kari. yeah, that's because we are already seeing the rain here in the north bay as this storm system moves in and heavier rain off the coast that will be working its way across the bay area over the next few hours with storm ranger, we can see that there is a steady, widespread rain across the north bay, and it's starting to pick up elsewhere as well. so as the rain comes down, it just continues and gets heavier with the possibility of thunderstorms for today. some breaks in the activity for san francisco, but as you come down the peninsula into palo alto, that rain moving in soon extending over toward oakland where we are seeing some milder temperatures this morning, but still a chilly start and then going throughout the day. more rain and gusty winds in the forecast into tonight. we'll continue to take a look at this and what's ahead. but mike you're showing us changes at the bay bridge. yeah. more folks in the middle to spreading out the metering lights on. but here these dots there on t

kari, you talked about those changes coming up. so smooth drive right now into and out of san francisco. actually, across all these areas, we typically see the first slowing on highway 37. that's what we do see at mare island, right on schedule. we do have very t of the screen highway 12 and 121. there's still some local flooding there, as we've seen through some of sonoma county over the last few days. meanwhile, we still have that rig registered on 92, but no slowing across the high rise. do note that westbound down one lane mid-span the rest of the bay at speed. back to you. thanks, mike. it's 5.21. coming up next on today in the bay. nbc bay area responds. our energy bills are up. we want to help you bring them back down. i'm consumer investigator chris these are spending money on heat at a time when our budgets are already really stretched thin. no matter how many times you say, just put on a sweatshirt, right? we asked our consumer team to find ways to cut our energy bills. consumer investigator chris chmura shows us how. unf

kari is tracking it for us. it was so great to see that rain over the weekend, but it was the north bay that measured the most. probably the area that didn't really need as much of that rainfall. but we are going to see things change as we go throughout the day, even though it's cloudy and fairly dry now, later on tonigh, we'll see the next wave of heavier rain moving in and it will continue to pick up. but once again, the north bay saw the highest rainfall totals over the weekend. kentfield had five inches of rainfall and mount tam nearby had over 11.5in of rainfall. san francisco one inch, while san jose just measured a few sprinkles. we are going to see that rain picking up again later tonight, so we'll talk about that timeline coming up. mike, how are the gas prices around the bay? you know, kari as san jose continues at the top with our low with 367 at quick serve on alum rock avenue. similar price we had all last week down in the south bay. no change for the east bay low either. it's 369 in dublin for exxo

thanks, kari. we are celebrating black history month on nbc bay area and next here on today in the bay, we're going to introduce you to one local artist breaking barriers in his east bay well, we are celebrating black heritage right here on nbc bay area. and this morning we are profiling some of the people who make our area so unique, including oakland based photographer brandon ruffin. ruffin is a former east bay police officer who has poured his passion into photography. he's known for his street portraits, bringing beauty to many of the people that he meets. that became like a calling. i was like, how? how can i give everybody their dignity with this camera? now, if you want to see his work, stick around tonight, because on nbc bay area joe rosado jr has that full story is coming up tonight at 530. we'll look forward to that. well we've got a lot more ahead at 630 including we're tracking the storm damage across the bay area. the rockslide shutting down road in san francisco this morning, and th

kari. thank you. well, happening now, today, leaders in one struggling south bay school district will update families about planned closures. advisors are recommending that those closures of three schools in san jose's franklin mckinley school district. now, the schools located there are called los arbors academy, ramblewood elementary, and mckinley elementary. board members tonight will hear the full recommendation, with the final vote scheduled for next tuesday. opponents plan to hold a rally ahead of tonight's hearing, which starts at 6:00 over at bridges academy. the first monday in may is several months away, but we're getting new insight on what the theme for this year's highly anticipated met gala will be. here's a hint you might call it a men's gala this year. ahead this midday, the new announcement surrounding fashion's biggest gala and stars come together each may, showcasing lavish avant garde pieces at new york's metropolitan museum of art. well, this year's dress code theme is tailored fo

meteorologist kari hall tracking those conditions for us. and kari really sounds like anyone planning to head over there to tahoe should leave sooner rather than later. yeah, there is a little bit of a window now where we've seen a break in the rain and snow, and mike was telling me that they are screening for those tire chains on us highway 50 and 80. so we are going to have to watch out as the conditions will change very quickly throughout the day. and as of now, we are seeing not much in the way of rain or snow. but this is what's ahead over the next few days, as we go throughout the week, we are going to see up to 23in of snow for south lake tahoe and 48in of snow for kingvale. there may be even more for the northern sierra, so once again, those conditions will be changing quickly going into the afternoon as well as later on tonight. we're also going to see the rain returning for the bay area going into this evening, and it may be heavier than what we've seen over the weekend, especially for areas south of the golden gate bridge that rea

kari.l, this morning many across the bay area still cleaning up after this week's storm caused landslides and downed trees. two people, sadly, we killed in the north bay today in the bay's. bob redell joins us live. and, bob, first responders are really playing a role in trying to keep people safe. and there was a third person who could have easily not made it through this week's storms, but thankfully she did survive. good morning to you there, laura and chris. an elderly woman, she was driving her vehicle in marin county. she says her car hit a puddle. she lost control and she slid into a creek where the water was very deep. this is body cam video of a marin county sheriff's deputy breaking the window into her car. you can see that her most of her car was submerged in that creek. fortunately, the woman was able to keep her head above water long enough for that deputy to pull her out and get her back to dry land and safety. now, she was lucky. as you mentioned, there were two men who were

kari. 632 right now, in just a few hours.meni the man who killed bob lee is expected back in court for the first time since he was convicted today in the bay's ginger conejero joins us live in san francisco this morning. ginger, this is a step closer to, i would imagine, a little bit of closure for the family of bob lee. that's right. laura, you can definitely look at it that way. the murder conviction for nima momeni nima momeni came down in december of last year. so today will be the first time that this case is back in court. now it is a status hearing to set a sentencing date. so we don't expect it to last for long. but it is consequential for the families that are involved, including the family that lee has left behind. now, we were there throughout court proceedings and so was dateline, who covered this case since lee's death in april of 2023. on tonight's new episode, you will hear exclusively from investigators who worked on the case and from lee's family. christa lee was stunned. the father of her two children was go

kari. yes.aining, b it will get colder as we go into theext 24 hours with a cold front dropping in with this atmospheric river, we can see all of the widespread rain, with some pockets of heavy downpours here and there. and that's what we're expecting throughout the day. for this to continue in some spots, it gets a little bit lighter. other areas the rain is pouring down, so as we get a closer look at the north bay, it's not raining as hard in santa rosa, but we are seeing that activity picking up around vallejo. and then you move down toward richmond and hayward with a lot of yellow there. that indicates some heavier rainfall. also around fremont, with some light rain in san jose. and we're expecting the intensity of the rain to pick up going into the afternoon with a possibility of thunderstorms once this clears out, temperatures drop. tonight. we are dry for the most part tomorrow, but then a colder storm system arrives on thursday and may leave some of our bay area hills capped with some li

all right, kari, thank you. well, kari is certainly monitoring that, but our coverage continues with today in the bay. bob redell. he's over in san francisco. i know you're monitoring the rockslide there in telegraph hill neighborhood. can you talk to us about the progress with the cleanup? how is that going? well, the city hasn't even started to try to clean up this rockslide that happened last night. as you can see, it spilled out onto the street. we're on sansome street, not far from the intersection with union. this is across the street from levi's plaza. if you're familiar with this area. this is at the base of telegraph hill neighborhood here in san francisco, not far from coit tower. and what you can see there, if you can see it in the dark. this is rock that is come through the barriers here that have been set up here. this is a large base of rock. if you're not familiar with this area that's been here for obviously since the beginning of time, but what it looks like is at the base of this hill, this roc

but first, our team coverage kicks off with meteorologist kari hall. she's tracking it all, and we've seen this round of rain coming in very quickly and producing some heavy rainfall. we've already had some flood advisories for san francisco and parts of san mateo county as well. and we've seen some of the lighter rain that still continues. it's been very steady for the north bay, but we've seen the biggest impact south of the golden gate bridge over the past couple of hours, and we're still seeing the after effects of all of that rainfall. as we track it with storm ranger, we can see that it is pretty much covered with rain. all across the bay area. we had some pockets of heavier rain earlier this morning, but that has since moved off to the east, and we're still watching out for the possibility that some of these downpours may also come with some rumbles of thunder and some gusty winds. we also have a wind advisory in effect. so a lot of impacts here as we see this storm system moving in very quickly. and that widespread rain all across the bay area.

thank you kari. and you can track your weekend forecast same way kari does with storm ranger. and also our free nbc bay area app is another resource that you can have right in your pocket. type your zip code in and get a customized forecast for where you live. happening now in just moments, high school students in the south bay are expected to hold a protest opposing the federal immigration crackdown. it's happening in san jose, where the demonstrations are set to gather outside of kathleen macdonald high school in san jose. last night, our sister station, telemundo 48, spoke with the santa clara county sheriff's office second in command, about county enforcement working with the county's rapid response network for immigrants and cooperating with ice. there's a lot of community panic when they see our office, because we do wear similar colors to ice, and so we wanted to dispel some of the rumors and wanted to reassure the community that we do not work with ice. and if they have, if they start seeing ice in their neighborhoods to contact rapid response and confirm whether that

thanks, kari.nd don't forget our free nbc bay area app, a great resource to have with the weather as it changes. you can actually type in your zip code to get a customized forecast for your neighborhood. today, the san francisco board of supervisors, considering a major move to take on the city's fentanyl crisis. new mayor wants to declare a state of emergency, and he has a lot of support today in the bay's kris sanchez joins us now from the newsroom with more on what that could mean. and kris, it really could give the mayor some great power. right. and that's one of the big talking points. san francisco, with all of its beauty and charm, as we know, also known for fentanyl and the havoc that it's created on the streets. san francisco mayor daniel lurie says thatt decring a state of emergency is the fastest way to change that. so today, san francisco supervisors will hear the first reading of that ordinance, which would free up resources by giving the mayor more power in the city's budget process,

meteorologist kari hall is tracking additional storms on the way. but first, we want to go o over to nger conejero saab. she's in santa rosa for us. and, ginger, i know you spoke with at least one rescue team out there, and you saw at least one rescue taking place in that high water. i mean, it's dangerous out there for some folks. it is marcus and laura. it's been a very busy 24 hours for first responders. we're seeing a break in the rain right now. the sun is actually out. despite it still being a little chilly out. but this was preceded by hours and hours of rain that led to mandatory evacuation orders and at least three water rescues, according to sonoma county fire department this morning. i want to show you some video of one of them. this is the one that you were referencing, marcus. there was a car that stalled in the middle of standing water over in guerneville. now, locals called for help immediately, and first responders were able to safely get that vehicle to more shallow water and get the driver out of the car. now, we caught up with the

thanks, kari.an type in your zip code to get a customized forecast for your neighborhood. w because he never got it. so on another device, he typed up a note to consumer investigator chris kamara's team. brad in san francisco paid dell 685 bucks for a brand new laptop. after a few days, nothing. dell said it was lost in transit and sent brad a replacement. dell said it delivered that second laptop and sent this blurry photo as proof of delivery, but brad said he found nothing on his porch and wasn't asked to sign for delivery. so did someone steal it? maybe. maybe not. either way, brad let dell know, but it wouldn't offer him another replacement. that's when he flagged us. we contacted dell. it then successfully delivered his laptop. that's a $685 win. all right, here's what dell told us. there were delivery issues with the first two systems, which is highly unusual. and it's working with the carrier to better understand what happened. if something you ordered does not arrive, you should always con

that was julie kari reporting.e about the victims, federal investigators are pushing forward to figure out what went wrong. get all of our updates about the crash in philadelphia and the crash in washington. just download our free nbc bay area app for the latest. well, now to one of the most anticipated weather predictions of the year. look at that. we are talking about punxsutawney phil on this groundhog day. phil did see his shadow this morning, which means six more weeks of winter this year. of course, he's not always accurate, so we'll have to wait and see if he got it right this year. well, there's someone who's a little bit more accurate than punxsutawney. i think he doesn't look that happy. wait, wait, wait. you're telling me the magic groundhog doesn't really predict the weather, right? i'm sure there's someone else who is way more capable of doing that. rob mayeda day of the year? yes, but he doesn't have his ams certificate. that's true. we'll have to check on that. okay, well, we could use a little bit o

thanks, kari.t to join us for today in the bay live streaming newscast at 8 a.m, where we're talking with an expert about the impact screen time is having on some children and new data that may make you rethink your priorities. join us on roku, amazon fire tv, tv, xumo and n mmmm... planet oat's so creamy and not watery like- exactly! and unsweetened has 0 grams of sugar. and don't forget, it's an excellent source of calcium. ♪♪ wow! planet oat really has it all... you guys are so right! no you are. no you are. no you are. yeah, you are. ♪♪ ♪ steve made it happen ♪ ♪ now it's a surprise ♪ ♪ live from new york -- line?night! ♪ it's saturday night ♪ >>> we're back at 7:30. a classic "snl" skit featuring the one and only steve martin. just a legendary cast from 1990. look at the folks flanking there. >> a young rob schneider. guys, that's great. another countdown, a huge 50th anniversary special that's happening. you see the flags around the rink here at 30 rock all saying snl 50. tomorrow a firsthand

here's meteorologist kari hall.g through the bay area, and we will continue to clear out as we go throughout the day. a look at our high temperatures that will be about the same today and tomorrow, reaching into the mid to upper 50s, as well as a lot of sunshine in the forecast, but it will be cold in the overnight hours and there will be frost advisories for the bay area and freeze warnings for the north bay valleys. and then after that cold start, we see a nice recovery on sunday. look for highs in the upper 50s. and this is going to be what we see, at least into the middle of next week before the next storm system comes in. it will be nice to have some dry weather in time for our weekend. we'll take a look at that extended forecast coming up in the next 30 minutes. thanks, kari. this week's storms were deadly in the north bay. two men died in separate incidents. one in calistoga, one in sebastopol. now, people across the bay area are trying to clean up and get ready for next week's storms, as nbc bay area's bob r

thanks, kari.are flooded after rising waters from both the russian and the napa river. ginger conejero saab joins us now from santa rosa, where there was at least one rescue. well, there is a break in the rain now, but this was preceded by hours and hours of heavy rain, which led to mandatory evacuation orders last night and at least five water rescues this morning, including this one. we want to show you this video of a car that stalled in the middle of standing water in guerneville. locals called for help immediately, and first responders were able to safely get to the vehicle and get it to shallow water and get the driver out of the car safely. we caught up with that driver after she got evaluated by paramedics. were you a little shaken up? oh yeah, there was it was coming to my doors. just that there was no flooding signs. okay. yeah. so anyway. thank you. yeah. i'm fine, thank you. our county roads crews are doing the best they can to get signs out there, but there's just many, many roads that

i'm meteorologist kari hall. on southward into the east bay. and we are seeing this really causing some issues with the morning commute. this will continue throughout the day with waves of heavy rain and possibly some thunderstorms. be on the lookout for some street floodin, and we could see some lingering showers at least into early weather. >>> can we get a sneak peek, just a little? >> our friend elton john revealed he's cooked up a new album with his friend, brandi carlile, called "who believes in angels." they did a behind-the-scenes video. it's like a documentary. 20 days in a studio in los angeles. they recorded the entire writing and recording process of this record together, and to say tensions were high in the studio is an understatement. take a look. >> i had a lot of doubt. it was a nightmare. >> dude. i'm just trying to make the song as best it can be. >> angry. i was tired. i was irritable. it's a nightmare. >> it prompted moments of insecurity where the stakes are high. >> there was tension in the

thanks, kari.l talk about the help available for people concerned about the f >>> it's 8:00 on "today." >>> it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, heating up. overnight china strikes back, imposing new tariffs on american made products. just ahead, the items that will cost you more amid new fears of a broader trade war. >>> then, growing concerns. inside the new studydy reveali the dangers of microplastics and the alarming amount found inside people's brains. coming up, why the levels are rising so fast and what it means for your health. >>> then, flying high. >> what's your dream? >> probably going to an eagles game. >> meet the 8-year-old eagles fan who got the surprise of a lifetime while capturing the hearts of millions. >> everything is free. >> this morning, he's here live. and the surprises are just beginning. >>> all that, plus blake is back. >> is that blake's voice? >> we're shaking things up. >> grimace! >> hello, boys. i'm back. >>> and where is beyonce kicking off her new tour? ♪ this ain't

kari.ut with some light rain from the peninsula to the east bay, and we're also going to see it picking up in intensity going into this evening, starting in the north bay around 3 to 4:00, but then starting to see that rain pushing into the rest of the bay area late tonight into early tomorrow. and there may be some pockets of heavy rain where we are expecting the potential of some street flooding, as well as rising rivers and creeks. we'll be watching all of that with dry weather on wednesday. laura. thanks, kerry. don't forget to join us for our today in the bay live streaming newscast at 8 a.m. we'll do a deep dive on the potential impact from the new tariffs, as one expert breaks down how it could impact your bottom line. join us on roku, amazon fire tv and streaming platforms including mmmm... planet oat's so creamy and not watery like- exactly! and unsweetened has 0 grams of sugar. and don't forget, it's an excellent source of calcium. ♪♪ wow! planet oat really has it all... you guys

thanks, kari. parts of the bay area are already getting impacted by all this rain.o saab joins us from santa rosa. it is really starting to come down here in santa rosa after not so much heavy rain this morning. this is the heaviest we've definitely seen and felt this morning. we're on montgomery drive, about ten minutes away from downtown santa rosa. and i want to point your attention to the side of that hill. that's part of the villa, bar and restaurant. you can see that is where three large boulders slid down the side of that hill and fell onto montgomery drive earlier this morning. this is just how big those boulders were. one of the workers from santa rosa's public works and streets department estimated the largest one to measure around two cubic yards. that's why workers had to jackhammer and drill into the boulders to break it up into smaller pieces, before scooping them into clearing trucks. now, fortunately, no one was hurt with this incident. there was also no reported damage resulting from this rock slide. there were also no injuries in another incident t

kari, champion, it's always so wonderful to see you. thank you. >> so much. thank you so much. good to see and congratulations. >> thank you. >> i appreciate it. >> over to you, mr. john. >> all right. breaking just moments ago, the jobs report matt egan is here. up, down. better or worse than we thought. what's going on? >> worse than we thought. we knew that the jobs market was going. >> to. >> slow down at the start of this year. it slowed a bit more than we expected. 143,000 jobs added in january. now, that's not a bad number overall, but it is noticeably slower than the gangbusters growth we saw at the end of last year. december's job growth was actually revised higher to 307,000 jobs. so this is less than half that pace. we saw the unemployment rate, though tick lower, went down to 4%, which is obviously a good sign. and when we look at the pace of job growth here, you can see again there was this acceleration at the end of last year and then a slowdown here in january. now we also know there were some one time factors going on there right. we had the l.a. wildfires that

meteorologist kari hall is timing out the impact for your commute.weather

meteorologist kari hall is tracking where the rain is now and how long it's expected to stick around. well, as we typically see with atmospheric river, sometimes it can move up and down the california coastline while blasting all of that rainfall along the coastal areas and into the hills and mountains. it has now since lifted to the north. and so we're getting a bit of a break, with the exception of the north bay, where we have seen some light showers here and there. but overall we are seeing some cloudy skies and some hit or miss showers as we track it with stormranger. that's our mobile doppler radar. you can also see what stormranger is scanning as you look at the nbc bay area app. and then we're going to see the rain picking up as that atmospheric river starts to dip back into the bay area. later on this evening at 10:00. most of us are getting some rain, but it looks like it gets heavier during the overnight and into early tomorrow morning, and in spots in parts of the south bay where we didn't get so much rain over the weekend. this may be the focus for some of those heavier do

i'm meteorologist kari hall.oving through. once we see the rain clearing this afternoon we are in for some dry but chilly weather this weekend, and watch out for some frost in those early mornings with some freezing temperatures in the weather. >> all right, sir. thank you. >>> coming up next, a big super bowl pep rally. super fans in kansas city. super fans in philly. showing off their team spirit to get you ready for the big game. but, first, this is "today" on nbc. is "today" on nbc. i bought the team! kevin... ? i bought the team! i put it on my chase freedom unlimited card. and i'm gonna cashback on a few other things too... starting with the sound system! curry from deep. that's caaaaaaaaash. i prefer the old intro! this is much better! i don't think so! steph, one more thing... the team owner gets five minutes a game. alright, let's go then. ahaha! cash brothers! yeah! cashback like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase, make more of what's yours. (♪♪) >>> i don't need a reason to

we had an ra with a helicopter traffic below us for kari 4514. as investigators search for answers, so are the families of the victims. it's like you see these things happen in the news. you see them happen in other countries. karma raza married his college love, ashraf hussain, just two years ago. now he's planning her funeral. life is short. hug your loved ones. tell them you love them. 67 families unable now to share that hug that message with brothers, sisters, moms and dads who won't be coming home. and the ntsb is providing updates on the investigation, as well as grief counseling and hotel accommodations for many of the families of the victims who have traveled here. jay gray, nbc news national airport. all right. thank you very much, jay. and, of course, we're going to have coverage of the crash later in this newscast. also, lester holt will report from the nation's capital, taking a closer look into questions that have been raised about air traffic safety and protocols. president trump says that he will impose tariffs on canada, mexico a

kari gutierrez is with the nonprofit unity council. this is video from their website. unity council has head start programs both in oakland and in concord. she tells me many local organizations experienced a one day funding freeze that did not impact their head start programs, but created a huge panic. they have since regained access to that money, but she says her organization and others are now scrambling to look for other sources in case federal funds, for whatever reason, are held up. if the trump administration has said, hey, head start is not a part of this freeze, why are there still nerves? why are people still scared? hisis brand is just very targeted around, you know, not prioritizing communities of color, communities from underserved backgrounds. while this was just a scare. we are preparing for the worst. i reached out to the u.s. department of health and human services that oversees head start. we asked about the funding delays, including the one day issue experienced here. i have not heard back yet. so even though we are hearing reports of impacts to head

continue to check with kari. she'll be here and mike. but we see that line of storms just continuing there as we go on into the evening commute tuesday overnight hours. and it just keeps coming. so really enjoy that break today where you can find it, because those totals could start to ramp up. and look at that. we highlight more areas in those oranges and yellows. so it's going to be a pretty active pattern as we go on through this week. we're looking at totals really highlighting and going off of our legends there up into the north bay. so we're going to keep talking about those concerns of seeing maybe some flooding issues over the next couple of days. fingers crossed for our precious bay area. all right, anthony cinthia anthony, thanks. i think because i'm about to introduce anthony flores, maybe i merged your two names. much more ahead. coming up, anthony flores with two of the nba's biggest stars being traded. it is shocking. a blockbuster deal that sending luca to la and anthony davis to the lone star gold bond believes touch says

meteorologist kari hall is on duty at the doppler radar. thunderstorms as we go into late morning, into the afternoon, and this will continue into the evening as well. kind of tapering off to some spotty activity. but still, that chance of thunderstorms and the risk of flooding, mainly in the north bay, will continue. we are still looking at the possibility of the russian river, guerneville rising very quickly, but then we start to see the weather and the wet conditions tapering off by tomorrow morning into the afternoon, and then we will catch a break going into the weekend. but still a lot of concerns for today with the saturated ground and quite a bit of heavy rain already. we will be tracking a look at the next storm system and how long this break will last. coming up in the 7-day forecast, the recent storms have turned deadly. nbc bay area's ginger conejero saab joins us now from santa rosa, where officers say they found a body this morning. officials confirmed there are two storm related deaths here in sonoma county. we are at one of

kari. you're the best. yeah. we're cooking a little breakfast burritos this morning.reakfast tacos. we've got a we've got some chorizo going. we've got some hash browns, we've got scrambled eggs. and since the sun came up, we added some brats to the mix as well. so it's never really too early for a tailgate. and especially especially here in new orleans where they've been having a big time all week. it's just been a very cool scene, to be honest. a lot of people coming down, so many people that come here don't really care about either team,'t but want to be a part of the experience and experience new orleans as well. and so they are coming through. look, my stuff's blowing all over the place. i'm going to start a fire. and so they're just having a great time here and will continue to i would assume, through kickoff. i think if you talk to some people last night over in the french quarter, they said, what game? there's a game here, but there is a game just behind us here. and as you talked about, it should be a really good one. we should see the chiefs and eagles play

right, to grab attention, to try to say things that are outrageous, to be trollers from people like kari oz and others. all of them lost, though, and they seem to be following this model that should in some ways work given it's worked for trump. why do you think that is? >> this is one of the most interesting unanswered questions of the trump age, which is that trump has figured out that even negative attention is still attention, and dominating attention is all that matters. my theory on this is this you can only act like trump if you are authentically, that pathologically dependent on attention, because there's something about trump and his desire for attention that is authentic. it is what animates him. he is not faking it. he needs it all the time. if you try to pretend to be that person, it doesn't work like there's some level of inauthenticity that ends up coming back to bite those candidates. and so this sort of question about, you know, democrats, i think, tend to think and, you know, you worked in comms, right? like if the option is i'm going to get a lot of negative attention o

find, the hiring freeze should not prohibit them from continuing to search for and if they can find a kari-- a cardiologist to sign them up. i think you will distinguish -- i hope you will distinguish between direct care workers and others who serve veterans behind the scenes. mr. collins: no matter what the issue is, i will fight for making sure our veterans are getting care in the proper way. sen. king: final point, one of the things you are going to have to face is increasing demands for mental health services and long-term care. long-term care is our veterans age is going to become a greater issue. the elizabeth dual act starts to address that, but i commend that to your thought process. perhaps you can have people thinking about this. how are we going to provide those services that are going to become more and more necessary as time goes on? mr. collins: i appreciate the things they're already keeping me up at night -- i preached you giving me more. sen. king: i commend you for your participation this morning. chair moran: let me just try to wrap up my thoughts and questions to you. i