right now at 5:00, a boost in bay area tourism. local leaders preparing for the return of travelers with the hopes of reaching prepandemic levels at least in some places and in some cases. ahead in a live report, the one part of the industry not seeing the same kind of recovery. a new show of support. the first lady ready to head overseas. the stops she'll make to help refugees as russian forces gain more ground in mariupol. this is "today in the bay." a good thursday morning to you. thank you for making us part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm kris sanchez in for laura. you can watch us on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. spotted again. if you've been watching this week, you heard us talking about this, this bear roaming around a

vacaville neighborhood. apparently things are pretty posh and nice because that bear keeps coming back. we'll talk about this shortly and what's happening now in that neighborhood and that little old friendly bear. >> he's not that little. meteorologist kari hall is tracking what we can expect. hoping for cooler temperatures. >> as you're on your way to the call in vacaville, look around, make sure everything is all clear. it's going to be in the low 50s as you're stepping out the door. we'll see more clouds today than we saw the past couple days. also, it will be definitely cooler compared to those highs near 90 degrees yesterday. today we'll see a high of about 77 in fairfield, 66 in oakland and in novato today reaching 69 degrees. really comfortable and it gets even better going into the weekend. we'll talk more about that in the forecast coming up. mike, any issues for the morning commute? >> just your standard slowing showing up as we look at the map.

it's over at the altamont pass, a little build. highway 84, the paving work did clear between ruby hill and 680. a note that there will be crews in the area but not blocking the lanes. golden gate bridge, got a shout-out from chp, they said there was at one point dense fog, but nothing you can't deal with. we see lights all the way across the span. developing right now, first lady jill biden departs for romania and slovakia on her four-day visit to highlight white house support for ukraine. ukraine says the military forces are making gains against russia and troops have regained control of at least 11 villages in the northeastern part of the country. those on the ground say the battles are becoming even more brutal including in mariupol. civilians there remain trapped inside a steel plant. russia says it will stop military activity today to allow for more civilian evacuations.

moving you forward and a new sign of recovery for one of the hardest-hit areas in the bay area. leisure travel finally appears to be returning to prepandemic levels. some will also point out that there's just one point of a much bigger picture. one city kicking off national travel and tourism week, good morning, ginger. >> reporter: good morning marcus. doesn't that make you want to get out your suitcase and go somewhere? i know it does for me. leisure travel is not the whole picture, to reignite the tourism industry here in the bay area. that's exactly what's being discussed today in both san jose and san francisco. local business and hospitality industry leaders are kicking off national travel and tourism week with that bit of good news. there's much more left on the table to reignite local tourism. the projected number for hotel revenue continue to lag.

take a look at these numbers from the american hotel and lodging association. we mentioned leisure travel is on the upswing. hotel business travel revenue is projected to be down nearly 25% so far this year from prepandemic levels. that translates to about $20 billion. in the bay area, san francisco is on pace to see the sharpest de klein in business travel revenue of all major u.s. cities with a drop of 70% or $1.7 billion. san jose seeing a significant decline of revenue with 52% of a drop, or over $630 million. that's why later this morning those sectors are getting together at the chamber of commerce here in san jose and at the hilton in san francisco's union square to piece together possible solutions in reigniting the local tourism industry. first things first, a bit of good news this morning. we can all celebrate a little something that will move all of us forward. back to you marcus.

>> the good thing is we live in such a big area with so many great things, you can actually do a little travel just one county over. hoping other people will come in and support everybody else. >> might even see a bear. 5:04 now. the supreme court's leaked draft opinion suggesting the overturn of roe v. wade leaving a lot of people in the bay area to wonder what could happen next. people packed manny's in san francisco to find out more about what overturning the law means. one trial lawyer explained it gives states and the federal government an opportunity to regulate access to abortion. if the nation does become a patchwork of different laws, about half of all states are considered certain or likely to restrict abortion. they are the ones in red. oklahoma's governor signed one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. new jersey made the woman's right to choose a state law. in our next half hour, east bay

representative barbara lee will talk about her own personal experience with abortion and why she says it's imperative to have safe and legal options for women. the followup on the bear this week making himself at home in one vacaville neighborhood. police are saying he came back yesterday. this is video from monday. that 300-pound bear roaming the north orchard. this is near the jeb son middle school. he's believed to be splitting time in the nearby hills. people are still being told to look out for that bear because it's still around. taking a live look at san francisco now, and that flag is flying in the wind. it is still very, very breezy. maybe that will bring us some cooler temperatures. let's check in with meteorologist kari hall. >> we are transitions from the hot and very windy weather we've had the past couple days to cooler temperatures and even a slight chance of rain for parts of the north bay. most of the bay area staying

dry. take a look at these high temperatures reaching into the low 70s in livermore and dublin. 71 in martinez. tomorrow it does get a little warmer in some spots in martinez and concord, reaching 73. still really nice. upper 70s for the south county and the north bay reaching into the upper 60s with showers moving by there. for saturday we're all clear across the bay area the sunshine will make the best day to get out this weekend. that's because we're tracking a chance of showers on mother's day. we'll talk about that coming up in awe fin utz. mike, you've been watching the roads. >> first of all, people might want to take a little diversion we have prices and selections for gas from around the bay. a little lower in some areas, mill valley, one of your lower prices is $5.19 at the hq fuel onshore line highway. same thing for san jose at diamond gas and part on story

road, also $5.19 a gallon. in castro valley, $5.25, stop and save on stanton avenue. as we look at the bay we're looking at slower speeds here. southbound is the slower direction. as you come north of the sausalito exit, we had the clears that just cleared off highway 101. that should be clearing up in the next few minutes as crews cleared from the grid in the last few minutes. on the right side, this is west 580 around cutting boulevard in richmond, reports of a fire not on the roadway, not a car far, but smoke visible in the area. sean at the news desk is checking things out. we're checking to make sure and if we need to alert you about anything, of course we will. green sensors except all the way over on the right, the altamont pass, the standard there, the build has started 205 and 580. celebrating cinco de mayo.

next on "today in the bay," the importance of today's holiday and how you can take part in the celebration. answering some of your questions about higher interest rates. that's coming up. later at 5:25, the warriors learns just how long one of their key players will be sidelined after that hard-to-watch injury. stick around. you're watching "today in the bay."

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when big tobacco's products were found out to be killers, they promised smokers safety. they called it a filter. but this filter wasn't safe or useful, just small and made of microplastics that have endangered us all. for far too long, they have polluted the earth. they're literally everywhere. there's no need to search. big tobacco, you'll have to answer for your despicable ride, for your wake of destruction. your one little big lie. happy thursday to you as we start out at 5:11 on this thursday morning. we're seeing our drive in palo

alto look nice and quiet. no issues with fog here. we're going to be clear for the most part in terms of the foggy conditions, but the clouds are up a little higher. we'll see peeks of sunshine going up to about 64 at noon. we'll take a look at all of our microclimates and look ahead to the weekend coming up. i pulled up the golden gate bridge. i saw some lights and i thought they were flashing lights. it was a mini scooter going across doing some maintenance. 101 is clear. we'll track your build. i think i see something going on coming up. good morning. happy thursday to you. companies all over the nation trying to figure out how to react to and deal with what appears to be the end of roe v. wade. some companies already had plans in place because of earlier restrictions in states like texas and florida. on monday, amazon announced it would cover travel for employees who had to go out of state for

health care. apple and salesforce earlier said that's helped employees travel outside texas if they needed to. salesforce said they would help cover a worker's permanent move out of texas. there's a case of the epa versus west virginia, coal country, and concern from some the high court could strike down parts of the clear power plan that limits pollution. the central bank did as expected wednesday, raised interest rates half a percentage point. that's the biggest hike in 20 years. fed chairman jay powell indicated it's likely we'll see another half-point hike next month and the month after that all to fight inflation. raising interest rates makes borrowing more expensive. on the flip side, it encourages savings. banks will charge more for loans but pay out more in interest.

i spoke to a fin tech ceo who said it's a lot like gas stations. when a bank sees a competitor raise payouts, it will, too. >> it comes with a price and competitiveness decision as with any other industry. >> basically banks are looking at what the other guy is doing? >> yeah. who is going to go first, and if you're trying to compete on interest rates, how do you offer something better than your competitor? >> a reminder we have the big jobs report tomorrow which will probably show the economy going very strong. there's a huge demand for workers which pushes wages up and unfortunately is inflationary. chris and marcus, we talked about mortgage rates and whatnot rising. some viewers have been asking me about credit cards. yes, those are going to go up, too, but remember most credit cards are at like 18%. you need to pay those off or down as best you can. a half a percent interest rate

on a credit card when it's already at 18% or, god forbid, 20%, is the least of your problems. it's hard to pay down debt, but that's got to be your priority. it doesn't matter that your credit card went up if you're already paying the 18%. >> so true. thanks, scott. 5:15 for you this morning. it is cinco de mayo or the 5th of may. >> today marks the 159th anniversary of cinco de mayo, and while it is a relatively minor holiday in mexico, here in the u.s. it's an opportunity for a fiesta. so what does cinco de mayo really celebrate? laura garcia is helping us brush up on the history. good morning, laura. >> good morning, chris and marcus. in the u.s. cinco de mayo seems to be an excuse to indulge in maybe some margaritas, guacamole and tacos, i have five cinco fun

fands for you this morning. first of all, get this straight. it is not mexican independence day. many confuse it with mexico's independence day which is actually observed on september 16th when mexico celebrates independence from spain. cinco de mayo is actually commemorating mexico's victory over the french in the 1862 battle of puebla. the first american cinco de mayo celebrations date back to the 1860s when mexicans living in california commemorated the victory over france and puebla. at that time the united states was embroiled in a civil war. now news of the underdog mexican army beating back napoleon forces gave new strength to california's latinos who sought to stop the advances of the confederate army. that's when american beer companies started to cash in.

about a century later u.s. beer companies jumped in targeting the spanish-speaking population in the 1970s and '80s. today cinco de mayo in the u.s. is primarily a celebration of mexican american culture. how do you celebrate authentically? make some mole. the traditional dish is mole peb land know. it's a thick sauce made with chocolate, chiles, nuts and other spices. quite labor intensive. if you want to do cinco de mayo right -- making a taco is a lot easier than making the mole. my grandmother used to make it at christmas, special occasions. >> there's like a hundred different ingredients, they have to be toasted. >> but it's good. it's good. >> happy cinco de mayo nonetheless. >> we'll have a beer either way.

thanks, laura. >> or a margarita. >> i'll take the margarita. >> if you're still looking for ways to celebrate cinco de mayo here in the bay area, we have you covered. to see what you can get into responsibly, visit nbcbayarea.com for a full list of those events. >> maybe you want to take your margarita outside because it might be a little cooler today, kari. >> it's going to be perfect. taking a break out there, enjoying time with family i.'s going to be much cooler than what we had yesterday. starting out with clouds. temperatures in the south bay in the low 50s. take a look at the trend throughout the day. when the sun starts to peek out, we'll see temperatures heading toward the low 70s today. let's go to the south bay with a closer look with morgan hill reaching 77 degrees, where the east bay will see 70s in some spots. mid 60s for hayward and oakland. only going to see a high of 58 in daly city.

palo alto up to about 72. for san francisco, 53 in the marina district. that's about the temperature we had yesterday. we're going to see highs up to about 62 in the mission district, 55 in mill valley. clearlake headed for 69 degrees. now, we are going to see some spotty light showers here and there, especially in the north bay for later this afternoon and into the evening. for tomorrow there's also a slight chance that the north bay could get in on a quick-moving shower. the rest of the bay area staying dry. saturday is looking nice. sunday we could see another chance of rain coming in. this one looks like a bigger snowmaker for the sierras. the bay area will see spotty nice showers. at times unsettled weather but drying out towards the end of next week at this point. as far as how much rain we can see, maybe a few hundredths of an inch. the east bay to the south bay,

there's a chance from napa to santa rosa, up to ukiah. for the sierra, it looks great to see we are going to get some snow, although this is lower than what the model run showed yesterday. there's at least a foot possible over the next week. take a look at the seven-day forecast. on mother's day watching out for the chance of showers. it may be trending later in the evening so may not affect your mother's day plans. next week is looking nice. highs in the mid 60s. for early may this is what we should be feeling. we're also going to at times have gusty winds. we'll see that throughout the weekend in san francisco with 60s.s in the upper mike, anything happening out there on the roads? >> kari, we had the slowing in the north bay because of overnight road work. the crews have cleared. almost back at full speed. i do believe the crews should be leaving the area, no more distraction of lights in either

direction. as we zoom out to the rest of the bay, you see pretty much green all over the place. a little bit of orange down at the bottom. el camino real and slow-moving vehicles, not a big deal here. the san mateo bridge moving smoothly. over on the right side the sign sometimes is lit up to talk about the wind. not today. you'll see one saying buzzed driveing is drunk driving. mole is not good in the car either. >> maybe that's why it's not as popular, hard to eat in the car. next on nab nab, nbc bay area responds. >> we have a broken record. i'm consumer investigators chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. as we head to break, a photo that mike posted on instagram celebrating aapi heritage month. today is children's day.

historically in japan it was observed as boy's day. pictured here are mike's warrior dolls -- >> action figures. >> on the right with armor n the middle his son's warrior doll -- what a cool tradition. i hope i said it right. >> keep up with mike, giving him a follow on instagram, twitter or facebook. you're watching "today in the bay."

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6:24 this morning. when people get fed up with finding companies on their own, they actually call our response team for extra muscle. >> they love it, too. consumer investigator chris chmura has a pair of new cases where we jumped in the ring to punch it up. >> good morning. people are continuing to send us complaints about concert takts because so many shows are postponed or canceled early in the pandemic. we've helped like of viewers like jennifer in rohnert park, a ticket seller battling with her for over $300 for a cancelled rock concert. we contacted the company. jennifer got back the $335 she was fighting over. jane in plaser county contacted us for hell winter park the state's housing assistance program. she said she wasn't getting the $11,000 approved. we contacted the state agency. jane contacted a lawmaker and she got paid. we regularly recommend

contacting an assembly member, state senator. findyourrep.legislature.com. you can ask us for help, go to nbcbayarea.com, click the responds option from the main menu or call us, 888-996-tips. an update this morning on the injury of golden state warriors guard gary payton, jr., fractured his elbow in a scary fall in tuesday's game against the grizzlies. according to the athletic, paytoy will be out for about a month. the series is tied at one game apiece. >> that makes my stomach hurt. next, our top stories we're covering today include an unusual scene on the bay bridge. we'll show you what other drivers did to help the

responding officers. >> reporter: plus, there's a new test and treat facility here in the college of san mateo. we'll break down what this means and what it could mean for you. we'll have that story coming up. plus -- >> you're about out of time. >> you know it's been four years since dinosaurs were unleashed on the earth in the last jurassic park film. now the latest installment. "jur coming up on "today in the bay," the star chris pratt is live and talking about finishing the jurassic trilogy while working with the film's original cast. you don't want to miss that. keep watching "today in the bay." that's going to be on the "today" show this morning.

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♪ pop it like it's hot ♪ ♪ pop it like it's hot ♪ ♪ pop it like it's hot ♪ pop my $6.49 classic and spicy 50/50 popcorn chicken combo. order on the jack app today. right now at 5:30, get tested and treated all at once. the new covid testing site offering immediate medication for those who are positive. there are so many ways that women and black women especially tried to have abortions which led to their deaths. >> we sit down with east bay congresswoman barbara lee. her reaction to the possible overturn of roe v. wade and the danger it could pose to women's

health. this is "today in the bay." thanks for joining us on this thursday morning. i'm kris sanchez. >> i'm marcus washington. if you've recently gotten a smart tv, you can also watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. we have number of headlines, including fun ones, gaming and exercise. imagine burning off the calories and getting your game on at the same time. our bob redell looks at what could be the future of working out. there he is. grab your headset everybody. >> i think i like it. first a look at your traffic as well as weather this morning. we'll start with meteorologist kari hall with a look at the forecast as we're inching closer and closer to the weekend. >> so happy it's going to be cooler, compared to the hot weather we had in the valleys yesterday. as we take a look at dublin, starting at a cool 51 degrees.

we'll see the temperatures slowly warming up today. not going to be as hot. we'll see more clouds in the mix. we start with a mostly cloudy sky. a breezy wind kicking up to in some spots 25 miles per hour. take a look at the high temperature. san francisco, half moon bay, san mateo reaching 62. 71 in fremont. also low 70s in the north bay. going into tomorrow, there will be a couple of spotty showers for the north bay. we're also looking at a niez pleasant day. comfortable temperatures, highs in the low 70s for parts of the peninsula down to the south bay, and this weekend is also looking nice. we'll talk about the changes ahead in our forecast. that's coming up in a few minutes. moving you forward this morning in diagnosing and testing for covid. you might see one-stop shopping really has arrived on the peninsula here. one of the new testing sites you can receive immediate treatment once you've tested positive. >> what an interesting evolution

of treatment. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live at the college of san mateo where the new testing spot opens in a few hours. we've come so far in a short time. >> reporter: good morning. that's exactly right. we've seen those testing facilities. this one is a little different. we'll get into the details. we want to set the stage. cases are rising here in the state of california. they're up 10% over the last week. so this testing facility, as you can imagine, coming at the right time. it is called a test to treat site. it's part of a federal program that helps people get tested for covid. it helps get the medication they need if they're covid positive. prescriptions will also be filled on site. experts say mot ears day could be the next hurdle we face. the doctor says you should try to keep your party or gathering small or even consider outdoor

dining especially with the numbers rising. >> in the bay area, uptick in cases 155%. there's a lot of virus going around. >> reporter: it is important to note that this nation has officially reached a new milestone. take a look at your screen. more than 1 million people have died from covid since the start of this pandemic. looking back, you may remember early in the pandemic, the early estimates were 200,000 to 300,000 people would die. we've obviously surpassed that. new information according to the world health organization. nearly 15 million have died as a result of covid, 14.9 million folks. this number highlights the toll this deadly virus has had on not only this country but globally. now there's a new facility where you're able to get the test as well as get treatment all at the

same location. live at the college of san mateo, cierra johnson. witnesses are talking about a brutal attack by a man with a skateboard that left the 75-year-old victim in very serious condition. you're looking at video leading up to that attack. we stopped it before the victim was struck with the skateboard because it's so hard to watch. it happened monday night in san leandro. the owner of a nearby store showed us that surveillance video. >> i was pissed when i saw the video. the guy is such a nice guy. he started talking to him. it didn't seem they were arguing about anything. he just hit him and then he smashed his head twice with the skateboard. >> police say the victim suffered damage to his face and skull including a brain hemorrhage. police did arrest the suspect, identified as raphael betancourt. no word yet on a motive. chp not saying if they know why a man walked into the upper deck of the bay bridge last

night. drivers called 911 and briefly shut down all lanes of westbound traffic. nearby drivers assisted the responding officer. that man was taken to the hospital for treatment. >> new overnight, new fencing around the supreme court building put up after the leaked supreme court document. that fence is similar to the one around the capitol following last year's riots. >> this has bay area political leaders talking. laura, i know you spoke with longtime house lawmaker barbara lee about this issue which is personal for her. >> very, very personal. she was open. we originally sat down to talk about a recent visit to poland over the weekend as she is working to write a supplemental $33 billion bill for military and humanitarian aid. the topic also really front and

center this week is roe v. wade a. longtime pro chair of the pro-choice caucus. she says this won't stop people from receiving the procedure in all states. she told me about her own experience about having the entrepreneur done when she was just 15 years old. >> when i was 15 years old, this is way before roe v. wade. i got pregnant. my mother and i -- she was so supportive and loving, and she knew what this meant to me as a 15-year-old. of course, there were no safe legal abortions in the united states. she had a friend, god love her friend, who just passed away about a month ago, who knew a doctor in mexico, i was raised in el paso. i flew there with her friend. her friend was so kind and loving and took me to this doctor that she knew in a back alley, mind you, in a dark back alley at about 10:00, 10:30 at night, very dark. she took me into this small

little clinic. the light was dark, but there were lights shining right on the bed. this doctor had on a white coat and he performed an abortion and i lived. that was terrifying for me. i can't even -- it was traumatic. i can't even describe it because of the triggers now come back. but for me, i don't want anybody to have to go through what i went through, having an unsafe, illegal abortion. >> of course, the other side to this, if roe v. wade is overturned it would be up to each individual state to decide whether to allow the procedures to continue. 26 states are certain or likely to restrict abortion. here is the governor of arkansas. >> arkansas is a pro-life state. we have already put a trigger law in place, and we're going to protect those lives. >> i also talked to the

congresswoman about her recent travels to poland as well as part of the united states delegation to visit the region. she is writing that supplemental $33 billion bill to try to provide military and more humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts for the country right now. >> the thing about it is, this is such a personal matter if someone has the procedure, but the fact she was so open about it, especially right now, it pus a different face to what we know of as an abortion. she said, just because it's illegal in some states, doesn't mean people will stop having it. it means we have to have more conversations about this. >> right. you could see what a trigger it was for her even still just talking about it. it's painful. >> 15 years old. 15 years old and had to go to another country without her mother. that's tough to swallow. thanks, laura. >> thanks so much for that.

it is 5:39 this morning. an on-stage attack of dave chappelle in southern california rattling the nerves of other comedians. >> heather mcdonald hosts a comedy podcast juicy scoop. yesterday she tweeted she would provide free tickets to any off duty police officers who want to provide security. she says this is not a joke to her. >> i can feel secure. they can see a show for free. i think it would be a really good idea for other comedians and comedy clubs and theaters to consider. >> tommy t.'s first added security when a drunk patron tried to go on stage. time to get a look at the forecast. take a live look out to san francisco. the lights are shining. you want to travel, visit, let's do it. let's get a look at the forecast. meteorologist kari hall is

tracking what we can expect today. that's one of the places that was a little cooler yesterday. >> that was one of the few spots. near the coastline, you were very lucky because it was hot yesterday. as we take off the weekend, how about some of those cool activities going on around the bay area. kicking it off for the first friday's art walk in san jose. it's going to be about 72 degrees if you get out there right at dinnertime. then bring the jacket because it's going to be cooling off quickly, right around sunset. in the low 60s. you know how it is. once that breeze picks up. for sonoma valley, making taking a nice long weekend there or taking mom there for some visits to some vineyards, we're going to see our temperatures cooling off by sunday. also make sure you have a jacket because we'll go only into the low 60s for highs. for santa cruz, nice weather for today. notice how the temperatures cool off for the end of the weekend. for south lake tahoe, heads up we go from low 60s on friday to sunshine on saturday and to much

cooler as well as cloudy weather, maybe even a few snow flurries before you head back to the bare area. we'll look at today's forecast. mike, how is it looking for the commute? >> commute is pretty steady. kari, you mentioned it. i want to give folks a look ahead at san francisco. we have dual events over here again, oracle and chase center. not like last time when they were almost at the same time. the giants are playing tonight that means everybody should be inside the ball park about when opens for the jo koy concert. there shouldn't be a substantial overlap. that note, there will be traffic in the area and also afterwards. the other side of the bay, east bay 24, one of the bores for the caldecott tunnel will be closed.

a smooth flow right now. i've circled a little fire, a tree on fire alongside 580. doesn't sound like any structures are involved. no major issues, but the clarification on the earlier report. as we predicted here, flowing san jose north 101 at 540, there you go. back to you. this morning we want to check in with nbc bay area's garvin thomas. >> he shares a love story behind one of san jose's newest playgrounds, a story that makes us bay area proud. >> reporter: good morning everybody, i'm garvin thomas. this past weekend ground was broken on the expansion of one of san jose's best playgrounds. let me tell you, that isn't the best part of the story. the best part is the 25-year love story that was the inspiration behind the creation of the rotary play garden in the first place. it's the story of how a grandmother became her granddaughter's champion and how their legacy will enrich the

lives of children of all abilities for years to come. >> -- i hope they know somebody cared enough about them to make this happen. >> reporter: you can see the whole story as well as hundreds of other stories of people being good to each other in the bay area. >> thanks, garvin. pandemic burnout is getting the best of a lot of parents. coming up on "today in the bay." what we can do to combat the potential negative impact. real calorie logs in an unreal world. evidence that vr exercise works. in washington, the president said democrats have reduced the deficit. we'll give him a fact-check when "today in the bay" continues.

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right now on this thursday morning, it's 5:47 as you head out the door in oakland. it's our typical start with some clouds and in the low 50s. we'll see more clouds throughout the morning and extending into the afternoon, just some peeks of sunshine. it will be cooler with highs in the low 60s. much cooler across the bay area. we'll take a look at oakland since you called it out. a whole bunch of headlights heading south, right on cue. there will be slowing, we'll show you where we're pro districting coming up.

breaking right now for you, the latest weekly jobless numbers. the labor department says 200,000 people filed first-time claims. that's about 20,000 higher than forecast. nearly 1.4 million more people filed continuing claims. that's about the same numbers we saw the week prior. one of president biden's hurdles, the economy is doing well, but americans don't seem to believe it. with those numbers -- >> scott, will we get more evidence on the booming economy tomorrow? >> we will tomorrow. that's the monthly jobs report, what i call jobs friday. unemployment could fall pretty close to 3% which would be the sign of a red-hot economy. the problem, of course, is inflation. president biden spoke about the u.s. budget deficit yesterday. the president admitted out loud government borrowing and spending can contribute to inflation. his main point was the deficit is getting smaller and democrats deserve the credit.

>> we're on track to cut the federal deficit by another $1.5 trillion by the end of this fiscal year. the biggest decline ever in american history. >> the deficit is the amount of money the government overspends compared to its income. the deficit contributes to the debt. president biden is ignoring or at least not mentioning two factors here. one, the government is spending less because of a number of super expensive coronavirus pandemic programs which are expiring. and then the president does this -- he talks about record job growth or whatever without giving you the asterisk, that we're coming from way down here because of the coronavirus. so the second thing about this is he ignores the failure of build back better that would have spent more money which didn't get spent because it never passed. secretary of state antony

blinken tested positive for covid. the white house says he's not been in close contact with the president. blinken and the president both attended the white house correspondents' dinner last weekend, an event even host trevor noah cast doubt on. >> what are we doing here? did none of you learn anything from the gridiron dinner? do you read any of your own newspapers? i expect this from sean hannity, but the rest of you, what are you doing here? >> the president does mask from time to time. here he is greeting the olympic and paralympic team outside at the white house. the president praised the team's dedication, more than 600 athletes attended. the first lady's first official trip was to the olympics. she'll take her next o to the area around the border of ukraine, in fact one town that straddles poland and ukraine. nbc news confirmed former

president's son donald trump has been testifying before the house select committee investigating the attack on the united states. his sister ivanka and husband jared kushner have both testified previously. we're tracking everything that's happening in washington on social media and twitter you'll find me@scottmcgrew. now that gyms have reopened after the pandemic, you might find it hard to motivate yourself to get back on the treadmill. there's an alternative that doesn't require running shoes. >> san francisco researchers have found that killing monsters is a way to kill the calories, too. >> we've got a heart rate about 101 right now. >> reporter: bye-bye treadmill. hello swords of death. >> reporter: hello swords of death. the battle of the bulge is going virtual. >> my dream is to get off work and go, hey, guys, do you want to exercise. we go down to the gym and beat a dungeon in "world of warcraft."

that's what i want my future exercise to look at. >> reporter: aaron stanton is trying to prove to the gaming industry that virtual reality gaming is just as good exercise as hopping on an elliptical, donning a pair of boxing gloves. >> for years people have looked at gaming as the enemy of being healthy. couch potato. almost every experience in vr has some level of physical fitness. it's an issue of how much. >> reporter: the institute assigned signs based on heart rate. this game, supernatural is rated 11.44 m.e.t.s which is more than vigorous biking, slightly less than boxing. >> you're showing it. >> harder than you think. >> can we give you more optical

exercise with less discomfort and time compression, so you spend like you're doing less time doing the thing you don't like. >> marcus and kris, i played that game and in that time burned 78 calories, a m.e.t. score of 5.72, a little more an an elliptical trainer. he wants to develop games that not only knows your heart rate but what heart rate you're trying to target in your workout so the game can respond as an invisible coach by, for example, making the enemy more aggressive. the idea is to making working out fun. >> i'm sold. >> as long as the monsters aren't too scary. >> make your heart rate go even higher. >> thanks, bob. looking fitter already. >> if you zront that game and you can get outside and maybe do a walk or run around your block, today should be not too bad,

kari. >> it will be a lot cooler than we've seen. we're also tracking our drought monitor update. we just got it out just minutes ago. let me show you how it looks. we still have a large swath of red which is the extreme drought covering about 40% of california, and it didn't change from last week. as we get a closer look at the bay area, we're seeing it now shifting off towards the east. much of what we're seeing where we live in that severe, that orange area, severe drought. we know we need a lot of rain to catch up to normal in the north bay, about 6.75 inches, livermore needs more than 2 inches. we're still running these deficits with the storms tracking just to our north. there will be the chance that the sierra could get a little snow going to the next week and we'll be watching that. as far as temperatures we're once again much cooler, especially in the inland valleys, only heading for the 70s for fairfield and morgan hill. over the next several days we're

seeing slight rain chances. we're watching mother's day. but it's definitely going to be cooler with highs in the upper 60s. mike, how is it looking for the commute? >> looking at a smooth flow of traffic around most of the bay. the bay bridge will take a quick peek and see that things are starting to build for the volume. the maps show slowing on the incline for west 80. an incident on city streets in san francisco, nothing major. we'll track that. 37 and highway 4 showing slowdowns. highway 4 at pittsburgh, not at bay point, so starting a little earlier. 84 the volume build towards 680. the build for the nimitz in hayward and toward union city, typical there. same thing for san jose heading into oakland on 101. >> happening now, temporary drought restrictions in marin are now being made permanent. marin water leaders first imposed the restrictions last year. customers must limit their sprinkler use to two days per

week and cover their pools, also lawn watering must be done outside the hours between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the same time marin water is officially ending its local water shortage emergency. parts of china remain locked down because of covid once again, but that's not getting in the way of one couple's wedding. ahead, the work-around that helped them tie the knot. plus at 6:00, tourism nearly back to normal, but some parts of the travel industry still hurting. ahead in a live report, why one critical part of bay area travel is limping along and how leaders are responding this week. you're watching "today in the bay."

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welcome back. you're watching "today in the bay." new this morning, we've all felt stressed during the pandemic, for a lot of working parents, that added anxiety was overwhelming. a new ohio state study says two-thirds of working parents felt burnout. it was more common for women, moms and households with two or 340r7b r more children. some parents with increased anxiety also increased alcohol consumption. experts advise parents feeling overwhelmed to be kinds to themselves, lower your expectations, ask for hell and

try five-minute recovery breaks if you can't get away a little longer than that. trending this morning, the pandemic has been hard on other people. one couple refused to let that lockdown stop them from celebrating their love. >> he's from australia, he's from belgium. she's pregnant and due in september. they're quarantining in shanghai. the two got married via zoom from their apartment this past weekend. neighbors even threw a pre wedding party in the building parking lot. >> got to get creative. right now at 6:00, a new show of support for ukraine. first lady ready to head overseas. the stops she'll make to help refugees as russian forces gain more ground in mariupol. a boost in bay area tourism. local leaders prepping for the return of travelers with the hopes of reaching prepandemic levels at least in some cases.