri. until now it was used under the

emergency authorization. earlier this month a global study found the drug did not help patients survive or recover faster, but a u.s. study found that remdesivir shortened recovery time for some patients by a third. big changes are coming to alameda county and it all starts tomorrow when the county allows more businesses to reopen. indoor dining can resume. indoor worship services can also resume and movie theaters can reopen. businesses can operate at 25% capacity. nbc bay area's jody hernandez has more on the changes. >> bowling alleys are among the businesses in alameda county that have finally been given the all clear to reopen in doors starting tomorrow. here they put up plexiglass providers in between alleys. they're ready to welcome bowlers back. >> the plank is gearing up to get the bowling business rolling again. the county has given them the green light to reopen the lanes

for the first time since march. we've had bowling calls for eight months now. people want to bowl all of the time. they love to come in and bowl so it's been non-stop calls the entire time that we've been closed. >> it's not just bowling, but limited indoor dining will begin again, too. and family entertainment centers like arcades can power up for a limited number of gamers. >> they'll allow 20 at a time. >> it feels leak we'ike we're c alive again and they'll have gloves so no one will touch the knobs and we'll sanitize constantly. they're getting ready to restart indoor operations in a safe way. the past eight months have been rough. >> other counties were able to do that before us. >> the more that we can get back to the way the businesses were

operating pre-covid the better. >> customers, too, say it's time. >> i think it would be nice to have a different option of doing something like going bowling. >> reporter: again, the folks here are looking forward to welcoming customers indoors starting tomorrow, even at just 25% capacity, they're hoping it will be hopping in here for the weekend. in oakland, i'm jodi learn hehe nbc bay area news. >> tonight is the night and the debate and the last chance for president trump and joe biden to win over undecided voters. this is the look at the stage at belmont university. the partitions that were in place earlier are gone. both campaigns agreeing to remove them because each candidate and other participants tested negative for covid. new buttons, another change. they may limit some of the chaos from the last debate. president trump is on the offensive tonight against cbs news claiming his "60 minutes"

interview was rife with bias and hatred. the network released clips with the president citing the economy over covid as his top priority. >> to get back to normal. get back to where we were, to have the economy rage and be great with jobs and everybody be happy and that's where we're going. >> joe biden who has avoided discussing the supreme court now says he wants a bipartisan commission to study the issue. the high court is becoming a political football. you can watch the debate right here on nbc bay area. our coverage begins in just about 20 minutes right at 5:00. the pandemic has made political watch parties a thing of the past, but in san francisco they're getting creative with a drive-in presidential debate party. it's just about to get started at fort mason. a local gathering spot is hosting a watch party. a pop-up drive-in that opened during the pandemic. there's space for about a hundred cars and a screen that will air tonight's debate.

>> i actually think it's really, really important that we can find a way to be together and create community around major moments in our political life right now. >> people who show up will get to see moments from previous presidential debates and speeches before tonight's debate begins. at last check they were nearly sold out. a silicon valley cyber security company is helping the fbi when it comes to last night's big announcement. the feds say iran and russia accessed voter information and are using it in an attempt to influence this election. our business and tech reporter scott budman joins us in sunnyvale with the latest on this developing story. scott? >> reporter: good evening, raj. this is data theft and it seems to be timed not only to affect the upcoming presidential election. it's also likely to be a talking point at tonight's presidential debate. you may have heard late yesterday afternoon when the fbi announced it discovered iran and russia had gotten a hold of voter registration information

and sent threatening e-mails to voters trying to influence the way they vote. here in silicon valley, proofpoint is a security company tracking this. they say the e-mails aim to spread fear and false information about the candidates. the fbi says they're out to hurt president trump. those who track these things say their aim is disruption. >> you know, they will leverage anything in the news, anything that's top of mind and really wants to get into the mind share of people and leverage to get them to take some kind of action. >> this is similar to what we saw back in 2016 where foreign actors used social media posts to try and create chaos among voters. this time, at least so far, the disinformation is arriving in your e-mail box. proofpoint says the best bet to protect ourselves, don't trust e-mails that arrive from people, companies, even news organizations that you don't

recognize and trust. they also say this campaign is not likely to end on november 3rd. live in sunnyvale, scott budman, nbc bay area news. scott, thank you. our website is a good resource for all of your election questions. we have a complete voter guide on the state propositions and the ballot issues in every county. you can also find information about voting by mail and where you can drop off your ballot. just go to nbc bay area.com/electionguide. still to come, he was once one of the highest paid nfl players and now he's heading to prison. former star dana stubblefield sentenced today. >> the 49ers spending millions of dollars on this election ask the candidates getting the team's support and why santa clara's mayor is not okay with this. and i'll have more on the isolated fire danger and the big changes we're tracking for the weekend coming up in about eight minutes.

>> he was once the best defensive player in the nfl and was making tens of millions of dollars. now dana stubblefield is going to prison for a long time. the former 49ers and raiders star has been sentenced to 15 years to life for raping a disabled woman at gun point back in 2015. the 49-year-old stubblefield was convicted of this crime in july. prosecutors say he invited that woman to his home in morgan hill by interviewing her as a potential babysitter. we just spoke with stubblefield's wife. she tells us today sentencing came as a total surprise to her family and to dana himself. she says much of the evidence was not used during the trial and her husband is not the monster he's portrayed to be. we will have much more on this story coming up in our special 8:00 p.m. newscast right after the debate. back to our election coverage, local bay area races are becoming almost as intense as the battle for the white house. in santa clara, a

multibillion-dollar sports team is throwing its money behind running for city council and why the mayor and others are crying foul. >> the ceo of the san francisco 49ers has spent a record $3 million on supporting four candidates running for a seat on santa clara's city council. mayor lisa gilmore is now accusing jed york of trying to buy a majority on the council so he can ask them for favors that will make him more money. >> york is not going to spend $3 million on candidates that oppose him. he is going to spend $3 million on candidates that are friendly to him. >> santa clara's chief of police say the candidates that the 49ers are supporting will help push a 49ers agenda, like getting rid of the stadium curfew. >> if they eliminate the curfew that would lead to later nights, longer hours for my officers and potentially more problems. >> reporter: but the 49ers and the candidates they're supporting are firing back, denying accusations that they're

buying seats on council and putting candidates in their pocket. a spokesperson for the 49ers tells us their support is only about having more diverse representation on city council and equal and fair voting rights for people in santa clara saying mayor gillmor is once again supporting slate of all white candidates while she spends millions of dollars in taxpayer money to upend voting rights to dilute minority representation. >> i'm going to treat the 49ers just as i treat the city. i'm going to treat every single entity the same way because it's about independent voice and standing up for the residents of santa clara. >> that's why we are such a threat to the current city council because we're all independent thinkers. we are all highly qualified. we have great connections in the community and we have been doorknocking left and right. so who is to say we're going to win? >> candidates cannot directly spend more than $25,000 on a campaign, but independent expenditures are unlimited.

so the 49ers spending is legal and unprecedented. nbc bay area news. there is a lot on the line. let's bring in meteorologist jeff ranieri. we are getting close to the weekend. we are almost there. >> we are almost there. >> and you, two, it will be so nice here as we head into this weekend. we are going to get some colder temperatures moving in for saturday and sunday and maybe more wind, but overall those cooler temperatures will be a nice change for us. let's go to the live high-definition camera, and in kalis toeg calistoga, the trees aren't blowing up ape whole lot and you have to go up high in the mountains as we were mentioning to get the wind gusts and 2,000 to 3,000 feet and we are seeing the on again,/off again wind gusts to 30 miles an hour and tomorrow morning, sustained winds much, much lower at the lower elevations and only 5 to

15 miles per hour. so we are almost done with the isolated fire danger in the mountains for now. let's bring you to the big changes over the next couple of days and i'm tracking two different systems to drop those temperatures. the first one starts moving close by tomorrow off to the south. so that will drop our numbers down. then we'll see another reinforcing shot of cold air by sunday and monday and this could also bring back a little bit more wind. so tomorrow morning's tomorrow temperatures dropped colder with the system moving closer. 50 here for the trivalley. so if you're up early, you definitely need that light jacket and more 50s for the east bay and san francisco and look at the north bay, down to 46 degrees. if you're an early riser up to 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, you might need layers if you're outdoors doing exercising. daytime highs start to drop off as the system moves closer. we're three to serve degrees cooler. right through the east bay, no more 80s or 90s and down to 76

in walnut creek and hayward at 73. those 70s continue right here through the peninsula and los altos, pallo alto, redwood city and san mateo all in the 70s and as we move closer to the coastline in san francisco, we get the 60s back right from the marina down to the mission at 67 and the north bay also numbers dropping as that wind calms down in the mountains tomorrow afternoon. 77 in sonoma. san francisco continues to drop temperatures and morning fog continues on saturday and a few low 70s by next wednesday and thursday. right here across the inland valleys and what about that colder weather? this is what it will mean. 74 on saturday, sunday, 69. we could get the wind kicking up a little bit and by sunday night, and warmer next week, but the good news as you will see in my ten-day forecast in santa

rosa is we are not expecting any 0.01 over the next ten days and that is a huge, huge relief to a lot of us out there that are just sick and tired of the heat and a little bit of good news as we at least head into the next ten-day forecast. raj and jess? >> one of those classic falls coming our way. >> it will be delicious. guess who is coming to town? dr. fauci is on his way. we'll tell you who he's coming to visit and why.

a day after pope francis made worldwide headlines for endorsing same-sex civil union, the vatican is clarifying his comments while bay area reacts. it is from an interview conducted last year with a mexican broadcaster. the vatican calls the comment old news, but the comment never aired until now. meanwhile, santa clara county

officials held a news conference today to discuss the pope's stance. >> it is wonderful to know that lgbtq people around the globe are one step closer to experiencing full acceptance from faith communities. we know that for many in our community religion can be a great source of comfort or a source of injury. we applaud pope francis for standing up for the lgbtq communities. >> santa clara became the first to open an office of lgbtq affairs and the goal to better serve the community by addressing at the county level. the most famous doctor in the country is heading here to the bay area. dr. anthony fauci will be in the south bay next friday. he'll meet with bay area leaders and he'll discuss the logistics for lowering covid case numbers while allowing for safe reopening plans. joining dr. fauci on the panel, dr. sarah cody. the silicon valley leadership group is hosting this event.

a bobcat who barely survived the northern california wildfire is making an amazing recovery at the zoo. when we come back, raj, we'll check in on captain cowel.

uber and lyft are like every big guy i've ever brought down. prop 22 doesn't "help" their drivers-- it denies them benefits. 22 doesn't help women. it actually weakens sexual harassment laws, which are meant to protect them. uber and lyft aren't even required to investigate sexual harassment claims. i agree with the la times: no on 22.

uber and lyft want all the power. so, show them the real power is you. vote no on prop 22. okay. we have an update on captain cow. one of three bobcats rescued from the fire. the little guy badly burned in the fire and the oakland zoo is nursing him back to health. he's eating meat kebabs and each meat ba meatball is injected with antibiotics. as he transitions from a milk formula diet to a meat-based diet. >> i don't know, those kebabs sound really good. >> he's in good shape. >> tonight's presidential debate, this is a live look at the debate stage at belmont university in nashville where president trump and joe biden will face off for 90 minutes. millions of people will be watching, making this their best chance to win over voters. nbc's kristen welker is the

moderator tonight. so we will now send it over to lester holt who kicks off our pre-debate coverage. the debate itself starts at 6:00 p.m., but our expanded coverage begins root n begins right now at 5:00. >> that will do it for us. we'll see you after the debate. i didn't choose this job because it was easy. but i can't say i expected this. to fight these fires, we need funding - plain and simple. for this crisis, and for the next one. prop 15 closes tax loopholes so rich corporations pay their fair share of taxes. so firefighters like me, have what we need to do the job, and to do it right. the big corporations want to keep their tax loopholes. it's what they do. well, i do what i do. if you'ld like to help, join me and vote yes on prop 15.

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tonight the final face-off, donald trump and joe biden share the stage for one last debate with early voting well under way and millions of ballots already cast. >> there's no administration that's accomplished what we've acmplished. >> we choose unity over division, science over fiction. >> the candidates make their closing arguments to a nation struggling with a pandemic, economic uncertainty, and deep division just 12 days before election day. >> stand up and take back our democracy. >> we are in