trying to set for 2024. >> and i'm janelle wang live in beijing. ladies figure skating just wrapped up seconds ago. we have the final result. this is "today in the bay." and a good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. >> if you're on go the stream on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. >> first we want to take a live look outside for you this morning at walnut creek. just got at drought update. meteorologist kari hall here with that. how is it looking for us? >> it's still extremely dry out there, and so we didn't see a change in the drought monitor. we're going on day 41 and counting without any rain, but we didn't see any change to our drought monitor with now 66% of california still in that severe drought. here in the bay area it's

basically 100% in the severe category and we're most likely going to see this maybe get worse and we still do have a little bit of time to hopefully have some progress here. we have such a big amount of rain at the first part of our water year that we're still kind of living off of that for now, and we haven't seen the drought get worse, but we're look still at dry conditions. we may see a change in this weather pattern and we'll see more about that coming up later. >> thanks, kari. >> moving you forward this morning as california turns the page on the covid pandemic. governor newsom later today unveiling his new plan for the endemic phase and he told damien trujillo that the plan will include mass testing to spot new surges and virus variants and it will include continued emphasis on vaccinations and booster shots as well as plans for public schools. yesterday, california ended the statewide mask mandate. this is for most indoor locations. our bob redell will have more on

that and that will come up in the next half hour. >> breaking news for you this morning the winter games where the world's best women's figure skaters are competing in the free skate. a warning, some spoilers may be coming up in case can you plan to watch later tonight in primetime. janelle wang following the competition and all the action for us. janell? >> yeah. laura, mar cushions the results just in. russia takes first, second and fourth. japan takes third and the person who came in fourth, the 15-year-old calfia. that means there will be a medal ceremony because she did not place in the top three. so her tomas get gold and silver. japan gets bronze. she's at the center of the doping scandal and you with talk ladies figure skating tonight. a heartbreaker. canada led the entire period. 3-1 canada. u.s. scored a goal in the final

seconds of the game and couldn't pull it off. 3-2. canada has won gold in five of the last six olympics. the u.s. takes silver. >> we never quit and that speaks to a lot of the character to the women in the room and the fabric of our team. >> i hoped you enjoyed waving back home. women's hockey isn't on tv enough. can't be just these two weeks. we need it to be more visible, more often but if you're watching it back home and you now have a dream, my dream came true. >> what an inspirational group. they will be on the "today" show at 7:00 a.m. >> let's go over to the slopes and halfpipe and qualifiers. reno's david wise the only person to win gold in this event since its debut. back-to-back gold medalist going for his third at age 31. he advances to the finals on friday. no problem. on the women's side, another three-time olympian and

31-year-old brita sigourney from carmel. advances with two of her teammates. she won bronze in this event in pyeongchang. >> and eileen gu, she advances no problem, first place after qualifiers. it's her third event at these games. already won gold in big air and 18-year-olds compete for team china looking to win a medal so an amazing feat for her. there's going to be a watch party in los gatos hosted by her godfather tonight. live in beijing, this is janelle wang with "today in the bay." >> nice to see that report. >> keeping track of team usa's medal count, here's the spoiler alert. we'll reveal the count as the music plays. when the music stops open your eyes and turn back to the television because we've got more music for you.

breaking news that we have for you now. nbc news learning that secretary of state blinken is set to announce a russian invasion of ukraine is imminent. requested today in the bay's" brie jackson joins us live from capitol hill. the biden is doing everything it could try to do to end this crisis. >> reporter: good morning, laura. that's absolutely right, and this morning the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. warning that there's evidence on the ground that russia is moving toward an imminent invasion calling this a crucial moment in response. secretary of state blinken is set to head to the u.n. this morning to respond. this comes as russian-backed rebels and uke cran forces traded accusations that each have fired across the cease-fire line in eastern ukraine. ukraine's military said russian-barked forces shot

shells hitting a kindergarten. there were no injuries. video released by joint operations service showed piles of bricks inside a kindergarten room, a hole in a wall and a shell crater in the ground outside. as tensions rise the biden administration says russia is actually adding thousand of troops to its buildup at ukraine's bothered. russia released a video claiming its forces were pulling back, but both u.s. and nato allies now say those are false clampts the administration says russia added as many as 7,000 troops to the estimated 150,000 already stationed near ukraine's border further racing fears of an invasion. >> we are now in the window where it could start at any time, and our concern has only increased in recent days. >> world leaders say they are in an all-out push for diplomacy, but u.s. officials also sending a clear message to americans in the region. leave now.

both vice president harris and secretary of state blinken will head to europe for the security conference. this is an evolving situation and expect it to be a major topic. >> brie jackson in washington this morning. brie, thank you. 6:07 and happening today. former vice president mike pence is set to make a bay area appearance. he's stopping at stanford for an event organized by stanford republicans. "today in the bay's "kris sanchez live on campus this morning. this and other recent events are really making some people wonder if pence is gearing up for a presidential run. >> right. that will definitely be some of the conversation that surrounds mike pence's visit. the university is preparing for that. they are also preparing for possible protests that could come. the title of this visit is pretty provocative. it's how to save america from the woke left. this was the scene outside the auditorium where mike pence will be visiting later on today other at stanford.

the visit was organized, as you said, by campus republicans, and it is the former veep's third campus tour stop across the country. we talked with our political analyst larry gersten who thinks that pence is laying the groundwork for a 2024 presidential run, and he may be trying to establish himself as the true conservative candidate in the gop even if donald trump runs again. >> going to all these campuses is really his attempt to build his own base of very conservative evangelical republicans, and there's a lot out there. a good place for him to start. having people like mike pence and ben sharp row and scott walker come to this campus give people a chance to hear viewpoints from a different perspective whether they agree with him or don't. >> this event which is free for students and a few members of the public is now closed. all of the tickets are spoken for, so if you don't already have a ticket you're not going to get in.

pence will speak for 40 minutes and then we're told he'll answer some questions and we bet he'll get some questions on -- >> the state department of water resources is releasing new findings on the gradual sinking of land which commonly occurs with groundwater pumping. water pumping rates are more common in drought conditions. new data in an interactive mp map shows the impact on areas where sondland sinking most, and it's happening most frequently in the central vale. in some cases land levels last year sank as much as a foot. at the same time overall rates were lower than in previous drought years. it's concerning. we're just not getting that rate. taking a live look at a drive down san jose on this thursday morning. a look now at our thursday forecast. >> yeah.

we did have a lot of rain in the beginning of our water year but now we're starting to see them make it no a deficit as we take a look at our water year update especially for santa rosa and san jose. each day without rainfall, we see the numbers going down but we still do have a surplus in oakland right now and as you're headed out in the tri-valley you're seeing the milder temperatures and we'll see a lot of temperatures as we see our dry stretch of weather coming and temperatures reaching into the mid-60s and eventually heading up for 70 degrees today. the well above normal temperatures continue as we are once again going to continue to see more sunshine. we talk about more changes in the cooldown in the distant forecast. hoping for some recovery across the bay bridge. . the backup is here, but it's now. the metering lights are on but

the disabled vehicle is moving slowly towards san francisco looking like it's been cleared off the roadway and now it's actually recovering, better now traffic flow than it was ten minutes ago heading up across the bridge. you see it headed across the toll plaza. no problems out of maze, and highway 37 and highway 4, the typical slowdown areas in the north bay and coming up to the contra costa county. also a little bit through heyward and no problems like yesterday's crash. south bay starting to recover for san jose. back to you. >> thanks, mike. >> a frightening discovery for a couple in the east bay his. ahead at 6:25 on "today in the bay." new warnings being issued by park rangers to locate an exotic, very big snake. >> a san francisco ceo tries to figure out how to protect his employees in ukraine. meanwhile, let's take you out to the futures on the stock markets, some real concern about the talk of an invasion has the

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good thursday morning. it's a warmer and breezy start to the day in san jose. we're at 50 degrees, and we'll see these temperatures really quickly warm up today and gradually those winds will start to cam down with our temperatures headed for about 70 degrees today. we'll talk about this and a cooldown by the early next week's forecast. more on that in a few minute. >> from our camera in dublin. 580 looks great. headlines coming towards dublin. >> remember, northbound out of stoneridge will be closed starting at 7:00 a.m. for a police investigation following up a crash from the 14th. we'll show that going on. hoping for recovery from the bay bridge. >> a very happy thursday for you. new york city's mayor eric adams told the ceo of big companies in the city it's time to bring your workers back to the office. adams says the health of the big

apple's economy depends on it. right now only about 28% of the people who have offices in manhattan actually go to their offices in manhattan. well, this is big. the department of education stays will forgive student loans for people who went to devry, the technical sledge. the feds say devry did not live up to what it promised students. we've seen instances where the department of education have forgiven loans for for-profit schools. devry is still open. student loan forgiveness came to a halt in the trump administration when betsy devoss was in charge and now seems to be back on track. video here of a website called just answer, a place where you can get pretty much any questions answered solved by an expert. anything medical or why your dish washer is making a funny noise. i bring it up because while the headquarters of just answer are in sfris coat back end developers are almost entirely

in ukraine. we've talked about how ukraine is a really good place to hire tech workers under normal circumstances. now ceos here in america have to figure out how to protect their workers from invasion. not normally something that they have to worry about. the ceo and his family as they visited offices in ukraine. i spoke to andy about his plan to protect his workers. he says they have evacuation plans in place, and he's on the phone with them all the time. >> the rumor was that russia was going to invade at 1:00 a.m. last night. i mean, can you imagine the stress of that as a lot of people stayed up at 1:00 a.m. to see if that was going happen and guess what happened in georgia, the internet went down at 1:00 a.m. does that mean that something big just happened, or what? and it turned out it's the internet so it's living on the edge like that constantly. it's awful, and that's how we all are right now.

>> you know, every good ceo certainly has their employees in mind, first of mind, but invasion is not something they teach in business school, so he's obviously extremely concerned. >> well, same thing. much smaller -- i don't want to say smaller scale but think about workplace violence. they don't teach that either and now we've all had to adjust but i can imagine how frightening it must be. >> keeps him up at night. >> thanks very much, scott. trending this morning, music lovers, this one is for you. you'll soon be able to get some of your favorite music on vinyl. going old school. >> going old school. "usa today" reports that the upcoming record store day 2022, more man 300 new music releases are set tout exclusively, going to be available in record stores around theation, nicki minaj, foo firefights, taylor swift often participate in this. never are albums or singles never released on vinyl.

record store day is april 25. >> even pepa pig is getting in on that. >> i wonder if there's a song by daddy anything there. >> i've got to update my music catalog. >> it's pretty catchy. the kids know it. >> a quick look at the forecast. a music of a sunny day ♪ a sunny day ♪ >> a lovely day." >> need to get a sound track together with the forecast. i love that. all right. we are going to so that as we go into this afternoon and a live look outside in san francisco. it's a cool start, but it's going to warm up, and it's time to get the kids red for school. maybe they will be listening to pepa pig on the way. it will start out with temperatures in the opener 40s in san rafael and then we'll have low 60s. it will be a great day to spend more time outside, outdoor

recess, all of that. take a look at the south bay temperatures reaching 67 in morgan hill and seven-day forecast is coming up on the bottom of the screen as we see all temperatures near the upper 60s and low 70s and san francisco reaching 59 in the marina district and 65 in the mission district and for the northbound highs we're up to 71 today in santa rosa and ukiah reaching 72. once again a very warm, pleasant day and we'll start to see another one like this before we see more changes on down the line. we'll have a couple of lows moving east of other. it will pull down some colder air so it donned look like we'll see rain when it happens but we'll start to see a more active weather pattern that will mainly affect our temperatures here. morgan hill, you're in the upper 60s today. the peak of our temperatures will be on saturday with a high

of 72, but then take a look at how much it dipped going into next week and as the kids are back to cool, we'll reach a high of tuesday and we'll have another freed for the early morning hours. i'm looking at some seeds and forecast. not time to plant because we'll have more cold temperatures head our way by the middle of next week, and it seems like the commute so far has been pretty smooth. >> i also love the resource. we don't give you credit. terry's almanac for planting. over here we planted the seeds and you will have a delay. that delay is now clearing actually, so better movement because of the disabled vehicle mid-span on the bay bridge did clear so that right down here is improving. lights still on. this is at circle. getting worst near the racetrack. starting to bog down. pretty dip at all pattern but

more slowing than we often see. doesn't kick in until a few months later. to the pri vale, a little bill for hayward and south bay traffic building as well. >> thanks, mike. >> coming up next on "today in the bay," nobodies bay area responds. >> his power bill is a shock because his solar panels aren't revving up. will the solar company pay for the extra juice? i'm consumer investigator chris chmura with nbc bay area responds next. i swear it was just here. john! you had one job. it seems to have vanished before my very eyes. i shall (bleep). fellas, fellas relax. i created a clickup task. ah... tommy always saving john's derrière. [men laughing] no, no, no... you just click. oh! clickup. ♪♪ [men cheering]

and now most admired alum! get up there. this is so embarrassing. there's no way it's me (friends laughing) you know her.... you love her.... ruh roh what are you doing here? it's anna gomez! what? who? our first gigillionaire! with at&t fiber, anna's got the fastest internet with hyper-gig speeds. i didn't know you went to this school we have a lot in common. live like a gigillionaire with at&t fiber, now with speeds up to 5 gigs. limited availability ♪ with at&t fiber, now with speeds up to 5 gigs. 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. - [announcer] the more we learn about covid-19, the more questions we have.

the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today.

welcome back, everybody. a south by a man's solar panels were coming up short so, we asked for our help. consumer investigators chris chmura shows us how his team stepped. >> reporter: daniel in san jose says his sunrun solar panels weren't producing the energy he promised so his power bills shot up hour than expected. after months of calling sunrun a tech installed a any converter and daniel asked for a credit to cover the bills that were higher and it was not approved. danm asked for our help. we contacted sunrun and within a woke they said they would reimburse daniel $1,063. daniel sent us a nice note saying this with a never have happened if it weren't for you. we would hike to give some credit to daniel, too. he saved key documents and sent

them to sunrun. that is important. we love to help, but before calling us, we encourage you to always give a company a chance first to make things right. if that doesn't pan out and a consumer issue is traininging your energy, maybe we can give you a above the. go to nbc bay area opinion come/responds or go to the main options menu and call. >> a python was found slithing in chabot regional park on the trail near redwood road. anna huffman was hiking with her partner when she spotted the snake. it's a bald pie this and while it looks dangerous they are not. people often have them as pets and they believe that someone actually dumped it there, and they also believe it may be injured so if people see it,

they are hoping to get it to a vet >> top stories we're following for you, exclusive bay area on high aler. the gang that's being blamed for a string of break-ins being. >> later today, the new plan for drives as the voyeurs becomes endemic. the new plans it could have. >> some restrictions for some water customers had be lifted. stillmore ahead on "today in the bay." it's 6:27.

woo! whoa! what the heck? oh, it's all that nacho cheese flavor packed into my nacho tiny tacos. (coughing) i love it. i love it. it's good. get my nacho tiny tacos for $3.50. or try them bacon loaded for $4.50.

we'll manage this as an endemic. >> right now at 6:30, moving forward from the pandemic. governor newsom set to lay out california's plan for the endemic phase of covid-19 in just a matter of hours. the way it couple pact your way of life. >> plus, homeowners on alert in a bay area neighbor. a string of break-ins raising concern among police and the international crime gang that might be behind it. >> and the temperature roller coaster continues. we're up now, but another big drop is coming, this as we continue to down the days until we can put an end to this dry weather.

update in the microclimate forecast. this is "today in the bay." >> a very good thursday morning to you. thanks so much for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. >> don't forgot we're streaming online throughout the apps including roquo, amazon fire and apple tv. "today in the bay" also streaming online for you. >> let's take a live look at the olympic flame. >> our janelle wang live in beijing. she will join us at 6:55 with the latest. moving forward as california turns the page on the pandemic. later today governor newsom will announce his plans to transition from the code of pandemic to the endemic phase. >> "today in the bay's" bob redell live. what kind of details do we have? >> well, good morning, to marcus and laura. later this morning at a news conference in southern california, governor newsom will outline a plan for california to move forward as the coronavirus becomes endemic, something that

we deal with on a regular basis, and i'm quoting here, the governor says we cannot predict the future so we'll have to remain flexible and adaptable as we prepare for it. he told our own damian trujillo that the plan will include mass testing to spot new surges and virus environments. it will also include a continued emphasis on vaccination and booster shots as well as a plan for public schools. ucsf infectious disease expert dr. gandhi says california is ready to treat covid as endemic with its 73% vaccination rate and truckloads of game-changing therapeutics now arriving at hospitals. >> many countries have just dropped the mask mandates and vaccine mandates and passports and oer keeping it so i don't know what california will do but everywhere we'll get to the same point once we get enough immunity that we manage this as we do other respiratory pathogens. >> you'll recall yesterday the state lifted its indoor mask

mandate for those who are vaccinated. all the bay area counties except santa clara county is following the state's guidance in lifting the mandate. dr. gandhi does caution, however, we could go back to stricter masking requirements if there's a more virulent variant that pops up and strains our hospitals. reporting live. bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks very much, bob. new this morning. take a look at this. more signs that the pandemic could be easing. an estimated 73% of americans now immune to the omicron variant and models show that by mid-march 80%, it will be eight in ten roughly. scientists say the recent omicron wave left enough protection against covid that future spikes will be far less likely disruptive to society. >> developing in san francisco, police chief bill scott commenting to working with the district attorney jason buoyedine to reach an agreement on handling use of force cases. that's what he told the police commission last night. the pair have been at odds since

the start of a recent use of force trial. the attorney general is among now personality assisting in bridging the divide. they use a race kit to identify them in an unidentified crime. >> this will never create crime victims that may dissuade them from cooperating with a police investigation. >> scott says his department is still investigating what happened but it appears two different databases were used and a database that includes a crime victim's dna. >> happening today, attorneys are in court to finally tiffany lee's wrongful death settlement. the hillsboro real estate heiress recently agreed to keep green's estate days before a civil trial was to start. green was the father of their two children who also received an undisclosed settlement n.2019

a jury acquitted lee in green's murder for years earlier. >> a string of recent break-ins, at least eight homes were targeted. >> career ya, investigators believe this could be part of an international crime ring. >> reporter: good morning, marcus. it's actually two bay area police departments that are warning folks that their home could become the target of south american gangs. those gangs have been known to burglarize homes up and down the coast here in the state of california in the atherton police department. they will hold a virtual meeting tonight to brief the community on what they have learned bfrp what they learned as well as the burglaries that have taken place in the last year so that meeting is expected to begin tonight at 6:00 p.m. it will take place virtually. at that time the agency will not only discuss their concerns but also the coordination with the fbi and the chilean gangs and

also the partnerships, the coordination with the northern california regional intelligence center known as the ncric on tracking the gangs as well as tracking the information and they will talk about the partnership of the san mateo county police chief and the sheriff's association and they are using leverage with the existing crime task force and according to atherton police and the eight burglaries last month apd suspect six were committed by organized chilean gang members operating out of the l.a. area of the. of the 28 burglaries that occurred last year the agency have linked six to chilean gang members. what can community members now do to protect themselves-at-er ton have suggested keeping gates, doors and windows lord, even if at home. they want you to keep your light on and install light timers and leave on the tv or radio if you do plan to head out.

they also suggest install security lighting. use a safe that's bolted to the ground or wall. as we know, keep valuables out of your car and also keep your car locked. they also suggest to install an alarm system and security cameras, so it's not just this agency. the hillsboro police captain said some of their constituents were impacted by the same gangs targeting wealthier neighborhoods. folks here at the atherton police department will have the virtual briefing for community members and, again, be sure to follow some of the tips because no matter where you are you really are not safe. live in atherton, cierra johnson, "today in the bay." >> keep those doors and windows locked. despite the extended dry spell, some hopeful signs in the north bay, marin water is lifting its ban on outdoor peop use their sprinkler and drip

systems two times per week in the evenings or early morning hours. the early season rain helps fill some local reservoirs. other restrictions will remain in place including a ban on filling swimming pools and washing your car at home. also a ban on landscape installations for new cutters in. that ban went into effect december 1st. >> here we go. 6:3 and time to talk about the weekend. >> a look at the weekend forecast for you, and kari, some people might want to go skiing so how does it look for them? >> it's locking amazing this weekend though the snowpack continues to decline. we've had some warm afternoon temperature. we're checking ow the forecast for palisades where our high temperatures head for the low 40s, but then take a look at the morning temperatures. yeah, we're dipping into the teens. still have 96 inches of snow in the mountains and not as much in the lower mountains but we're seeing all the lifts and trails

ready for the weekend. we're ready for the weekend to celebrate the chinese new year. the pride and fireworks, great weekend for that. temperatures in the low 60s. we'll have still some warm weather for the coast line. cruz is looking like a great destination this weekend and temperatures will be in the mid to tupper 60s and just ahead cooler by the end of the weekend, and the high will reach only 60 degrees. mike, how is it looking headed out to work? >> the bay bridge span recovered after an earlier vehicle was moving very slowly an bogged things on. metering lights turned on and that's why this span is moving well. no major problems. pretty standard for the bay bridge toll plaza and highway 37 and highway 4 all showing a typical pattern here. a little extra slowing here for hayward as a disabled vehicle moved to the shoulder. sonoma much better than

yesterday, slow sutof burnal and 101 shows the slowing up toward oakland road and a little bip towards mountain view. there's a sharks game tonight so traffic right around sap center. if you take light rail through the area, perhaps a note. planning for potential delays over the next couple of weeks. starting this morning they will shut down por grown and yellow lines and there's more of what to expect looking ahead for the entire project. >> thanks, make. >> the future of the oakland a's at a cross roodt. a vote that may determine whether a team goes or stays. >> a ton of things to tell you about as far as ukraine goes, the president saying he thinks an invasion is a day away. big board, stocks are negative

but not nearly as much as you might expect. >> a very big problem in tahoe. the tear said to be responsible for dozens of break-ins and the new steps trying to stop it. he's a pig one. you're watching "today in the bay."

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good thursday morning. right now at 6:43, as you're getting up and getting the kids ready for school you do need another jacket. today in san rafael it's going to be a cool start but feeling

comfortable by the time you pick them up. temperatures in the low 60s. we will have another warm day, and we'll talk about a dip in temperatures coming up in a few minutes. >> don't forgot the jacket. okay. over here, we're looking towards the san mateo bridge. eastbound coming towards us with the headlights on 84. the dunn barton bridge to the south reports a barrel rolling around the lane and also another note for the tri-vale that. make pact your commute in the next couple of minutes. >> well, break this morning, president biden talking to reporters on the south lawn talking about a russian invasion of the ukraine just moments away. >> scott mcgrew, the u.s. secretary of state is on his way to the united nations to say the same thing. >> that an invasion is imminent. good morning, blinken will head to new york at the request of the ambassador to the united nations. she's asking him to say that the

evidence on the ground indicate rush is on the verge of an invasion. this is the president just moments ago. >> reporter: they moved more troops in, number one. number two, we believe that they are engaged in a false flag operation and have an excuse to go. every indication we have is they are prepared to go into ukraine, attack ukraine, number one. number two, i've been waiting for a response from putin from my letter in my response to him. i have not read it yes. i cannot comment on it? >> it's your sense that this is going to happen now? >> yes. >> my sense is this will happen within the next several days. >> the next several days says the president. meanwhile, blinken will divert from his schedule to munich where he and the vice president

were to meet with european leaders. the u.s. consistently has says that russia's claim is withdrawing troops is false saying russia has added 7,000 more troops to the theater. adds that's not true and shows out video like this tanks on train cars. russia says they are moving the tanks away from the front line but we don't know when this video was taken, where this video was taken or for that matter what direction that train is going. breaking news continues. russia has just expelled the number two man at the u.s. embassy. bart gorman is or was deputy chief of mission making him the second most senior official at the u.s. embassy in moscow after the ambassador. now, u.s. officials say they don't know why he's been expelled, but they are considering their response. in the south of ukraine, meanwhile, ukranian forces and russian separatists accused each other this morning of violating a cease-fire. remember, ukraine faces a potential invasion ahead from

troops in belarus to their north and russia to the east, but in the south in crimea and donbas it's already been invaded by what's called little green men, russians. starting in 2014, in fact, it was in february of 2014 when that unnamed troops moved. in this morning's allegation is that someone shelled a kindergarten building. nobody was hurt but the white house warns anything real or imagined could set off that broader war. video just into our newsroom of vice president kamala harris leaving for munich for the munich security conference. this was already scheduled. she will meet with secretary of state blinken there. i'm going to think that blinken's speech to the united nations will be care ed on some nbc property. this is all coming together very quickly. we'll keep you updated on where you can find that and, of course, on social media as well. on twitter you'll find me @scottmcgrew. >> thanks very much. sticky subject triggering

turbulence these days in congress. unruly airline passengers. federal mask mandates with those in place on commercial flights, the number of unruly passengers continues to soar. they are calling for a new no-fly list, but not everyone agrees. republican lawmakers argue personal freedoms are at stake. flight attendants meantime believe something has to be done. >> we need to be very clear with people what the rules are, why they are in place and what the consequences are if you violate them. >> you can see the whole story later this morning on the "today" show. it's at 7:00 a.m. right after "today in the bay." >> happening today, a big vote on the proposed new $12 billion ballpark for the a's. they will consider the environmental review at the howard terminal. last month voters approved approving it. the stadium will include 35,000 seats and office space and

housing. even if approved later today they could still turn down the development appropriatal. >> a massive bear caution major headaches for people in tahoe. it's 500-pound bear responsible for more than 150 calls to police and wildlife over the past several months. that includes break-ins of several homes near the south shore. sometimes when people are still inside. wildlife workers are trying to trap the bear. if he's captured the bear is set to be euthanized because they say he's become too dependent on humans. one activist group is paying to pay for relocation but right now no sanctuary wants to take him. >> hope that changes. >> 6:49 this morning and time to look at the forecast with you with meteorologist kari hall who has a look at the dry conditions we've been dealing with. >> just got the drought monitor update this morning, and we didn't see any change. we were real surprised to see that as well because it's been

41 days, 42 day and counting that we haven't seen any rain, and this is in the middle of our rainy season, and so we're still in the severe drought. it didn't get any worse but, of course, it didn't improve either and here in the bay area. 100% of us in the severe drought. we're state woide at 66% in a severe drought so most likely this will get worse as we continue with all of these days without any rainfall, but then taking a look at our water here and how it's changed we have such a big amount of rain at the very beginning of our water year that we're still in a surplus for some spots, especially in oakland and then we're starting to slip into a deficit in a spot that gets more rainfall like santa rosa and san jose didn't get too much, each in the beginning where we're now at a deficit of about an inch hand three quarters. so as we go to today, the dry weather continues and our temperatures are also above normal. we're reaching into the upper 60s and low 70s for the

afternoon, and this weather continues for the next couple of days before we see a big cold front headed our way and that's when we'll change temperatures or bring in light snow for the area and once again we may be opening up the door for maybe on the line to get some rain in our forecast. as we take a look at our seven-day forecast here. temperatures still going up and down. up right now. highs in the low to mid-70s and then we start to see it dip on sunday. i was looking at some seeds and thinking about planting something because it's been so warm and take a look at this forecast. not yet. do not start that garden because we possibly have freezing temperatures head our way by the middle of next week. mike, looking at the roads, the main problem you were looking at was the backup on the bay bridge. >> yeah. that's sorted out to normal and that's good news. over here we were worried about slowing as well through the south bay and the closure because of some repair work has

been cleared. they thought it might go until 7:00. back to the typical 101 and 87 build right before the 7:00 hour. we also have this at 7 of closing in the northbound direction and at stoneridge they are doing an investigation of a deadly crash there that happened on valentine's day on the 14th so that will be affecting restaurants and businesses in the area but overall it's just the build for sonoma as well as hayward. >> having right now: buying and converting a mow kell into 54 homes as part of an initiative to help ease the homeless crisis. the state has unleashed $1 billion since the program launched. >> and coming up, moving on from the pandemic. the california's plan for

california as we move into the endemic phase. >> i'm janelle wang in beijing. the end of the marquee events at the winter games, ladies figure skating. we have an update on the results. that's coming up. 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.

care coalition, it's so good to see you all! 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! a caring airline?! wait, those exist?! it says here they were the first airline to switch from plastic bottles to boxed water. they also hire a lot of people from caring professions. i'm seeing former teachers and nurses. it's settled! alaska airlines is officially in the running! round of applause!

we're back with a look at the top stories here on "today any bat." >> governor newsom set to unveil

a new plan to transition california out of the pandemic. the governor is outlining california's plan for the endemic phase. last week he told our damian trujillo his plan including mass testing to spot new surges and virus variants. it will also include a new continued emphasis on vaccinations and booster shots as well as a plan for public schools. the move comes one day after the state dropped its mask mandate for most indoor public places. we also have scott mcgrew. he's following breaking news this morning. >> good morning. lots going on. russia has expelled our deputy ambassador from moscow, and president biden moments ago said an envags of ukraine likely days away. >> they have moved for troops in and we believe that they are enghajd a false flag frigs have an excuse to go in. every indication that we have is they are prepared to go into ukraine, attack ukraine.

>> secretary of state blinken will speak at the united nations this morning and expect it to announce a russian invasion is imminent and we'll have more. former vice president motorcycle pence will speak at stanford. tickets are sold out. the women's figure skating competition at the winter olympics just wrapping up within the hour. and a warning, some spoilers here for you this morning. that's right. in case you plan to watch later tonight in primetime, "today in the bay's" janelle wang with something very unpecks exed. >> that's for sure. what a dramatic ending to ladies' figure skating. let's show you the result. russian athletes take first and second. japan comes in third, but do you

notice a name missing there? yes, the gold medal favorite going into this competition kamila valieva, she finishes fourth. she struggled in her free skate falling several times, and at the end of the program just collapsed in tears. it was so difficult to watch unfold on live tv, all the pressure, criticism an scrutiny show's received. she's only 15 years old at the center of the doping scandal. as for the american, richmond's alysa liu finished in seventh saying it exceeded her expectations, karen chen did not finish where she wanted 16th and mariah bell finished in tenth, but what this means is the fact that kamila valieva finished in fourth is that there will be a medal ceremony. her teammates will get gold and silver. japan gets bronze, but the team competition that took place almost two weeks ago, that is still up in the air.

russia claimed gold in that, usa claimed silver. we still don't know what's going to happen there. we'll have to wait and see. >> so exciting and so much going on as well. the free skate event isn't the only big event. catch the women's speed skate willing, 1,000 meters and watch gu and sabouriny go for gold all getting under way tonight. kari has a final look at the wet are for us. >> mild temperatures, headed for sunshine and a nice warmup this afternoon. this weather continues into the start of the weekend until we see a big dip in temperatures as we go into the end of the weekend as early as next week. notice that we still don't have any rain in this forecast. we'll have more updates on that drought monitor as we go into the next several weeks. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> well, that's it for us this thursday morning for you. >> there we go. >> we'll leave this morning with a live look at beijing.

our olympic coverage continues online at nbcbayarea.com. >> the "today" show coming up next. experts saying the system has everything but the kitchen sink. al's got your full forecast. buildup at the border, the u.s. now saying russia is sending more troops to the edge of ukraine despite russia claiming it's pulling back. with tensions running high,