. >> talking exclusively with a's president dave calf kaval. >>> the pick change on twitter. no more blue check marks without paying. elon musk following through on his verification purge. >>> you've seen them, wind turbines spinning up energy. how much of the power do they actually supply? the evolution of wind energy next. >>> good evening. thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. >>> it is undoubtedly a major blow to oakland and a gut punch to fans. the city facing the likelihood that this evening it will be losing its last major professional sports team. the a's announced the team is in negotiations with las vegas and have even committed to buying land for a new ballpark. we have been here before. three years after oakland lost the raiders to vegas as well. velena jones is in oakland with the announcement. now what happens? >> reporter: they say there's no crying in baseball, but after losing two major teams and a third one on the way out, the city says they are extremely disappointed. the mayor adds she didn't even know the a's were entertaining

we have an exclusive tv interview with the a's president, dave kaval. what went down and why the a's pulled the plug on oakland. the big loser, the fans. >>> also, chaperones needed. the new policy at great america that no longer allows young teens to spend the day at the park without an adult. >>> a smoke-filled celebration in san francisco. live to san francisco where people crammed in to light up for 4/20. >>> the news at 5:30 starts right now. >> i'm raj mathai. >> i'm janelle wang. >>> last night, the bombshell announcement, tonight, the explanation and the anger. the a's have one cleat out the door. >> the a's say they're heading to las vegas. they plan to build a $1.5 billion retractable roof ballpark there off the vegas strip. so what happened here behind the scenes? the team has been pushing hard, we know, for that new ballpark along the waterfront at howard terminal. the process was simply moving too slow. the city has been in negotiations with the a's for years, but late last night the team announced it's pulling out of negotiations with oakl

the a's president dave kaval came out to try and explain his decision. he says after decades of back and forth with the city, they reached their wits' end. >> we know this is a difficult day for our fans and it's a sad day. but by the same token. this has been a 25 year saga. we're at a point now where our current facility is ten years past its useful life. we need to find an alternative that works. and we have a path in las vegas that can put the franchise on solid footing. >> that was a's president dave kaval. so what's next at the coliseum site? mayor thousand says that's really up in the air, the city owns about half that site. in february officials announced an exclusive negotiating agreement to sell the city's stake to a group to try to bring in a retail development and a wnba team to the comp but a'still e ofthat . gaming but i rather go into building my own and creating my own games. >> and bringing diversity to the gaming industry. how a local club is trying to change the status quo. >>> but first, stick with us to check out one of the most stun

dave cavill. raj mathai talked exclusively with kaval to find out. kaval said negotiations went on for too long and he shared why vegas is such a draw to the team. >> we've been on parallel paths for about two years, looking at oakland, doing everything we can to make that happen, looking at las vegas as another option. and we're really at the point now where we needed to make a hard decision. with the timeline challenges in oakland, this was really an action that we felt necessary to put the franchise on stable financial footing. >> it's $1.5 billion in vegas. that stadium right there, the retransactable stadium off the strip. you want the nevada taxpayers to chip in $500 million. then the a's would take care of remaining $1 billion. why would this be a good idea to the people in nevada? >> one of the dynamics in nevada is they have so many tourists and incremental visitors. and so it's a lot easier to create a positive roi to invest in these buildings like they did with allegiant stadium. over 800,000 incremental visitors come because of that stadi

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their owner, john fisher, doesn't give any public interviews, so i spoke with a's president dave kaval for his only on-camera interview since this news broke last night. this is a gut punch for thousands of a's fans and really just community members. simple question to start off. why do this? >> you know, we've been working almost 20 years as an organization to find a permanent home for the a's. it's been a very long saga. we have a deadline for major league baseball of january of next year, and we really are at the point where we needed to find a path that we could achieve success on that timeline. and that's why we moved forward with the land purchase in las vegas this week and are moving forward with the relocation process. >> i don't know if you saw the news conference a while ago. mayor thao visibly upset. she said you pulled out of this deal midway in the negotiations. she said she was blindsided. can you confirm that or clarify? >> we spent six years, over $100 million investing in trying to make our unbelievable waterfront plan a reality. we want to thank obviously libby schaaf

but team president dave kaval called the mayor yesterday. she says to let her know the a's are purchasing a 49 acre site right near the vegas strip. and here's a look at where that land is. well, that checked out. but the land is right near tropicana avenue. here we go. this is the a's proposed ballpark site west tropicana avenue right here close to interstate 15. you see here and it's right next door basically to where the las vegas knights play the nhl team that move there a few years ago. and the a's new ballpark would be mere blocks. this is the raiders home. the now las vegas raiders who wants, of course, shared coliseum space with the a's in oakland, mayor pressing her disappointment and today's press conference. >> instead of working with us. they have announced a land deal in another city. and i want to be very clear. this announcement happened. mid negotiations and it shows that they had no interest in reaching a deal with oakland at all. oakland is not interested and being used as leverage in the 80's negotiations with las vegas. a

there has been a years long multi with the city of oakland and the a's president dave kaval says the deal with vegas was just finalized. there's a 49 acre site. they're going to be building on it. it's a a new stadium that will be close to the vegas strip. yeah. so in their statement, the team said that they and you can see it there. they realize that this is a difficult day for the oakland fans and community. they go on to say that they are disappointed that there will not. >> be that waterfront ballpark out at howard terminal that they had been working hard to try and get. but now they're shifting their focus to vegas. oakland, mayor sheng tao released a statement saying that she is. >> disappointed the a's have decided not to negotiate with the city and she says, quote, in the last 3 months we've made significant strides to close the deal. yet. it is clear to me that the a's have no intention of staying in oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of las vegas. the fans and our residents deserve better. >> well, capital says the team hopes

oakland a's president dave kaval says that. the deal was finalized last week.w about 49 acres just off the strip are going to build that brand new stadium. >> kabul says that the team is hoping to break ground on the 35,000 seat stadium by next year. and they would be playing there in 2027. oakland's mayor sheng tao released a statement saying she's disappointed that the a's have decided not to negotiate anymore and has reactions continue to come in. we're going to follow the breaking news story throughout the morning. going to be a lot of strong feelings about the a's now leaving town and leaving oakland with no more. >> professional sports teams. that's the for. >> all right, 7.32 is the time. let's also talk about the fact that thousands of people are going to be. >> gathering for the annual cannabis festival at hippie hill because today is for 20 forgot about the date until we started doing these live shots. concours michael thomas is up for getting his in san francisco. >> we've got for getting at now to see how the morning progressed. maybe later i go. he

. >> oakland a's president dave kaval says the deal with vegas was finalized last week. they're going b49 acre site where the a's plan to build that stadium close to the vegas strip. in their statement, the team goesbon to say they realize this is a difficult day for oakland fans and the community and they say they're disappointed that they were not able to achieve a waterfront ballpark in oakland and that they are shifting their focus now to vegas. oakland, mayor sheng tao also released a statement saying that she is disappointed that the a's have decided in her words not to negotiate with the city. she says, quote, in the last 3 months we've made significant strides to close the deal. yet it is clear to me that the a's have no intention of staying in oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of las vegas. i'm not interested in continuing to play that game. the fans and our residents deserve better. carol says that the team is hoping to break ground on that 35,000 seat stadium by next year. >> and that they'll be playing there.

president dave kaval reportedly called oakland's mayor sheng tao wednesday to announce the move. the move she says felt like a stab in the back. >> instead of working with us. they have announced a land deal in another city. and i want to be very clear. this announcement happened. mid negotiations and it shows that they had no interest in reaching a deal with oakland at all. oakland is not interested and being used as leverage in the 80's negotiations with las vegas. and it disrespectful to our residents and our fans to stream the city along this way. >> for fans in oakland, it will be a 560 mile journey to see the a's. now. >> the fans that suffer and to think about. hundreds of millions of fans that have gone to those games since the 60's. >> the a's are the last pro teams left in oakland. kron 4. sarah stinson has the details. >> so it is a gut punch of significant nature. lish served as an executive for the a's for over a decade in the 80's and 90's. he liked legions of the team's fans are reeling after plans were revealed. >> the mlb team may be buying land in las vegas. man

. >> so a's president dave kaval that after negotiations with th city they have reached their wits end. >> it is a sad day for the fans but by the same token it has been a 25 year saga. our curren facility is 10 years past its useful life. we need to find an alternative that works, and we have a path in las vegas that can put the franchise on solid footing. >> here is some a's history. they played their first game in 1968 after moving from kansas city, winning the championship in oakland four years later in 1972 and going on to win three titles in a row. in 1989 the a' squared off against the san francisco giants and the bay bridge series that was famously interrupted by, yes, the loma prieta earthquake. as for what's next of the coliseum site, it is up in the air. the city owns half the site. in february, officials announced a exclusive negotiating agreement to sell the city's stake to a group trying to bring a retail development and a wnba team to the complex. but the a's still only other 50% share of the site. >>> still ahead, tonight antioc police department are facing ne problems

president dave kaval has miley attended to other pressing county matters actually called a couple of days ago just to kind of check in with them per chance. and i did not realize what the news is going to be another day or 2, though. he says it does not come as a complete schock, adding that he believes the a's negotiated in good faith with the city to build a new ballpark at howard terminal just been so many. we raise it so false starts to achieve that for different reasons that i can't at the moment. lady a's moving on. i really can't. miley who has had a decades long relationship with the a's dating back to his time in the 90's on the oakland city council says he hopes the team city and county can part ways on good terms. if the team does eventually secure all of the financing and other requirements to build a new stadium in nevada. >> he would be willing to extend the a's lease at the coliseum which expires at the end of next year to make that happen as opposed to everybody getting. >> i'm angry and upset and bonded over this and let's try to have a good transition and then also

. >>> nbc bay area exclusively spoke with a's president dave kaval, who defended the team's plans.atch the interview at nbcbayarea.com. click the link in the trending bar. >>> masks are once again required at a north bay hospital after a covid outbreak. kaiser permanente in santa rosa reinstated the mask mandate yesterday. this after a dozen doctors and patiens got covid this past week. staff and visitors must wear masks for the foreseeable future. >>> in honor of earth day today, the east bay regional parks district is doing several cleanups that you can be a part of. you can see the list on your screen of cleanup locations throughout the parks district. they will also have planting projects. if you'd like to attend, register on the east bay park district's website. and we have an entire section on our website dedicated to fighting climate change. go to nbcbayarea.com and click on the climate in crisis tab in our home page. of course, events across the bay area today celebrating earth day. >>> we're going to take you now to a live look at palisades, tahoe. looks like a painting. i

president dave kaval reportedly called oakland's mayor sheng tao yesterday to announce the vegas move. the move she says felt like a stab in the back. >> this announcement happened mid negotiations and it shows that they had no interest in reaching a deal. >> with oakland at all, it disrespectful to our residents and our fans to stream the city along this way. >> yeah. meantime, oakland a's team president dave capital is expressing excitement over the purchase saying that he is hoping to break ground on the new ballpark in the next year with its opening on in 20 20th. >> we've been greeted from the first day with open arms in las vegas. people have been so positive can do to make this happen. helping us through the site selection market feasibility. and so all these things have contributed to us feeling that there's a great path in southern nevada a relocation and for the team to have success. >> well, this news certainly comes as a gut punch. the diehard a's fans, the a's of the last pro sports team left in oakland kron 4 sarah stinson joins us now live in the studio with more on how

the a's president dave kaval says that this deal with las vegas was finalized last week.y are buying a 49 acre site where they will build a stadium close to the vegas strip. yeah. he says the team hopes to break ground on this 35,000 seat stadium by next year. and then. >> be playing it by 2027 oakland mayor sheng tao released a statement saying that she's disappointed that the a's will no ltnger be negotiating with the city. and as reaction continues to come in, we'll keep you updated. we know that the mayor has scheduled a 10, 30 press conference. our cameras will be there and we'll share her comments with you throughout the day. so stay tuned. >> it's 9.31 and also happening today. it is april 20th. does that mean anything to you? what if i said for yes. the annual celebration out in golden gate park. the cannabis festival where pre show and appreciate things. cannabis. you've got to have to know the code to know you were. 21. it means very historic. started run county and the golden gate park celebration is annual kron four's michael thomas is live there what's going

but those apparently came to an abrupt abrupt close a's president dave kaval reportedly called oakland's mayor sheng tao yesterday to announce the move, a move that she says felt like a stab in the back. >> instead of working with us. they have announced a land deal in another city. and i want to be very clear. this announcement happened. mid negotiations and it shows that they had no interest in reaching a deal with oakland at all. oakland is not interested and being used as leverage in the 80's negotiations with las vegas. and it disrespectful to our residents and our fans to stream the city along this way. >> if the deal takes place said it appears it will. for fans in oakland, it will be a 560 mile long journey. >> to the sea man's that suffer and to think about. hundreds of millions of fans that have gone to those games since the 60's. >> of course, the other said part of all of this, the a's are the last pro sports. same left in oakland. kron 4 sarah stinson joins us here in the studio tonight with more reaction. sarah? >> yeah, i think we're all pretty heart broken right now. the

president dave kaval. >> has miley attended to other pressing county matters but says he reached out a few days ago to check in on the team's plans to build a new ballpark at howard terminal and had no indication the a's had already signed a binding agreement to purchase land in las vegas and move the team to the desert, though he says it does not come as a complete shocked. the a's are looking at their options. we all knew they're looking options so you can be. >> it was a naive enough. i think if they can strike a deal, a business decision relative to what works best, that's for them. they would that they would strike that miley who has had a decades long relationship with the a's dating back to his time in the 90's on the oakland city council. >> says he hopes the team city and county can part ways on good terms. if the team does eventually secure all of the financing and other requirements to build a new stadium in nevada. he would be willing to extend the a's lease at the coliseum which expires at the end of next year to make that happen. we could potentially be looking at exten