is on. could new covid-19 cases among athletes hamper the games? our own raj mathai is live with more and the big upset on theve. plus -- >> masks continue to be a critical part of these layered prevention strategies. >> the fight against covid. top health officials issuing a new warning about the delta variant now that dominant strain is in the country. the measures some california cities are taking to slow the spread and the renewed debate over masks. raging on, the big impact wildfires here are having on air quality on the east coast. meteorologist kari hall tracking the conditions in the frontline forecast. this is "today in the bay." is. good morning to you. we're broadcasting to your television and streaming live on nbcbayarea.com. i want to say a good morning to 'maura garcia. >> first, the olympics, they are

now under way. after a year long with those delays over concerns, some athletes are playing ahead of the opening ceremonies. ♪♪ raj mathai is in tokyo. 10:00 p.m. their time. we're ready to say good night to him. with everything happening there, there's already an olympic surprise overnight? >> there's a big surprise. we'll get to that in a moment. you said it, 10:00 p.m. here, laura and marcus. let's do the morning show. this is my type of show. it starts at 10:00 at night right up my alley. where we are, that is the tokyo bay, see the olympic rings behind us and then i'm going to swing over to this side. my other shoulder. see that red thing that looks like the eiffel tower, that's the tokyo tower. this city is beautiful. it's the largest city in the world. 14 million people here. 37 million in the surrounding area. it's mind blowing and spotless by the way. the big news out of tokyo, we'll start with the negatives here in terms of the covid surge.

taylor crabb, team usa volleyball player, has tested positive here with his covid flight. he was on our flight sitting about four or five rows ahead of me. when we got to the airport in tokyo he tested positive. he is now self-isolating here in tokyo. no olympics for him. his brother telling us you know what, taylor feels fine, he should still be competing but that's not what's going to happen. that is the reality for so many athletes here in tokyo that test positive. we do have some good news here on this wednesday. just announced a short while ago, ready for this, the torchbearers have been selected for team usa. the flag bearers. usually there's one bearer but this year the ioc recommending each country have two and one should be a woman. basketball legend sue bird will be leading the way and baseball player eddie alvarez, get this, also an olympic speed skater, he won the silver medal back in

2014. while you were all sleeping in the bay area, here it is, cover your eyes if you're a women's soccer fan, a shoeshg, the u.s. women's national team loses to sweden 3-0 your final. sweden was the team that eliminated the americans in the 2016 rio olympics. this time they beat them again. here's the glass is half full theory. it's a nice wake-up call actually for team usa. they can still win gold. they play new zealand this saturday. so the opening ceremony is still friday and we already have a lot of drama here with these early events. that's going to do it for now. see you later on in this news cast. we're going to talk about spitting and some other things about our covid regulations as we maintain the 14- guys. i want to experience it. right now we can just look from the inside looking out. we can't look or -- can't touch. we can look for a couple more weeks. >> you're kind of in a bubble.

you have certain regulations and thing you have to do and not roam about. >> yeah. we can do our job like this. we can go to all the venues and chat with the athletes, but we cannot interact with the japanese public. that is so frustrating because so many people, it's my first time in tokyo, saying the restaurants are world class, they're the best in the world. we can't go out to eat quite yet. we have another ten days in our quarantine and then we'll be going full board out into the public. we'll follow the rules here and just want to be safe for the japanese people and our crews as well. >> how are you doing with the heat? pretty spoiled here in the bay area, but it's pretty hot over there. >> since i lived in bombay, it's bombay hot. it's hot and humid and we'll get through it. i'll sweat a little bit but we're fine. the olympics are in. the athletes are doing we can do it just fine. >> instead of sweating say you're glowing.

thank so much. >> see you soon. >> doing a lot of work, working up a sweat, hosting three olympic specials this week from the bay area to tokyo. tomorrow at 4:00 p.m., then at 7:00 p.m. then on friday which is also the day of the opening ceremony. all this week savannah guthrie will be in tokyo reporting for the "today" show that starts at 7:00 after "today in the bay." cases of the delta variant continue to surge at a pace that would put some countries -- counties rather back in the purple tier if we were still using that tier system. remember that? "today in the bay's" kris sanchez joins us now with what it means for us here in the bay area. >> hi there, there won't be any surprise that delta variant is the dominant strain. health officials said it would always likely be because it is highly contagious. we're seeing the impact of a summer surge. right now 83% of all u.s. cases are of the delta variant. that is a big spike from 50% of

all cases the week of july 3rd. just a few weeks ago. in california, nearly half of all new cases are of the 17 cal counties are recommending even fully vaccinated people wear masks when we are inside that includes all bay area counties except for solano county. so far, though, los angeles county is the only california county mandating a return to mask indoors. where we would be under the tier system you mentioned it, the bay area would be solidly in the red and most restrictive purple tiersed by aen the case numbers. the tier system went away in june. the cdc is urging people to get vaccinated as all of the authorized vaccines do provide protection against the delta variant and because most covid cases are in people who have not gotten their shots. >> also a bit concerning there, growing through the breakthrough

cases dealing with covid. an aide for nancy pelosi and a staffer have tested positive despite fully being vaccinated. the two cases in the nation's capitol like almost all breakthrough cases are experiencing mild cases. ucsf professor of medicine dr. monica gandhi said two in 100,000 require hospitalizations. the severe cases are almost always elderly, have numerous medical coconditions or immunocompromised. the cdc is expected to decide in the next week or so if people in that group need a third vaccine dose. she says that real world efficacy of the vaccine is amazing. >> 99.4% of people in the hospital with covid right now across the united states are unvaccinated. so that actually gives a higher effectiveness for the severe disease. >> dr. gandhi says a recent

south african study shows no significant breakthroughs among those who receive the johnson & johnson vaccine. now a look at san francisco he, this morning this is where small businesses may have found a loophole to not pay back rent. according to the chronicle supervisors passed an ordinance based on a state law excusing party from a contract because fulfilling it becomes impossible. the only -- this only applies to small businesses completely shut down during the pandemic. developing now, take a look at your screen. this contra costa county man is wanted for murder and is considered armed and dangerous. vallejo police say denmark bernstein killed a 15-year-old a week ago today near the vallejo ferry terminal. he is on parole for attempted murder. if you know where he is, call police. happening now, the dixie fire continues to keep fire crews busy in butte and plumas

counties. a strike team is made up of firefighters from albany, alameda, hayward, piedmont and freemont. the dixie fire has burned more than 61,000 acres, 51% contained. mandatory evacuations are in place now. all of the smoke making its way 2,000 miles away. a live look in new york where the smoke from our wildfires here out west has reached the east coast. >> the air quality out east, some of the worst that's been seen in more than seven years. as nbc's garrett haake tells us, the smoke is even billowing over the nation's capital. >> good morning. out here on the east coast we're not used to these wildfires out west impacting our daily lives as much as they are right now. as you can probably see behind me the smoke from the fires in california and oregon have now become an air quality problem in places as far away as washington, d.c., where i am, in baltimore, and in new york city where they're having their worst

air quality in 15 years. now public health officials are even making warnings about what exactly is going on with the air quality. >> don't often worry about ozone, but we worry about fine particles that can really irritate the inner linings of the lungs and cause respiratory problems. a front ought to blow the haze out of the city by this afternoon. i will have the story wrapped up coming up this morning on "today." >> certainly dealing with it there, we're dealing with it here. tahoe is also going to experience more smoke today. >> the tamarack fire is close to south lake tahoe and a lot of smoke is settling in this morning but a lot of heavier smoke farther to the north traveling off towards the east, i wanted to show you this computer model that shows you where the smoke will travel. it moves through minneapolis to kentucky and towards the central atlantic coast. you can see where the thick plumes of smoke even make it

over towards new jersey and new york. we are going to be monitoring that i today as a lot of that smoke near the surface travels away from u see it in the upper levels of the atmosphere and we have a very colorful start to our day in walnut creek. we'll be watching that. vianey, how is it looking for the morning commute? >> unfortunately, if you're part of a commute -- if part of your commute is in the south bay we're still dealing with the sigalert along southbound 680 near the auto mall off ramp, a big rig overturned that they're working to clear out. my speed sensors show major delays. i would say avoid the stretch altogether and take surface streets instead that will be your best bet. take mission boulevard and just avoid the area, but drive times a little bit of slowing towards the bay bridge, 16 minutes. back to you. raising new travel concerns, still ahead at 6:25 on "today in the bay," the drastic measures one man took to board a flight and avoid covid-19 protocols.

hit hard by the pandemic, why bay area visitors might have a much harder time booking ap airbnb. looks like a lot of silicon valley companies are getting unfriended in washington. the futures, the comeback rally continues. the dow expected to gain 150 on the open. plus -- >> the big overnight celebrations in milwaukee after the bucks took home the nba championship. wait until you see the size of the crowds celebrating. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay."

good wednesday morning. san francisco you can't see the sunrise right now, so we're going to take you above the fog from our sutro tower camera. it's a beautiful start to our wednesday morning, but most of san francisco will stay foggy today. it keeps the inland areas cool. a quick update about that crash along southbound 680 at the auto mall parkway off ramp. chp looks like they have closed their incident but we're seeing residual delays because of an earlier crash. better to use alternate routes and take mission boulevard. we'll talk more in a few minutes. good morning. happy wednesday to you as well.

we're getting word from washington that president biden will appoint jonathan cantor. this is bad news for big tech. he is a frequent critic of silicon valley companies and their dominance in the marketplace. in private practice he made a career out of taking google and facebook to court. big tech is running out of friends. last week president biden accused facebook of killing people. yesterday marjorie taylor green echoed a conservative talking point that twitter violates her rights. that's not a good constitutional argument but she does have a vote in congress. it wasn't always us. a few years ago poll trigss tried to curry favor with companies like facebook and high-tech executives found places in the white house and white house officials found new jobs in high tech. some criticism for jeff bezos.

you probably read it for spending so much money on space. estimates are he spends around a billion dollars a year out of his personal fortune, even though he donates hundreds of millions to charity, not everybody enamored with his rocket launch, sending himself and three others to the edge of space and back down again. was that money wasted. people asked on social media. but, here's the thing. you can't spend money in space. every cent he spent was spent on earth. billions paid to engineers, their families, metal fabricators, computer makers. he did not take the money to space with him and leave it there. now there is legitimate criticism bezos does not pay his fair share in taxes and working conditions for some workers are substandard which made this joke extra flat.

>> i want to thank every amazon employee and every amazon customer because you guys paid for all this. seriously, for every amazon heart very much. >> and i will say taxes is a legitimate criticism. he's illegal not paying taxes because remember the way our tax code is written it taxes income and the way we define income that guy doesn't have any income. >> a lot of profit. >> a lot of money. just no income. >> what a trip to take. >> elon musk says tesla will open its network of super chargers to other electric vehicles later this year. tesla has more than 25,000 fast charging stations worldwide. other automakers have formed alliances an invested in startups for charging networks as they're

vehicles coming to the market. >> new this morning as travel starts to pick back up, there are few places for many of the travelers to stay. according to the data by lending tree, the number of short-term rentals available on airbnb plummeting in some markets. oakland saw a loss of 40%. over in san francisco they're seeing a decrease of 17%. people are buying up the homes and taking them off the market. turning this morning some bay area homeowners swimming in cash thanks to backyard pools. >> one couple in oregon earned $111,000 in one year by renting out their pool. no house, just the pool. they charged $75 per hour and business boomd as public pools were closed during the pandemic. the couple listed their pool on a website called swimply. they told the "wall street journal" the pool was not being used in the last two years since

their youngest daughter moved out. the money covered the entire cost of the pool. >> i wish i told my grandmother about that. she actually filled her pool up, like the grandkids are gone, i'm not swimming in it but filled it up. >> there you go. >> right now, i don't have anything. >> maybe i could be a dog walker on the side. >> we'll see if it's too hot or we should be jumping in the people. cool near the coast before the inland areas. we've had some very warm temperatures and as we start out in san jose, that live look outside, our clear sunrise, of course, a few minutes ago we were showing the fog over san francisco. so this is not the same picture we're seeing everywhere. right now it's 60 degrees here and our temperatures heading towards 70 degrees at 11:00. then some mid 70s for the middle of the afternoon. the seven-day forecast is already up at the bottom of the screen as we take a look at

today's high temperature reaching 86 in gilroy, 81 in los gatos, and 81 in east san jose. in hayward we're looking at a high of 73 degrees while vallejo reaches into the upper 70s, antioch 87, not too warm there as we see temperatures along the peninsula in the low to mid 70s and san francisco still gusty today, foggy and highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. in santa rosa, some highs in the low 80s. this is about what we've seen pretty much all week long and our inland forecast will be kind of going up and down a little bit, but not too much here. we don't see anything too extreme in the forecast and we'll at times have a stronger ocean breeze cooling our temperatures down just a bit. warming up just a bit for the weekend with some upper 80s and san francisco in the mid to upper 60s. how is it looking for the commute? >> i do have an update on that southbound srts along southbound 680. it's near the auto mall expressway area. good news it looks like chp has closed their incident however

we're still seeing delays as the traffic sort of works to recover from an earlier crash. that off ramp was closed so if you do have to go into this area, definitely take the surface streets at least for the next couple hours as they work to clear that out. there's also a crash being reported along the westbound 80 side nears the bay bridge toll plaza. i am starting to notice some delays near that area as well. if you take some of the bridges you want to head out now because things are slowing down quite a bit. back to you. >> coming up, one man's desperate attempt to board a plane after catching covid. >> plus, next here on "today in the bay" i want you to stick around because we are going to meet the woman making history in major league baseball.

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welcome back. 6:25. indonesian airport officials are vowing to step up security after a man reportedly infected with covid-19 almost got on board a plane wearing a burqa posing as his wife. according to vice news the man submitted his wife's negative test results to bypass health officials. he was caught after changing out of the burqa at some point during his trip, but did manage to land at his destination. once he landed he was taken back to his home by ambulance and plans to undergoing interrogation once he tests negative. canada will soon open its borders to vaccinated u.s. tourists. they will ease the restrictions

in august as long as you are fully protected by one of the vaccines approved by health canada. people don't have to quarantine. u.s. citizens and residents will have to have a negative covid test and submit information to the app. the milwaukee bucks took home their first tight in 50 years and defeated the phoenix suns 105 to 9998 -- 98 in game six. the team secured their win. take a look at this crowd. for good reason. the team's first championship since 1971. a parade is planned for tomorrow. hard to see that many people close after a pandemic. >> 6:26 right now. this is a true moment in sports history. for the first time ever an all female announcing crew called a major league baseball game. >> yeah. this happened on youtube last night as tampa bay rays took on the baltimore orioles.

now it was the first time ever that five female broadcasters took charge of the coverage before, during and after the game. they say that they were surprised by all of the attention. >> because this is our job, this is what we do, but i think because we were getting so much attention and pulled in so many different directions before the broadcast, i sent a text out to everyone and said just remember you're here because you love the game and that's what fans want to see, the joy you have for the sport they love. >> always surprising to see some of the firsts but still so much joy when you watch it happen. watch more on this story on the "today" show this morning at 7:00 after "today in the bay." >> i can't wait until it's not a surprise. >> right. >> just how it is. right. all right. 6:27 right now. coming up next top stories we're following including cutting back. just how much some north bay customers are being asked to conserve. and good morning. are you heading to the bar any time soon?

along with your i.d. you may need to show your vaccination card if you're vaccinated. i'll break down what organization is pushing to allow vaccinated customers into bars. how much would you pay extra to buy a home? well a bay area city experiencing the most incredible offers on home purchases than any other part of the country. we'll talk about it when we return.

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something else with you the next time you grab a drink in the city. a report on the change some bars are considering as the delta variant spreads. i think there's going to be a big headache here for a long time. >> what happens next? the oakland city council voting yes to move forward with an a's ballpark but the move is not sitting well with major league baseball. this is "today in the bay." we're halfway through the workweek. welcome to wednesday morning. thanks for starting your morning with us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. well this morning the excitement is growing in tokyo. we are counting down until the opening ceremonies. we have a live look at the city skyline and the oldest japanese buddhist temple in the area. raj mathai will join us later to talk about the growing covid concerns among the olympic athletes. could the movement to show proof of your vaccination be

making its way to the bay area? you may soon have to g inside a bar in san francisco. >> "today in the bay's" cierra johnson live with what's behind the controversial move. cierra? >> reporter: good morning, marcus and laura. the covid cases in the bay area on the rise and the prevalence of the delta variant is what's behind this move by the san francisco bar alliance. now, this group represents as many as 500 bars and they're pushing to have folks show proof of vaccination before they enter the bar. this is according to the san francisco gate. the paper reports the goal of the alliance potentially implementing proof of vaccination is to get ahead of any potential surges, protect the employees and business, and not have to wait for local government to make a decision on the issue. now the group says if a decision is made on the issue to request only vaccinated guests, there would be signage outside of participating businesses. now again, according to the san

francisco gate, the alliance isn't expected to make a final decision until next week. this is a story we will definitely continue to follow as it could potentially involve hundreds of bars here in the city. we're live in san francisco, cierra johnson, for "today in the bay." >> certainly would make a difference in the city. thank you. so as of right now, more than 20 million californians have been vaccinated. nearly half of those numbers are coming from the bay area. >> as students prepare to return to the classroom this school year the state wants to make sure everyone is prepared. state superintendent tony furman will discuss back-to-school return plans on the california department of education facebook and instagram pages at 3:00 this afternoon. you'll remember this month state health leaders ruled that individual school districts will have the final say on whether students will be required to wear the masks on campus. good news for a's fans in the bay area the city of oakland agreed to preliminary terms to keep the a's in oakland.

"today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live outside the coliseum this morning. are the a's on board with the terms as well? >> well good morning to you, laura. the a's have expressed unhappiness with the terms that the city of oakland has agreed to. yesterday in a 6-1 vote, the oakland city council members agreed to preliminary terms for the $12 billion project at the howard terminal. that would include a new stadium for the athletics along with housing, retail and office space. this is a project that would be privately financed by the way. the terms that council approved yesterday, these are terms that will serve as guidelines for future negotiations with the a's are not the same terms that a's agreed to. the city amended those terms to require more affordable housing and tenant and anti-displacement protections. >> we were disappointed that the city council didn't vote yes on our proposal so we're taking some time to understand exactly what they voted yes on. >> reporter: major league baseball's commissioner rob

manfred also not happy with the council's vote and said, quote, we are disappointed that city council chose to vote on a proposal to which the a's had not agreed. we will immediately begin conversation with the a's to chart a path forward for the club. a's president dave kaval and the team owner are schedule for meetings today and thursday in las vegas about a possible new stadium there. the a's hope to have final terms voted on in oakland by the end of october. later this morning, it looks like in about a couple hours oakland mayor libby schaaf will discuss with us yesterday's council vote. live outside the coliseum, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you. now to our continuing coverage on the recall election of governor newsom. today the state is scheduled to release the final list of candidates vying to replace the governor. meanwhile, several court battles are already in the works over the september 14th election. kevin faulconer expected to seek permission for the right to be called the retired san diego mayor on the ballot.

talk radio host larry elder filed a lawsuit arguing election officials blocked him from the contest. the vallejo man accused of plotting to blow up the democratic headquarters in sacramento remains in jail. he was minutes away from getting out yesterday but according to the sacramento be a judge agreed to release john copeland on the condition his wife act as his custodian. the deal fell through when she refused. copeland and ian rogers of napa are accused of hatching a bombing plan hoping it would be the first in a series of attacks starting a movement. if convicted they could face 20 years in prison. new this morning, san francisco is expanding its mental health services. according to "the chronicle" paramedics can decide if a person should be held for up to 72 hours if they believe they're danger to themselves or others. before, only police officers and doctors could order a hold. the san francisco fire

department says between july of 2019 and june of 2020 police initiated around 8 holds a day. no surprise here for homeowners trying to make it in the bay. buying a home could come at a hefty price tag. according to retailor.com, one east bay city sells the most for a home over the asking price. berkeley taking that top spot. the report says that city has seen a nearly 20% increase for over bidding. some of the homes asked for over a million dollars but potential homeowners will offer double that to snag the house. in alameda county home sales have climbed 20% in 2021. >> it's a pretty t weather high rent because of the weather. i'm convinced.rng heading to wo to make sure we can pay for living here. as you're stepping out the door in oakland, we have some mid 50s

this morning and we'll see the clouds rolling by until about 10:00 here. clear the rest of the day as we slowly warm up and it's going to be very comfortable. really nice with oakland today reaching 71, 81 in napa, santa rosa reaching 83 degrees while san francisco will be in the mid 60s and san jose reaching into the upper 70s. heading out the door, vianey, it is looking pretty good weather wise. but any problems out there on the roads? >> just a couple fender-benders. the earlier sigalert in the south bay has cleared out but we're seeing residual backup from it. delays along westbound 80 before getting on the bay bridge because of an earlier crash. it looks like it's off to the side but you can see how quickly things can get delayed there, which is why i want to bring your attention to westbound 80 to the bay bridge, dallas are starting to pop up on the drive times. looking at about 20 minutes. all of the other bridges are moving nicely. westbound 580 from 238 to the bay bridge at about 18 minutes.

a closer look coming up in a few minutes. >> all right. speaking of driving around, get that fast track ready and ready to pay up if you're driving through parts of the east bay. the express lane on interstate 680 is up running 11 miles from martinez through walnut creek. drivers will start being charged next month. fast track pass must be used in order to try to use those lanes. 6:39 right now. delta variant concerns in the bay. coming up next on "today in the bay," could a shutdown return? what restrictions would look like if local leaders switch gears today and place us back into the purple tier. plus a story that made national news. what started as a gender reveal party ended up a deadly fire. the criminal consequences the couple is facing. >> in washington this morning, senators ready to vote on a infrastructure bill but they're missing the bill. this is the big board and the dow industrials up 173 points as

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happy wednesday. let's get you out the door in the north bay. petaluma right now at 50 degrees and mostly clear. we're going to see our temperatures headed towards the mid 60s at 10:00 and in the mid 70s by 1:00 today. enjoy some time outside and we'll look at the rest of our microclimates coming up.

>> a look at your tri-valley drive times, slowing along westbound 580 from grant line to 680, 25 minutes. also notice westbound 84, 13 minutes. full traffic report coming up. >> thanks so much. it is 6:42 right now. we're keeping track of what is happening with the delta variant an as these cases continue to surge at a pace that would actually put us back some counties into the purple tier if we were using the tier system. kris sanchez joins us now with what it means for us here in the bay area. maybe what we should watch out for. >> you don't have to wear masks if you are vaccinated, but you might want to in certain situations. 83% of u.s. cases are of the delta variant. a big spike from 50% of all cases. the week of july 3rd before a lot of folks started to travel. here in california nearly half of all new cases are of the delta variant which is, of course, highly contagious. for that reason 17 california counties are recommending even

fully vaccinated people wear masks when we are inside. public spaces, that includes all bay area counties except for solano. so far, only los angeles county is mandating a return to masks indoors. here's a look at where we would be under the old tier system. the bay area would be solidly in the red and purple most restrictive tiers based on new case numbers. as you know the tier system went away in june. so the cdc keeps urging people to get vaccinated as all of the authorized vaccines provide protection against the delta variant and because most covid cases are among people who are unvaccinated. laura? >> thanks so much. 6:44 right now. heduled for today. >> scott mcgrew, senators are missing something important. >> yeah. they don't have the finished bill, nor have they agreed on how to pay for it. these are important details.

senate majority leader chuck schumer scheduled a vote for today, just an initial vote, procedural, but senators on both sides asking for more time. this first infrastructure bill is critical because there's another one that's going to follow right behind it. the second one is the really big one in the trillions and much broader with money for child care and elder care. video of president biden meeting with his cabinet yesterday marking his sixth month as president. a pivot in messaging from republican leadership about the vaccine. sean hannity on fox urged viewers to get the shot. congressman steve scalise just got his first dose and urged his constituents to do the same. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell with this message. >> it is not at all unclear that the way to avoid getting back in the hospital is to get vaccinated. i want to encourage everybody to do that and to ignore all these other voices that are giving

demonstrably bad advice. >> the president met t buccaneet the white house to celebrate their super bowl win. president biden urging the players who had not been vaccinated to get vaccinated. the oldest quarterback to whip the championship tom brady got political. >> not a lot of people, you know, think we could have won. about 40% of the people still don't think we won. >> i understand that. >> you understand that, mr. president? >> i understand that. >> personally it's nice for me to be back here. we had a game in chicago where i forget what down it was. i lost track of one down in 21 years of playing. they started calling me sleepy tom. why would they do that to me? >> i will post that video to our twitter and facebook feeds as soon as i get back to my desk. on twitter @scott mcgrew. happening today, convicted rapist harvey weinstein is

expected to be arraigned in los angeles on sexual assault charges. prosecutors allege he attacked five women between 2004 and 2013 with charges including rape and sexual battery. weinstein maintains any sexual contact was consensual. he says the same about his convictions in new york state where he was given a 23-year prison sentence. weinstein is appealing his conviction and sentence in new york. a couple whose gender reveal party started a southern california wildfire has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. last september, they used a smoke generating pyrotechnic device in a san bernardino field which started the grass fire. that then erupted into a giant wildfire killing one firefighter and injuring 13 people. also forcing hundreds out of their homes. the pair has pleaded not guilty. 6:47. now to our climate in crisis, as more water restrictions come to the north bay, people who live in napa will have to cut back on their water use.

the city council just approving new rules asking people to reduce their water usage by 20%. they also limit how much water is trucked out of the city and limits irrigation to two days a week. that move is to reduce the strain on napa's primary water source lake hennessey. >> growing up in california it i'm still conscientious when i brush my teeth. turn it off. if we can educate our younger ones it will help us in the future. >> absolutely. i think this is something that's not going away so we have to make sure that the future generations are ready for it as well. as we're starting out this morning, we're seeing some fog, higher humidity. that's helpings us out with the wildfire threat as our temperatures today cool off to the upper 70s for much of the south bay. some mid 80s for the south county. seven-day forecasts coming up at the bottom of the screen. vallejo reaches 78, 84 livermore. san mateo reaching 71. and still cool and foggy with

the gusty winds in san francisco while north bay temperatures reach as high as 94. ukiah, 84 sonoma and mill valley. our weather pattern still the same. we're not seeing any major changes here. a storm system approaching the pacific northwest will bring in a stronger westerly wind, more fog near the coast, but notice heading into early next week there could be some rain possibly more of that monsoonal moisture and thunderstorms over parts of the southern sierra and we know that that is not good because there could be lightning strikes as well. we'll be watching that. as far as temperatures, still kind of going up and down a few degrees, but nothing too major here. livermore in the mid 80s today and tomorrow, and then a bit of a warmup for the weekend. if you have outdoor plans it's going to be a little bit warm but not too bad as we look at our seven-day forecast for the inland valleys we're looking at upper 80s for our inland areas, san francisco a little bit fog for friday and a slight warmup for the end of the weekend. vianey, you've been watching a

couple problems on the roads. is that still going on? >> i have. if you're going to be traveling along southbound 680 near the auto mall exit, the off ramp, still seeing some delays there, but that sigalert looks like the chp has closed the incidents so hopefully that clears out quickly. as far as your bridges go i am starting to notice some delays. this one makes sense towards the bay bridge because there is a crash along the westbound lanes near the toll plaza so keep that in mind if you do have to take the bay bridge this morning as part of your commute. meanwhile the rest of the bridges, live look at the san mateo bridge, moving along nicely. hopefully no other major accidents to report for the rest of the day or the week as a matter of fact. let's put in the good vibes. >> i like it. keep it positive. it is 6:50 right now. happening now the california department of public health handing out $40 million in grants to help doctor offices and small practices get more covid vaccines. the money will go to ensure proper staffing and needed infrastructure to set up

vaccination clinics. health leaders are focusing on accessibility for areas which have been hit hardest by the pandemic. >> a look at top stories including our raj mathai live this morning in tokyo with more on the excitement of the summer games. >> marcus, almost 11 p.m. here in tokyo. the good and bad as we approach the opening ceremony. we're live in japan. you're watching "today in the bay." back in two minutes.

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6:53. welcome back. before you head out the door we are moving you forward with a look at the top stories on "today in the bay." >> let's take a live look this morning at tokyo. this is the oldest buddhist temple in that area. now, although it's almost 7:00 a.m. here it's nearly 11:00 p.m. there. you know what we're keeping our raj mathai up late before bedtime. he's in tokyo this morning. have you acclimated to the time change yet? >> not yet. don't even tell me it's 11:00 p.m. i'm floating around figuring out what day it is, what time it is. 16 hour time difference, but it is an incredible city. just look behind me. it is gorgeous. it looks like the bay bridge there, doesn't it? >> looks like san francisco here, looks like miami, even new york city but there's 14 million people, 37 million people in the surrounding area. this is the world's biggest city

and it is beautiful. let's tell you what's happening on this wednesday with the opening ceremony on friday. the head of the japanese olympic games hinting that they might cancel the games if it's deemed unsafe. we're talking about the covid surge here. only about 22% of the country is vaccinated. toe shero pluto telling us if it's unsafe they would cancel the games. more than 70 people associated with the olympics have tested positive. it's believed about a dozen athletes have tested positive. among them, one of the athletes taylor crabb of team usa volleyball from los angeles. all right. let's talk about some good news here. one of our local olympianss, a table tennis player, 25 years old from palo alto packing her bags from tokyo of course say hello and goodbye to her. five-time national champion. went to palo alto high school and uc berkeley and now here at the athletes village.

this is the bed. everyone talking about the cardboard beds. there was a rumor going around that the ioc did this purposely, card board beds to prevent the athletes in the village from shacking up, getting friendly, perhaps having sex, but really, the answer is, the ioc says it's all aboutustainability. let's put that to rest. hanging out in the village having a good time with her teammates. she begins her competition by the way on saturday. the big shocker overnight, usa soccer, the women's team loses to sweden, 3-0 but the women are still alive. they play again against new zealand on saturday. so marcus and laura, a lot happening here before the actual opening ceremony which is friday. we'll see you in a couple minutes and tell you what stands out about these games so far. we'll see you soon. >> all right. before you go, though, let's talk a little bit about what is happening right here on nbc bay area. we're going to continue to go live from tokyo all this week

checking in with raj every morning on "today in the bay" and, of course, the "today" show as well, hoda and savannah will to our continuing coverage of the recall election release the final list of candidates vying to replaceim in the meantime several court battles are in the works electi. kevin faulconer is expected to seek permission for the right to be called retired san diego mayor on the ballot. and conservative talk show host larry elder has filed a lawsuit arguing that california election officials improperly blocked him from the contest. want to give you a live look at san francisco skyline. you know what the next time you grab a drink in the city you might need proof of vaccination. sf gate reporting the san francisco bar owner alliance might require people to show their vaccination card to get into any of the group's 500 bars. the ahead of the' lines says that he wants to get ahead of a

potential surge of covid cases and protect employees and businesses and it would be voluntary for bars to participate. happening now the dixie fire continues to keep fire crews busy in butte and plumas counties. a strike team from the east bay is among the 2400 personnel on the ground. it burned more than 61,000 acres and 50% contained. smoke from the california wildfires have moved more than 2,000 miles away reaching the east coast. all that smoke from here now creating unhealthy air quality from new york down to washington, d.c. some of the worst air quality they have seen there in years. >> very concerning, the smoke. nothing like we were in last year so far. but you know, to see that it reaches that area. >> it's traveling away from us right now so that's the reason we're doing pretty good here in the bay area with our air quality and hopefully that doesn't change. we do have a strong westerly wind that's keeping our inland temperatures cooler. mostly some mid to upper 80s while san francisco staying with the fog and highs reaching into the 60s so no changes there as

well. vianey? >> and so far we've done pretty good. remember that the bridge is starting to get delays along the tri-valley from grant line to 680, 25 minutes. we're still seeing some delays along southbound 680 near the auto mall exit because of an off ramp. we've got an earlier crash causing slowing there so you may want to take surface streets and avoid that stretch all together. >> one last check in with raj mathai in tokyo. the first full day of competition is finished but a lot to look forward to. >> here's the weather report by the way. we just heard kari saying it, 80 with 70% humidity and it's almost 11:00 here at night, laura. there's a lot to look forward to. we talked about this. what i'm looking forward to here in tokyo not just the games, because it's always been the cultural aspect, this is my seventh olympics and the best part is the cultural aspect. because there's no fans here, no visitors, we're going to lose out on that. i guarantee there will be some magical moments in these next

three weeks that stand out for all of us. we have a lot coming our way. opening ceremony is on friday. >> we'll look forward to you checking in with raj every morning right here on "today in the bay." as we take a live look at the oldest budsest temple in tokyo. the "today" show coming up next. ♪ good morning sounding the alarm, a new warning from top health officials about the delta variant. the u.s. now averaging 1,000 new covid cases every hour hospitalizations and hospitalizations and deaths on the rise. while on capitol hill, the battle over misinformation leads to this heated exchange. >> senator paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly. and i want to say that officially. >> so what is being done to slow the spread? and are new mask mandates just around the corner? prime delivery, jeff bezos back on earth after a historic flight to space and responding c