right now at 11:00, not just excitement in the air but also dazzling displays in l.a. for the super bowl. it is the final countdown to kickoff and we're live at sofi stadium with a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring you super bowl. sliding into olympic debut, new sport for women only. plus -- >> it really is a slap in the face to everyone, every student. >> relaxing the mask rules on campus, mixed reaction from students and doctors about new rules at one bay area university.

it is almost here, we are just an hour away from a sunday like no other here on nbc bay area. it's not just the olympics but the super bowl as well. live look at sofi stadium. >> raj mathai was earlier at santa monica beach, no longer. where are you? >> i'm at sofi stadium, hanging out at beach all day, got a nice tan, skin got a shade darker and we love it. exactly what they wanted in l.a amazing vibes here. what's remarkable about super bowl sunday, unofficial biggest holiday in america. everyone comes together whether in for the game, the super bowl parties or just to watch the halftime show, there's no wrong answer here. show you what happened earlier tonight in l.a., and as we speak the party continues.

lot of private parties, private jets from out of town and lot of excitement. weather was to warm today and tonight, everyone flooded to the coast, ten miles from here is santa monica, hustling and bustling. lot of vips and fans, from the bengals and rams and nfl. nice, like a summer night here in los angeles. you know who we bumped into? take a look. offensive coordinator of the cincinnati bengals, brian callahan, been talking about him all week. why? he's one of the rising stars in coaching ranks of the nfl, also grew up in the east bay, went to de la salle high school, played for the spartans and son of the former raiders head coach bill callahan. kickoff at 3:30 in the afternoon. right here on nbc. advertisements you see in the game, record price tag.

nbc charging $7 million per 30 seconds to get your product on the air tomorrow. in terms who have is going to win, los angeles odds makers are favoring the rams by four points over the slight underdog cincinnati bengals. want to hang out with legends now? one of the cool things about the super bowl, everywhere you go, you bump into someone. hello to joe montana and jerry rice, signing autographed footballs at tiffany's. the blue tiffany's footballs and jerry was showing his bling earlier today. almost 60 years old, still a superstar in the league, so gracious to all the fans. i asked jerry and another 49ers legends about super bowl butterflies the night before the big game. take a listen. >> i didn't get any sleep at all, playing the game already in

my head the night before. and i stayed up all night long. didn't get that much rest. got up next day, couldn't eat because anything i put in my stomach with the butterflies was going to come up. >> i knew my life was going to change one way or another. heck of a thing to think about the night before. wish i could have played more super bowls but don't relish the night before. >> they love those super bowl rings, nice to see steve young and jerry rice. game tomorrow, 76 cameras inside sofi stadium, to bring this game to you on nbc sports. more than 700 of us are here. nbc employees all around sofi stadium and throughout los angeles to bring this game to life on tv and we also have the olympics. tomorrow we have 14 1/2 hours of coverage an nbc bay area between

beijing olympics and los angeles super bowl. we're going to be busy on nbc and our peacock app as well. i'm kind of exhausted. and game hasn't even played yet. we'll be back later in news cast to tell you more. back to you. >> raj, you've been bringing us wonderful stories, thanks so much. >> thanks a lot. between the super bowl and olympics there's a lot happening tomorrow. as raj mentioned. olympics coverage begins at 5:00 in the morning, runs to 10:00 a.m. also stream all day on peacock and 10:00, super bowl pregame show on nbc bay area. begins at 3:00 p.m. with kickoff at 3:30, and after the game, get you caught up on olympics in primetime, then a special edition of nbc bay area news. entering the second full week of winter olympic competition. live look at beijing just after

3:00, sunday afternoon. >> if you've watched any events, you know the snow is really coming down there. video from inside the olympic bubble, liz mclaughlin is in beijing with the event making olympic debut. >> a proud u.s. citizen, racing for it of. >> the first monobob heats hit the ice. kaillie humphries and elana meyers taylor. >> number one ranked in the world. >> hoping to slide way to the podium. u.s. men's hockey team faces germany today with a confidence boost after they outscored canada 4-2. >> important not to get too high. it's good team we played, now got to refocus on germany, bring the same intensity. >> reporter: more passion from dance. skating pairs in

snowboarder shaun white cheering from the crowd as donohue and hubble skated into third place. after russian skater kamila valiyeva wowed the world, determining the 15-year-old's eligibility at the olympics. >> pressure is strong, time is short. >> reporter: women's competition set to start tuesday, valiyeva, heavy favorite, in limbo. the decision should come down in next 24 hours. sample in question was taken christmas day and didn't come until much later. they can expedite for a big event, there's no explanation what caused the delay for that particular test. it's raising fresh questions into the system that's supposed to keep sports competition clean.

in beijing, liz mclaughlin. back to you guys. >> lot of questions remain. back out live to beijing now. heavy snow on the mountains has delayed start of the women's freestyle skiing slopestyle qualifiers. eileen gu from san francisco playing for china won big air and strong contender for slopestyle, u.s. has four skiers in the qualifiers. we're posting all the information on one place, the torch, our live blog, nbcbayarea.com, click on the link in the trending bar. new at 11:00, bay area university could be setting a precedent for schools across california. uc berkeley will follow the state and city of berkeley dropping masks most indoor places. as stephanie tells us, the change is getting mixed reaction. >> reporter: in a few weeks,

campus life at uc berkeley could look a lot different. >> awesome, oh, my god, can't wait for it, it's destroying my social life. >> reporter: fully vaccinated and boosted faculty and students can drop the mask in most indoor settings. >> like to drink the bubble tea without a mask. >> reporter: some are concerned, think it's too soon. >> lowering the mask mandate and not providing online accommodation, it is a slap in the face to everyone. >> this is a public, open university. there's no gates around, anyone can come and go as they please. dropping the mask mandate seems pretty irresponsible. >> reporter: health experts say they support the move. says we have higher vaccination rates and more immunity after the omicron surge and now we

have therapeutics. >> adults are starting to have normal lives in the country but college students are less at risk than any other group and they're vaccinated, really makes sense for colleges to stop restrictions. >> reporter: other experts say if everyone is vaccinated, it's okay to not have mandates. doesn't mean shouldn't wear masks. >> immune compromised or live off-campus with elderly relatives or other unboosted may want to take it carefully and wear a mask. >> reporter: nbc bay area news. east bay assemblywoman wickes is backing a bill to be vaccinated. employees would have to be immediately tested,ing and it was slammed by republicans as

overreach. san mateo county is giving out free covid tests and masks at county libraries. each household eligible for two free test kits, up to five masks while supplies last. libraries are closed sundays. we continue to monitor the situation between russia and ukraine. a tense phone call this morning between president biden and russian president vladimir putin. two spoke more than an hour and president biden warned any move to invade would be met with swift, decisive response from the u.s. and its allies but stressed the u.s. is open to full diplomacy. the kremlin repeated accusations that u.s. is whipping up hysteria and called for ukraine to be barred from nato. ordered departure of embassy staff today due to mounting

fears a russian invasion could take place in next few weeks. we spoke with former u.s. ambassador to ukraine about the conflict. he's at stanford. he explained what type of action the biden administration might take. >> they've come up with ways to target financial institutions, make it hard for russians to move money, also talking about export controls to deny the russian economy semiconductors and things you need to be a modern society. >> he says there's time for diplomatic solution but he's pessimistic and russia appears to have backed itself into a corner. fire about 2:00 this afternoon. 10th avenue near geary. firefighters put out the fire,

rescued a person and two dogs. unclear how it started. standoff at the bridge continues. action canadian police are taking to clear protesters from entrance to the u.s. work skating across olympic ice, the role a bay area craftsman has in the winter games. >> 62 in san francisco, one more day of record-breaking temperatures before cooler and windy changes arrive. janelle wang had the day off today, will be back tomorrow. but she's still sharing photos and videos from her day in beijing. follow her on instagram for behind-the-scenes look at olympics. back in 60 seconds.

♪ the land is such a great way of connecting us. and i just remembering thinking this is such a special moment and i am extremely thankful to be here with these people. i love sharing the places i hold dear to my heart with my friends. canadian police moved in to remove protesters blocking entrance to the ambassador bridge between the united states and canada. they might have to do it again

tomorrow. protesting vaccination requirements for truckers entering canada. bridge traffic has been blocked for days. dissolved peacefully this morning but another wave came back this afternoon and officers are prepared to clear them tomorrow if needed. keeping a stretch of san francisco's jfk drive car free. supporters held a rally and march today. early in the pandemic, 1.4 mile stretch was closed to cars, giving people a safe space to get outside. many say it needs to stay that way permanently. >> time is now for san francisco. this has been a pilot. we've proven its success, time to make it permanent. >> opponents have raised question about access to the park, say the road should be open at least weekdays for cars to get to museums and other sites. olympic skaters don't have much gear, costumes and skates

themselves. amateurs and pros alike rely on the ones made in hayward. they take mold of the skaters' feet and make casts around that. jean-luc baker was born with a club foot and relies on custom fit. >> can't do our job and art without it. >> when you see your work out there working the way it should be, gives you pride. >> baker was 11th in rhythm dance but set to skate again tomorrow in free dance. it's mid-february but temperatures say otherwise. people took advantage of the warm evening to dine outside in downtown mountain view. >> we're a little overdressed. coming up from east bay, so much

colder. but right now weather is really nice. definitely like it. >> middle of the day in flip-flops and shorts. incredible to live in the bay area. >> like the hawaii shirt. restaurants saw a big increase in requests for outdoor seating tonight. 6200 miles away in beijing, totally different story. one of our producers tweeted out this video of the snow coming down out there. outside the international broadcast center. instead of shoveling they're clearing with brooms. >> hope they're having good time doing that, we're enjoying the shorts and flip-flops. >> good for super bowl parties. around places like san jose, reached high of 81 degrees today, may get close to 80 tomorrow. 58 in san jose right now. 50 in livermore and san francisco still mild, 62

degrees outside. eventually things will cool off to 40s and 50s for tomorrow morning. then watch the temperatures, by noon if you have plans outdoors, mid-70s around the santa clara valley. san francisco to oakland, low to mid-70s, warmest places again near san jose and gilroy. could see low 80s tomorrow afternoon. will begin to see changes towards end of the day, increasing high clouds and more clouds monday. mostly cloudy. monday, might have a little bit of drizzle on the coast but main impact is inland tracking storm is over the sierra, for the first time we hope in about five weeks could see a little bit of snow coming down. 1 to 2 inches, but we'll take what we can get. bay area, sprinkles popping up with drizzle forced in by gusty

winds. low clouds forced over the hilltops monday night might give us a slight chance of drizzle. it's going to be gusty and noticeably cooler. monday back into the mid-60s around san jose. 50s to low 60s bayside, that's about a 20 degree cool-off from the highs most places tomorrow. san francisco dropping out of the 70s. breezy and cooler. keep your fingers crossed we get a drizzle storm monday night because it's dry midweek. temperatures rebounding back into the 70s, windy cooldown, then 70 degrees towards next weekend but at least sierra gets a reminder it's still winter with snow showers. >> it's been a while. glad we're getting a little something. coming up, back live to sofi stadium. anthony and raj continue our super bowl coverage, plus show you tonight's thrilling warriors

game.

i didn't become a snowboarder until after i became an amputee. we all win when everyone can get to their starting line. ♪

welcome back, we continue our live coverage down here in los angeles, covering the super bowl on super bowl eve. anthony flores is with us to talk football but what is cool, everyone was watching the warriors game in l.a. >> lot of excitement in the bay area, but listen to that. peace and quiet. that's all about to change. why? less than 45 minutes from game day. rams and bengals playing in biggest game of the season. super bowl lvi, but first, say cheese. i guess the bengals would say hoo-day, right? after morning workout, gathered at sofi stadium to take pictures. hoping to win first super bowl in franchise history. it's been 22 years since the rams won their only title, as raj told you earlier, there's a

lot going on. fans and parties, and both teams trying to block out the outside noise that goes with playing on super sunday. >> the super bowl in l.a., all these distractions, pulled in a lot of different directions. team that handles those the best will win the game. >> been two weeks since we played a football game. excited about the opportunity, just like everybody would think. had a great week of preparation, we're excited to get out there and play. >> raj, since we're at super bowl, when you think of superstars in nba, two names come to mind. >> steph curry and the lebron guy. >> that's right. they face off at chase center tonight, warriors taking on lakers. second meeting of the season and lebron and curry, a great couple on and off the court. history in the third, james

passes laker great kareem abdul-jabbar for most points in nba history combining regular season and postseason. more than 44,000. klay thompson getting hot, he scored 16 of game high 33 in the final period. under a minute to go. curry, two scoops. scoops in bucket for the warriors to beat the lakers 117-115. warriors play the clippers monday, they're flying here in time for curry to attend super bowl lvi. >> he's going to be here? >> to watch the game. >> have better seats than we do. >> probably. >> back in a moment. back to you guys. okay, it's go time. team usa on the largest gig-speed network. which means this mega fan never misses a second. it's gig-speed wifi that's “mikaela shiffrin” fast. ok, that's fast! speed's cool, but does yours block threats?

yup, even for these upstairs all-nighters rocking wifi speeds faster than a gig. can your internet do that? learn more about gig-speed wifi, or get started with xfinity internet for $19.99 a month for 12 months. click, call, or visit a store today.

before we go. got to look at latest medal count. norway on top, 17 total austria overall. u.s. in sixth place, 11 medals overall, five solid goal. wonder how hockey players train off the ice? palo alto native hilary knight is giving us a look. balancing on that ball in front of a treadmill, passing the orange ball back and forth between the obstacles, that's quite a workout. that's why she's so. >> >> looks like fun. thanks for joining us. encore of the primetime olympic coverage is next. see you tomorrow after the super bowl. live coverage from l.a. and beijing. good night. care coalition, it's so good to see you all! i would like to start with a quick roll call. funshine bear? care bear in the care chair! snuggie? hiiiii. nick cho.

hi, i'm your korean dad! mother nature. here and everywhere. dog and grandma. here. alright! let's brainstorm. any ideas for new members? i'd like to nominate alaska airlines. this neck pillow i'm dating says great things! wa, those exist?! i'd like to nominate alaska airlines. a talking sky bear. this neck pillow i'm dating says great things! it says here they were the first airline to switch from plastic bottles to boxed water. wow! they also hire a lot of people from caring professions. i'm seeing former teachers and nurses. okay, i'm loving the sound of all of this. alaska airlines. the most caring airline. it's cute, right? we've never had an airline before. oooo, this is a lot of pressure! deep breaths, funshine bear, like we practiced. it's settled! alaska airlines is officially in the running! round of applause!

lindsay jacobellis and nick baumgartner winning gold for the u.s.! ♪♪ >> los angeles, california, on an early saturday evening out here that feels a little bit like christmas eve for sports fans. it's the eve of super bowl sunday which kicks off tomorrow at magnificent sofi stadium. super bowl lvi pitting the los angeles rams against the cincinnati bengals. the b