right now at 5:00, the cdc declaring the war has changed because of the delta variant rampage around the world. live team coverage on a new report detailing a new phase of the pandemic. this morning, live team coverage. plus money motivation. the new move from the white house to get people vaccinated. controversial comments from ryan murphy, the accusations he's making about his spot after bringing home silver for team usa. our raj is live in tokyo tracking the firestorm. this is "today in the bay." broadcasting to your television and streaming on nbc nbcbayarea.com. take us on the go. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. i'm marcus washington. >> we'll check in with kari, but we have to tell you about the breaking news, mike.

>> i have better news traffic wise, but horrible news why we had the problem on the nimitz. this video just after 2:30, a deadly crash, a crash resulting in a death, south 880 the winton avenue exit. until a couple minutes ago they had all lanes blocked. they reopened the last of the lanes. as we look at the map we still see slower sensors past a street and a second crash in the backup, but it slows through hayward, cleared at winton. those turning from red to orange on either side of the full closure there. things should start to improve through the area. everything else looking lighter. one other spot for construction through vallejo. i think i-80 eastbound should reopen and should be clear after that. >> getting ready to hop on bart in oakland, temperatures in the upper 50s. light jacket needed, but it's going to be a comfortable day. a lot of sunshine this afternoon as we head towards the low 70s here. still have the upper 90s in the

east bay and 80s for much of the north bay and south bay. we'll take a look ahead at our weekend forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> thanks so much, kari and mike. we must acknowledge the war has changed, that is the direct quote from the stunning presentation given by the cdc about the covid delta variant charging through the country and right here in the bay area. "the washington post" breaking the story overnight. >> this morning, live team coverage from the bay to d.c. on this report. really sending shockwaves through the country this morning. first want to bring in "today in the bay's" kris sanchez with what we need to know about this. kris, there was also a ucsf doctor profiled in the piece. >> dr. bob we've been hearing from throughout the pandemic who says he did not think we would get to this point and him still be shocked about some of those findings. now that bombshell news report suggests that the delta variant is as contagious, though, deadlier than chicken pox. the chair of the ucsf department of medicine says the cdc

considers the delta variant is more contagious not only than chicken pox but the common cold and ebola. new data shows infected vaccinated people have the same viral load in their noses as unvaccinated people. that means they're still contagious. a new england journal of medicine found breakthrough cases though mild, symptoms cancelinger beyond six weeks. >> we are going to be in covid world for the foreseeable future. it's not clear what the end game will be. >> an end game may be worse than where we are now because there's no guarantee that delta is the worst variant we could see. >> he says vaccination is still the best protection against covid right now. at the beginning of june he says there was one covid patient at his hospital and earlier this week there were 38, some of whom will likely die. that is a lot of people. he adds vaccines again still the best protection against the virus. she says it is critical for

people to get vaccinated if they can because we can still shed the vaccine if we are vaccinated and a lot of vulnerable people in our community who can't be vaccinated. kids under 12 going back to campus in person and said that really the public policy should be to push and maybe even force people to get vaccinated. >> we want you to stay right there because we're going to come back and check with you in a little bit. we want to bring in tracie potts right now live in d.c. >> i know the president still getting a lot of pushback on his vaccination plans, so now he wants the states to get more creative to lure people to get the shots? >> right, marcus and laura. he is now suggesting paying you, putting some money in your pocket, to protect america against this growing pandemic, suggesting that states should use some of their covid money to pay people $100 to get the shot and also offering to reimburse employers for giving you time off for your vaccine appointment

and his is requiring federal workers and contractors, 10 million people, to do one of two things, swear that they've gotten the shot or to mask up and test as much as twice a week-long with some other restrictions like no travel for work. now here in washington, republicans pushing back. they marched to the senate where masks are recommended, but not required. on the house side they are required. they are refusing that mask mandate. the house is. despite the threat of arrest and a thousand dollar fine. >> i cannot phantom a legitimate reason to arrest a person in this building for not wearing a mask. >> now, the science now shows that the pfizer vaccine wans a little bit in effectiveness after six months but the cdc and fda are saying that they don't have enough evidence to warrant

recommending a booster shot for everyone, but they're still looking at the numbers and that data. back to you. >> that's something a lot of people are talking about. you know, dealing with all of that. kris, you're still here and we want to talk about that. >> this delta variant, it can change. it's getting aggressive. >> what dr. bob said, the delta variant is worse than the alpha variant, the alpha variant was worse than the original variant we first got, so there are going to be other variants that could potentially be worse and better at new tating and getting around that vaccine. right now that's the only thing we have. it's the only thing you have is a seat belt, you don't have an airbag, you wear a seat belt. >> and you drive carefully. >> drive carefully. >> thank you very much. 5:06. this morning, happening tomorrow, the national rent moratorium set to expire. this is leaving a fate of millions of struggling americans up in the air. democrats in congress, they're racing to extend the moratorium

for a fourth time to keep some of the renters from being thrown out of their homes. however the house is set to go on summer recess and it's worth noting that california has already extended its state moratorium until the end of september. some people trying to make it in the bay are now receiving major buyouts from their landlords. "the chronicle" reports one renter in pra seedo heights, received $475,000. the renter lived in a rent controlled seven-bedroom apartment for 30 years. landlords are offering buyouts for the idea of raising rents for future tent nantz. more than 3 in 30 negotiated deals last year making the average payout about $50,000. today marks one week since the opening ceremonies for the summer games and this morning there's controversy surrounding statements made by an olympic swimmer who lives and trains in berkeley. >> also, first-class dinner from

vending machines? raj mathai joining us from tokyo this morning. good friday morning to you. let's talk about that food. >> we got lots to talk about. good friday morning to you. even better than friday morning is friday night and that's what it is here in tokyo. a lot of headlines. in fact, let's start with the past hour, the world's top-ranked tennis player novak djokovic loses, but novak djokovic was going for the golden slam when you win all four major tournaments and on top of that a gold medal. it doesn't happen. he is out. now let's talk about ryan murphy, this is creating quite a stir. ryan murphy the cal grad who still lives in berkeley, talks about doping very sensitive here at any olympics. he says, quote, i'm swimming in a race that's probably not clean. >> i do believe there's doping in swimming. i am training to be the absolute

best athlete i can be and so i don't have time to get involved in this situation, but there is a situation and that's -- that's a problem. >> it is a problem. we spent a lot of time with ryan murphy training in the east bay. you can sense his frustration. he said it after this race where he finished second, a silver medal, behind the russian who wins gold. to be clear now, ryan murphy didn't accuse him in front of his face of doping, but again that frustration, you can see from ryan murphy, the cal grad. let's move on now, a lot of concern here in tokyo on this friday for bmx rider connor fields. it's tough to watch. a crash during his competition. he remains in a tokyo hospital. here's the good news. we got to accentuate that. he is awake and recovering.

fields is the defending gold medalist. finally this morning, let's talk ramen life in tokyo in a quarantine. here in japan you can get about anything in a vending machine, clothes, groceries, gifts, toys, and yes, even a full meal. take a look. this was our dinner. are you ready? you go to one of these fancy vending machines, nothing like in the united states, and you put in your money, you have a bunch of options to choose from. i just punched in i think option 7 there, out comes a ticket, that order goes right to the kitchen and then voila, it comes right out here to your table, you get a great bowl of rahman and look at the view at the patio, sbes view in the city overlooking tokyo bay. pretty amazing. laura, marcus and mike, i love this ramen stuff, i had that for about $10 u.s. i can do a full meal there in a

vending machine. >> i think you have to bring this to the united states. >> i mean, i thought it was going to come out of the machine. >> right. >> that would have been the test. you know, look, it looked good. that's one thing i know. >> how was it? >> it was good. here's the deal, the reason i'm eating dinner out of a vending machine, we're still in the quarantine so we can't leave the hotel for more than 15 minutes. i race over to the vending machine, pop it in, get my ramen, scoop it up. my quarantine ends tomorrow. >> you're so fancy. >> my quarantine ends tomorrow. look out tokyo. i'm out on the streets. >> better get the alert out. >> raj is on the loose. >> all right. we're going to check back with you later in the news cast. good to see you. glad you're eating healthy too. let's get a look at the medal count. team usa is still in first place with overall medals with 41. china is in second with 38, but still, has more gold than team

usa. roc rounds out the top three with 34. >> it's been so fascinating to watch. all right. watching the skies for us this morning. >> yeah. we know it's been very humid there, even though, you know, raj is wearing a jacket it's the middle of the night now, but we want to take a look ahead to saturday's forecast for tokyo as we get a look at what's going on. it's still going to be humid and a chance of some thunderstorms firing up as we look at the next several days. we are going to see those highs in the low 90s. those off and on showers return for sunday into monday and here at home. it's been nice, as our temperatures head for the low 60s or low 70s i should say near the coast. some low 70s as well for oakland. but we do have the mid 80s for the south bay. upper 90s for the inland east bay. mike you're still watching the breaking news, what's going on now? >> we're watching hayward still. the good news the lanes are the lanes have reopened. we share the maps and technology and i can keep an eye on

incoming issues. kari showed the clear skies. the clear roadways for the most part, earlier car fire leaves activity on the shoulder at 101 just as you're coming through santa clara everything off to the shoulder, just what looked like a disabled vehicle for anybody passing by. the last little bits of slowing through hayward haves just about cleared as you pass by winton avenue. may be a crew on the shoulder but no other lanes blocked from the earlier crash and investigation to the bay bridge is fine right now. back to you. >> thanks, mike. coming up, protecting your home from wildfires. >> this is what i have, a pile of ash. >> ahead, of an already busy fire season, what you should do to protect your belongings. >> more companies delaying their return to office plus the silicon valley debut on the stock market went thud. the bay area artist teaming up with mcdonald's. when you can get in on the sweet deal. >> you'll want to tune in to prime time at 6:30 on nbc bay area, it's the men's 100 meter

butterfly and the women's 800 meter freestyle. tom shields and katie ledecky will be going for gold in those events and on nbc olympics.com, watch the men's water polo team take on hungary. kids l love visititing kidifor. but t parents lilike it to, like a lotot. theyey go bonkerers. (wuaahahh) totalllly boboom it's a an adventurure. (soundnd of playining) you u know ,you u have to kep an e eye on themem. you gogot to let t them exple and figurere things ouout for r themselveses. so hurry u up (screams)) theyey're not gogonna stay this way f forever. kick offff your kidiforniaia vacationn at visisitcalifornrnia.com

who coululd have knonown that e righght food could hehelp your nenew fried liveve their besest life or givive your oldld friend new w energy or that ththe smallestst changs could mamake the bigiggest imp. you didid. and so d did we. ththat's whwhy hill's always s s wiwith a pet''s biologogy to antnticipate ththeir everer-changing g nutritionanals for difffferences yoyou can s, feel a and trust so you're always s a step aheh. ♪

(v(vo) with a all-day holold and painie reremoval. in one banandage... new nexcarare duo let't's you y goodbybye to flincnch face for good.. it's 5:16. time to get up and get moving as you're heading out the door in

san jose, we're in the low 60s. as all clear and going to be another warm day. we have hot temperatures for some of us this weekend. we'll talk about that coming up in a few minutes. even though it looks like the auto focus is not working, the zipper truck is ready to work at the golden gate bridge on schedule. we'll show you if you're on schedule or delayed coming up. good morning and very happy friday to you. it's like watching a college football game where you're sure you're going to win and at the last second team coronavirus pulls ahead. uber the latest bay area company to delay the back to the office movement as the delta variant continues to spread. uber now saying late october. it will also make vaccinations mandatory for its employees and yes companies can do that and ask for proof, no it is not a hippa violation. earlier this week google and facebook said they would demand their employees get vaccinated. twitter has closed its san francisco and new york offices. they opened them just 17 days ago. today's the last trading day of

july. yesterday we got the gdp numbers showing our recovery was -- the economy recovered to prepandemic levels in record time, but growth not as big as economists expected. the peninsula's robinhood debuted on the nasdaq yesterday and shares fell. that's rare after an ipo. $38 a share at the open. ending at $34 and change. that's the worst debut for a company its size ever. roobenhood helped every day stock holders to pump up gamestop and amc theaters but when it came time for people to buy robinhood they didn't. neuro link says it raises more than $205 million more in venture funding, particularly from google, neuralink is working to link the brain wirelessly with the monkey playing ping-pong moving the paddles with this brain.

dispensing a banana smoothie because it gets boring after a while. >> it's fascinating. >> some find it creepy as well. here's the idea. computers are going to get smarter than we are one way or the other so we might as well join them. >> yeah. >> and use their smarts instead of them just having all that themselves. >> it reminded me of an atari game. >> pong. >> absolutely. >> my uncle used to have one. >> something else my uncle and i used to do, go to mcdonald's. trending this morning, mcdonald's will soon be offering a sweet treat. the company partnering with santa clara native and rapper saweetie for a next meal deal. it includes a big mac, four piece chicken nuggets, fries, sprite, and sides of barbecue and saweetie sour sauce. it drops next month.

>> that's a lot of food. >> i don't know if you can eat all that. >> never had a big mac. sorry. >> we have to talk about that. let's talk about this forecast this morning. >> you know what, today it's, you know, kind of that reminder we are in a serious drought. i wanted to touch on that before you make weekend plans and also as you're heading out and about, that, you know, watering the lawn and that stuff, how expansive the drought is across the region. with the latest update we got we did see it is getting worse here in california as well as the bay area. now 46%, almost half of california is in the highest level of drought and 88% of the state is in extreme drought or higher. we see that as flash flood watches go up for parts of the sierra. here's what's happening. we have this monsoonal moisture surging in. all of these areas shaded in the greenish color will be under flash flood watches in effect from this afternoon through

tomorrow evening. this is a big head's up for us in the bay area because a lot of people go camping in these areas and there may be rain in the upper elevations and then it drains down into some of those valleys and can cause flash flooding for campers in some of the areas. we are looking at the potential for getting moderate amounts of rain possibly a couple inches in some of those heavier downpours. we have to watch the burn scar areas too. this as the bay area is hot today but then cooling down for the weekend into the upper 80s and low 90s. a change in san francisco, we're going to keep that fog and, mike, you're seeing back to our expected friday commute. >> exactly. we had the deadly crash in hayward, all the slowing recovered quickly because traffic is light on friday morning as you would expect now. an easy drive off antioch, highway 4 to concord. you're at the speed limit. same thing across the bridges from the north bay and getting down towards the east shore freeway and the berkeley curve, westbound 80 over towards the

bay bridge toll plaza no backup. back over to you. >> thanks so much. 5:21. coming up next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. >> good morning. you need a list of everything in your home or apartment. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura, sorry to ruin your friday. we'll explain why and how to do it during our wildfire checkup. that's next. digital correspondent abby fernandez checking in with raj throughout the olympics. watch on nbcbayarea.com for our latest episode where raj talks simone biles, gives us a behind the scenes look at tokyo and so much more. it's 5:22. you're watching "today in the bay."

this week, our consumer team has been sharing some savvy advice about wildfires. >> consumer investigator chris chmura has help for homeowners and renters and could save us countless hours and possibly thousands of dollars. >> this is something i harp on over and over again. sorry. i'm unapologetic about it. everyone who owns a house or rents a home or apartment and has an insurance policy needs to do a home inventory. basically, make a list of everything you own and ideally, a little video. >> this is what i have. a pile of ash. >> reporter: many people whose homes burned in the north bay in 2017 will tell you insurance companies didn't pay rebuilding money until they provided an item by item list of what burned. >> they want every thing you had, cup and saucer and fork.

>> reporter: often came up short of a full payout. >> if you lost everything there's no way you're going to remember everything you have. >> reporter: nicolle with the american property insurance association says you can avoid that frustration after a fire by doing a home inventory now. use your smartphone and record from room to room. there's more reason than ever to do a home inventory today. >> we forget the stuff we have and we have more because we've been stuck at home for a year. just make a home video because it just will make recovery so much easier. >> many insurance companies have step by step instructions on their websites. free apps are available too. we found a north bay start-up that will do it for a fee based on your home or apartment size. >> here's the thing. you really can do this inventory yourself free of charge. seriously. just a few minutes with your phone, recording your belongings and it could save you hours later and possibly get you closer to a full insurance

payout. be sure you store that inventory some place safe, ideally some place other than your home and ideally in the clouds. we regularly tangle with insurance companies on your behalf. let us know if you have a dispute. go to nbcbayarea.com and click the response option from the main menu. you've never had a big mac? >> i haven't. >> you said it earlier. >> no big mac or quarter pounder. >> that's unbelievable. not lovin' it. >> chris chmura. here every once in a while. >> thank you very much. it's 5:27. coming up, some of the top stories we're following today including masks up. another county joining california's growing list of those issuing new mandates. this one, right outside the bay area. plus -- >> coming up we're live in san francisco, which drugmakers doing clinical trials for the potential of a booster shot and which nation is preparing to administer them.

at usaa, w we've been n calld too exclususive. bebecause we w were crcreated for r officers.. but asas we've evovolved wiwith the mililitary, we'v've grown toto serve all who've h honorably s served. no matteter their rarank, oror when theyey were in.. a marine just out t of basic, or a p petty officicer from '. and d even his k kids. anand their kikids. usaa is mamade for allll who'veve honorablyly served and ththeir famililies. are e we still e exclusive? absolulutely. and ththat's exactctly why y you shouldld join.

inin the race e to succeede, does s somebody alalways hahave to failil? lelet's give e everybody a fair s shot. becacause when t that happen, we'v've all madede it. ♪ right now at 5:340, spreading like chicken pox, the delta variant may be more contagious than first thought. details ahead on new data expected raising concerns about its severity. >> preparing for a surge, hospitals across the state are once again preparing to see an increase in covid patients. ahead we break down the bay area numbers and the common thread being found in so many cases. >> will you need a booster shot?

some california residents have received one and just ahead, you're going to hear from one of them. this is "today in the bay." a good friday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. okay. so the weekend is here. it's upon us. the question is, how is it going to feel? >> pretty nice. i mean the weather we've had throughout the week will continue and then as we go into the next few days, even getting cooler for some of our inland valleys. walnut creek where you wake up to sunshine, we're going to see the temperatures going from the low 60s to 80 at lunch time. already time to start turning on the air conditioning and we're headed up towards the upper 90s in the inland east bay, some mid 80s for the north bay as well as the south bay, palo alto 83, oakland a high of 73 there. a look at our microclimates and we'll get a look ahead to some things to do this weekend coming up. mike you're watching breaking news, it seems that has cleared. >> all cleared from hayward. no more drama. back to a friday commute light

traffic flow as you mentioned. it's the weekend coming up. folks are anxious to get there, even despite that, we don't have any real problems. no real slowing out of the altamont pass once you pass by north flynn. we're in the green and there you go, changed to yellow. a little bit of slowing past grant line and no other problems for the rest of the contra costa county drive as well. back to you. this morning, a new phase in the war against covid. a bombshell news report suggests the delta variant is as contagious and deadlier than chicken pox. an internal cdc document obtained by "the washington post" says, quote, we must acknowledge the war has changed. here's what that document reveals. infections of the delta variant may lead to more severe illness and may be spread by vaccinated people just as easily as unvaccinated. but those who are vaccinated are three times less likely to catch covid-19 and ten times less likely to die from it than those

unvaccinated. something important here, the cdc still says vaccines remain effective and prevent hospitalization and deaths, but the cdc says in the report the vaccine worked better against the original strain. hospitals, they are here, starting to see a surge in those cases. i want to bring in "today in the bay's" bob redell live in san ramon. i know you sifted through the state data overnight. a lot of information there. what does it show? >> well, it shows that we are starting to see an uptick here in the state of california with regards to hospitalizations. you can see the latest from the california department of public health, just over 3600 people are hospitalized with covid statewide. that's an increase of about 108% from just two weeks ago. if you break it down by counties here in the bay area, alameda leads with 160 patients, contra costa county where i'm at is second with 126, santa clara with 86 and goes down to solano,

sonoma, san mateo, napa and marin with 7 hospitalizations. mercy general hospital have set up a surge tent outside the hospital in case they are overwhelmed with another spike of covid patients. they've got tents to test patients about to undergo an operation for covid to reduce exposure to other patients inside the building. the pandemic is also taking its toll on health care providers. >> think it's easier for us, no. this is a pandemic i've never seen. i've been a nurse for 41 years, through aids, ebola, but this has really taken a toll on everybody. nurses, physicians, we are all exhausted. >> reporter: while over 61% of californians have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the rate of vaccination is slowing in our state. we're still 9% short of the goal

of 70% fully vaccinated statewide. doctors and scientists believe that is the magic number to achieve herd immunity. reporting live here in san ramon, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you. this delta variant surge is raising another question, will a booster shot be needed to keep vaccinated people as protected as possible. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson joins us live in san francisco with a look at that part of the story. >> good morning. that's exactly what pfizer is exploring right now. a lot of folks who took part in that initial pfizer study are heading back to the lab to test the effectiveness there of the booster shot. now this week the drugmaker pfizer said they believe a third dose is needed to keep protection of the virus high. the company also said it could apply for emergency authorization for booster shots as early as next month, august. nbc bay area spoke with one participant in the latest study

who explained part of the clinical trial process. >> they tested me for covid and took blood, did blood work, and then they told me, you know, we're going to give you a jab in the arm, might be the real thing or a placebo. >> reporter: as clinical trials are under way in the state, israel is preparing to administer the pfizer vaccine this sunday. folks 60 and older will be the first group to receive that booster. this is the first government to give the booster to help stop the spread of that. as you've been mentioning all morning highly contagious delta variant. we did have a chance to speak with a stanford physician about the booster shot and when she thinks it will become scientifically necessary to have it. that physician shared she believes more data is needed on the topic but did stress that getting that initial vaccine is still the best and most effective way of preventing healthy individuals from finding themselves in the emergency room.

we're live in san francisco, cierra johnson, for "today in the bay." >> hope it doesn't get to that level. thank you. all right. it's 5:36. if you plan to visit the state capitol any time soon you better have your mask. sacramento county joining l.a. and yolo counties in mandating mask indoors. the county says the case rates continue to climb due to the delta variant. in sacramento county just understand half of all people are now -- under half are all vaccinated. the mandate started at midnight. now eight of the nine bay area counties currently recommend masks indoors. so far, san francisco, berkeley, have said that they are considering a mandate. developing this morning, pg&e warning investors about potential financial losses from the dixie wildfire now burning in butte and plumas counties. the comments are part of the latest quarterly report out yesterday. the utility is hopeful insurance covers potential costs. the warning is part of the sec filing that's still far from being resolved. the fire has burned more than

220,000 acres and destroyed at least 40 structures. the cause is still under investigation. pg&e will also face criminal charges tied to the deadly wildfire last year. four people died in the zogg fire which destroyed 204 structures in shasta county. last september prosecutors say the pg&e equipment sparked that fire while the exact charges have not been filed, the county has until next month to do so. in a statement pg&e said it does not agree with the conclusion about criminal charges and it has already resolved some of the civil claims tied to the fire. it is 5:38. friday. the weekend. right around the corner. hours away really. >> looks pretty good this weekend and i think a lot of people will be hitting the road enjoying time outside before school starts for a lot of kids. if you're heading out hiking at muir woods we have 60s for highs, little bit of sunshine peeking out, a lot of clouds and cool coastal temperatures.

as you head towards south lake tahoe, pop-up showers and thunderstorms, but temperature wise looking good. you want to make sure you're able to get weather alerts if you'll be out hiking or on the lake. you will be able to get somewhere inside in case one of those thunderstorms do come close to you. our temperatures look good through sunday there. warm in paso roebls, low 90s for today and tomorrow, 89 the high on sunday. and then as we're checking out our destination forecast for spots like stinson beach, we'll see the high temperature reaching into the low 70s today and upper 60s for saturday and sunday. half moon bay keeping it cool there with mid 60s and monterey in the mid 60s as well. at times the fog rolling in but looks like we'll see some clearing. looking good and we'll get a look at our microclimates for today that's coming up. mike, your traffic maps, are they still all green? >> pretty much. a little bit of change we expect over here. look at that, one yellow -- that

means a little slowing there as folks make a transition to fewer lanes. smooth drive out of the altamont pass. no real concerns. we expect that as 205 and 580 come together and head over the hill. a smooth drive off the antioch bridge all the way through pittsburgh and concord, no slowing shows up on our sensors. highway 37 does show a little build here and there is a fender-bender as you get towards the novato merge with 101. one crash on the shoulder and no slowing showed up. a blip for the incline for the bay bridge but the toll plaza a steady lighter volume than we often see monday through thursday. it's friday so this is friday light. back to you. >> looks good. thanks so much. starting monday vta is bringing back temporary bus service along part of the now closed light rail system. specifically first street from paseo de san antonio to tasman drive. light rail service was halted at the vta rail yard may 26th. bus service is free and run every 30 minutes on weekdays from 5:30 to 8:30 and continue

until light rail service resumes. there's still no firm estimate on when that will be. coming up, an unexpected surprise from uncle sam. why you may be getting a check from the federal government. washington's very alarmed at the spread of coronavirus. president biden calling it an american tragedy. how much would you pay for a slice of a royal wedding? if you could afford it would you eat it? we'll tell you which wedding this piece of cake was served and how much it's going for. when we're not on the air, our olympics coverage continues on-line. you can follow all of our great bay area athletes. head over to nbcbayarea.com. we have an athlete tracker on our trending bar. there's a lot more news ahead on this friday morning. it's 5:41. you're watching "today in the bay."

want to make a name for yourself in gaming? then make a naname for youourself. even if yoyour office,e, and babank balancece are... far fromom glamorousus. that meaeans expensising nonothing but t pizza. yourur expenses s look good, and your b books are set for r the month!h!

...g.going up againsnst this guyuy... and pitctching yourr idea 1 100 times.. no, no, nono! no. i lilike it. -h-he likes itit! .....and you defininitely love e that. intuit quiuickbooks helps smsmall businenesses be more e successfulul withth payments,s, payroll,l, banking a and lilive bookkeeeeping. right now, a beautiful sunrise over the south bay. a live look as we get ready for the sun to come over the hills. a little bit of smoke in the air but an improvement over yesterday. we're starting out in the low 60s right now. we will still be just as warm as yesterday, headed toward the mid 80s and a little bit cooler for the weekend. we'll talk more about that coming up in a few minutes. sunrise to high rise in the distance there for westbound. taillights across the san mateo bridge. easy flow of traffic but a steady, good volume here across the span. how things are shaping up as you approach the bridge on either

side. >> thanks so much. president biden and the pentagon are talking about how to best protect american forces from coronavirus. >> scott mcgrew, that could include mandatory vaccinations. >> which every soldier, sailor, airman and space guardian knows is part of the deal they make. the d.o.d. can require vaccinations even those that do not have full approval from the fda. now the president is not requiring other federal workers to get the vaccine. there is no mandate. federal workers will be required to declare their vaccination status. if they're not vaccinated or decline to state they will have to mask up. fundamentally no different than what cal osha requires every working californian to do. >> this is an american tragedy. people are dying and will die who don't have to die. if you're unvaccinated, you

don't have to die. this is not about red states and blue states. it's literally about life and death. it's about life and death. that's what it's about. >> of course it is a red and blue issue if you look at a map. red states are way behind. a recent "washington post"/abc poll shows 86% of registered democrats have received at least one shot compared with just 45% of republicans. the party is reacting with concern. mitch mcconnell has been outspoken encouraging americans to get vaccinate pds we're moving backwards because of the americans who refuse to get vaccinated. 26 days ago the white house celebrated what it hoped was independence from covid. >> this year, the fourth of july is a day of special celebration for we are emerging from the darkness of years, year pandemic, and isolation, a year

of pain, fear and heartbreaking loss. >> there's some good news this friday morning. another vote on infrastructure for today. these are procedural, but they're also bipartisan. republicans and democrats working together on something that republicans and democrats created together. the president, who spent decades in the senate, has been working to bring those two parties closer together and in this individual case it's working. quick update on the first lady stepped on something on the beach during her trip to hawaii. we don't know what. whatever it was, it was in her foot for days. she stopped by walter reed and had it removed and doctors say she's going to be fine. what's happening in washington, the president and first lady headed to camp david shortly. we'll be tweeting. find me on twitter, @scott mcgrew. >> it is 5:47. check your bank account and make sure you check the mail as well. the irs announced another round of refunds. more than 1 million taxpayers will receive a refund of more than $1600 for a program to

adjust unemployment compensation from tax returns. the irs will continue reviewing and adjusting tax returns through the summer. happening today, three bay area buildings are being considered for federal historic designation. so a state commission will meet to debate a total of 9 buildings across california. those include two in san francisco, the hobart building on market street and the building at 555 19th street which was once a candy factory. the flamingo hotel also under consideration in san francisco. a sign of summer, santa clara and sonoma fares kick off today. santa clara fair will only show livestock and competitive exhibits. the fair opens at noon with a dairy cattle show. sonoma county will get all the fair food and carnival rides. both are offering covid vaccinations for those and they open at noon. your corn dog and a shot. >> that's how it works.

they always say have your cake and eat it too, trending this morning not so much the case. we'll advise against. >> the cake we're talking about here is one of the most famous royal wedding cakes. they're soon going to be auctioning off a piece. it was a slice of one of the 23 wedding cakes for prince charles and lady diana. it features a marzipan base, sugar coat of arms, given to member of the queen's mother's household who opted to preserve it and it's been sold before to a collector in 2008. it should go in the high hundreds of dollars and still in great condition but don't recommend eating it. wonder where the tradition came from where you save the top of the cake for a year and then eat it on your anniversary. >> i remember as a kid -- >> getting choked up about it. >> the cake. >> not very moist. >> it was nasty after a year. you know. yeah. we had it for our one-year

anniversary, the wedding cake, the top part, after a year of being in the freezer it was nasty. >> interesting tradition. >> it is. >> probably the bakery wants you to buy a new one. >> our baker said if you call us we'll give you a new cake for your anniversary. we didn't call them. >> oh, that's nice. >> call. >> call now. >> call back. >> it's the weekend, maybe you're going to a wedding this weekend. we've had a lot of those going on recently and we're starting out with some more improved air quality compared to what we had recently. low clouds and fog over the bay bridge right now. in parts of the coastal area, may be the smoke mixing in, but the air quality is just above that threshold when we go from good to moderate in the north bay, the bay and coast and east bay. it's pretty good for the south bay and santa clara valley as our temperatures head up towards the upper 80s. east san jose reaching 87 degrees. 90s in gilroy today.

maybe you'll be driving through getting food. we'll see some of the temperatures in walnut creek reaching 95 degrees, while hayward will see a high of 78 and half moon bay a nice cool comfortable 65 but at times misting and drizzling. more sunshine in palo alto with low 80s. upper 60s in the mission district and north bay up to 100 in clearlake and sonoma 89 and 74 in mill valley. here's what's going on. so we have a quiet weather pattern because pretty much nothing is moving, but we do see still the surge of monsoonal moisture into parts of the sierra and that could spark off a few showers and thunderstorms. that will be moving away by next week. we could see much more of an ocean breeze as the storm system moves into the pacific northwest. take a look at this, flash flood watches in effect for some of these areas where a lot of people from the bay area go camping around south lake tahoe, mammoth lake as well as parts of the southern sierra due to the pop-up showers and thunderstorms that could produce heavy amounts

of rain. we're going to cool off slightly in our inland valleys up to 90s in our warmest spots. san francisco, still looking at some upper 60s. a mix of sun and clouds and still some thick fog during the early morning hours. mike, you have a new minor crash in hayward. >> that's right. it is a minor crash. unless you're involved in it, it's a big issue for you. no major injuries reported in hayward around the north bay side. a little bit of slowing but that's on the southbound side where we would see a volume increase. peninsula and south bay moving smoothly and altamont pass no surprises. no major problems. it's vasco, a wind farm, just marking the area, a little fire reported. i got my eyes on that report because we're concerned about anything like that going on in the area. the freeway is moving smoothly, including the bay bridge, slowing on the incline. back to you. happening now, san francisco supervisor working to change a street name to honor an elderly

asian man killed there six months ago. the proposal would remain sonora lane in alta vista to vicha ratanapakdee way. the 84-year-old was known to take walks there. now in january he was shoved to the ground, severely injured dying two days later. the 19-year-old who was arrested for that crime has pleaded not guilty. the suspect is due back in court next week. there's still much more ahead on "today in the bay" including covid in the classroom. >> it helps deal with the virus that is in our community. >> the big changes students in california's largest school districts can expect as they return in a matter of days. and will bay area schools take note? a live look at sfo this morning. we're going to talk about fighting back. new calls for action from flight attendants pushing for a major crackdown on unruly passengers. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay."

you knowow when you'u're at rs anand all thosose brands have her l like... yes! .....and all t those pricecs have y you like..... yes! thatat's yes s for less!! you'veve got this s school ye, and d we've g got you witith tht bargaiains ever atat ross. geget your yeses for less s ar new store e in east sasan mat.

welcome back. you're watching "today in the bay." when san jose's largest school district returns to full-time in-person classes all faculty and staff will be fully vaccinated or tested twice a week. some 30,000 students and some too young to be vaccinated.

the district and teachers association agreed this plan will be the safest thing for students and teachers. about 90% of the district's 2700 teachers are vaccinated. more details from los angeles when the school year starts next month, students and staff returning to l.a. school will be required to take weekly covid tests. it won't matter if they're vaccinated. one school board member believes this will help keep everyone protected. >> parents want their kids to come to school. it's our job to make sure we're doing all we can. >> students and staff members will also be required to wear masks and distance learning is still available. developing now in arizona, a swarm of bees left one person dead, five others suffering multiple stings. that attack occurred northwest of tucson. authorities say that the swarming came from those bees. the open beehive sitting in the back yard tree.

those people were just passing through that area when they were all stung hundreds of times. cleanup is getting under way in eastern pennsylvania after a tornado left a path of destruction. twister ripped roofs off buildings and homes and police say five people were injured after a car dealership partially collapsed. this is the third major storm to hit the area over the past two weeks. attorneys for harvey weinstein are claiming victory after a motions hearing in a southern california could court after extradited from new york, he pleaded not guilty to 11 rounds including forcible raped a battery you by restraint. a judge threw the charges out. weinstein's attorneys say they have a path to acquittal on the california charges. he is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in new york. details, the navy charging a sailor for starting a fire that destroyed a warship off san diego. the "bonhomme richard" burned

for four days last year. it had extensive structural, electrical and mechanical damage and it was scrapped when estimates to replace it ran up to $4 billion. the navy says the sailor was a crew member at the time and has been charged with aggravated arson. new calls from flight attendants this morning to crack down on unruly passengers. the union has released a new survey showing 17% of its workers have seen some kind of physical incident this year. that includes touching, slapping and punching flight attendants or other passengers. 85% have dealt this year with at least one unruly passenger. the faa says that airlines have reported 3600 such cases this year, many involving mask orders. right now the cdc declaring the war has changed from the delta variant. >> because the delta virus is twice as infectious as the original version and definitely new and improved. >> we've got team coverage outlining the troubling new

report detailing a possible new phase of the pandemic. also, one bay area health expert is weighing in this morning. raging out of control, high-level meeting governor newsom is set to have with president biden on wildfire response. i'm raj mathai live in tokyo. we'll be joined by one of the most famous men in america and new developments regarding simone biles. we'll see you in a few minutes live in japan. and it is friday and a good morning to you as we're broadcasting over the tv waves as well as live streaming online at nbcbayarea.com. want to say a good morning to you and thank for making us part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. we'll check in with mike with a look at the morning drive just head. the morning forecast with kari. >> looks pretty good. getting ready to head out the door in the east bay in