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try it at round table pizza! right now at 11:00. breaking news a fire at a battery plant just south of the bay area. right now, evacuations are underway. but the big concern is the toxic smoke and smoke is gos happening at the vistra power plant in moss landing along highway one between santa cruz and monterey. highway one currently shut down in both directions in that area. it's going to be a long night for a whole lot of people. nbc's jocelyn moran is as close to this fire as the authorities will allow her. jocelyn, this is a major battery storage plant. what's the latest right now? jess? roger. right now we are at the moss landing harbor. from here, you can get a really good viewpoint of this fire. you can see that thick smoke. you can see that bright orange glow from those flames. i will say the size of that orange glow has

gotten smaller in the last 30 minutes, so that could be some good news here. this fire is at the vistra power plant. it's a battery storage facility. so we're talking about lithium ion batteries here. that is the concern. the good news is the fire is contained inside the concrete facility. it is not spreading. but the concern on the outside is what is being pushed out into the air. that's why you're seeing evacuation orders issued in this area. the fire started after 3:00 this afternoon, but it really grew in the evening. around 1500 people are under those evacuation orders. and then in addition, beyond those evacuation orders, officials as far north as santa cruz county are asking people to stay inside and close their doors and windows and to shut off air systems until further notice. monterey county supervisor spoke to just how serious the situation is. well, there's no way to sugarcoat it. this is you know, it's just a disaster is what it is. and it's extremely disconcerting. the fire is contained. i think people should be able to realize that. i don't think there's any.

we don't believe there's any real threat of it extending outward and getting beyond wher where it's in, but it's inside a concrete building. there are a lot of batteries in there, and, you know, it's burning pretty much uncontrolled inside that facility. now, we were just at the incident command post, where there are officials from several agencies along with the county, the county communications director tonight telling us fire crews are battling this fire and will be into the night. we have a tremendous amount of resources here from the fire department, as well as law enforcement to manage this incident. so it's a it's a complex incident which requires very tactical approach to fighting this kind of fire. here. we don't know the cause of the fire, and we have yet to hear from the fire department. we did just get a statement from the vista power plant. i want to read that saying in part, quote, our top priority is the safety

of the community, and our appreciates the continuedly assistance of our local emergency responders. we have learned that there will also be a 10 a.m. press conference tomorrow. hopefully we'll get some more information there. raj jess. jocelyn, while we have you, how far away the homes in relation to this fire and how windy and smoky is it where you are? well, that is the concern here right now. it's not very windy here. you can see the smoke is actually blowing away from us, which is why we can't really smell a ton from this distance. but we did speak with the county and the concern is the wind. they are very thankful that as of right now the wind is calm, but they also acknowledge that that can change. but for now, the good news is the wind is calm. raj okay, that's good and also somewhat of a rural area dn where she is in moss landing. jocelyn. thank you. well, obviously people in santa cruz are being told to stay indoors tonight, but let's talk to jeff about that wind that jocelyn was talking about. burning batteries. not good. yeah. and with the calm wind, you know, while the people in

the immediate area need to heed those warnings, a lot of this very thick smoke from the fire is going straight up into the atmosphere. so we are seeing some of the smoke just immediately around it. but as far as it's spreading up to the bay area, it's not happening. at this moment. we have very calm winds right now in moss landing, three miles per hour out of the north, 010 wind back here to san juan bautista, zero wind in morgan hill. so as we take you into the wind forecast here for tomorrow morning, it stays calm. now we'll begin to pick up on some wind by the afternoon and evening, 15 to about 20mph. but it's going to be blowing from the west, off towards the east. that would push any smoke at the lower levels towards san juan bautista. now the other thing we're tracking is the upper level wind. anytime you have a fire like this that is just ongoing for hours at a time when that smoke gets into the upper atmosphere, whichever way the upper level winds are blowing, that could blow more of these smoke plumes. and right now it

looks like as we roll through tomorrow, it's going to be blowing that more off to the south. so our air quality expected to be moderate tomorrow. and that's just from our usual haze from some relatively calm conditions. again, i think the worst would be down towards san juan bautista hollister and also, of course, where that fire started in moss landing. okay. thank you very much, jeff. and of course, we're going to be tracking the fire overnight in the morning as well. stay with us. today in the bay begins at 5:00. our website nbcbayarea.com. also updated 24/7. overseas, we're also tracking some breaking news here. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says a deal to return hostages held in the gaza strip has been reached. this comes after his office also said there were some snags in finalizing the cease fire. he had accused hamas of creating a last minute crisis but did not elaborate. here's what we do know, though. netanyahu says he will convene his security cabinet within the next several hours for approval of this deal. the agreement will pause the fighting in the gaza strip and

see dozens of hostages released in exchange for palestinian prisoners held by israel. thousands of displaced palestinians will also be allowed to return to what's left of their homes in gaza. back here, from bad to worse for former oakland mayor sheng thao. seven months after the fbi raided her home, she's reportedly been indicted by a federal grand jury. that is according to the chronicle, which is citing sources. the mercury news is citing sources saying tao's boyfriend, andre jones, has also been indicted. neither report has been confirmed by the fbi, but the feds are expected to comment tomorrow morning. these indictments come after months of investigation and speculation. last june, the fbi raided then mayor thao's home. on the same day, they raided the homes of businesses, homes and businesses of multiple members of the duong family, which owns callaway solutions. it's an oakland recycling contractor. tao and her partner have both repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but the city leaders are concerned. this

is really concerning and the impacts of what this means for the integrity of city services and city business is definitely concerning to me as a public official. we have reached out to the city, the former mayor and andre jones, for comment, but we have not heard back. so then there's this question is this connected in some way? tonight we've learned that another east bay politician has had his home raided by the fbi. the feds searched the home of san leandro city councilman brian azevedo yesterday. the agency is not providing details on why azevedo's home was raided. it is worth noting he and tao were both part of an economic focused trip to vietnam, and that trip was sponsored by another business linked to the duong family. san leandro mayor says azevedo's status at city hall has not changed, although he says city officials will be monitoring the developments. azevedo, by the way, did not respond to our request for any comment. there is some relief down in southern california

tonight. some evacuation orders have been lifted for the palisades fire, but it could be another week or more before othe evacuees get to return to their homes. this is new drone video from malibu. you can see the destruction here. there is years ahead of work and cleanup to rebuild. the palisades fire is 22% contained. the eaton fire near pasadena is 55% contained. those fires, along with several smaller ones, have burned more than 38,000 acres combined. the death toll right now 27 people. also tonight, a new danger is emerging in the fire zone. this palisades home. look at that split in half. it survived the fire last week, but today it could not survive a mudslide. officials say a water leak caused a scorched hillside to give way. the home is now red tagged, says a lot of people concerned about any future rain which could trigger morof these mudslides. well, the fires

in la bringing back some horrifying memories for fire victims here in the bay area. nbc's thom jensen is in santa rosa this evening in a community that's still healing from the 2017 tubbs fire. seeing the fire video from southern california opens old wounds for northern california fire survivors. it's hard because i remember that feeling of confusion and helplessness and anger. jeff okrepkie and his family lost their home in the tubbs fire, along with most of their neighbors. it took his family about two years to rebuild. they say it's a marathon, not a sprint, but it's a marathon made up of sprints. okrepkie became an advocate for fire survivors as a santa rosa city councilman. he grew up here and had local knowledge and conctions. as an insurance professional, he shared the duties of rebuilding his personal home with his wife, a process he described as a marathon filled with sprints.

the first step is find housing, file a claim, then it's debris removal, then it's finishing the claim, then it's finding a builder. all of those steps, and they're all massive emotional undertakings and just logistical undertakings. the tubbs fire was the most destructive fire in the state for almost 13 months, until the camp fire in paradise in november 2018. both fires turned thousands of homes, entire neighborhoods to piles of toxic materials at home, sites that had to be carefully removed. no one can relate to that loss unless you've been there. marsha kester survived the camp fire, but her home was lost and she sadly was unable to rebuild in paradise, she says it's hard to watch what's happening in l.a. county. they have so much horror in front of them, let alone their property.

there's so much garbage that's going to go on. there will be lawsuits, there will be police investigations. but okrepkie says survivors can find success by leaning on each other and not trying to go it alone. share information as communities about insurance policies, builders and other important matters, and don't make rash decisions to try to speed things along in santa rosa. thom jensen, nbc, bay area news while fighting to save a school, parents from captain jason dahl elementary school are pushing back against the possible closure and holding a rally tomorrow morning. the franklin-mckinley school district is considering closing schools to fix its budget deficit, and captain jason dahl elementary is on the chopping block. school is named after the hero pilot who crashed his plane into a field on september 11th. dahl attended that elementary school as a child. it's one of the reasons parents want to keep it open. that rally is outside the school tomorrow morning

starting at 715. we are back in 60s. up next. what a difference a day makes. the stunning reversal over tiktok and what it could mean come monday, the day the social media platform is set to be banned. and quite a show in the sky. but the spacex rocket launch did not go as planned. and fog is back for tomorrow morning. we'll show you how long this lingers, plus updated wind and rain "the doctor will see you now." but do they really? do they see that crick in your neck?

that ache in your heart? will they see that funny little thing that wasn't there last year? a new bounce in your step? the way your retinal scan connects to your blood sugar? at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you. fire at a battery plant that prompted evacuations and health alerts. this is happeningn moss landing along highway one between santa cruz and mterey. the concern right now is what's burning and what it could mean for air quality. we are tracking that smoke inside a warehouse of this plant. lots of batteries. we're going to bring you any updates as we learn them. also new at 11. spacex's starship rocket brokep during a flight

test today. video posted on social media shows the debris streaming across the sky. nobody was on board. several commercial flights were diverted or delayed because of the debris. pretty intense there. the rocket had taken off from brownsville, texas, but shortly after, the starship apparently disappeared and spacex lost contact. spacex posted on x that the starship had experienced a, quote, rapid unscheduled disassembly. the company says it will be reviewing the data to better understand what exactly happened. a stunning reversal over tiktok. the white house and others who oppose the chinese owned social media platform are now trying to keep it alive. just days before it is set to be banned in the united states, here's audrey asistio a stark shift tonight concerning one of america's most popular apps, according to two administration officials, the white house says it will not impleme the ban on tiktok, set to go into effect on sunday. i really feel like this is happening because of us. the

fight isn't over. it's just going to be extended. the issue even reaching the supreme court, whicis set to issue opinions as soon as tomorrow morning. but now the biden administration says it won't enforce massive fines on the companies who provide users access to tiktok. meanwhile, on the senate floor today, senator chuck schumer says he wants more time to find a way to ease security concerns and keep the popular platform available to users. we are not against tiktok. we want tiktok to keep going, but we are against a chinese company that is in cahoots with the chinese communist party owning tiktok. it's a major reversal from when the law was passed with massive bipartisan support, and the president signed it into law. it really does feel like a vibe shift. if you're a tiktok user or someone who makes a living on tiktok. 2 or 3 days ago, you were feeling terrible about your chances. all of a sudden tonight, you're feeling much better. tiktok is obviously a huge part of our business. it's a great tool to interact and

engage with gen z and younger customers. men's clothing brand bare bottom relies on tiktok and often collaborates with influencers to reach its customers. we run ads on it, we interact with customers on it, we post on it. so we're going to continue doing that. and if things change and we can't do that, we'll obviously adapt. the shift also comes just days before donald trump's inauguration, according to three sources. tiktok ceo scott chu is expected to attend, along with the world's three richest men tech titan elon musk, amazon's jeff bezos and meta's mark zuckerberg. business and tech reporter scott budman saying it certainly feels like tiktok is no longer going anywhere. would you ban a company right after having the ceo on the platform during the inauguration? that seems unlikely. this could go either way, but there's a lot more hope right now than the was even a few days ago. national security officials still warn that tiktok's chinese parent company, bytedance, could

steal american user data or manipulate content shown in the app, which tiktok denies. raj. jess. audrey. thank you. and get ready for more. elon musk, the multi-billionaire, will speak at president elect trump's inauguration rally, which is this sunday. the inauguration is monday, but the rally is sunday. other speakers include trump family members and vice president elect jd vance. musk is a close ally of donald trump. he's donated more than a quarter of $1 million to the trump campaign. he's also the co chair of the department of government efficiency, or doge. the new office is aimed at cutting government regulations and spending. sfpd is outlining its plans for protecting two massive public events happening the same weekend. we're talking about the all star game and the lunar new year parade, both set for mid-february. on saturday, february 15th, hundreds of thousands of people will gather in chinatown for the lunar new year parade. then the next day, the nba's biggest stars and thousands of their fans will descend on chase center. sfpd plans to includ stepped up

patrols, foot patrols in both areaeas. police chief bill scott says the plan isn't just to ensure people are safe, to me sure they feel safe to. most people feel safer when they see officers, the officers that are engaged, that are present and that are taking care of issues when they see them. police department is still about 500 officers short of its staffing goal, but the chief says they are steadily recruiting, and he is confident they'll have enough officers to handle both of those big events. that is one month from tonight. we are expecting a big party here across the bay area, especially in the city. how are we looking, jeff? well, we'll try and keep the weather good for that. but certainly a high chance of getting some rain here in february. as far as it goes here in our immediate forecast. we did talk about that fire down at moss landing near monterey and areas to the south. we are not expecting the smoke from that. again, that's happening at a battery plant in moss landing. the smoke right now again looks to stay to the south. otherwise, high pressure brings us dry weather and some

sunshine for tomorrow. the only different thing here is some fog for the morning. let me get you more details on that microclimate forecast. and you can see right here those low clouds as we started off for the morning, moving all the way inland. and then we'll get in on our sunshine here as we head through your friday forecast. the other thing is it's going to be chilly to start here. so with that fog it might feel a little bit damp out there to you tomorrow morning. down here to 43 in the south bay 42 peninsula upper 30s in the tri-valley. more of those upper 30s as well for the north bay and the east bay. temperatures through the afternoon. still going to go right up here to the 60s for a lot of the bay area. that's going to put us at 65 in morgan hill, 64 in concord, low 60s napa to santa rosa, and a chillier day in san francisco with 59. we'll stay with similar weather like this all the way through sunday's forecast. i don't really see any big changes that way, but as we head into next monday, still looks like we get into this windy weather set up for california. high pressure near the pacific, low pressure

developing in southern california that would help to pull this wind across the state, where gusts could be up to about 50mph. so in southern california, for lower elevations, it's 15 to about 30. but look at the mountains here in that pink to magenta color. that's gusts. that would be up to about 50. so the more widespread wind right now looks to go to southern california. we would see the chance of some wind, but it doesn't look super strong ten to about 25mph for most of us. although napa 31 mountains in the north bay could get 20 to maybe a few gusts there up to about 4045. so we're going to continue to watch that closely. and as far as rain chances go, we'll stay dry through the 24th. but that high pressure could break down, allow some rain in here by the 25th and 26th. not the big storm i'd like to see right now, but something is better than nothing on that 7-day forecast. we're dry in the immediate future, again next seven days. and this weekend. so far so good. low 60s and we'll get plenty of

afternoon sunshine. a lot of activities with mlk, the holiday on monday as well. thanks, jeff. up next, a star studded lineup for a big benefit concert to help southern california recover and rebuild. we'll tell you about the legendary i don't ever see anyone coming out to maintenance anything, so it's very scary for me because i have everything i love in this home. so, we've now implemented drone technology.

how is that safe for me? it enhances the inspection, so it allows us to see things faster. your safety is the most important, and if you're feeling unsafe, that's not okay. it doesn't feel like that in our hearts. i mean, it's worrisome. [dog barks] [dog barks] - i had health insurance before. (discouraged) so expensive. i mean, i'm helping my mom out, i don't have that kinda cash. - ugh, i know. but you can get financial help now through covered california. it's totally affordable. you'd be surprised. they've got this calculator thing that shows how much you'll pay. - r real? - yeah! what are you doing not having health insurance, man? - hey, i know, i k know... - here, let me show you... - we all have questions. covered california has answers and can find a health plan that's right for you. covered california. this way to health insurance.

financial information over the phone. alameda county says its workers never call people for that kind of information. if you're unsure, contact the superior court of alameda county directly. the stars will be

shining, all to help the victims of the wildfires down in la. a benefit concert at two arenas across the street from each other. the kia forum and the intuit dome in inglewood. all proceeds raised by fire aid will go toward rebuilding communities in southern california. the show is january 30th. among the big names performing take a look, billie eilish, dave matthews, earth, wind and fire, bay area band green day, lady gaga, katy perry and the red hot chili peppers. san francisco 49ers star george kittle is a finalist for the usaa salute to service award. the nfl made that announcement today. the award recognizes and honors the military and veteran community. and although kittle has never served, his uncle and grandfather did. he's donated more than 400 and 49ers tickets to military heroes and hosts them at every game. he and his family also created an app that offers free mental health research resources for veterans. that is a nice guy. a nice gesture. very passionate about it. up next, we'll tell you what

the sharks didn't do tonight and the importance of

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life is a journey best lived together. are still a lot of frustration.

and tonight was one of those frustrating nights. yeah. cover your eyes. this one's going to hurt. the sharks in columbus, ohio, the home of the ohio state university and the ohio state alumni band doing the national anthem. the blue jackets scored early and they scored often. this goal started the party for columbus. this made it one nothing. one bright spot for the sharks in the third period. tyler toffoli with the rebound there bangs that one in. but the sharks lose this game. final a 4 to 1. all right we mentioned the nba all star game. it's one month from tonight in san francisco. there are actually three events friday night celebrity game at the oakland arena. saturday's dunk contest and skills competition at chase center. and then the actual game sunday at chase. tonight, our warriors insiders talked about the magnitude of this global event. obviously, there's they're said to be always an economic bump. you know obviously you sell out hotels. you got an influx of people coming from out of town. and

therefore, you know, your restaurants and your other businesses get more business, more, more, more foot traffic. it's not the super bowl, but it's pretty good when you think about guys with shoe deals and sponsorships. that is the weekend to be around, showcasing your personal brand with everybody coming in the nation international, you think about the influx from china, the big nba fans overseas. they're all going to be upon the bay area. they're good perspective from our insiders on our 7:00 newscast tonight. the last time the all star game was in town. remember this oakland arena in the year 2000, 25 years ago, shaq, vince carter, tim duncan were all the big stars. kris weber there as well. and dave's been very excited about saving big with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. five years? -five years. and he's not alone. -high five. it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit.

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to help people struggling in southern california. four year old amari first learned of the devastation of the fires when she was watching tv with her mom and dad. that's when the little girl started gathering her toys and asked them to give to the kids in her play. her family stepped in and took over the plan and made a flier asking for

others to help, and soon the whole neighborhood got involved. in a matter of days, they collected enough to fill two pickup trucks with clothes, diapers, formula, and yes, of course, toys as well. because you need to help other people. why do you need to help other people? so they have enough stuff. and a lot of us have more than we should have. and if we can help these people, they're starting from scratch. basically, they he nothing. and i feel like we're fortunate enough to have, you know, we still have a roof over our head, generous, planned by the parents and amari and of course the neighborhood as well. those donations were dropped off last night. very nice family there. before we go. jeff ranieri with the last word. we're talking about this fire down in moss landing battery plant on fire and the smoke direction possibly. and as we roll through tomorrow, the smoke is going from the west, off towards the east. so it would be blowing any kind of smoke at the low levels towards san juan bautista. upper level winds would push any larger smoke plumes off towards