at dca, and there's a procedure in place -- because this happens every day. something went wrong here. i look forward to the time and point when we can give you that information, but i don't want to >> senator kaine, senator warner, you have been vocal about your concerns about busy runways here, air traffic. i know it's still early in the investigation. i'm just curious -- >> e have raise this had issue continuously. we have a very busy airspace. i think we will ask think we wi but at the appropriate time. we are in this period right now where families are still l bein notified about our concerns, but it is a good time to speculate right now. we have faith that the ntsb will provide the answers about this. okay. you work here and i'm going to take three in the

middle. and then we're going to have to wrap one, two, three after this young man. thank you. appreciate you chief. i know again i can imagine it must be traumatic for your first responders to have to deal with this. how are they doing right now? and are you all going to be offering any services to help them as they process this? so thank you for the question. our first responders are resilient people. but yes, this call will be hard for them. our peer support teams are already engaged with the responders, and we'll be following up on that to make sure that they're okay. but i think the concern is real. okay thank you. what kind of communication was there between the helicopter and the tower? the plane and the tower and the helicopter and the. and the plane. i don't want to say too much on the communication between the helicopter and the tower and the airline and the tower, but i will say this. there was there was communication. it was. i would

say standard communication. so there was not a breakdown, if that's your question, in communication between the military helicopter and the american airline flight, there was there was communication between the aircraft and the tower, where there was a helicopter in the area. the i would say the helicopter was aware that there was a plane in the area. you menentioned that.o the president you said yesterday that you called into the briefing room. has he returned to the briefing room since then? have you spoken also a question about the national security advisor, michael walz. he's saying that there was 30 bodies that have been recovered, that he just said that at the white house. i'm curious. i know you're in this presser right now, so that's hard for you to update, but i do have the question on code is in the briefing room. i think anybody how do you find the person? so in terms of body recovery, we as we recover bodies, we have a process. and we're not counting any bodies until they're in the

possession of the medical director. so there may be some fluctuating in numbers that other people would report. but our numbers from the medical examiner. so, so in regard to the president in the briefing room, i've been with this team for the last hour. plus, as we've worked through the details of the information we wanted to give you, but it is my understanding that either this morning he was going to be in the in the situation room or the situation room is obviously briefing the president. he has been kept in full appraisal of what is taking place. okay. last two of you. thank you ma'am. first, you mentioned that the aircraft were on a standard flight pattern. just curious. when the airport opens at 11 today, will planes be on that flight pattern again, or are they being directed to fly a different way to land? that's what you want to talk about? well, i mean. safety is

paramount and i don't have that information quite yet from the faa. so i don't want to provide any information or i don't want to provide an answer or inaccurate information on what routes will be flown out of dca. okay. last one. two questions really quickly. what do you know about the experience and history of the pilots of both the american airlines plane and the army black hawk helicopter? and then for secretary duffey last night, the president had said that this could have been prevented and questioned why air traffic control didn't tell a helicopter what to do. is that something that investigators have determined should have happened in this situation? so do you want to quote secretary just just quickly. i don't have a lot of information to release, but these were experienced pilots. i know that the captain was had six years with with psa or almost six years with psa and the first officer almost two years. and again, standard

approach. and that's about all i can say. thank you. in regard to the military, i don't have information in regard to the experience of the military pilots. i would just note that this was classified as a as a training mission. sometimes people could think that a training mission is someone who is inexperienced in the cockpit. this is we call these these missions that are flown in the dc area as r pilots are getting hours and experience training missions. so don't read into that that we had how many hours the pilots on the military aircraft had. and you had another question for me, that was last night. the president had said that this could be prevented, and also that air traffic control questioning why they may not have communicated with the helicopter, telling them what to do. so we are going to wait for all the information to come in from, from this vantage point, but to, to back up what the president said, what i've seen so far do i think this was preventable? absolutely.

thank you. thank you. is there an acting faa director? thank you everyone. all right. we've been watching a news conference in washington, dc, a myriad of officials with the news this morning that there are no survivors of that mid-air collision between an army black hawk helicopter and a passenger jet en route from wichita to washington, d.c. the accident happened about 9:00 last night. and as we go to tom costello, who is listening in with us, it has been a very long night for those first responders working in icy conditions, desperately trying to pull anyone from the waters alive. and unfortunately, that is not the case. yeah, just absolutely brutal and horrific conditions to work in out there. and they have been out on the water, as you mentioned, since 9:00 last night, some 300 emergency responders, many of them out on the water, ice covered in many places and trying to find the victims in the water, which is dark and

murky. and as we said, it's just bone chilling cold. from the very beginning, we were hearing from experts suggesting that the chances of survival in 35 degree water were slim and that in fact, hypothermia. hypothermia could set in as quickly as 15 minutes. so this was as the night progressed, it became more and more apparent that this was going to be just an awful tragedy with no survivors. the question, i think, from the d.o.t. secretary or his comments, i should say, suggesting that he absolutely is convinced that this could have been prevented. that's something that we should take note of. and in addition, we now know that air traffic control was, in fact, in touch with that helicopter pilot and with the pilot of the regional jet, and that that helicopter pilot had been told to be behind the regional jet to turn and keep that regional jet in his eyesight. so it's really kind of perplexing to understand how

it's possible that if they did have visual contact with each other, that the helicopter, excuse me, would apparently slam into the back of that plane. tom costello for us there. tom, thank you again. at this hour, 28 bodies havbeen recovered. one from the chopper, 27 from that commercial plane. we're going to have much more ahead on today. this has been an nbc news special report. safety is our expectation. everyone who flies in american skies expects that we fly safely. that when you depart an airport, you get to your destination. that didn't happen last night. breaking right now at 5:00. fiery midair tragedy. a regional jet collides with a black hawk helicopter near reagan airport outside of our nation's capital. we have a live look at the scene this morning. the crash sending the plane plunging into the icy waters of the potomac. divers overnight pulling multiple bodies from the water.

authorities, sadly, are now calling this a recovery effort. this is today in the bay. good morning and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. and i'm marcus washington. we want to get right to that breaking news out of our nation's capital this morning. back to our live scene. you can see there this morning. this is where last night, an american airlines plane struck a military helicopter. the american eagle flight crarasheds it approached reagan national airport from wichita, kansas. the plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members. and we know there were three people on board the helicopter. at this time. more than 30 bodies have been recovered. cameras caught the crash. if you look closely here, you can see the moment the jet and the chopper collide. the aircraft sadly plummets into the river. the military says the blackhawk helicopter was on a training flight, but moments ago we got an update. here's part of

the first statement from american airlines ceo. i want to express my sincere condolences for the accident that happened at dca last night. we're absolutely heartbroken for the family and loved ones. of the passengers and crew members, and also for those that were on the military aircraft. our focus right now is doing everything that we can to support all of those involved. and also the psa airlines team. this is devastating. it's we are all hurting. we have also now learned that american figure skaters were on board that american airlines flight. they have not been identified. but u.s. figure skating confirms in a statement, reading in part, these athletes, coaches and family members were returning home from the national development camp held in conjunction with the u.s. figure skating championships in wichita, kansas. we are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims families closely in our hearts.

russian state media meantime reports world champion russian figure skaters were also on board, and that includes evgenia shishkova and vadim naumov. the married couple won the pairs world championships in 1994. russian skating coaches are also said to be among the victims. nothere are many rapid developments unfolding on the recovery efforts and investigation this morning as we get updates. stay with us for the latest and you can stay up to date by downloading our app. it is free and available on all smart devices. we are also following breaking news in the middle east. hamas is releasing more hostages who were kidnaped during the october 7th attacks on israel. today in the bay's bob redell joins us live this morning. and bob, the israeli prime minister, is condemning the way in which some of those hostages have been released. correct. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has condemned the, quote, shocking scenes

during the release of hostages, including that of agam berger. she's a 20 year old israeli soldier who was paraded in front of a large group of people, including armed hamas militants, as she was released earlier today from the gaza strip and handed over to the red cross. this is video of berger reuniting with israeli defense forces after 482 days in captivity. and then there's also this image tweeted out by israeli defense forces of her finally reuniting with her family in israel. this is video of the release of other hostages overnight in gaza. again, another large group of people surrounded the red cross vehicles with some, if you can hear them right now. not many in the if not many in the crowd shouting at the hostages. netanyahu says scenes like these are, quote, further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the hamas terrorist organization. he is demanding mediators put an end to these scenes of intimidation. hamas has released a total of eight hostages over the past several hours as part of a cease fire agreement with

israel. the group includes three israelis berger, who i already mentioned, plus a 29 year old israeli woman and an 80 year old israeli man, along with five thai nationals who had been working in israel when they were abducted during the october 7th attacks back in 2023. this is video of a van arriving inside israel with one or more hostages inside who will eventually, if not already, be reunited with theiramilies. later today, israel is expected to release 110 palestinian prisoners in exchange for those eight hostages. hamas has released a total of 15 hostages since the start of the ceasefire hostage deal that went into effect on january 19th. 33 more are expected to be released over the next several weeks. again, as part of the first phase of this agreement. reporting live. bob redell today in the bay. all right. thank you very much, bob. of course, we'll continue to follow all these breaking news stories this morning for you. it's 513 right now. subleasing gets a boost in silicon valley. coming up this morning on today

in the bay. the big benefits for companies branching out from the big city setting and a payout for donald trump. facebook. meta is going to pay him money. let's go out to the futures this morning. see, our thursday is shaping up on wall street. tech stocks look like they'll do well. much more news ahead. you're watching it takes a rebel to make something beautiful. beauty takes courage. it's an act of joy. so resist the ordinary. and embrace the wow.

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interest rates where they were, and it removed some of the language that said it thought america was winning the fight against inflation. president trump of course, unhappy with the whole thing. but head of the fed jay powell says the fed is independent from the white house and has not talked to the president. tesla says sales and profits are down. tesla says that's because it keeps lowering the price of its cars. meta says it's going to pay millions of dollars to donald trump for kicking him off the platform. zuckerberg has been trying to curry favor with the president. speaking of meta, the software company snowflake has taken some of meta's office space off its hands, subleasing a staggering 773,000ft■!s at an office complx in menlo park. now 773,000ft■!s, that's like 9 to 10 city blocks, or about two ikea stores. now, why do we care? well, you heard me say it was in menlo park.

some commercial real estate analysts, the one who deal with the really big offices, say the peninsula and the east bay are running way ahead of san francisco when it comes to new tenants. san francisco definitely filling office space as well, particularly with ai companies, but the suburbs, so to speak, are growing faster. the more established companies, you know, the snowflakes of the world who just signed a mega lease down in menlo park. they've got a need for just a bigger campus setting sometimes, you know, that's just not available in san francisco in terms of the scale. kabir builds resort offices. office buildings, he says, are more than just cubicles and a coffee machine, but something more like you might find in a hotel or a first class airline lounge. they're looking not just for a place for productivity, but really a place where they can socialize, build community, a place where they can take care of their physical and mental health. you know, and these types of services have typically been, you know, isolated to literally the hospitality

industry and hotels. you know, that's where you'd go to find these things. and now we're realizing that there's no reason why you can't implement these same features in not just your apartment buildings, but also your office buildings as well. and of course, the peninsula, the east bay. easier to build these things because you got more space. it's interesting for somebody who's been in silicon valley since 98 to watch. it used to be tech was very south bay, moved up to san francisco, and i think it's kind of flowing back down. yeah, it's really interesting. it is been here at the innovation of so many, so much. it's interesting to hear a lot of people call san francisco silicon valley, you know, who aren't from here. didn't you to be. well, yeah. noe valley. yeah. right. all right. scott, thanks. you bet. it is 519 right now back here in the bay area. we've been talking about these chilly starts to our morning all week. let's check in with meteorologist kari hall. she's tracking our thursday morning forecast for us. and each day, it's gotten milder. to start out the day with a cloud cover that we've seen right now, we're seeing 50s and only headed for the mid to upper 50s for a high.

today. it's going to be cloudy throughout the next several hours, and tomorrow will be kind of a repeat of today as we continue with the cloud cover that we see to start out the morning. but we are also getting ready for the potential of some showers in the forecast. and as that moves i for the weekend, we are going to see the weather conditions changing as we go into the next several days. so looking at what we are seeing right now, this storm system that will be approaching for the weekend will bring in a chance of rain starting on friday and continuing off and on throughout the weekend. this is an atmospheric river, so at timimes the rain may be heavy, but it's really targeting the north bay with the heaviest rainfall, with some breaks in the activity for the south bay. and then notice going into each day early next week, there's going to be at least some scattered showers moving in. so we are seeing once again a change in this weather pattern that will bring in some wet weather. we're in the upper 50s and partly cloudy today, but then looking at tomorrow, rain

chances increase and off and on. rain in the forecast from saturday, sunday, monday, even tuesday as our highs reach into the upper 50s and low 60s. san francisco will also be cloudy and 56 today, but we have one more day to get ready before that rain comes in starting this weekend. mike. it looks like it's quiet on the commute right now. so far. i don't want to jinx things, but we do want to show you a smooth, easy drive across the bay. oakland in towards san francisco. beautiful movement of these lights. good spacing and no metering lights just yet. right on schedule we see highway 37 show the initial slower drive starting around mare island for westbound 37. i did see a couple of blips here showing up brake taps just a bit through concord and pittsburgrg. no major issues. there's a crash just off the freeway. i think it might be on railroad. i'll let you know if that's a problem for your commute, but so far, your drive south out of contra costa county and into alameda county moves very nicely. we're looking at northbound 680. there may still be a crew or two between koopman and stoneridge.

somewhere through that stretch, there may be two patches with crews still remaining. that's on the grid right now, but we don't see any slowing traveling north on 680, coming through sunol and into pleasanton and then through the south bay and easy drive. right now, as usual, we have the peninsula with no problems and no slowing back to you. all right. thanks, mike. there's some growing frustration among doctors. next on today in the bay, the reason they want to have more face to face time with patients and when the perfect time to book your next appointment might be. much more

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see you in the breaking news. we've been following this morning where more than 60 people are feared dead after an american airlines plane on approach to reagan airport collided with a military helicopter. divers have already pulled dozens of bodies from the water. and so far, there's no word of survivors. but we continue to monitor this story. at 530, we'll have live team coverage, including reaction from other fliers arriving at sfo from reagan national airport. well, if you've seen a doctor lately and were frustrated just how little time you spent with them, well, you should know your doctor is probably just as frustrated. a recent survey of 400 primary care doctors showed 80% would like to be able to spend more time with their patients. 77% say if they had more time, they could focus on helping their patients live healthier and longer lives. and perhaps surprisingly, more than half say that they would not go into primary care if they were

specializing. today, the company mdvip conducted a survey, and it touts a concierge type model as a way for physicians to cap the number of patients they have in order to get them in and out of on time. here's one doctor employed with the company, explaining why so many physicians are experiencing mounting frustration. the insurance companies reimburse what they reimburse, and so the doctors are just trying to keep their doors open and manage their overhead so they really can take care of patients. she advises writing down your questions prior to seeing your physician, and also letting the doctor know that you have some questions ahead of time so that they build in more time. she also says booking the first appointment of the morning or right after lunch can be the best time to get a few extra minutes in with that doctor. 526 right now. next, the top stories that we are following for you today, including the breaking news on a tragedy in our nation's capital. a mid-air collision between an american airlines flight and a black hawk

military helicopter happening overnight, both crashing into the potomac, where a massive recovery operation is now unfolding. and we just heard from authorities out of d.c. who confirm that reagan national will reopen at 8 a.m. our time, how that impacts flights flying into and out of sfo this morning. we'll bring that to you live.

breaking right now at 530. tragedy in the sky. a mid-air collision involving a passenger plane and a military helicopter. that plane, on its final approach to reagan national airport. both aircraft plunged into the frigid potomac river. authorities this morning are no longer calling this a rescue mission, but a recovery effort. no one has been pulled alive from the waters. good morning to you. 530 right now. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. and i'm marcus washington. we do begin with that breaking news out of our nation's capital. that's where an american airlines flight with 64 people on board crashed mid-air with a black hawk military helicopter carrying three people. here is a live look at that scene this morning. this is where the recovery operations continue. now, we know at least 28 bodies

have been discovered, and authorities say everything was fairly standard protocol before that crash, with the helicopter conducting a training mission. you just saw it there. cameras caught the tragedy as it happened. the american airlines jet was just about to land. we've also learned members of the u.s. and russian figure skating teams were on board, returning from a camp held at this weekend's national championships. this morning we have team coverage. our ginger conejero saab is at sfo with the impact for fliers today heading to reagan airport, which remains closed. but first, let's check in with kris sanchez in our newsroom, with what we know about the crash and all the people on board. good morning to you, marcus and laura. very difficult news this morning, but just in the last hour, we can tell you that that mission turned from a rescue operation to recovery because of the icy, overnight, there is now nos longer the possibility of survivors. this is the moment when that army blackhawk helicopter carrying three crew

members and the american airlines regional jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, collided on approach for landing there at reagan national. at this morning's briefing, the chief of dc's fire and police said that rescuers worked through the night. at this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident and we have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter. the national transportation safety board, the ntsb, is leading this investigation into why those two aircraft collided on what was a pretty routine situation and a very clear night at reagan national airport. the u.s. army confirms that the blackhawk was on a training mission. you see those recovery efforts continuing this morning and that live video there on your screen, out in recorded video, you can hear the air traffic controller asking the blackhawk if they see the crash. you're going to hear

that term a lot. that is the regional jet. and then telling the blackhawk helicopter to go around. although a former pilot said just this morning on the today show, there was also a lot going on at the same time. we've all landed in airplanes. we know how much air light is coming from the other planes in the area and the tarmacs and whatnot, so that could have led to the confusion. now, this was a flight, a passenger flight that was coming from wichita, kansas. and while we don't know the identities of all of the passengers and crew on board, u.s. skating has confirmed that many of them were figure skaters an coaches and family members returning from a u.s. figuree skating camp in wichita. both aircraft have been located. the regional jet fuselage is in three pieces in about waist deep water. so a lot of work this morning and certainly a lot of questions. marcus and laura. yes, it will be a big investigation as well. thank you

chris. we know hundreds of flights into and out of reagan national airport are now canceled. this is in the wake of the ongoing closure. now, we did hear from passengers who arrived from there last night before that airport shut down. today in the bay's ginger conejero saab is live at sfo this morning. and ginger, many of those passengers understandably in shock. absolutely. laura and marcus. as you can imagine, those passengers that arrived here at sfo last night were a bit shaken. some passengers flying out of sfo this morning maybe still a bit on edge, but it is business as usual here at san francisco international airport, as well as other airports around the bay area. we're in terminal three, where united airlines is. its pretty kind of calm. morning so far, no big lines as sometimes we do see. but we do know that there are more than a dozen flights that are delayed out of sfo this morning, with one cancellation. there is across the country and around the world. around the world, really a lot of shock, confusion

as well as that quick response from first responders around what happened over in dc with this collision. i want to show you that video once again of that midair collision between a black hawk helicopter and an american airlines flight. some passengers that arrived here at sfo last night flew out of reagan not long before that crash took place. i think an hour or two in, i remember getting the news alerts. i saw people in, like sitting next to me like looooking it up as well and trying to figure out what was going on. it's honestly terrifying. like, i like, i'm still in shock that this happened, like how close it was. now, as chris mentioned not long ago, the ntsb is now the lead agency in the recovery efforts around this crash. this collision authorities do confirm that reagan national is deemed safe to reopen for air travel. it opens at 8 a.m. our time. and

here is john potter, who is the ceo of the metropolitan washington airports authority, reassuring passengers it is safe to fly into and out of dca and determined that we can open that airport safely. the recovery effort that's on our property is on the waterfront, our primary runway, one 119, will be open. it's away from any activity. we're going to have a secure area around that. so all are comfortable that we can get back to operations. there's a lot of nerves understandably surrounding that as ll. but so the airport opens this morning at eight our time it was closed overnight. so we do know that there is a backup of flights here at sfo. as i mentioned, there are 16 flights that are delayed. some of those into and out of reagan national with just one flight cancellation. but you do want to contact your airline

to check on the status of your flight before you head out to the airport this morning. we're live at sfo ginger conejero saab today in the bay so tragic there. all right, ginger, thank you. we want to bring in meteorologist kari hall right now. we know that this time of the year it is very cold there some icy conditions as well that they're dealing with. what are the temperatures there this morning? well, we've seen the air temperatures dipping down to the upper 30s. and it was clear at the time of the crash it is still clear. the wind is calm and we are seeing the cold temperatures definitely an issue as the water temperature. the potomac is at about 35 degrees. so very chilly water temperatures there. and as they mentioned it is just about waist deep. so we will continue to watch the conditions there as well as here at home, as we are going to see some of the changes here in the bay area. but once again, very cold temperatures that they're dealing with there in the dc area. back to you. thank you very much. kari. excuse me. for people in the dc area and here at home, the crash

is triggering memories of previous incidents. that includes one that ended in the potomac more than 40 years ago. in 1982, an air florida plane slammed into the 14th street bridge moments after takeoff. heavy icing on the wings was to blame. 78 people died, but four passengers and one crew member were pulled from the river and survived. this also marks what many consider to be the first major u.s. commercial crash since 2009. that's when 49 people died after a colgan airplane stalled and crashed on approach in buffalo, new york. one person on the ground also died. investigators eventually determined that pilot error to be the likely cause, of course, here in the bay area in 2013, three people died in the asiana air crash at sfo. that's when a plane struck the seawall as it came in too low and too slow, shearing off the tail section and left engine. one death actually happened during the chaotic emergency response, when a fire truck struck a passenger

emerging from the wreckage. stay with nbc bay area for the latest on this latest tragedy. we'll continue to bring you new information throughout this newscast. and remember, our website is also a great resource for breaking news. you can find it at nbcbayarea.com. well, back here in the bay area, oakland police todayay expecte to hold one of their regularly organized news conferences to update crime fighting efforts. this, as one legendary bay area rapper, mourns the loss of his brother, who investigators say died in an attempted break-in, happened early yesterday morning on 49th avenue. this is in east oakland, when thieves tried to ram a car into an industrial building. police say 61 year old wayne shaw was inside. he's the older brother of rapper too short. police say that he was shot multiple times when those thieves tried to force their way in. so far to short is not issuing a public response. no arrests have been made at this point. happening today, some sonoma state students and staff will protest budget cuts that include the entire athletics

department. last week, the school announced all seven women's sports teams. in all, four men's teams will be eliminated to help offset a $24 million deficit. it's part of other cuts that include 62 campus positions and six academic departments. the school is also citing declining enrollment and since then, athletes and coaches filed suits to block the cut. they're also asking for the state attorney general to get involved. opponents plan to protest this afternoon at the school's student center. 539 for you right now, as we take a live look out in dublin, the traffic camera there, you see things are looking nice and smooth there on that commute. for a closer look at what's happening across the bay area mike inouye. so mike, certainly a backup already started there at the bay bridge toll plaza. those lights you showed in dublin are moving much more than the lights over here at the toll plaza, but we expect this. the timing pretty predictable for a thursday. the metering lights turned on or the backup formed. right now it's 5.40 and we see no major issues

getting through the maze. the slower drive on the incline where we lose the lanes volume a little bit lighter. but we did see 37 show slowing and continue to build right on schedule out of vallejo. heading west. highway four now shows us slowing. the crash over here is on kirker pass road. that will be an issue coming out of pittsburgh and heading down toward walnut creek, but not a major problem. it's just there on the shoulder. 680 moving south toward 24 and continuing through the caldecott 24 moves smoothly. a look ahead. we don't always have concerts or activities over at the oakland side. oakland arena does have a concert, but they do that lowercase thing, so it's their 8:00 concert. so watch for crowds just before using those exits. and of course, after the concert, getting back onto the freeway, a little bit of slowing brakes tapping through hayward south 880 approaching 92 peninsula side easy, clear south bay. we just now see a couple of sensors changing from north 101 right through this corridor. north of 680. no surprises and no big deal. back to you. no big deal. thanks, mike. 541 right now setting off the lunar new year with a bang. ahead for you

here on today in the bay. we're going to show you last night's big celebration in san francisco as we lead up to the parade and the latest reports from washington, including more major

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from laminate and vinyl to tile and wood, floor & decor has more options for pros... homeowners... and anyone looking for the right look... at the right price. your next beautiful space... is at floor & decor. it is a cloudy start in san jose. it's keeping those temperatures a little bit warmer to start out, and we will see the clouds linger throughout the morning and overall temperatures

remain in the 50s through the morning and into the afternoon. we are going to have one more dry day before rain comes back to the bay area. so we'll talk about that timeline coming up in a few minutes. and the timing here in fremont pretty standard. at the bottom of the screen you see war on the overcrossing that will get really busy over the next half hour as crews kind of change over there at tesla, we're looking at the change for the headlights, a little volume increase through fremont and toward the south bay. i'll show you where those sensors are starting to slow on this thursday commute. thanks so much, kari and mike. it is 544 right now. turning back to our breaking news, president trump getting updates from the pentagon on last night's tragedy in washington. and as we've been reporting, dozens are feared dead here after the american eagle jet and army helicopter collided and crashed into the potomac river. now, scott mcgrew, i know president trump asking a lot of the questions that a lot of people have. yeah, i think that everyone is asking. good morning. we all need to wait, though, for investigators to do their job. the first

presidential communication about the crash were those questions. why was the helicopter there? what happened? the airplane was on a perfect line of approach. president trump wrote, lights blazing. why didn't the helicopter turn? why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do? not good. a few minutes ago, the white house released a more traditional statement expressing sympathy. now, if you're old enough, you'll recall this is not the first time an airliner has plunged into the potomac. not t first time a president has gotten involved. in 1982, an americanan hero was created whea passenger named arland williams, who survived the crash into the freezing river, kept passing the rescue rope off to other passengers over and over until he drowned. a bystander, lenny skutnik, jumped in to save others. here's the president at the time, ronald reagan. just

two weeks ago, in the midst of a terrible tragedy on the potomac, we saw again the spirit of american heroism at its finest the heroism of dedicated rescue workers saving crash victims from icy waters. and we saw the heroism of one of our young government employees, lenny skutnik, who, when he saw a woman lose her grip on the helicopter line, dived into the water and dragged her to safety. now it was ronald reagan talking about that tragedy that started the tradition of american presidents inviting heroes to the state of the union address, and taking a moment to recognize them. other news, president trump says he wants to transfer as many as 30,000 migrants to guantanamo bay as they go through deportation. this is the same naval base where american america rather holds accused terrorists, though it is also used to process cubans and

haitian migrants rescued at sea. you know, that is something that the white house is working on to use resources that we currently have there at guantanamo bay. so we'll go through the process. the worst of the worst is where that could be utilized. so that potential is there. we know we need the infrastructure. we're going after these guys. the new secretary of homeland security, president trump, also signed his first bill, a bill that would make it easier to deport foreigners here illegally who break even minor laws nam the laken riley act after the young woman murdered by an unauthorized immigrant who had previously been arrested for shoplifting. robert kennedy jr faces a second day before the senate today. it's quite a day for hearings, not just kennedy, but kash patel to head the fbi. the fbi headquarters. tulsiove gabbard, to run us intelligence as well. she's been questioned heavily in the past for her support of edward snowden and syrian leader bashar al assad.

senators had tough questions for kennedy yesterday. kennedy is a lifelong pro-choice person on abortion. pro-choice as recently as this past summer, but says he'll support trump's anti-abortion policies. and he's made past statements about things like lyme disease, which kennedy has said previously was a bioweapon engineered by the military. there's no evidence of that, laura. the hearing continues today and we'll continue to follow. thanks so much, scott. it is 548 right now. this week it's national school choice awareness week, where you can learn more about charter schools in your area. on saturday, oakland enrolls and national school choice week will hold an informational event to learn about local charter school options in oakland. oakland enrolls will feature 13 schools. the event will have volunteers to help families fill out applications for local charter schools, and learn what school options could work best for their families. it will be at oakland unity high school at 10 a.m. northern california's best known annual golf tournament is

back, but this year you may notice some changes. we're talking about the revamped at&t pebble beach pro-am, and it still includes pros and amateurs. but the amateurs only tee off today and tomorrow and won't play through the weekend. the shift means more focus on the pros and the field, including rory mcilroy. the pace of play should be a little bit faster because there's not as many guys in the field. you're going from three courses to two courses and it it is a beautiful part of the world to spend a week watching. the world's top 50 golfers will take part, including former cal bear colin moore, morikawa, morikawa and top ranked scottie scheffler. and the celebrity field includes 49ers great steve young, condoleezza rice and soccer legend mia mia hamm. should be fun celebration in san francisco to welcome the year of the snake. look at those fireworks go! a packed chinatown last

night rang in the start of the lunarr newear. the festivities, including dragon dance performances, fireworks, and even those lucky and coveted red envelopes. it started earlier in the day with an opening ceremony at portsmouth square. that's where mayor daniel lurie joined dignitaries and community leaders to address the crowd. today, we gather as a community to honor our traditions, celebrate our culture and celebrate the opportunity of the year ahead. numerous festivities will take place in san francisco between now and february 15th. that's when the chinese new year parade will be held. well, joining for you this morning, relief in the form of music tonight. benefit concerts are being held to raise money for victims impacted by the wildfires in southern california. and both really have star studded lineups. birds of a feather. we should stick together. i know i said i'd never think i wasn't better alone. can't change the weather.

might not be forever. get ready for billie eilish tonight. the first fire aid concert kicks off at 6 p.m. at the kia forum with anderson. paak, john mayer, green day, pink and more. then at 7 p.m. over at the intuit dome, billie eilish earth, wind and fire, katy perry, lady gaga and many more will take the stage. fire aid will also be streaming live in theaterat select amc and regal cinema locations, and you can also watch on nbc news now. so a great benefit and need for the fire victims there. but what a lineup to get these. you know, sounds like billie eilish is going to be really busy tonight. yeah. no kidding. yeah yeah. but they all stepped up rather quickly. yeah. very quickly. yeah, exactly. good to see that. all right. well, weather wise looking good to. absolutely. now we definitely need some rain. we're going to get that here in the bay area going into the weekend with an atmospheric river that continues to develop

and approach. and by tomorrow we'll start to see the impacts of that as the rain starts to move into the north bay. so here we are at 8:00 in the morning, and we are seeing that rain moving into ukiah, calistoga, santa rosa and approaching san rafael. this is where we are going to see that rain continue into much of the weekend, and then eventually spreading across the rest of the bay area, but the north bay will be the target for the heaviest waves of rain coming in, but once again off and on for the bay area from friday to saturday, as well as into the rest of the weekend and early next week. we can see that the earlier forecast that were farther to the north have now since dipped to the south, which means spots like san jose could see some heavier amounts of rainfall, and then another system pushing on through from tuesday to wednesday, with another one right behind that on thursday. so next week and the start of february is looking pretty soggy here, with some of our initial forecast showing anywhere from 3 to 4in of rain

from san francisco to mill valley, it could be as much as five inches of rain from napa, santa rosa to ukiah, and then in parts of the east bay, anywhere from over an inch and a half to over two inches of rainfall in the south bay. about two inches of rainfall expected. with these storm systems coming in. and just this weekend we could see anywhere from about a foot to two feet of snow for the sierra. but then look at next week we are going to see significant amounts of snowfall here as the rain continues in the bay area that will transitioion to sn as it goes up in elevation for next week. so here's a look at our forecast. off and on. rain. there won't be rain the entire time. there will be some times we may see the sun peeking out, but it's going to be off and on. you want to keep that umbrella handy as we go into early next week, and temperatures pretty much holding steady. mike, you had a golden gate bridge. you saw a burst of traffic. we did. now we expect that as they clear activity from marin county. so i think the southbound 101

overnight construction all cleared and now everything is very smooth. it was about five minutes where we saw a ton of lights coming across. no problems, no surprises. a lot of lights here at the bay bridge. and this is because they continue to fill in lanes, build up the traffic with the metering lights on and keeping the traffic on the span moving smoothly just to slow up the incline. actually pretty pleasant approaching and on the bay bridge 37 and highway four continue to show the build. 242 seeing a little more traffic flow. so a tad bit of slowing that's typical for contra costa county. no issues for this kirker pass crash. just want you to know that it's there as you travel down through contra costa county. we're looking at alameda county. look at that. 680 moving nicely. and so is the nimitz with typical slowing south through hayward. just some brake taps as the volume builds. let's get a look at travel times coming down from vasco road out of contra costa, county down to 580. in alameda county. only 20 minutes. we're just starting to see the slowdown will build over the next half hour there. south bay that build for north 101. typical timing. i just heard about a new crash. 280 as you're

heading up toward lawrence expressway. no slowing, but i'll check on details back to you. all right. thanks, mike. well happening now. we are still awaiting an update from sunnyvale police surrounding the deadly crash. it happened along lawrence expressway around six last night. no other information is being released at this time. traffic in both directions were being diverted between homestead road and benton street for several hours. the cause of that crash is still under investigation. a really tragic morning. as we learned, there are no survivors in a plane crash out of washington, dc. ahead at 6:00, we take you there live where the sun has also risen on the scene. we're getting our first look at the aftermath and learning new details from the faa on what might have gone wrong. and as this news unfolds, don't forget nbc bay area streams 24/7. you can watch us whenever you'd like on roku or other streaming platforms. a lot more news ahead on this thursday morni. 556 you're watngch

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everyone who flies in american skies expects that we fly safely. that when y depart an

airport, you get to your destination. that didn't happen last night. breaking news right now. at six, a rescue effort turns into a recovery mission after a mid-air tragedy. a passenger plane collides with a military helicopter at washington, dc's reagan national airport. the aircraft plunged into the icy waters of the potomac river, and we now are getting our first daylight. look at the aftermath. we're live in the nation's capital, tracking new information out within the hour. this is today in the bay. and a good thursday morning to you. i'm marcus washington, and i'm laura garcia. we want to get right to that breaking news out of washington, dc. we have a live look at the potomac river, where last night, an american airlines plane collided with a military helicopter. the american eagle flight was on approach from wichita, kansas, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. we also know