in for laura and marcus. our big story, the fire and weather. we've been watching live cameras across the bay area and i know we've been hoping to see a strike live, but we have not so far been quite successful. >> did see one on my drive in. meteorologist kari hall is tracking the storm cells and has been watching those lightning strikes on the computer model. so as we take a look at storm ranger our mobile doppler radar that gives us a good look at what is going on around the bay area, so all of the chances of lightning we've seen from the overnight hours is really starting to go down and we haven't seen any lightning strikes over the past hour or so. as we get a look at storm ranger, it is showing all of the activity we've had. i want to loop it going back about 12 hours because it was so busy at one point at about 2:00 to 3:00 in the morning for parts

of the peninsula and over toward the east bay where we did see a lot of rain and lightening put earlier for the north bay that had to deal with lightning strikes, especially up around santa rosa, clearlake moving toward northern napa county. you can see all the lightening that was over fairfield this morning, but as with we get a closer look now, we are not seeing any of the lightning, but still seeing some of the spotty showers. as you move around, spots like fairfield and concord, still some light rain passing by as you head out for your morning commute, but as of right now, it's just rain and that's some good news and we'll continue to keep an eye on this. scott? >> we were able to capture some video of the lightning and this is such an interesting perspective because this is from sutro tower. above the cloud lightning striking around the golden gate bridge area. you sees the storm clouds taking shape this morning. let's bring in cierra johnson in the north bay. >> that is eerie. cierra is at the scene of damage

from the storm. show us what that lightning did. >> reporter: yeah. good morning. for about 24 hours now, we've been warning you that lightning could do some damage. we were primarily talking about fire damage but here we have a physical definition of what that lightning can do. now neighbors tell us that the lightning struck this tree and this tree as you can see landed on top of this truck. this happened around 9:00 last night. crews were on the scene there to cut the power from the power lines to prevent any more damage. we did have a chance to speak with this homeowner. take a listen to what they said this sounded like when the lightning struck. >> everybody around the neighborhood, just like what happened? the whole tree blew up and fell on my car, my house, everything. >> reporter: and as you can see, again, pg&e they did have to cut the power lines so they were able to remove some of this debris.

a couple cars down the lot cut up limbs from the tree that fell when it was struck by lightning. lightning made contact with the ground and as we've been mentioning the ground is extremely dry. fire crews in sonoma confirmed multiple lightning strikes in the county but the national weather service confirming eight cloud-to-ground strikes in the area. one of those strikes was within the area where the september 2020 glass fire the burn zone was there near santa rosa. we also have some video of the rock fire. this was a brush fire in mendocino county. we have just learned that this fire has been knocked down, but sheriff tweeting this video before midnight last night. they said it was caused by one of the lightning strikes. the wind picked up the fire not making the situation better. it helped to start other fires again. we were learning that fire was about 40 feet large but they were, again, able to knock it down. back out just another

representation of just how powerful that lightning can be landing on top of this individual's car. thankfully no one was inside the car but damage done here as well as some fires there in some of the surrounding area after the lightning touched the ground. we're live in roanoke park, "today in the bay." let's bring in meteorologist kari hall. you're actually able to measure just how many lightning strikes we've experienced during this weather event. >> yeah. there's been quite a few really hard to take them individually and count them, but we've seen how active this system has been as it moves through. we're still seeing a lot of activity off to the east of us, but the threat of some lightning here in the bay area continues it go down throughout the morning. that's good news. often what happens when we have some lightning and some of the more remote areas or heavily forested areas, it takes a while before we hear if there is any fires going on.

we'll continue to monitor that. the good thing is that we have a little bit of rain coming with it, but it's not going to help us out in terms of our drought situation. just wasn't enough rain for that. so we'll be watching to see if we do get any new fire starts through the morning and we'll be watching storm ranger and the radar as well. kari makes sure you're getting the same data she's looking at on your cell phone. our nbc bay area app powered by storm ranger, see where the storm cells are expected to form in the future. it's a free download. higher vaccination rates here in the bay area are now limiting the impact of the latest covid surge. a chronicle analysis finds two-thirds of our region are fully vaccinated, both shots, compared to 58% in california and look at the national average at 53%. so the new data comes as president biden unveils a plan to attack the covid surge. "today in the bay's" tracie potts is live in washington.

tracie, republicans are already raising the red flag on more vaccine mandates, however it could be the only way to move forward. >> right. that's what the president thinks but they're threatening lawsuits over this, kris. it's the mandates that have ruffled feathers here and while the president cannot do it nationwide, illegal he cannot mandate vaccines for everyone, what he is doing is going to have a huge impact on millions of people, especially american workers. >> reporter: president biden running out of patience with 80 million unvaccinated americans. >> our patience is wearing thin and the refusal has cost all of us. please do the right thing. >> reporter: his six-point plan includes mandatory vaccines for federal workers and contractors. vaccines or weekly testing for companies with more than 100 workers. doubling tsa fines for travelers who don't mask. and low-cost, at home tests

available this week. >> this is not about freedom or personal choice. it's about protecting yourself and those around you. >> reporter: employees who don't comply could face fines or be fired. >> anything that we can put in place that's going to make people feel more secure, to come and visit my store, is the best thing for my store. >> reporter: the government is urging states to vaccinate teachers and do more testing in schools. outbreaks have closed 1400 schools in 35 states. >> our student have suffered enough. they need to be in the classroom. >> reporter: the white house is anticipating lawsuits. the republican national committee announced last night they'll be first in line. deaths from covid are up five times over last month and the fda has yet to approve a third booster shot. >> they don't have all the information yet that they need. >> affecting every age group, race, everything. >> reporter: as the covid pandemic overwhelms america's hospitals, the government is

putting new pressure on millions who choose not to get the shot. tracie potts, nbc news. the largest school district in the state los angeles unified, will require all eligible students to be vaccinated to attend class in person. the district already requires weekly testing for students and employees regardless of vaccination status. the new move has parents in the bay area wondering if local school districts will follow suit. not san francisco, san francisco unified issued this statement, we are strongly encouraging but not mandating vehicles for students who are eligible. california's senator is pushing a program to address mental and behavioral issues. he will introduce his legislation later this morning and state schools superintendent thurman will join him. a follow-up this morning on

the lafayette crossing guard who was killed just on his second day on the job yesterday. he is being remembered as a hero. >> friends sharing memory about 45-year-old ashley dias on facebook. he died wednesday protecting stanley middle school students. witnesses say he pushed at least one student out of the way of an oncoming suv that killed him. one lifelong friend is proud of dias for putting kids first. >> i wish it didn't happen but it did happen and i'm glad that he was there to save that child because maybe if it wasn't him, it may be that child or this -- it could have turned out a lot worse. >> one student is recovering from minor injuries. police the driver of the suv had just picked up a student at the school and is cooperating with investigators. one of the darkest days in ameran history is, of course, 9/11. tomorrow marks 20 years since those terror attacks and nbc news is continuing to remember

the victims and their bay area connections. "today in the bay's" bob redell is live this morning and tonight we will hear the heart wrenching stories surrounding sfo bound flight 93. >> reporter: correct. on september 11th, 2001, united airlines flight 93 left newark, new jersey, supposed to land at sfo across not far from where we're at right now. 40 men and women were on board and sadly that would be the last flight that they would ever take. one of those passengers los gatos high graduate mark bingham traveling from his new york office to the san francisco office on the day of the attacks, one of the passengers who fought back against the high jackers who intended to divert the plane back to washington, d.c. because of his bravery and many others on flight 93 the plane went down in a field in pennsylvania. everyone on board including the four high jackers died.

bingham has been recognized by the lbgtq community for his bravery, the united airlines flight 93 passengers hh jackers on board, sacrificing their lives so others might live. some of the children of the passengers are coming together, speaking with lester holt about the lessons 20 years later. >> what do you think we should be holding on to as we move forward? >> unity and just trying to live our lives in their legacy. >> the other message is one of resilience. knowing that resilience is a muscle. so much of what happened on that day i think over the years we've been able to reflect on being immense tragedy, but on the 20th anniversary there's something and maybe it's sitting around this couch with you that made me feel different. >> reporter: join us tonight for that special edition of "dateline remembering the heat ros of flight 93" here on nbc

bay area. bob redell, "today in the bay." 9/11 commemorations will take place across the bay area this weekend. a small service for that flight 93 in union city, and at the pennsylvania site where it crashed a moment of silence at 10:03 eastern time the exact moment of that crash. the exchange club of san ramon valley will honor 9/11 first responders at 4:20 at the all wars memorial in oak hill park and earlier at 9:00 a.m., volunteers will gather for a beach cleanup at san francisco's baker beach. as we take a live look at the 9/11 memorial, stay around to 6:40 this morning. a live report there on the events that have already started today ahead of tomorrow's commemoration. developing right now, more evacuation orders are being reduced to warnings in el dorado county as firefighters get some headway battling that caldor fire. as of last night, containment was up to 53% and the number of acres burned is now approaching

220,000. damage assessments are now mostly done and cal fire is putting the number of homes destroyed at 778. let's take a live look out at the walnut creek area. we are hearing word of power outages to customers, about 1700 customers in richmond, about 7300 customers in vacaville and 2,355 in the crockett area as well. let's check in with kari as we track down what's happened. it could be winds. what's the latest on the lightning? >> yeah. we did see some lightning in that area at about 5:00 this morning. so i guess that's the impact of that. here it is starting over again and we can see all of the rain that was moving through, but also it's been plotting the lightning strikes and a lot of them have been over the north bay. we see did see a cluster over

solano county so that's the impacts there with the power outages. we also have still this red flag warning that continues through 11:00 this morning as we watch the impacts of that hopefully it is starting to quiet down. a beautiful sunrise kind of coming through the clouds over the hills over san jose and we can see that this weather is looking nice and quiet. now we are going to continue to see if we have any new fire starts because of that lightning moving through. mike you're watching breaking news. is that still going on? >> it's just resolved itself or been resolved. look at this, this is what the jack knifed rig looked like, when the rig folds over and see the front part of the trailer is facing the back of the trailer. this car also involved in the car. i hear about injuries as well. no major injuries reported, but this was a major problem for eastbound 80 for about an hour. live look shows you eastbound 80 all lanes have reopened away from the bay bridge. the flow to the bay bridge. it's friday, remember misty roads may make things slick, but

great recovery off the berkeley curve. light traffic around the bay, just build for hayward. back to you. facebook out with all new glasses. next on "today in the bay," the privacy concerns, imagine that, facebook, now being raised about whatever facebook is doing now. in-house recycling, talk about new requests for people convinced that they just can't get enough of a hot sauce. and up for auction, thoughts of classic pinball games leave you a bit misty eyed the museum closure that may net you one of your favorites. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay." .

right now as we get a look at storm ranger if you're about to step out the door in menlo park, showers moving through the area and sprinkles around redwood city and menlo park. we're going to be watching out for some of these light showers. the lightning has diminished. another look at the radar and what's happening across the rest of the bay area coming up. >> active. over here the bay bridge looks like it's getting a little more slowing as you're traveling westbound. the big issue getting away from the bay bridge, east on the east shore freeway. that has cleared. full recovery over in emeryville. 6:18 now. and -- >> i can do this. we can take a look at your futures, why not. i see 172 points in your future on the dow for fair value after

several days of lower markets. >> i do know green is good. >> that's all i know too. to facebook's new smart glasses. this morning concerns are already being raised as the company moves towards augmented reality. the rayban glasses come with built in cameras and speakers but unlike google glasses these look more stylish. you can answer phone calls and play music, take photos with those glasses, record videos with the glasses. however as you might imagine there are growing concerns that people will be recorded without their permission. an indicator light blinks when the glasses are on but that just means you're staring into the camera looking at it. weird too. this morning taco bell is asking you to turn in your soft packets. we mean the ones you don't use, of course. trial program is now expanding and the fast food chain is partnering with the company to reuse some of the 8 million packets that go unused every

year. customers are being asked to collect the unused packet, box them up, fill out a shipping label and ship them to terra cycle. that's going to happen. all right. trending this morning, if you love pinball and classic arcade games this is a story for you. >> one of the museums of pinball, not the one in alameda but south in banning, california, is closing. it plans to auction off more than 1700 arcade games this weekend. some machines are more than 60 years old. starting today place bids online and at the museum. i was telling kris growing up, i always thought rich people probably had pinball machines in their house. 12-year-old me wants a pinball machine. >> 12-year-old you should get it. all right. let's check out meteorologist kari hall's forecast that includes that lightning that was so worrisome this morning.

>> it's looking so much better for us as we've been watching all of the lightning strikes across the bay area happening over the past 12 hours. now as we get a look at storm ranger, things are starting to quiet down even though we've seen a few lingering light showers passing by, we haven't seen any lightning strikes for about the past hour or so. so as we head over towards some of our fire zones and getting a look at the radar activity there, i wanted to loop it to show you we've seen some rain around the caldor fire but also some lightning strikes. we'll see if it happens to start any new fires in the very steep and rugged terrain in the back country of the sierra. we're also looking at what's happening in around the dixie fire area. and they've also gotten some showers. hopefully it does help with the containment but we are once again worried about the conditions that's been so dry and a lot of times this time of year when you get rain the vegetation and trees are dormant at this point and not soaking it

in. it does make the ground a little bit more wet and it's going to quickly dry out because this rain was moving so fast. as we watch the radar this morning, things are starting to quiet down. we do still haves the red flag warning up from the national weather service from parts of the north bay and east bay. the risk of dry lightning now that we're approaching sunrise is going down. take a look at this beautiful sunrise we are seeing over san jose. and our temperatures starting out a little bit milder now in the low 60s as we go into late morning into the afternoon, we'll head into the low 70s. you'll notice it's going to be a really nice and comfortable day reaching into the low 80s here. we will still have upper 80s in spots like antioch, concord, reaching 84 degrees and 83 in santa rosa. as far as air quality looking good today but as we go towards the rest of the weekend, as all of the rain and the breezy winds move out, we're going to start to see the hazy sky returning, especially for the north bay starting tomorrow as we watch the fires.

hopefully no new fire starts but we are hopefully getting more containment on the fires currently burning across parts of the sierra and northern california. temperature wise our inland areas will reach into the upper 80s and low 90s. looking good into the start of next week. and mike, how is it looking right now for the morning commute. >> pretty good. that was a gorgeous shot of san jose you showed earlier. i'm happy to show you this shot where the traffic volume is building but everything is moving and that's good news and a beautiful view for drivers heading here. after all the activity getting away from the bay bridge there's been no problems. in the last 20 minutes that's great recovery. we can do that because of lighter friday traffic. westbound routes are starting to show their build including highway 4 showing slowing through pittsburgh and contra costa county, slowing for 880 through alameda county. back to you. >> hopefully folks aren't distracted by the lightning. next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. >> is your refrigerator running. two folks who said no got help

with their ice boxes. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next.

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welcome back. >> consumer investigator chris chmura is here with how he responded to a pair of recent appliance problems. >> let's call this fridge fail friday.

first my partner at telemundo, arland helped christina in hayward. her $1800 brand new fridge stopped working just six months after she bought it. the manufacturer started the warranty process to swap it out, but then, nothing. until arland and her team got involved and they gave christina 1847 refund so she could get a new refrigerator. at nbc bay area responds, we heard from a very frustrated marissa in napa. she had spent $4500 on a new fridge in may, but in august, she was still waiting for delivery. she said the company's explanations were a lot of hot air. our team stepped in. the company delivered marissa's brand new refrigerator the next day. pretty cool. perhaps we can help you thaw an icy situation. 888-996-tips. have great weekend. >> up next, lightning storm taking aim at the bay area. fires have been sparked. the threat remains. meteorologist kari hall tracking the conditions.

new covid requirements here within the city of berkeley. the businesses starting today requiring proof of vaccination. you're watching "today in the bay."

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right now at 6:30, something we haven't seen in months and that is rain. with it comes lightning and new wildfire concerns. overnight there was good reason for those concerns. look at this lightning display in the sky. some of those strikes led to

wildfires on the ground in the north bay and we're tracking all of that for you this morning. this is "today in the bay." thanks so much for joining us and happy friday to you. i'm kris sanchez. >> i'm scott mcgrew. we're in for marcus and laura. this half hour that storm whipping up that lightning causing some small fires. a little bit of rain. here's a live look outside in san jose as the sun starts to come up and you can see all of those clouds. an unusual look for san jose. meteorologist kari hall tracking the september storm. >> yeah. all of this caused by the remnant of a tropical system meeting up with a front moving from the north and really caused some active weather. now things are starting to quiet down but we're still looking at spotty showers on storm ranger this morning as we get a look at our mobile doppler radar and the red scan parked on san bruno mountain. some showers stepping out the door, los altos and palo alto,

seen rain on 280 in the past couple minutes. we're going to be seeing some spotty showers moving through, but as far as lightning storm ranger has not detected any of that at least in the past hour. once again, a lot of the more active weather and the lightning is continuing to diminish as we approach sunrise. it was so busy here for the past 12 hours, especially in the north bay. take a look at the lightning strikes through northern sonoma county to napa county and moving over towards solano county earlier this morning. once again, the threat is calming down, but it was so active and busy with the lightning during the overnight hours. scott and kris. >> you got an early start today and also, cierra johnson got an early start. she's out live for us this morning. >> in the north bay indeed. what are you seeing out there? yeah, good morning. i'm in rohnert park.

neighbors tell us around 9:00 last night there was a stre struck by lightning that sounded like an explosion. a fragment of the tree landing on top of this suv. you can see some of the flag mnss of the tree surrounding it. pg&e did have to cut power to the cul-de-sac until some of that debris could be removed. a crew inspected that power pole that was close to that damaged tree. no one was inside of the truck when that happened. we do have some more of that lightning video we were talking about. this was from sonoma. fire crews confirmed multiple lightning strikes within sonoma county with the national weather service, confirming there were eight clouds to ground strikes that occurred before 9:00 in the county. one strike was within that september 2020 glass fire burn area here near santa rosa. we have video of what's called the rock fire. now this was a brush fire that started in mendocino county.

we have learned that this fire has been knocked down. at one point it was about 40 acres wide. sheriff tweeting this video before midnight la -- last night, the lightning got picked up by wind not making the situation better. it helped to start more fires. you can see that lightning pretty busy last night. we've been out for about three hours now we were seeing lightning strike. things have called down. but this is the remnants of what that lightning can do, that tree limb on top of that suv. again, no one was injured here and no reports of any injuries from the fire. live in rohnert park, cierra johnson, "today in the bay." when we think of wildfires, the folks in the oakland hills take a deep breath. we did see small fires popping up across the bay area. this is a grass fire in the oakland hills overnight. this is grizzly peak boulevard

off 24. fire crews were able to get that before it spreads. follow meteorologist kari hall on her twitter page. this is it right now. all morning long she's been tracking the lightning and what we can expect for our forecast this weekend. hopefully after that lightning is over. her handle is at kari hall weather. starting today another bay area city will require proof of covid vaccination if you want to go inside certain businesses. "today in the bay's" bob redell is in berkeley. bob, tells us about the new rules. >> good morning to you, scott. these new requirements are similar to what is in effect in san francisco. starting today, the city of berkeley will require anyone 12 and up proof of vaccination to enter certain businesses, businesses like this gym behind me. dance and yoga studios. you can see it on your tv screen. other fitness facilities. restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, and other entertainment venues. with regard to the restaurant and bars entertainment venues employees there must start

showing proof of vaccination starting october 15th. now by the way, if you are one of the people that needs to be showing your vaccination you're going to a restaurant let's say to pick up food, you do not have to show a vax card for something like that as long as you're masked. indoor events of 1,000 people or more starting october 15th must show proof of vaccination and workers at adult or child care facilities, home, health care, dental office employees, pharmacists, pharmacy employees, they must be tested weekly or show proof also for them starting october 15th. bob redell "today in the bay." >> thank you, bob. an unexpected or maybe expected twist in the jury box now bringing the elizabeth holmes fraud trial to a sudden halt. testimony was supposed to pick up again today in the fraud case involving the former theranos ceo, but one of the jurors revealed that he may have been exposed to covid over the holiday weekend.

that juror is said to be vaccinated and not showing any symptoms, but the judge decided to cancel things until next tuesday in order to err on the side of caution. i guess kind of expect this at some point in a three-month trial. stick with nbc bay area for continuing coverage of the elizabeth holmes trial. we will walk you through every step of the way with team analysis on air and online at nbcbayarea.com. developing east of redding this morning, new evacuation orders in the dixie fire. this is folks living in lassen county near hoover flat reservoir. the flames burned another 15,000 or so acres yesterday. the area burned is now nearly 1500 square miles. the fire about 60% contained. let's take you for a live look outside our window over san jose this morning. i saw some lightning strikes probably northeast of the mineta/san jose airport. looks quiet at this point and this is not san jose.

that's san francisco. all right. we are going to check in with meteorologist kari hall. we're hoping that we can get over this lightning hump and enjoy a nice weekend. >> yeah. the threat of lightning is starting to wind down. we're still looking at a few lingering showers but the rest of the day will continue to clear out. if you're heading to sonoma valley it's going to be a nice weekend. highs reaching into the low 80s. we are going to see a little bit more of the hazy and smoky conditions going toward the end of the weekend as our temperatures warm up by sunday in the upper 80s there. and then if you do plan to head to the coast taking a look at stinson beach, mid 70s by the end of the weekend. half moon bay and monterey are going to be in the 60s with the clouds and fog lingering near the coast. santa cruz a touch warmer reaching 87 and the rest of the weekend, mix of sun and clouds. you know how it is starting out in the morning with the clouds and seeing the sun breaking out for the afternoon.

warm and sunny for l.a. if that's where your weekend plans take you. it's going to be a nice weekend in southern california. let's get a look at our morning commute, mike. how is it rolling right now. overall looking great, noticing the slow down coming down into fremont out of hayward and union city. troubled by that really focusing down, everywhere else looks light. there is one sign lit up across to caltrans, the fremont boulevard off ramp was closed and that wasn't expected and not on the construction grid, that will be distracting. you have to pass by and use decoto if it's still closed. i'm not aware of what project it is but is causing a slowdown out of hayward. highway 4 building through pittsburgh and concord. back to you. >> thanks, mike. next on "today in the bay," our team says good-bye to a face that will be familiar to you right here if you watch "today in the bay" every morning. >> 20 years later, a live report from ground zero as we remember first responders who lost their

lives on september 11th. and the votes starting to roll in ahead of tuesday's special recall election. an early look at where the bay area voters are making their voices heard the most. and a surprise catch. we'll show you what the must see fan moment of this week's oakland a's game. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay."

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[ sfx: ding ding ding ] [sfx: bing bing bing ] [sfx: bloop bloop bloop ] [ sfx: bing bloop ding ding bloop bing ] the day can wait. enter the golden state, with real california dairy. still under a microclimate weather alert as we watch some

spotty showers moving through. storm ranger picking up on rain. spotty rain on the peninsula towards the east bay near hayward and we are not seeing lightning strikes at this time, but i'm still watching it with storm ranger. you can join us for an update coming up in a few minutes. >> live look at the bay bridge. the metering lights not turned on until about 6:20. here's what you see. slow build going on here, but there is a build. we'll show you the problems through fremont coming up. new developments out of afghanistan this morning, first passenger plane to leave there since the taliban plane takeover arrived in squat tar filled with western evacuees. some of the passengers were u.s. passport and green card holders. ever since the taliban took over on august 30th there have been concerns about at-risk afghans who helped u.s. forces but didn't have the proper documents to leave. tomorrow marks two decades since the september 11th attacks, a moment that, of course, changed our country and left a scar for so many forever.

>> the day still hits home to lots of folks around america. the bay area as well. one of the flights highjacked, flight 93 to san francisco that morning, nearly 3,000 total people died that day. people going through their normal morning routines when terror struck. jay gray live at the memorial ground zero with the emotional with one family's devastating loss but they keep going, jay. >> yeah. scott, kris, good morning to you. you're absolutely right. there are so many stories tied to what happened that day, just a tragic day as you take a live look over the reflecting pool here at the memorial site. that pool surrounded by the names of the victims from the attack here and the waterfall falling into what was a footprint of one of the towers. the rodriguez family remembering

their loved one, lieutenant colonel michael rodriguez doesn't talk a lot about that day. he doesn't talk much about his time on the frontlines in the war on terror either. it was a mission he says people not by revenge but his love for his sister and a chance to honor her memory. >> the second building just fell. >> reporter: the images >> get inside a building. >> reporter: the horror and heartache linger 20 years later, especially for those who were there. >> i started hearing this, the most eerie, gut-wrenching sound of impending death. >> reporter: lieutenant colonel michael rodriguez was there and so was his big sister lisa. >> she worked on tower 2, 89th floor. >> reporter: he rushed to the site first alone and hours later leading a national guard platoon in, working recovery and a

mission that was personal. >> she was a great person, you know. loved life. >> reporter: lisa king johnson was 34, a wife, mother of two young girls a daughter and sister. her body was pulled from the rubble ten days after the towers collapsed. for rodriguez, the mission shifted. deployed in the war on terror he was in iraq september 11th, 2003, when a commander asked him to share his memories during a memorial with coalition forces in a packed amphitheater in the ruins of babylon. >> she was a big sister. >> reporter: the emotions overwhelming. but his resolve unyielding that the memory of lisa and the support of his fellow soldiers. >> i was propelled by my uniform, duty. >> reporter: the words still don't come easy but two decades later he has this message for the country. >> never forget. >> reporter: and a goodbye that he never got the chance to share with his big sister. >> i love you and we'll be okay.

the girls will be okay. and, you know, i can't wait to see you one day. >> reporter: rodriguez doesn't attend the public service here each year. in fact, he says he's only been to the memorial site once. instead, scott and kris, he spend each september 11th with his family. >> jay gray reporting. i know how hard it is just to even be in that location. thank you for doing that for us, jay. here's a look at some of the 9/11 commemorations happening tomorrow in the bay area. the san jose fire department will host its 2021 patriot day observance. hayward will hold a candlelight vigil starting at 10:00 a.m. at heritage plaza and for those who want to give back to the community, volunteers will be gathering at the palace of fine arts in san francisco to pack meals for those in need.

the "today" show will continue our live come this morning both from ground zero and from shanksville, pennsylvania, ahead of tomorrow's commemorations today at 7:00 after "today in the bay." then do join the "today" show a little early tomorrow morning 4:00 a.m. followed by an nbc special 9/11, 20 years later at 5:30 and then "today in the bay" with kira klapper and vianey arana that starts at 8:00. heading to the home stretch of the recall election, we are now four days away and counting and no bay area county has reached a 50% response for return of mail-in ballots. see from the map some are getting close and the highest participation in marin at 43%. the lowest is at 28% in solano, but statewide, the return rate is just about 30%. and every registered voter got one in the mail. if you don't know whether you

got one, check your mail stack. we have an entire page dedicated to the recall election on our website, head to nbcbayarea.com and click on newsom recall in the trending bar. 6:48. our "today in the bay" team is saying farewell and thank you to one of the finest political journalists in the business. after two decades with nbc, today marks tracie potts final day on air. here's a quick look back at the highlights of her career. >> tracie potts, nbc news, cleveland. >> tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> tracie potts, nbc news, hempstead, new york. >> tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> tracie potts, nbc news. >> at churchill downs, i'm tracie potts, nbc news. >> oh. okay. that's weird. yeah. >> like that one best. let's bring in tracie this morning. you've been waking up early with us for years. you know, people should know at

home, while we are your favorite television station, you're not the only nbc station you work for. there's about 30 of them, right? >> yeah. what is that, like 20, 30 live shots every morning, tracie? >> it's fun. this morning gig was with the 20, 30 live shots over a decade, 11 years, although i've been with the network twice that long. i have gotten people's names mixed up sometimes, you know. >> never ours. >> kris and scott, back to you in nebraska. oops. wrong one. but it's been great. >> yeah. you know, you've been such a steadies voice through all of the changes that we've seen over the last 20 years. i've been here for 17 years, scott you've been here longer than that. >> 22 probably. >> and you have provided such fantastic analysis. how do you do that to make sure that the story is about the people always? >> yeah.

well, i mean that's the focus, right. that's why we're here. it's not about me being on tv. it's not about politicians. it's about what is happening that affects you and your family. that's just kind of the way i try to approach it every day. i would be remiss to say i do that on my own. my morning team is incredible. they turn miracles every single day when i say my team, my producer, editor, but everybody behind the scenes who makes it happen. you guys see me. you don't see them, but they're doing a lot of the hard work that gets this done. >> you have a quick look there. we were showing the folks at home while you were speaking the tweets that have come across today. there they are again. former colleagues, viewers from nbc stations across the country. >> oh, my gosh. >> wishing you the absolute best. just absolutely terrific. thank you for so many years. >> yeah. >> of hard work. >> the eisenhower institute is lucky to have you. good luck. >> thank you so much. >> nice knowing you. all right. trending this morning, a great

grab with the help of an old time fashion accessory. a fan at yesterday's game providing a fanny pack catch. proving that they still are in style. are they? check out this foul ball against white sox, the guy in the white hat, there you go. grabs it, waist level, puts it in his fanny pack. looks like he did have snacks in that fanny pack too. the a's won. yeah. the a's won. that's all. >> that could have been dangerous for him for sure. >> a woman who is always in fashion, of course, is kari hall. >> and we do have an a's game tonight. we'll be watching to see, maybe he will make a repeat performance. we'll see. let's get a look at storm ranger. it's looking much better for us right now as you're walking out the door, spotty rain here and there, but i haven't seen any lightning strikes in the past hour and a half. as we get a look of the rain,

moving to the east bay as we've seen some heavy downpours for a brief minute and then mes we've seen some of the danville. 680 may have slick spots. with this being the first rain we have in a while makes the oil rise to the top of the roads. as we move to the east bay and walnut creek also light showers moving through. overall we've seen much of the activity that caused a lightning strike during the overnight hours moving to the east. this was meeting up with the remnants of a tropical system and to the north and caused a rare september rain for us. look at this beautiful sunrise. if you take pictures of this send this to me on twitter or facebook. @kari hall weather. >> nice starting to our friday as the weather starts to move out. beautiful start to our day. we're headed towards the low 80s this afternoon and upper 80s for

the inland east bay. up to 82 in napa and 70 for a k parts of the north bay. head's up about that the skies will turn hazy throughout the weekend. what are you watching for the morning commute? >> watching a build of the commute at the bay bridge. the slower build but did fill in. the toll plaza, slow down the east shore freeway and your westbound spots through contra costa county as well. no surprise. what is a surprise is a slow drive. hayward all the way down to fremont. it looked like they may have reopened one if not both of the exits. both were closed overnight and the signs were distracting folks. a crash north 280 at 87 maybe in the lanes. back to you. happening now authorities are planning to clear a growing homeless encampment in the north bay, a camp located in rohnert park in a small rail and park and ride lot on roberts lake.

over the past few weeks the encampment has grown. >> fire fear, lightning storms and a little bit of rain. we'll be back in two minutes.

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for places like restaurants, clubs and gyms indoors. the new policy applies to anybody who is 12 and older. anybody eligible for a vaccine. the city is requiring people who work at these businesses also be fully vaccinated by october 15th or submit to those weekly covid tests. the story we were talking about overnight, the weather was spectacular. a dangerous show across the bay area with lightning bringing fires and damage. thousands of people are still without power. cloud to ground lightning sparked many vegetation fires in the north bay. look at mendocino county overnight. a time lapse of the rock fire near clover dale. that fire charred about 40 acres before it diminished thanks to the rain. a scary sight in sonoma county, rohnert park, where lightning splintered a tree sending part of it through the top of the car. it is a good thing that it happened overnight. they are very telling pictures. lightning strike happened about

8:00 last night. the homeowner tells our photographer sounded like a bomb went off. pg&e has since cut power in that area until they can remove the debris and inspect those lines. and taking you out live this morning as we do weather and traffic, mike has been warning about some slick roads with the mist. check in with kari first. >> i mean, this shot is wow this morning as we wake up and seeing the clouds clearing out over san jose. that is beautiful. so hopefully you have a chance to enjoy the sunrise and also enjoy the weekend. now that the rain is moving out, we're still seeing some spotty light showers and tracking that. you can track it as well if you have the nbc bay area app. zoom in on storm ranger and use the same tools that i use. mike, how is it looking for the commute? >> not good. here in san jose because of a crash north 280 at 87 may leave a vehicle in the middle of the road for a few minutes. that's caused a backup which is seeing a build as well as scott said watch out for possible

slick roads as well. >> haven't said that in a while. that's what's happening "today in the bay." we'll be back at 7:25 with live local news. join us for the bay area news at 11:00. we take a picture of san jose. a beautiful morning. seize the day. good morning. fed up. president biden using the full weight of the federal government to break the back of the pandemic. an unprecedented push to require shots for tens of millions of unvaccinated americans. >> we've been patient. but our patience is wearing thin and the refusal has cost all of us. >> the aggressive mandates that will impact workers, businesses and schools from coast to coast. the reactions, swift, critics calling the sweeping plan unconstitutional and un-american with legal battles expected in dozens of states. we'll have everything you need