jodi hernandez was the first reporter at the scene and joins us now along interstate 80 in fairfield. jodi? >> reporter: that's right, raj. for many in solano county, it felt like deja vu as dajor accident hap interstate 80 leaving the highway backed up for hours and several people injured. as again, a distracted driver is believed to be responsible. >> i'm hoping the message really gets out right now. it needs to stop. >> reporter: just a week and a half after an alleged distracted driver hit a motorcycle officer along with a driver he pulled over on i-80, officers responded to another crash on the same stretch of highway. this time a suspected distracted driver hit three cal trans highway picking up garbage along the freeway. >> uy' along the highway. >> reporter: the crash left one worker with major injuries. three others, including the driver of the wayward truck, had minor injuries. >> distracted driving is suspected, but the cause is unknown. >> it's crazy what's going on, on the road. >> reporter: drivers say they can' believe people haven't learn the after tragedy just took tw

jodi hernandez is live at the chp office with more. >> reporter: harry, this is where officer gris has been based for the past 16 years. you can see the flag is at half staff tonight as officers mourn a fallen brother. >> he wall street at the prime of hers radio. today that's what he was attempting to do. >> reporter: the chp says officer kirk griss loved keeping the highway and drivers safe, but this morning as he pulled over a car for a traffic violation, both the motorcycle officer and the 49-year-old driver were struck and killed by a wayward truck. >> there are no reasons that a driver of a third-ton truck left the main portion of the roadway, traveled onto the shoulder and truck officer griss. >> the chp says the officer is a former marine and 19-year veteran of the chp. the father of three is well known in the community. they say his 14-year-old son was at days anyland and had to be flown to the hospital by the chp. i would ask that all law enforcement personnel and the public, that they say a prayer for the officer and his family. >> reporter: this video demonstrated his drivi

people are just very distracted. >> reporter: in walnut creek, jodi h jodi hernandez. >>> an arrest in the death of a restaurant owner. these two men of oakland are accused of killing 61-year-old cindy lee. it happened outside a restaurant in april. surveillance video shows they followed her, they tried to steal her purse. she resisted. he punched her in the face and she fell and hit her head and she died a few days later. they also hit her daughter's boyfriend with a metal pipe. >>> a violent crime this morning. santa clara sheriff's deaputies say men broke into a house while the residents were inside. they are stepping up patrols of the neighborhood while they continue to investigate. >>> another associate of president trump has been granted immunity. david pecker, seen h the nation enquirer, has been granted immunity in the michael cohen case. that means he's free to testify about a hush payment to stormy daniels. in an interview with fox news, you can see that there, the president also leveled a new attack on his own attorney general. >> jeff sessions, never took control of the jus

jodi hernandez has more on the prosecutor's actions today. jodi? >> reporter: prosecutor paul gray here said this is one of the cases that sticks with you. ctr s not about to give up o costa county victims. for the past four months, contra costa county's paul graves has been pouring through the files of the rape victims, looking for a way to hold joseph d' angelo accountable. >> it's it is case that invades your soul when you get touched by the case. it's amazing another human being can do so much harm to an entire state. >> because of the statute of limitations for rape, time had expired to file charges on the 1970s cases years ago. but graves was determined to find a way. >> this is the wall of penal koeds. >> here found it by studying decades of criminal law. while time had run out on the rape charges, four of the attacks met the criteria for kidnapping and robbery which no stood ut limitations and can carry a life sentence. >> it started this process where i had this realization that we can get justice for several vehicles in the county. >> gra

. >> today in the bay's jodi hernandez is live in lakepert where people are not breathing any yeezier this morning. >> as nightfall set in, pilots race to drop as much retardant and water on the unruly mendocino complex fire before the sun went down. >> every day that we have been on this fire, it seems like there's been a new push in a different direction. >> that direction is once again threatening homes. ground crews are building dozer lines around houses. hoping to hold their ground against the fierce fire. >> we have engine crews that will be working on structure defense, where they'll take fire engines into the area and work on defending homes as well as we have bulldozers working the area that take the material down to raw dirt to help slow the fire progression. too much sentimento really leave. >> while others have been evacuated for days. john and lisa chambers say their home is threatened by both the ranch and the river fires. >> almost in the mdl right now. yeah. >> stressful. yeah, very stressful. just trying to keep a positive outlook on things. >> jodi hernandez, nbc bay

in east bay, jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >>> as the city of berkeley dealed with the fallout of another round of protests, police return to find people who turned violent. during last sunday's clash between protesters, a group of masked men vandalized 21 city of berkeley vehicles in a parking lot. investigators are pouring over videos like this one to try to figure out if they could see through the mask and who they are. try to track down the vandals. in addition, windows at the marine corp recruiting center were damaged and atms in the area. police are asking for anyone with information on any of the crimes to please give them call. 20 people were arrested last sunday, mostly for possession of banned weapons. >>> president trump wants america back in space and has a new idea for how to do it. the trump administration is working to create a sixth military branch called the space force. he announced the plan publicly seven weeks ago and argue china and russia could knock out satellite and hurt forces so the u.s. must remain competitive. the space force is confusing and senseless.

nbc bay area's jodi hernandez joins us in lake county where the fire, jodi, is just not letting up. >> reporter: unfortunately, raj, it is not. right behind us you can see one of the more than half a dozen houses that have been destroyed in this fire. interestingly enough, the house right next door is still standing, but the threat is far from over. firefighters in lake and mendocino counties are struggling to get the upper hand on two stubborn fires. the mendocino complex fires have now charred nearly 75,000 acres, fo 20,000 people from their homes. >> upper lake is threatened. some is lakeport, so is finley, kelseyville. all of those we're concerned about. >> reporter: this fire has done quite a bit of property damage. as you can see, several cars and at least seven houses have burned, but so far nobody has been killed. >> our number one goal is to save lives. that is the first and foremost priority we have, and the best way to save lives and keep people safe is to get them away from it. that's the reason for the evacuations. we're doing that so people stay alive. hters have their w

this new video just county the mendocino complex fir is ground jodi hernandez is 9atest >> rep things got really portio of lake port. what you see behind us is a it's what firefighter on the fearin most. a flair up on the river fire uninco lake port tonigh gobbli structures in its >> this was the potential that that's what happened. >> firefighter are doing all everyw >> everywhere we look, flame. >> you can see the palm trees >> we were doing a facebook live in flame. but this is not the only trouble spot. >> it's sad. >> the ranch fire is also >> we won't leave. we be fine. >> we are back here live in lake port. again, are looking at a a lot of firefighter out here tonigh trying contain these hot that is a big fear out here tonigh tonigh live lake port, jodi hernan nbc bay area news. >> it is a very active region. anothe that started late also in mendocino county, this i the eel fire near the 100 miles northeast of the cal fire said it has burned the hash tag #eel fire is you can join us and follow us o update >> firefighter can't seem to some relieve is still a few days away. >> a

nbc bay area's jodi hernandez is live in colusa county, one of the new counties under alert tonight.y have never had a fire threa been scary. take a look at just how smoky it is out here in colusa county. that's because the fire is burning just west of here. one resident told me it has been crazy to say the least. we are near the town of leesville where the fire got so close it prompted evacuations over the last couple of days. as you mentioned, the mendocino complex fire has charred 290,000 acres, making it the large est fire in california history. it is now bigger than new york city. there are mandatory evacuations in lake, mendocino and now colusa counties. the fire is berning near stoney ford. residents say they have never experienced anything like this. >> we've all been affected about it. our small town has been affected abo by it. my prayers right now are with the firefighters. >> reporter: and we are back here live. that woman, kelsey, says her own boyfriend is out on the fire line. firefighters arrived today from new zealand. they are here are all over the world to help in t

jodi hernandez. >> reporter: raj, a great first day here at dvc. that tuition break will help first n time students taking 12 units a semester. for those students it means more than a thousand dollars in savings. >> i'm excited. i'm going to major? biology. >> danielle has the freshman jitters as she starts college. today is the first day diabloan. worried sometimes. >> she got welcome news that's easing at least the financial pressure. the college district has announced first-time full-time students get free tuition this school year if they maintain a 2.0 gpa. thanks to a newly passed statewide initiative. >> the program is designed by the state to encourage new students to join us. you have to be a new college student of any age. >> it will help a lot of students be able to get the education they need that can't afford it. >> the tuition break will be a huge help especially for those who juggle a job and school. >> i was really excited. i get to go to college and my first tuition is free. i get to experience it the way it should be. >> peas is gr

jodi her n jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >>> a north bay council woman say the someone tried to blackmail her over what she wore to burning man. a message for anyone who has a problem with her outfit. >>> and clear skies this weekend, a little bit of wildfire smoke creeping back into the area. and weel atta'll take a locok a temperatures. maybe you could save energy by weaving your own shoes... out of flax. or simply adjust your thermostat. do your thing, with energy upgrade california. mcgowan" is distancing herself from a close friend you you y >>> prominent me too movement leader rose mcgowan is distancing herself from a close friend. last week, the actor accused argento of sexually assaulting him when he was a minor. she then paid him $387,000. argento denies the accusations and claims the payment was part of an extortion attempt. today mcgowan released a statement saying shy isn't affiliated with the incident. she says her friendship with argento is secondary u shy said anyone can be better, i hope you can be too. dot right thing, be honest. be fair. let justice stay its co

jodi hernandez with a lock at how they're tackling this growing problem tonight. >> reporter: walnut creek police say get ready to see a lot more distracted drivers getting pulled over here. they say enough is enough. >> there is a lot at stake over just a simple text message. >> reporter: and walnut creek police are determined to make sure drivers don't risk it all. they're cracking down on what's become a disturbing trend, distracted driving. >> i stopped you for using your phone while you drive. you can't have it in your hand at all. >> reporter: officers are out in force looking for drivers on their cell phones. >> you can't have your phone in your hand for any reason while you're driving a car. >> reporter: just attended the funeral of chp officer curt gris who along with the man he pulled over was killed by a distracted driver two weeks ago. they've made a pledge to take action. >> they came back and immediately sound out an e-mail to all of our employees and then that just started the chain of we're going to do a better job moving forward. >> reporter: in addition to pulling m

in oakland, i'm jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >>> on surveillance a girl leaving with a strangerered an amber alert on the east coast. but she's been found. jin jing ma went missing in d.c. traveling with a tour group from china. police say l bathroom and instet up with a woman, an suv. police say that when ma was previously in new york city with the tour group, a couple approached her and the couple may have been her parents. today police say they found ma safe and unharmed in new york with her family. >>> san jose airport trying to tackle a hassle for travelers. the long lines. hoping a new facial recognition system could make those lines move faster at the international terminal. robert honda joins us from sjc to tell us about the system launched quietly that could eliminate noisy complaints. robert? >> reporter: well that is right. a lot of travelers we talked to were surprised about the low key approach the airport was taking on the facial recognition system because it is sure to have an impact on some of the facial expressions we saw in line. >> i was there for almost two h

i'm jody hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> we hope all of those moments bring her some comfort in difficult times. >>> thank you. a tragic turn of events a t a trouble construction site. cal osha is investigating the death of a worker. the worker died yesterday after a fall. this comes about a week after hd against their will and forced to work for nothing. the projectsolve residential torez den -- residential towers. >>> president trump not only dug in on revoking the security clearance of john bren nan. he threatened to take away more top level clearances. he insists it's not to silence those against him. >> there's no silence. i'm giving them a bigger voice. many people don't know who he is. i like taking on voices like that. >> 13 senior intelligence officials including leon panetta have signed a statement posing the actions. the bipartisan group says security clearances should be based on national security concerns, not should eric swal run at the white house. it's circulating he is a 2020 c. hooe he's been a vocal critic of president trump and his many policies. >>> a man accused of h

here's todaya in the bay's jodi hernandez. >> reporter: for the past four months paul graves has been poring through old files, the golden state killer's rape victims looking for a way to hold joseph deangelo accountable. >> it is the kind of case that invades your soul when you get touched by the case because it's amazing that another human being could do so much harm to an entire state. >> reporter: but because of the statute of limitations for rape, time had expired to file charges on the 1970s cases years ago. but graves was determined to find a way. >> this is the wall of penal codes. >> reporter: he found it by studying decades of criminal law. while time had run out on the rape charges four of the attacks met the criteria for kidnapping for robbery which has no statute of limitations and can carry a life sentence. >> it started this process where i had this realization where yes we can actually get justice for several victims in this county. >> reporter: his work led to new charges against the 72-year-old citrus heights man for four rapes in the east bay and nine cases in sacra

>> we hope to get justice, fair, swift justice. >> that was jodi hernandez reporting. prosecutor graves is trying to figure out a way to charge the golden state killer with five more cases where the statute of limitations has also expired. >>> it put a lot of smoke in the air but a fire at tesla won't impact production. that's the view from nbc bay area sky ranger. turns out some cardboard and shipping items on their way to being recycled caught fire. elon musk later tweeted his thanks to the fremont fire department for its quick response. >>> as we kick off the weekend, the air quality is still pretty lousy outside. unhealthy air. all that smoke flooding to the north. the show goes on. high school sports, weekend parties and even giants baseball. nbc bay area's sam brock joins us on this hazy, smoky, orange friday. sam? >> reporter: all of those things, raj. the giants will be taking on the rangers tonight. we are going to play some baseball. if you look around you can see the haze sitting over everything here on the waterfront. that is something families are acutely

nbc's jodie hernandez is among those of the many who attended today's memorial and has a look at thersonal tribute. >> my dad's love was as selfless, unconditional, and reliable love. he took pride in everything he did. >> reporter: that's how officer kirk griess' daughters described the father they say they've always been proud of. hundreds gathered in vacaville to remember the 46-year-old motorcycle officer, affectionately nicknamed harley wood. >> from frosted tips on his head to the k-swiss shoes on his feet, he rocked that backstreet boy look. not only did he have the looks, but he truly was a rock star. >> reporter: but that bright personality was tragically taken one week ago, when an alleged distracted driver veered off highway 80 and slammed into griess, who had pulled over a driver for a traffic violation. both the officer and the man he had stopped were killed. >> august 10, 2018, will be a day i will never forget. i mean, how could one recover from something like this? >> reporter: one of griess' best friends, fellow chp officer and marine, ubaldo ferreira says it's a los

nbc bay area's jodi hernandez joins us in lake county where the fire, jodi, is just not letting up. >rter: unfortunately, raj, it is not. right behind us you can see one of the more than half a dozen houses that have been destroyed in this fire. interestingly enough, the house right next door is still standing, but the threat is far from over. firefighters in lake and mendocino counties are struggling to get the upper hand on two stubborn fires. the mendocino complex fires have now charred nearly 75,000 acres, fo 20,000 people from their homes. >>

jodi hernandez has been on the fire line all week.he joins us near liake port where no one is breathing any easier at this point. it's too early for that. >> yeah. definitely not breathing easy yet. this is the sixth-straight night of this fire. and firefighters are still describing as it as inferno. the conditions, as extreme. now, you can see red fire retardant that was dropped at this corner. firefighters are dropping it like crazy, doing all they can. but the firefight is far from over. as nightfall set in, pilots race to drop as much retardant and water on the mendocino complex fire before the sun went down. >> every day we're on this fire, there's a new push in a different direction. >> reporter: tonight, that direction is once again threatening homes. ground crews are building dozer lines around houses, hoping to hold their ground against the fierce fire. >> we have engine crews that will be working on structure defense, where they will take fire engines into thework on del as we have bulldozers working ,l down to raw dirt to s

jodi hernandez. >>> the burn area of the mendocino complex fire would cover much of the bay area. here's an update of the map from yesterday. the river fire stretching from san francisco all the way down to daley city and the ranch fire from richer momond to fremont. take a hook at thlook at this f. it would be big enough to cover new york city, the 14th largest stay in the u.s. also much bigger than the city of chicago in illinois. take a look at that comparison and nearly as big at entire city of phoenix, arizona. if you want to compare the fire to where you live, check out the new nbc bay area interactive map. all you have to do is type in your sozip code and the map wil overlay the fire over your house. >>> a man known for helping others is being remembered tonight. someone gunned him down while he was driving on the bay bridge. his name is daryl stin et from mesquite, texas. he ran a management company that helped artists break into the rap industry. he was driving his black suv on the bay bridge when someone pulled up and opened fire. it killed him and wounded two others in

jody hernandez, abc bay area news. >> i think a lot of people echo her sentiments for sure. >>> a reversal, and he's now praising firefighters for their efforts. >> they're risking their lives and they're doing it to contain these devastating fires. >> mr. trump addressed california's wildfire emergency during a dinner with business leaders at his new jersey golf club. the president told them he is closely monitoring the situation, and all 14,000 firefighters are battling blazes across the state. >>> new details about the search for a san ramon teenager. we learned late tonight she was found in fairfield along with another girl. police say she ran away from home. she appears to be okay and they're not revealing anymore details. the 14-year-old's family reported her missing last tuesday. >>> a new plea tonight from the parents of a missing iowa college student who grew up in oakland. she vanished after going out for a run. her father believes she be and taken her. >> if you're with molly now you obviously don't mean to hurt her, and this has gone far enough. you need to stop now and you nee

jodi hernandez, nbc bay area bay. >>> a person discovered a body floating at the base of the san mateoters launched a boat to retrieve that body. police are traying ying to figu who that man is and how he ended up there. >>> a cal fire mechanic died earlier this morning. cal fire says the man veered offer the shoulder on highway 99. his truck slammed into a tree and caught fire. the mechanic has yet to beed. this i the eighth person to die in connection to the carr fire. the fire has more than 177,000 acres and is 48% contained. >>> the road to yosemite reopened. only people who live in the park and employees are allowed back into the area. the park and surrounding areas were evacuated two weeks ago. no word on when that parkthe fe contained. further south, the holy fire marching towards lake elsinore. an enough round of evacuations under way as flames creep closer to homes in that area. the holy fire began in orange fire and already gobbled up nearly 10,000 acres as it moves into riverside county, a 51-year-old man has been arrested in connection to that fire. >>> police are working t

reporting live in fairfield, jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, jodie. new at 6:00, the search is or for the people outside a popular south bay restaurant. three people hurt and families who eat there are in shock. we have the details. >> reporter: you know what, that's right, this is definitely a very busy shopping center. we have seen kids come and go with their parents all day long. and the taqueria here is a pretty popular place to eat for folks. it's also where the shooting happened last night, leaving customers stunned. >> we received multiple calls of a shooting at that location. >> multiple calls from terrified witnesses about a shooting just outside the taqueria in south san jose last night. >> oh, my god. so terrible. >> reporter: the victims, three men who police say had just eat especially dinner here and left when they were confronted right outside by another group of men. and an argument happened. >> we believe there were four suspects. one of them pulled out a handgun and shot the three victims. >> the third pepper's injuries are not life

jodi hernandez goes on facebook live all the time with updates. you will see the stories in your news feed. >>> did you feel it? a 2.9 earthquake hit near antioch around 1010:00 this morning. we also have a real time map up on nbcbayarea.com so you can check that out, as well. >>> a violent death of nia wilson stunned a community. she was stabbed to death while at a b.a.r.t. station. bob ridell is live. >> reporter: the family of nia wilson will hold a viewing a couple of hours from now at this funeral home and have the funeral late tomorrow morning at a local church here in town. the family has hired a law firm. this firm is going to sue b.a.r.t. they say that their argument is that this murder was foreseeable and preventable. they argue, they alleged that the suspect was a fare jumping transient. they believe he entered b.a.r.t. without paying and b.a.r.t. should have recognized that and stopped him. on sunday he allegedly slashed the neck of nia wilson. the lawsuit alleges he jumped on to b.a.r.t. the next day and that next day they arrested hi

reporting live, i'm jody hernandez. >>> as we there are 16 large wildfires burning across our state. this is a huge strain on fire departments but they are ordinating and sharing resources. the crew from morgan hill is helping battle the mendocino and carr fires. san jose fire has sent firefighters to morgan hill to back fill. this mutual aid is needed more than ever. >> fire season used to be may until the end of october, then we would get a break november through april. it isn't like that anymore. the fire season is essentially year round. doesn't really >> reserve firefighters and crews that are working over time are keeping san jose fire fully staffed while the regular staff is away. >>> right now across california thousands of firefighters are working around the clock. it's racking up a huge bill. >> reporter: cal fire says there are 30,000 firefighters on the fire lines in california right now and 16 states across the country are sending help. the federal government is stepping in to help pay for those out of town fire crews as the situation gets worse. as raging wildfires in c

jodi hernandez has been out there. we learned about some folks that have been able to return back home. of course, check nbcbayarea.com for more on those stories. tomorrow we're looking at a hot 98. gusts in the fire could ramp up 15-40 miles an hour. that's the newest concern right now. a brand new red flag fire warning has been issued thursday at 5:00 p.m. until saturday at 8:00 p.m. this includes the fire burn zones all the way down to middletown. these are occasional gusts that could be 15-40 miles an hour. we'll be tracking any developments, of course. tomorrow's forecast is going to be hot inland. we still have the smoke through the day. it's just going to make it uncomfortable in concord at 95, livermore 94, smoke and haze down to san jose and morgan hill with a mix of 80s and 90s. oakland 72, san francisco 65, pao palo alto 82. when should this clear out? on my extended forecast, as the wind picks up and increases the fire danger, it should improve the smoke here once we hit friday, at least for the bay area. a