breaking overnight. ambushed, three sheriff's deputies in texas rushed to the hospital overnight after investigators say they came under attack. one of them died at the hospital. this morning, the search for answers. another boost. an fda advisory panel unanimously recommends a second shot in the arm for anyone 18 or older who got the johnson & johnson vaccine, but the panel is still not ready to say if the vaccines can be mixed and matched.

this as the chicago police department faces a major staffing shortage as soon as today with a fight over vaccine mandates looming large. we're live with the latest. surprise plea, a shocker in a florida courtroom as the man accused of killing 17 people in one of the country's deadliest school shootings is now expected to plead guilty in the parkland school shootings. family members of those who lost their lives relieved. >> i want to remember my son, i don't want to spend time on this. >> will nikolas cruz get the death penalty? growing outrage, the superintendent of a texas school district now apologizing for what one of his administrators said about teaching the holocaust. >> make sure if you have a book on the holocaust, make sure you have one that has opposed -- >> how do you oppose the holocaust? >> the comments just the latest controversy for a school

district in the middle of a fire storm over its inclusion and diversity efforts. all that, plus the prince versus the captain. prince william taking on william shatner, aka captain kirk after his historic trip to space. the prince saying let's worry about what's happening here on earth not in space. >> we need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet and not going find somewhere else to live. >> shatner responding, the prince is just wrong after what could be the most civil war of words we've ever seen. today, saturday, october 16th, 2021. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker, and dylan dreyer. and welcome to "today," thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. we want to say a very hardty

welcome to my friend, hallie jackson, who is here today, she is sitting in for peter this morning who is getting over a cold, fortunately it is not covid. >> nowhere else i'd rather be on a saturday than here with you. >> dylan is off this morning, on maternity leave. we'll catch up with her. >> i can't wait to see rusty and misty the other new baby. >> her new book, that will be in the 8:00 a.m. hour, we're excited about that. we want to begin, we're going to talk about our top story, which is, of course, the ongoing debate around booster shots. we'll talk about, of course, what we talked about at the top, which is the shooting in houston. but we begin with the fda advisory panel recommending anyone over the age of 18 who got the johnson & johnson vaccine should get a booster. in just a minute we'll talk to

one of the doctors who serves on that panel. we want to begin with kathy park in new york. kathy, good morning. >> reporter: kristen, good morning to you. if you got the j&j vaccine the first time around, it won't be much longer before you can roll up the sleeve for the booster shots. but in the meantime, some showdowns. >> this morning, those who received the johnson & johnson vaccine are a step closer to extra protection after a vote from the fda advisory panel. recommending boosters at least two months after the initial j&j jab. >> with our shot people benefit from a booster not because of any waning but because there is head room to further protection. >> this comes a day after the same committee endorsed a half dose moderna booster for those

65 and up, adults with underlying health condition and people at high risk of exposure due to their job. while we await a final ruling on both boosters set to happen in days. chicago is caught in a vaccine mandate standoff. city employees had until friday to declare their vaccination status. those who didn't comply will be on unpaid leave. chicago's police union pushing back, warning half of the force is prepared to stay home starting this weekend. mayor lori lightfoot. >> i expect the police officers to honor their oath and to follow directives. >> reporter: police departments across the country are tackling similar challenges from san diego to seattle. >> any loss of an officer would be detrimental to our city's current public crisis. >> reporter: massachusetts is facing its own hurdles with a

looming sunday deadline for state workers. 1500 prison guards, roughly, haven't complied. governor baker said he would activate national guard personnel in anticipation of staffing shortages. yesterday the fda advisory panel also discussed whether it's okay to mix and match vaccines but didn't move forward with a vote. back here in new york city, more signs of progress. covid hospitalizations are down to the double digits compared to the thousands we saw at the height of the pandemic. kristen, hallie. >> kathy park, a lot of people feeling encouraged by that piece of good news. we want to bring in dr. paul offit a member of the advisory committee. doctor, good morning. so good to see you. >> good morning. >> so doctor, one of the topics of discussion yesterday was should the johnson & johnson vaccine have been a two-dose

vaccine from the beginning? what say you? was that a mistake? was it an oversight? >> so when we reviewed the johnson & johnson one-dose vaccine at the end of february, at the time that was a 44,000 person trial. what you saw was that after one dose you had 74% protection against infection, 85% protection against serious illness. that's excellent. at that time you knew they were in the midst of doing a two dose trial which is now a 30,000 person trial, and a few months after we made the decision the trial concluded. now we know the efficacy is 92% after two doses which is similar to the mrna vaccines. unlike the mrna vaccines, a single dose induced imknowledge cal memory, that's the most important aspect in terms of

protection against serious illness. i think that was value two-dose >> if you're one of the millions of people in this country who did get the j&j shot, should you go out and get a booster, wait for something else? more guidance on mixing and matching, for example. if you want to get pfizer and moderna for longer lasting efficacy. what's your advise to patients looking into that? >> the cdc is going to look at this question, this coming thursday, so i would wait to see what the cdc recommends. in all likelihood they'll recommend the vaccine as a two-dose vaccine. >> i want to ask you about something you said dr. offit. you said the original shots are doing a good job of doing what they're supposed to do, which is keeping people out of the hospital. so is this talk of boosters mixing the messaging here? should we be focused on making sure that everyone is getting their first

been confusing. so the question goal of a vaccine? if the goal of a vaccine is to prevent serious illness, the kind of illness that causes you to seek medical attention, go to the doctor, the hospital, the icu, these vaccines are doing that. the reason is that all you need for that is imlogical memory and it appears to be long-lived with these vaccines. but are you trying to protect against infection? that's mediated by antibodies in your circulation, that declines over time. if you're trying to boost that back up again so you can protect against mildly symptomatic infection that would be a reason to give a third one. so that's what we need to decide, what's the goal of the vaccine? a booster dose in someone who's over 65 years of age is clearly a value, there you do get waning

of memory. but it's not clear it happens in any other group. >> dr. paul offit thank you for helping us understand a complicated story. breaking news from texas overnight. three deputies in the houston area shot in what's called an ambush attack. police say the deputies were shot from behind after the officers tried to break up a possible robbery outside a nightclub. officials say they have one person of interest in custody. this morning, the biden administration says it will ask the supreme court to block the controversial texas abortion law, the most restrictive in the nation. monica alba is at the white house with more on that, and some of the other challenges facing president biden. monica, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, kristen. this is the latest turn in a lengthy legal battle expected to go through the fall. the justice department asking the highest court in the land to put the texas law on hold as the

white house says it will keep fighting to protect women's constitutional rights. once again the biden administration will ask the supreme court to step in and block a restrictive texas abortion law. the bill bans the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around the six week mark and makes no exceptions for rape or incest. it's not the first time the court has been urged to put the law on hold. it went into effect in texas in september but the justices at the time denied a petition to block the law. earlier this month a federal judge did block it, but the law was reinstated by an appeals court days later. ultimately upheld by the fifth circuit. in december, the supreme court will hear a challenge to a mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks. a direct threat to 1973's landmark decision in roe v wade. the fight over abortion rights

just one of the many challenges confronting the white house as president biden navigates negotiations over his domestic agenda. a multi-trillion dollar bill to expand the social safety net and address climate change still stalled in congress with two weeks until the president hopes to tout progress at a climate summit in scotland. >> i think it would be good to have an agreement on the climate piece but we're going to get the climate piece. >> reporter: the biden administration unveiled a plan friday to address the systemic threat climate related disasters pose to the entire u.s. economy. but it's still unclear how much money will be dedicated to that issue in the final proposal. the only certainty, the price tag will be slashed cig -- significantly. >> we're in the on going to get $3.5 trillion we'll get less than that, but we'll get it and

come back and get the rest. >> reporter: on friday the president said he believes more programs should be in the final human infrastructure bill but that's still the subject of intense debate on capitol hill with congress targeting halloween as a deadline while the white house concedes they don't have unlimited time to get this done and hard decisions need to be made now. kristen? >> i want to ask about another story you're tracking. the president had strong words late friday when he was asked about people defying subpoenas to testify in front of the january 6th select committee. >> reporter: the president told reports that he hopes the committee goes after people like former trump adviser steve bannon, stressing they should be held accountable in his words. when asked if that meant they should be prosecuted by the justice department, the president responded yes but press secretary jen psaki later clarified stating the president supports the doj's independent role in the investigation and leaves it to the attorney

general to make further decisions about prosecutions. >> one of the biggest flash points in washington. monica, thank you. to a surprise in a florida courtroom, the gunman accused of one of this country's deadliest school shootings getting ready to plead guilty ahead of his trial. but even if he does, nikolas cruz could still face the death penalty sam brock is in florida for us with the latest. >> reporter: when cruz's attorneys announced to the court he's ready to plead guilty to killing 17 people in parkland, it didn't just catch the prosecution offforward, it caught the judge off guard, too. as the nation approaches four years since the horror of parkland and the day 17 lives were stolen at marjorie stoneman douglas high school, the man who confess to the shooting appeared

in court ready to plead guilty. >> i'm going to let you know what's going on -- >> reporter: wearing a sweater and glasses and looking thinner nikolas cruz was there to face this video here. it's his stated intention of also pleading guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder from 2018 that would eliminate the need for a criminal trial and still leave him eligible for the death penalty. >> he deserves the death penalty. this is a perfect death penalty case. there is no doubt about it. there is no ifs, ands or butts as far as i am concerned. >> reporter: linda's son shot at stoneman douglas and died. even with a guilty plea, shulman is bracing for a lengthy process that takes decades usually. >> i want closure. i want to be alive when this case is over. >> reporter: the broward county state attorney's office,

apparently also blind-sided said in a brief statement, there have been no plea negotiations with the prosecution. if he pleads guilty, there would still be a penalty phase. for some parents like manuel oliver, who's 17-year-old son died that day. >> it's a code that we only have and no one else has. >> reporter: fast forwarding through a painful trial would be a welcome development. >> i want to remember my son and i don't want to spend time on this. so the -- the shorter this segment of my life is, the better. >> reporter: now legal experts say it is possible that the defense chose this route because unpredictable things can happen at trial or maybe they wanted to save more anguish, prevent more anguish for the families and community here in parkland but a 12-person jury will have to decide whether or not to have the death penalty. back to you. >> sam, thank you so much. we want to head overseas

now, authorities in the uk are calling the fatal stabbing of a lawmaker on friday an act of terrorism, police say an early investigation has revealed a link to terrorism. david amess was stabbed while meeting with constituents at a church in england. a 25-year-old man was arrested in that attack. the incident comes five years after another member of parliament was shot and stabbed under similar circumstances. >> we'll get a check of weather, with dylan out, maria la rosa is here with the forecast. good to see you. >> great to see you, ladies. not great to see all of the stormy weather unfolding for parts of the mid atlantic, and northeast and new england today. tornados can't be ruled out either. the threat from philadelphia, new york, harrisburg up to upstate new york.

we have showers and thunderstorms under way already. we've had some tornado warnings. a lot of wind power here associated with a strong fall front. the cold front sweeps through, . . wind and rain from the mid atlantic to the northeast. from behind it it's a quick return to october. cool with a few showers, but temperatures dropping and heavy rain with this too. some areas interior northeast upstate new york could pick up 2 to 3 inches of rainfall before everything 54 degrees right now in san jose. we'll see another sunny afternoon with temperatures above normal. concord 88 degrees. high ward is 83. san jose is 86. we'll see an increase in cloud cover. a warm saturday, we'll see a system move in on sunday, that'll bring in a chance of rain and a drop in temperatures.

looking out ahead we could see a better chance of rain heading into next week. and that's your weather. kristen, hallie, back to you. >> maria, thank you. still to come this morning we'll have the very latest on a growing controversy in a texas school district over race, diversity and the holocaust. why the local superintendent is now apologizing. plus on this college football saturday, some good news about cheering on your favorite team from a pkedac

we are back now on a saturday morning with if the weekly down load. >> manage them a very big headache for thousands of air travelers this week. a nightmare for southwest

airlines passengers nationwide with thousands of flights cancelled or delayed. >> it was one thing after another after another. >> southwest blames bad weather in florida as the critical trigger to the massive disruptions. >> because they don't have hubs with extra planes laying around if there is a cancellation, the cascaing effects of any operational inefficiency get out of control. a massive wildfire has scorched thousands of acres outside santa barbara, california, threatening ronald reagan's old ranch and shutting down the highway. >> those dry fuels combined with the winds are the reason why this highway will be closed for the foreseeable future. the coroner revealed gabby petito's death -- >> the cause and manner is

homicide, by strangulation. >> her body was found in september. her fiancee, bryan laundry, remains nowhere to be found. jon gruden's career is over. it's over. >> the head coach for the las vegas raiders resigned after his sexist, racist and homophobic emails came to light in the wall street journal and "the new york times." >> in a statement the 58-year-old apologized writing in part i'm sorry i never meant to hurt anyone. the emails confirmed by the nfl but not reviewed by nbc news were discovered during an investigation into the washington football team while gruden was an analyst for espn. >> two, one. >> star trek legend william shatner and three others rocketed into space aboard blue

origin's capsule. >> no description can equal this. >> at 90 years old, shatner is now the oldest person ever to go to space. >> captured on camera this week, a small plane crash at a residential neighborhood in southern california, two people were killed and two others hurt. a grandmother in new york was walking with three small children when this man grabbed a little girl and ran off. good samaritans caught him and he released the girl. he was later arrested. the northern lights wowed sky gazers in the u.s. and canada this week, a geo magnetic storm allowing them to be seen further south than usual. talk about a close encounter of the scary kind, 66-year-old ruth hamilton woke up in the middle of the night to find a nearly 3 pound meteorite in her bed. scientists say the odds of that happening are about 1 in 1

billion. >> kristen welker, are you kicking me? a meteorite lands in your bed, number one she should play the lottery. >> that's number one. number two is, she might need to consider a new house. >> she slept in a chair apparently the rest of the night. she couldn't get in bed. >> i would have gone to a neighbor's house. >> kristen would put her house up for sale. >> yes. couldn't do it. good for her. that's amazing. still to come on today, it's the music that fans, including hallie, have been waiting for for nearly six years. what everyone is saying about adele's new song "easy on me". >> and later on dylan is coming back to join us for a little bit. we'll talk about how life is going with three boys in in the house. that's live in just a bit. bufirst we have these t

good morning, thank you for joining us this saturday, i am kira klapper. >> a live look where you can go maskless in certain places. indoor mandates were lifted yesterday in marin county. as long as you are fully vaccinated and there are no more than 100 people inside, you can take off your masks. there is proper ventilation and no children under 12 presence since they are not eligible for

the vaccines. >>tos and restaurants and students k through 12. contra costa will adopt similar rules for partial lifting on november 1st. in order for the mask mandate to be lifted entirely, health officers for bay area counties and berkeley agreed to the following criteria. the jurisdiction must reach a yellow tier and stay there at least three weeks. hospitalizations must below and stable, 80% of the population must be vaccinated or eight weeks after the fda gives emergency approval vaccines for five to eleven years old. >> time now to check with vianey

arana. >> here is a closer look at your daytime highs. it's going to feel like summer for the interior valleys. around the coastline, look at san francisco, 76 degrees, half-moon bay will be in the 70s. down to the south, they're talking mid-80s. we got a couple of upper 80s through areas like concord and antioch. as for the next 24 hours go, we'll see sunshine today. here is a closer look at the headlines we'll monitor for today's forecast. temperatures today is warm and rain chances along with a cool front, we'll bring cooler temperatures to the bay area and more changes ahead. >> kira. >> we'll see you at 7:00, vianey. >> coming up on "today in the bay,". >> if you get your covid-19 booster, you will need to update your shot. i will show you how. >> we'll have all your top stories coming up at 7:00. back

"today" show.

♪ ♪ go easy on me baby ♪ ♪ i was still a child ♪ ♪ didn't get the chance ♪ >> that voice. we are back on this saturday morning, october 16th, 2021. and that, of course, is adele's new song "easy on me". hallie is already dancing. >> um obsessed in just the 36 hours since the song has been out, it already has 50 million views it's like the kristen welker instagram, more than a million views an hour. >> that's right. >> a lot more on the reaction to

adele's first new song in nearly six years. it's on repeat on my spotify play list. >> it is it's so good no one has a better voice than here excited for that we want to start with a check of the headlines a panel of fda advisers is recommending a booster shot for anyone over 18 who got the johnson & johnson vaccine. the panel voted unanimously citing data that a second dose offers more protection against the virus. the experts recommended that people get the j&j booster at least two months after their initial shot there's no decision yet on whether or not different vaccines can be mixed and matched as a booster >> we're watching for word soon on when former president bill clinton could be released from a hospital in southern california with president biden saying mr. clinton is doing fine. the 75-year-old former president has been hospitalized since tuesday with an infection. it is not covid related according to his team. president biden said he spoke with one of his predecessors --

with mr. clinton on the phone and, quote, he's not in any serious condition.ll playoffs, came from behind last night to top the red sox, 5-2 in game one of the american league championship series. two late inning home runs from jose altuve and carlos grayy put the astros on top for good game 2 is this afternoon in houston. also this morning, the superintendent of one texas school district is apologizing for comments an administrator made about the holocaust that's in one community in that state already divided about what students can learn about race in america. antonia hylton has been following those developments for months in south lake she joins us with the latest good morning >> reporter: good morning, south lake, texas was one of the first communities in the u.s. to begin the national fight over critical race theory and the ways we teach about history, diversity and belonging.

now the fight comes for books, and teachers are speaking out as we hear controversial comments over the fight this morning school officials from south lake, texas in damage control after a top administrator was recorded instructing teachers to give opposing views on the holocaust. the disstrict trikt's superintendent apologizing in an email to parents late thursday writing in part, the comments made were in no way to convey the holocaust was anything less than a terrible event in history. we recognize there are not two sides of the holocaust it comes after nbc news obtained exclusive secretly recorded audio of director of curriculum gina peddy, during a training session last week, in which peddy discussed a new texas law about how schools should teach controversial topics and which books should be allowed in school libraries >> make sure that if, if you have a book on the holocaust that you have one that has opposing -- that has other -- >> how do you oppose the holocaust? >> what? >> reporter: the comments

sparking immediate outrage, the holocaust museum in washington d.c. tweeting the holocaust is a fact we sat down with two teachers in south lake about the recordings. >> i was in such shock when i heard these words. >> reporter: nbc news is obscuring their identities because they feared speaking out could cost them their jobs >> we felt this was necessary because we felt like no one was going to listen until a teacher spoke up >> reporter: gina peddy, the administrator in the recording has not responded to nbc's news request for comment. the audio came days after a fourth grade teacher was reprimanded after a parent complained about a book about anti-racism. >> we're denying children the right to learn about what the world is about if we take books away from them. >> reporter: south lake school district previously told nbc news they were helping teachers comply with texas law and the district has not and will not

mandate books be removed >> the district says they have not told teachers to ban books, to completely shutdown libraries. >> that's a lie. it's a flatout lie. >> reporter: teachers in south lake say this conflict has left many of them feeling at risk and unappreciated. several tell nbc that if this district doesn't regain their trust, it will soon lose some of its best educators kristen, hallie. >> thank you such important reporting this is a story that went viral when antonia and her team posted this it's huge. >> understandably. and it's remarkable she got the teachers to speak out, obviously we obscured their identity, but to hear the concern and outrage really in their voices remarkable >> its's not a story going anywhere, any time soon. >> i think that's right. we do want to take a turn now and check back in with maria la rosa with another check of the weather. z. >> good morning. we take you to the west wher we have santa ana winds setting

up again, high pressure, that combination, we have increase ed risk of fire danger with red flags warning posted for today gusts likely 55 miles per hour in the higher elevation, 40 miles per hour as you get closer to the coast that is a down slope wind, that warms things up really quickly, dries everything out burbank up to 91 today 11 degrees above average san diego into the low to mid 80s, also above average. a complete turn around tomorrow with the on shore flow, temperatures drop 10, 15 degrees gets below average into the 70s out of the 90s in burr bapg, out of the 80s in san diego, into the low 70s. so at least we're not talking about a prolonged period here, but a changeup across the rest of the country, the result of the cold front sweeping through that we have these beautiful fall blue skies from the planes to texas temperatures cooler. we're waiting on that front to come through the mid atlantic, northeast and new england, here we're talking about strong showers and thunderstorms,

york, into upstate new york, some areas could be picking up 2 to right now in san jose, 53 degrees but the temperature trend will be quick to warm by 12:00 expect to be in the upper 70s. low 80s. today will feel like summer in the bay area. temperatures topping out upper 80s for interior valleys. mid-70s around the bay and coastline as we head into this evening, we'll see a shift in our weather pattern. a cold front expected to make its way through into tomorrow. that's going to bring in a drop of temperatures and a chance of rain. and that's a look at today's weather. hallie, kristen, back to you. >> maria, thank you for that just ahead, good news for college football fans headed to stadiums across the country today. >> but first, these messages and i'm a federal contract investigator.

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>> reporter: this morning college football fans are getting ready once again to pack stadiums nationwide. for weeks crowds in the tens of thousands, mostly unmasked have sat side by side now cheering on their teams at the halfway point of the season. >> they're bringing more energy than before. >> people are more pumped up? >>. >> yes, sir. >> all while doctors warned of games becoming potential super spreer events. a frightening prospect at the time with hospitals on the bring. >> i thought covid is about to have a feast. what did you think? >> i thought the same thing. >> reporter: but it never happened. covid cases, hospitalizations, and deaths now all down nationwide. >> do those scenes of those packed crowds give you less an anxiety tha september? >> it does. as i see a decreased in the number of unvaccinated people. >> reporter: cases are in steep decline in every college football state across the south,

including florida where hospitalizations fell 64% last month. even as some 90,000 fans packed the gator stadium. >> you see it on tv and it looks scary because we're not used to seeing that anymore. but in reality i think the exposure isn't as great as we think it is. >> reporter: doctors crediting games in open air venues, a vaccination bump and natural immunity after delta swept through younger patients. dr. prinz is an epidemiologist who's been studying infection control at outdoor events. >> we prefer to learn by studying but i say in this case we probably learned a little by doing as well. it's not a matter of trying to keep people from doing activities. it's really a matter of trying to figure out can these be done safely? >> reporter: a timely concern as large scale events increasingly move indoors. for today, shaquille bruster, nbc news, memphis.

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because delta has committed to becoming the world's first carbon-neutral airline on a global basis. we believe you shouldn't have to choose between seeing the world, and saving it. ♪♪ >> we are back on a saturday morning with pop start and with dylan out on maternity leave. daha burns is filling in. good to see you. >> good to see you. could you guess what we're starting with this morning? >> it has to be adele. >> it is. she dropped her first new song in six years on friday, with her first single "easy on me". let's take a listen. ♪ go easy on me baby ♪

♪ i was still a child ♪ ♪ i didn't get the chance to ♪ >> i already have chills. the comeback song addresses the inner turmoil after her divorce from her husband. it's striking a cord with fans, 50 million and counting have watched the video on youtube with some calling it her best work yet. appears on her anticipated album, "30" expected out next month and the 15-time grammy winner is reportedly working on an international tv concert just in time for the holidays. can't wait. grab the popcorn and cue the creepy music for halloween kills. the 12th and latest installment in the long running "halloween" franchise is out this weekend and is already slaying at the box office scaring its way to the almost $5 million in thursday previews, picking up right where the 2018 reboot left

off. "halloween kills" finds jamie lee curtis taking on once again a masked michael myers. kyle richards, who was just 8 years old when she appeared in the 1978 original returns as well. "halloween kills" from our sister company, universal pictures is available now in theatres and streaming on peacock. i'm ready for scary movie season. >> i can't wait. two thumbs up. hallie? >> no. hard pass, no. the fact that you love this movie is one of my favorite factors about you. >> i've seen all of them. >> the 12th, can you believe it? >> i can, because i've seen all of them. >> i appreciate that. i'll watch you watching it. and finally, halle berry, y'all, halle berry, the academy award winner's latest role,

first time director with netflix's "bruised" out as well. indication, 55-year-old berry's debut is packing a big punch. halle berry, the woman you see in this trailer is 55. just saying. i got to go do some pushups. >> all the props to her. >> she is a legend. >> she is. hallie might see that film. thank you for that. a lot more still to come. including this one, he's got it. ok, so maybe we're new to home improvement, but we're determined. we got an insider tip on the ultimate flooring destination.

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still to come on "today," why prince william and william shatner seem to have a very big difference of opinion when it comes to space tourism, we'll tell you what they're both saying about that and about each other. later, we cannot wait to

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good morning everyone , i am care ra clap er . it happen ed around 4 :00 yesterday at a strip mall in mill pi tsa between march think . . . . it does not appear to be any officers was injured. >> contra costa county will join san francisco and marin county by lifting some mask requirements. november 1st is the target date to ease mask restrictions in similar indoor settings. those are control spaces where everyone is vaccinated and not open to the general public. they include offices, gyms and indoor college collapses and religious gathering and more.

there could not be more than 100 people inside at a time. contra costa county is making the move as covid hospitalizations and case rates are reaching a decline since reaching a summer high last month. >> let's check in with our meteorologist vianey arana for a look of our forecast. >> it's going to be a warm day ahead. high pressure keeping us dry. 57 degrees right now in san francisco, notice out clear we are to start auer day, livermore will quickly warm up into the 80s by 1:00. right now 49 degrees. but, here is a closer look at your headlines this afternoon. temperatures are going to be in the 70s around the coastline in the bay and upper 80s for the interior valleys. very warm, heading into sunday, we'll see a change, a system to our north, that's going to drop down bringing with a little bit of a cold front, that's going to bring us some cooler temperatures, a little more fall-like around here, take a

look at the pattern shifted ahead. we'll get a little bit of rain chance heading into tomorrow. mainly for the north bay, not expected to be a heavy downpours. it looks like we have improving rain chances heading into next week. as you know we definitely need the rain. kira. >> we know that for a fact. vianey, we'll see you for the rest of your forecast at 7:00. coming up, it still stings for the orange and black here for the umpire as he explains this call that ended the giants' magical season. we'll have all your stories coming up at 7:00 and weather with vianey, we'll send you back to the "today" show.

good morning. another boost. an fda advisory panel unanimously recommends a second shot in the arm for anyone 18 or older who got the johnson & johnson vaccine. but the panel is still not ready to say if vaccines can be mixed and matched. this as the chicago police department faces a major staffing shortage as soon as today with a fight over vaccine mandates looming large. we're live with the latest. the prince versus the captain.

prince william taking on william shatner, aka captain kirk after his historic trip to space. the prince saying let's worry about what's happening here on earth not space. >> we need some of the world's greatest brains and minds fixing to repair this planet not trying to find the next place to go and live. >> shatner responding, the prince is just wrong in what could be the most polite war of words we've ever heard. and oh, baby and a book. what a whirlwind couple of weeks it's been for our friend dylan. giving birth six weeks early to her beautiful baby boy rusty and seeing her dream becoming a reality with her new children's book. saying the mom of three is busy might be an understatement. but we'll ask her when she joins us live today, saturday october 16th, 2021. >> good morning we are the gills from kentucky, we start every saturday with weekend today.

i'm ava and i live in north carolina and i want to say happy birthday grandma and pop pop, i love you so much. >> we're celebrating knoll's birthday ever year since his first birthday. >> now i'm 16. >> we want to say happy birthday to theyer, it's his 95th. >> happy birthday! >> including a parrot, how adorable. welcome back to today on this saturday morning. peter alexander is off so we're happy to have hallie jackson here. >> i'm excited to be here, a lot of birth days. >> i think those two little sisters may win the prize today in cuteness. >> the whole thing is too much to handle. >> we're excited you're here. a lot to get to and we want to a advisory panel recommending anyone over the age of 18 should get a booster shot if they had

previously received a johnson & johnson vaccine. their recommendation coming as police departments nationwide face growing resistance to vaccine mandates. kathy park is in new york with more on all of this. good morning to you. >> reporter: kristen, good morning to you. if you received a j&j the first time around it won't be much longer before you can roll up the sleeve for the for the seco shot. and now some tense showdowns. this morning, millions of americans who received j&j's vaccine are another step closer to receiving an extra dose of protection following a critical vote from the fda advisory panel. the experts recommending booster two months after the initial j&j ja for everyone 18 and booster, not with waning, but further protection against infection.

>> reporter: this comes a day after the same committee endorsed the half dose moderna for those 65 and up and those with underlying health conditions and high risk of covid exposure due to their job. we await a final ruling from the fda on both boosters set to happen within days, chicago is caught in a vaccine mandate standoff. employees had until friday to reveal their status. the chicago police union pushing back. warning half the force is set to stay home this weekend. mayor lori lightfoot directed her office to file a complaint against the union. >> i expect the police officers to honor their oath and follow orders. >> reporter: the police departments across the country are tackling similar challenging. from san diego to seattle. >> any loss of an officers right now is detrimental to the

crisis. >> reporter: massachusetts is facing its hurdles with the sunday vaccine deadline for government workers. it's union representing the prison guards stay 1,500 members have not complied. governor baker will bring up national guard staff in anticipation of staffing shortages. the cdc released guidance to recommend travel until you are fully vaccinated. if you are showing symptoms, don't plan on attending a gathering or hosting one. back to you. >> kathy park. thank you. in alabama, four people shot when gunfire erupted at the football game friday night. one person in critical condition. the crowd ran to the exits. some of the players actually dropped to the ground to try to avoid any shots. you see this going down here. it happened on the exit ramp

outside the stadium in mobile between the game between rival teams was coming to end. no arrests have been made. a nasa rocket blasted off before dawn this morning beginning a 12-year quest to explore the asteroids orbiting jupiter. the spacecraft "lucy" took off from cape canaveral. nasa is investing nearly 1 billion in the mission. we will head back to dasha for the latest. >> you two will love this. anybody who has tried to fly a kite knows it is tricky to get it up in the air. especially the first time you try. the 3-year-old wasn't giving up. james was determined to get his space shuttle kite to take flight. when he did, oh, boy, was it

joyous. watch. >> you got it. >> james' family says he loves the book "go fly a kite charlie brown." he has a rare form of muscular dystrophy. his parents say he is willing to try any activity other children enjoy. including his twin sisters. i think james is way ahead of me. i don't think i ever gotten a kite to fly. >> come on, man. you have to work on that. >> i know. >> it is cool to see james get that. >> the joy you could feel it. so great. dasha, thank you for that. still ahead, why prince william is taking on william shatner just days after his trip to space. >> we're back after this. but we also bundle outdoor vehicles with home and auto to help people save more! [ laughs ]

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days ago. >> prince william says the focus shouldn't be on getting into space while william shatner says the prince is just wrong. ralph sanchez is here with more on what they're both saying this morning. good morning. >> reporter: kristen, hallie, good morning. it's really been quite a week for william shatner. first he became the oldest ever person to travel to the edge of space, now as far as we know, he's the first astronaut ever to get into a public argument with a future king. for william shatner it was the trip of his 90-year lifetime. the "star trek" star boldly going to the edge of space aboard jeff bezos' rocket. returning deeply moved by what he saw. >> it's the most pro found experience. i hope i never recover from this. >> reporter: but back on earth

not everyone impressed by his voyage to the stars. prince william arguing let's focus on solving problems here first. >> we need some of the greatest brains and minds fixed on repairing this planet not trying to find the next place to go and live. >> reporter: now shatner politely but firmly pushing back on entertainment tonight. >> the idea here is not to go look at me, i'm in space. no. i would tell the prince, and i hope the prince gets this message. this is a baby step of getting industry, all those polluting industries off of earth. >> reporter: moving factories to space an idea not yet proven by science. shatner also facing a mutiny from former crew mate george tsuka. he's boldly going where other people have gone before, calling him a guinea pig and unfit. if those phasers were set to

stun, they didn't phase shatner. don't hate, george he wrote on twitter. >> life on earth is threatened. these aren't empty words. >> reporter: the captain, more committed than ever to an earth that lives long and prospers. now prince william will join world leaders, including president biden, in scotland next month for the cop 26 climate summit and that summit is being seen as a last best chance to get a global commitment to cut carbon emissions. >> that's going to be an interesting one. i know you know all about it, a lot of those names will be at the summit. >> i didn't see the war of words between the two williams. >> didn't see that coming. >> i didn't. let's check in with the weather. looking at a lot happening in the eastern half of the country.

this incredible fall front with showers and thunderstorms and strong showers and thunderstorms even a tornado threat. 28 million people affected by that potential as we go through the afternoon and evening, philadelphia and binghampton. we have frost advisories, freeze war r warnings from the west through to texas. those places getting the warmth and wind today, near 80 today in d.c. the front comes through, wipes it out, we're back to october, in the 60s from charlotte to raleigh to d.c. and looking at some recovery headed into next week, back to the 70s from roanoke into philadelphia, new york. pittsburgh getting into the upper 60s,

and that is a look at your weather. hallie, kristen, back to you. >> maria, thank you for that. still ahead, we are so excited for this one. we can't wait. there she is! >> she's live! >> yay! >> the baby is sleeping. >> we don't want to wake him. we'll talk live to dylan to see how baby rusty is doing. and, of course, about her other

we are back on a saturday morning. and we are literally exstatic for dylan dreyer to be with us this morning. >> hi, dylan. dylan, of course, just gave birth a few weeks ago to baby rusty, he is so beautiful. and she had a huge week this week with the release of her new book "misty the cloud," a very stormy day. good morning, we are so excited to see you. we have our copies here. >> can i say, so people know, you are so thoughtful you left me an autographed book in new york that i was able to get this week. you're amazing. i'm so excited for you. >> you are amazing. we are so excited. we'll get to the book, but first rusty, how is he doing, dill? >> thank you, guys, for your support. i had to get you copies. it's funny, everybody has kids at the "today" show now. so it's like hand out a bunch of copies so you guys can read it and hopefully enjoy i. but rusty is doing good. you saw him a moment ago.

he kind of sleeps all day. he's awake a little bit more at night which kind of stinks but he's doing awesome. to have spent a week in the nicu, but to home and thriving, we are so blessed. i can't believe i was going to wait until november to meet him and he's already here. >> you coming on mere weeks after he -- after -- you're amazing. you look incredible. how are you doing? >> yes, you are amazing. >> how are you doing with three boys now in the house, four if you count brian. >> let's include brian and include bosco, too. the house is in chaos right now. i never expected to be promoting the book and the baby at the same time, he wasn't due until november, the book was due in september, that got delayed. i'm just embraing the chaos of this week right now and hope to get sleep next week. >> we have to talk about your two boys cal and olly.

how are they doing? >> i was worried about olly, he's my curveball. but he's adjusted well. seeing calvin and how sweet of a big brother calvin is it calmed olly down. there were tears at first but calvin couldn't be sweeter. even our pediatrician said he doesn't need to kiss him so much. >> these videos are incredible. you have the book promotion too. we love misty. we didn't get through the whole thing last night when i was reading it. >> yes. i'm sure there's torn pages already too. >> she went to the book jacket and said that's ms. dylan. how does it feel? you're a published author, misty has come to life. >> look at that, you guys are the best. trying to read it to kids who

will just rip the pages at this point. but it is something we've worked on for ten years and to see it actually come to life -- >> amazing. >> -- and to be here for everyone to read and enjoy. i've always imagined this world up in the clouds and these cloud characters never existed except in my brain. and our illustrator, rosie butcher, managed to bring it to life. of course, brian watching the red sox, not reading the book. but i'm so excited it's finally out there. a mix of how to teach kids how to handle emotions. it's okay to not always feel 100% and sometimes you just feel a little grumpy, but it's what you do with the emotions that impact people around you. if you want to take it a step further and learn about the weather, that's what the back pages are for, it teaches the science, maybe takes the fear out of thunderstorms for kids. it's full of experiments and things you can do at home, too, to just learn more about the

weather because as a meteorologist i want everyone to know about the weather. >> hallie and i have been saying we love the message in this book. i got through the whole thing because margot doesn't have a choice yet. >> that's true. >> it is an awesome book. dylan, you look so amazing. rusty is so adorable. thank you for being here. we miss you. >> i miss you guys too. we sort of overlapped in a way with our maternity leaf. with our maternity leaf. >> i ♪ i'm steven, i'm 52, and i'm a makeup artist. i met my husband in 2002. ♪ i miss those eyes. do you think you could fall in love again? i'm so ready, you know? so, what do you see when you look at yourself? i see a really long life lived of vast experiences. botox® cosmetic is fda approved to temporarily make frown lines, crow's feet and forehead lines look better. the effects of botox® cosmetic

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that is going to do it for us on this saturday morning. hallie thank you for being here. >> it was so much fun. best way to spend a saturday. >> we'll have her back. cahtc

good morning, i am kira klapper, coming up next on today in the bay, loosening mask restrictions, two bay area counties have scaled back mandates, we'll tell you the new allowances. a push to conserve people in the bay, how much water are people being asked to save. a warm up on this saturday, big changes are on the way. our meteorologist vianey arana has what you need to know coming up at 7:00.

good morning, it's saturday, october 16th, 7:00 on the dot. as we take a live