our own raj mathai is live with more and the big upset on theve. plus -- >> masks continue to be a critical part of these layered prevention strategies. >> the fight against covid. top health officials issuing a new warning about the delta variant now that dominant strain is in the country. the measures some california cities are taking to slow the spread and the renewed debate over masks. >>> raging on, the big impact wildfires here are having on air quality on the east coast. meteorologist kari hall tracking the conditions in the frontline forecast. this is "today in the bay." is. >>> good morning to you. we're broadcasting to your television and streaming live on nbcbayarea.com. i want to say a good morning to 'maura garcia. >> first, the olympics, they are now under way. after a year long with those delays over concerns, some athletes are playing ahead of the opening ceremonies. ♪♪ raj mathai is in tokyo. 10:00 p.m. their time. we're ready to say good night to him. with everything happening there, there's already an olympic surprise overnight?

reporting from tokyo, i'm raj mathai. the raj has landed.e for all things olympics. raj is hosting several olympic specials from the bay area to tokyo. they air this coming thursday, at 4:00 and 7:00. and then, friday, the day of the opening ceremony, there is a special at 1:00 in the afternoon. i tell you, after all the tock, you know, we were building up to it last summer and it got cancelled. now, it's here and raj is actually there. >> yeah. >> now, it's real. now, it's real. >> and i bet he is missing our cool breeze. warm wind coming in off the ocean. it feels more like new orleans with the warm waters there. near the coastal areas of japan. and speaking of weather, we are going to be watching it closely around here as we go through the day tomorrow. right around this time tomorrow night, we will likely be dodging a few showers and the threats of lightning. we will talk more about that, in a moment. right now, 65 degrees, san jose. kind of mild out right now. livermore, 69 degrees. it's going to be warmer tonight and more clouds on app

. >>> i'm raj mathai live in tokyo. we'll be joined by one of the most famous men in america and new developments regarding simone biles. we'll see you in a few minutes live in japan. >>> and it is friday and a good morning to you as we're broadcasting over the tv waves as well as live streaming online at nbcbayarea.com. want to say a good morning to you and thank for making us part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. we'll check in with mike with a look at the morning drive just head. the morning forecast with kari. >> looks pretty good. getting ready to head out the door in the east bay in pleasant hill, temperatures in the low 60s. it's going to clear out quickly and heat up quickly. we'll reach into the mid 80s with some of our afternoon highs reaching up to 96 in concord, livermore, still cool near the coast. we'll talk about the weekend forecast in a few minutes. >> thanks so much. sounds good. >>> 6:01. quoting here, we must acknowledge the war has changed. that's a direct quote from a st

you can stay up to date on all things olympics by following raj mathai. he's going to be on "today in the bay" all this week. so make sure you tune in. so when you wake up you get all the information you need to know about the olympics before you get to watch. >> exactly. start your day with being in th in sports all-female announcing crew called major league baseball. >> this happened on youtube last night as the tampa bay rays took on the baltimore orioles. it was the first time that five female broadcasters took charge of the coverage before, during, and after the game. they actually were surprised by all of the attention. >> because this is our job, this is what we do. and i think because we were getting so much attention and pulled in so many different directions before the broadcast, i sent a little text down to everyone and said, just remember, you're here because you love the game and that's what fans want to see, the joy you have for the sport that they love. >> earning that spot. that's what i'm talking about. you can watch more on the "today" s

reporting in tokyo, i'm raj mathai. >> we hope that she's doing okay.>> the g.o.a.t. >> we'll continue to follow that and revisit raj again live in tokyo. >>> in the meantime here at home we're talking about the humidity in the air. there's some rain on the radar as well. let's bring in meteorologist kari hall tracking it for us. >> our mobile doppler radar is the red scan you're seeing there and some isolated light showers right there along the coast in parts of the santa cruz mountains. so far most of us waking up to dry roads and also dry skies. but look at all of the rain that's to the east of us as well as to the west and some thunderstorms to the north. so i'm tracking all of this keeping an eye on our chances of getting lightning. >>> a disturbing discovery in the east san jose foothills. arson investigators there are looking into a fire at a home where one person found dead inside. >> "today in the bay's" kris sanchez joins us live with what investigators are telling her this morning. kris? >> reporter: good morning to you, laura and marcus. so

. >> raj mathai is live in tokyo. everyone talking about what happened in the last 24 hours or so. simone biles really front and center here. >> reporter: it is amazing. yesterday at this time we were talking about biles pulling out of the overall team competition and now this wednesday you might be waking up to this news. simone biles saying she won't compete tomorrow. that's the individual all around. so a lot happening in tokyo. it is a good wakeup call for those not paying attention to mental health. it is naomi osaka, as well. kevin love. not just high profile athletes but every day athletes. a parent of a little leaguer there's stress in every level. as for simone biles listen to what she had to say about what's happening here in tokyo. >> thank you so much >> thank you. >> reporter: behind the scenes without the lights and cameras jordan and grace fresh off the team silver medal asked not only about simone biles and own dealings with pressure and mental health. >> we are human. we are not just athletes. we have things to deal with at home or even in our daily lives. >> tripl

good evening, thank you for being with us, i am raj mathai. >> i am janelle wang.a is a hurricane ugraded in the past hour. it will make landfall. it is all quiet right now but you can see those dark storm clouds. take a look at the radar, elsa is barrelling up the west coast of florida.

we saw raj mathai with his jacket on.ally, really sticky. >> it is going to stick around for tomorrow. i checked the radar in tokyo. yeah, they got hit hard, it is moving off to the north. they have gotten a little bit of everything there across tokyo. >> we'll get you into our micro climate forecast. let's start it off tomorrow morning, just in case you were not keeping track for some reason. yes, it is friday. let's go ahead and get you ready to go. we'll start off with the mild side. 64 over the south bay and 65 for the tri-valley. east bay coming in with some low 60s, san francisco. that's going to be the one spot where we do have a little bit of fog flowing in and 57 degrees and 59 at the north bay. daytime highs tomorrow, i don't see any big adjustment because the weather pattern is stagnant. 87 in milpitas. morgan hill at 92. the spot is right here the bay tomorrow. oakland to fremont. 70s to 80s. back towards the in land valley. this may be a little too hot for you. 97 in antioch. we do have some changes coming up

cheering them on with the white house lit up in red, blue and white, and we are live from tokyo with raj mathai, and raj, it happened. >> it happened. every time i hear the song from john lennon "imagine" it gets me every time. what a nice tone. and in the pandemic, not many of rus certain to let down the guard, but we should follow the athletes with the joy on their faces to have everyone celebrate the olympics safely. >> reporter: this is a call for unity an invitation from the host nation japan. from the floor of the stadium to the 1,800 drones up in the sky. but what you didn't see on tv was the athletes' perspective. san jose's nickel omar, and all of them feeling the gravity of the moment, and big smile from draymond green mixed in with mischief. ♪ happy birthday ♪♪ >> he organized a birthday song for teammate kevin durant, but the only problem is that it was not k.d.'s birthday. we did see some protesters, but nothing to dampen the start of the olympics. k.d. was not smiling, but the team usa athletes were having a good time come out of the tunnel. and the strategy for the next 16 days,

. >> we are our station, our own raj mathai will be on the ground in tokyo. he'll bring you all the highlights. dream big and work hard and never give up. >> write your goals down. >> yes! >> those are all good. >> i am going to write mine down as soon as you go to weather. >> let's get right to it. >>> we do have some great weather with us today. that's going to continue. the thing we had lately has been the fog. i wanted to show you as we head out the door tomorrow, it is going to be a lot thicker and a lot more widespread, all the way to the north bay,' bay and the south bay with those drizzles. keep your eye up there. most of us getting in on the sunshine. it will be kind of stubborn tomorrow. you can see 1:00 tomorrow afternoon, san francisco continues to get that fog. all of this means that we'll start off on the cool side and not too many differences here across my microclimate tomorrow. san francisco coming in with 52 and north bay at 52. san francisco 55. daytime highs tomorrow with that cool ocean breeze at our back is going to be another day with b

our own raj mathai is live with more and the big upset on theve.> masks continue to be a critical part of these layered prevention strategies. >> the fight against covid. top health officials issuing a new warning about the delta variant now that dominant strain is in the country. the measures some california cities are taking to slow the spread and the renewed debate over masks. >>> raging on, the big impact wildfires here are having on air quality on the east coast. meteorologist kari hall tracking the conditions in the frontline forecast. this is "today in the bay." is. >>> good morning to you. we're broadcasting to your television and streaming live on

joining us from tokyo is our very own raj mathai. raj knows first hand all the precautions being taken to keep everyone safe. also with us is dr. shin hong, our expert from ucsf. good to see you. >> good to see you. you're watching from the united states, and we are here. we got here about a week ago. we're just taking it all in. >> raj, let's talk about these athletes that have tested positive. the athletes have to be super focussed during these games. how are these positives, you know, tests creating stress for them. what's the vibe? or are they just going to say i'm going to keep moving forward? >> no, i think they're really stressed out. we talked about the beach volleyball player, taylor crabb. we spoke to his brother who says he's a little ticked off. they feel fine, but they go through so much testing. they're just waiting. if they have a positive test they're out. they have that built into their mind where this could be a possibility where they work for years but it could be dashed because of the positive test. >> what's gene

i'm raj mathai. >> i'm janelle wang. we conti

>>> i'm raj mathai. next on nbc bay area news tonight, new information about the vta gunman. we now have a report from customs agents detailing the alarming things they found in his suitcase five years before the mass shooting in san jose. it's renewing questions about why local authorities were never warned. >>> and we know it's expensive to make it here in the bay area. >> i make a choice of whether i pay my rent or eat. >> but we haven't ever had it laid out like this of about. how much minimum wage would have to be. >>> and the road to tokyo comes through the bay area. simone biles leaving from sfo today. but what's the real tone and mood of these games? we talk to nbc's mike tirico, who's in japan in quarantine. ? >> the japanese government is essentially trying to keep the olympics in a bubble. >>> good evening. this is nbc bay area news tonight. i'm raj mathai. japan is nervous. what's about to happen there is creating a lot of mixed feelings. we're going to take you behind the scenes, what it's like to get into tokyo, that includes this mobile covid test. you can't pa

here's raj mathai. >> reporter: val arriota began playing here. >> i bring the energy.le blond girl that played here at pgsl softball, just a little older. >> reporter: during the pandemic like everyone else, she was alone and found new ways to train. >> i was at home on my couch like everyone else. and i found a new love of mountain bike riding. i can get away from everybody. i am used to having my teammates motivating me. i really had to look in the mirror, okay, what do i have to get done? i have my cup of coffee, my journal, my calendar in front of me. that just gives me so much joy and starts my day off right. there's so much more that i need to be grateful for. i'm not so worried about the little things that come up. wow, there was a time when i couldn't play. >> reporter: arioto still can't believe she's she's an olympians not taking anything for granted. >> to show that passion again and to, i think the message is just unity, bring everyone back together and give people hope and joy again. >> that's so great. she's from p-town, my place. >> pleasanton, the hood.

good evening, thank you for being with us, i am raj mathai. >> i am janelle wang. elsa is a hurricane ugraded in the past hour. it will make landfall. it is all quiet right now but you can see those dark storm clouds. take a look at the radar, elsa is barrelling up the west coast of florida. >> jeff ranieri now, things are obviously changing by the hour, where is it tracking now, the hurricane? hurricane? >>yq center of the storm is approaching tampa. we can show you on the radar with rain over ft. myers. right now currently, winds at 75 miles per hour in the center of the storm and the path of this will make landfall, we think, as we roll through tomorrow morning, 75 miles per hour, category 1 hurricane, then just to the west of jacksonville. 65 miles per hour winds and through the carolinas by thursday morning, 40 mile-per-hour winds and start to exit towards virginia with winds of over 35. as it moves into florida, here's what we can expect, two to five inches of rainfall. isolated flash flooding. >> we have a lot happening with weather. another live look in flo

thank you for joining us, i'm garvin thomas for raj mathai. >> i'm janelle wang. parts of the country are dealing with a high surge of infections. >> it is reminiscent of the peak of the pandemic with hospitals stretched to their limit. jay gray has a closer look. >> reporter: there's a dangerous trend across the country. covid infections are exploding right now. >> we'll to everything we can to try to handle the volume of patients. >> reporter: with doctors warning this may just be the beginning. >> the delta variant's going move its way across the country into august, september, maybe even october. >> reporter: according to the cdc, the most serious case and the majority of new covid deaths are among unvaccinated patients. the pace of americans getting fully vaccinated has drop by more than 80% since april. children are especially vulnerable to the delta variant, because at this point only about a third of the 25 million kids eligible for a kid have been fully vaccinated. >> we know that a number of the hospitalizations and the deaths we're seeing are preventibl

i'm raj mathai. next on nbc bay area news tonight, a stunning legal reversal. bill cosby released from palestinian. prison. back home, a free man. his assault conviction, overturned. >> we didn't think he was treated fairly. how does this happen? and what does it mean for his accusers who came forward? we're joined by patricia stoier. we'll be digging into the legal details with michelle dawber. >>> good evening. this is nbc bay area news tonight. i'm raj mathai. this news is shocking to so many, even in the legal community. 83-year-old, bill cosby, once known as america's dad, is a free man. what of all of the women who came forward? one of the women is from the bay area. cosby has denied all of the allegations. this was the moment that bill cosby walked out of the montgomery county correctional facility. it came after a ruling of pennsylvania's high court, that threw out cosby's conviction, thrown out because of a technicality. cosby was convicted for drugging and assaulting andrea constand. she sa

raj mathai recently sat down with coach kerr. >> two reasons. one, it's the olympics.ught was take the whole family, go experience the olympics, go to all the other events. so, that's out the window. so reason one is gone. but reason two is really powerful which is to work with greg pap vich. he's by mentor in the nba as far as coaching is concerned and somebody who i know i can learn a great deal from. >> you've won a lot of nba titles as a player and coach. is it hokie to say you want that olympic gold or olympic medal? >> it's different. one of the things i love about the olympics, coaches don't get medals. it's all about the athletes. the experience will not be easy. international basketball is highly competitive. >> looking at your roster, we heard the reviews of steph curry. any conversations? >> steph and i talked. draymond and i talked. i think it makes perfect sense actually. steph has so many demands on his time. he has to play so hard for so much of the season. he's 180 pounds. he's 34. yeah, he needs rest. and draymond is sort of the opposite, to be perfect

>>> good evening, i'm raj mathai. i hope you had a safe and fun fourth of july weekend. we are back at it. among the stories that are standing out tonight, neiman marcus is fighting back. we'll show you how they're responding to this latest robbery. also the giants uniforms are getting bashed. laura britt is with us in just a few minutes. >>> we begin with covid. will it ever truly be behind us? we hear about herd immunity, but what is that point? simple answer here, it's a moving target. when it comes to vaccines, we are making progress here. today, take a look, san jose mayor tweeting that at least 85% of those eligible for the vaccine have received at least one dose in san jose. he says the city is the first among the ten largest u.s. cities to reach the milestone, the mark many doctors consider the target for herd immunity. the county set the goal of getting 85% of the with at leas dose. right now, take a look, as of july 6th, 75% countywide. officials told us today, once the county reaches that 85% mark, people should feel safe about not wearing a mask and doing thi

coming up next on "today in the bay," we're talking about raj mathai being in tokyo.wn to the opening ceremony. >>> a stunner on the fir day of olympic games. raj gives us a look at the challenges the women's soccer team faced overnight on the field. kari has a look at the forecast for us. >> we reach in the low 60s near the coast and upper 80s for the inland valleys. a look ahead to the weekend forecast is coming up next. >>> southbound 101 from 38 to 580 only 7 minutes. golden gate about ten minutes. full traffic report in a few minutes. >>> rent relief, the move that could help some san francisco small businesses. not all of them. the body you are randomly assigned at birth ♪ shouldn't determine how well you are cared for. ♪ or how hard we work to find answers, partners, and hope. ♪ we make medicine. ♪ not just for some ♪ but for everyone. ♪ >>> counting down to the opening ceremony. the 2020 tokyo olympic games. as covid cases rise there, new fears of cancellations. we're live. >>> here at home, delta variant concerns in the bay area. could a shutdown return? >>>

raj mathai visited the family's fencing club in san francisco. >> in london, i was really young, i was the youngest male athlete on team usa. it was my first olympics. even though i finished about in line with where my world ranking was currently at the time, i didn't do as well as i had really hoped to do. but fast forward four years in rio, i had four more years of experience, i had climbed up the world rankings, really rapidly. the one thing i want to do over anything was just compete. >> and there it is! alexander massialis will represent the united states in the gold medal match. >> in tokyo, i think i have the necessary experience to hopefully break through and get that gold medal. >> dad, what are you seeing? what are you seeing in your son right now? >> now, ten years later, huge difference in terms of maturity. it's the same alexander that comes over to our refrigerator, raids it, eats, maybe not as much as he did when he was 17, because he was a bottomless pit then. now it's like, i have to make sure my diet and my training, everything is kind of coordinated. >> is there now

let's bring in raj mathai who is anchoring our coverage in japan. to be straight, you are 16 hours ahead of us. so i can see, it is daylight there. >> reporter: it is daylight, it is hot, humid but beautiful. wednesday afternoon here in tokyo. 3:00 p.m. local time. we've been here about five days now. here's the deal, officially and we are following the rules. we are in this mandatory 14-day quarantine. we can cover all the athletes, go to the convenient use but outside of that, we're not allowed to interact with the japanese public until august 1st. it strains being in the bubble that we're in. here are the big headlines. the olympics, can you believe this? still might be canceled. that's the word. the opening ceremony is friday. yet the head of the tokyo games telling us, if it is deemed safe here in japan, if it is deemed unsafe, i should say, they would still cancel these games. right now more than 70 people associated with the olympics have tested positive. it's believed about a dozen athletes have tested positive. so that's the big headline. a

i'm raj mathai. >> i'm janelle wang. we continue with our breaking news coverage. a magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits just south of lake tahoe near smith valley, nevada. triggered rock slides along 395. these are pictures sent from one of of our viewers. it was shut down for a couple hours in coldville because boulders and rocks fell on the highway. we just received word that the highway has already reopened. but some very scary moments for people who live in the area. they see rocks and boulders and the dust generated from that rock slide coming down just off highway 395. there are reports of some damage. there's a barbecue restaurant, a market, a coffee shop near coalville. they have stuff flying off the shelves. they're cleaning up now, but tense moments right now in that area. highway 395 south of lake tahoe has reopened. now, this quake hit just about an hour and 45 minutes ago. exactly 3:49 p.m. it was triggered right here on the california/nevada border. and all those red circles and yellow and orange circles, the cluster of aftershocks that have hit between lak

we'll go live to raj mathai standing by. >>> a new look at the deadly capitol riots.d during this morning's hearing on capitol hill. >>> and the ban on vaping in contra costa county is up for debate. the push to keep it in place and why new exceptions are now being considered. this is "today in the bay." >>> a very good tuesday morning to you. thank you for starting your day with us

and our raj mathai is in tokyo. he will have live reports starting today. he's also going to host three olympic specials this week "from the bay area to tokyo," on thursday at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. then on friday, which is also the day of the opening ceremony. >>> well, coming up for you, parents won't have to worry about their kids going hungry at lunch. the major move california is making to ensure that all kids are fed. >>> and as cases of covid rise across the country, the highly contagious delta variant may be to blame. new guidance for kids wearing masks at schools. >>> representing the u.s. on any stage is an incredible honor. >> it's time to put in more work and be ready for tokyo. >> we are one team, and no matter what, we are going through this adversity together. >> i think i have the necessary experience to hopefully break through and get that gold medal. what if you could push a button and less carbon would be put into the air. if there were a button that would help you use less energy, breathe cleaner air, and even take on climate change...

♪ dream until your dreams come true ♪ >>> i'm raj mathai.ing up on nbc bay area news tonight, active and shaky. an earthquake and dozens of aftershocks near south lake tahoe. >> just a hammer, you know. it was bam, and it was there. >> we felt it in the bay area. we're having a conversation about what's happening at this hour. >>> also a state of emergency in tokyo, which impacts the world. bay area athletes who are heading to japan share how they feel about the covid surge and really is it safe to go? >>> and everyone in california being asked to cut back on water. we'll show you the best ways to do it. ♪♪ >>> good evening. this is nbc bay area news tonight. i'm raj mathai. plenty of talk about should we even go to the olympics. the games begin two weeks from tomorrow, but we start with the breaking news that we've been following through this evening, that 6.0 earthquake and the dozens of aftershocks. the quake hit just about three hours ago south of lake tahoe near walker, california. 3:49 p.m. was the exact time. we'll show you where it w

raj mathai is live in tokyo. this is really shocking to the world, raj. >>> this happened about 90 minutes ago, laura. we're still shocked. shocked here in tokyo and now it's spreading across the world. if you're just waking up in the bay area, yes, it is true, simone biles, the 24-year-old, four-time gold medalist, the star of this olympic games, she is out. she pulled out suddenly without warning from the team competition which just started here in tokyo about 90 minutes ago and suddenly she was out. here is the official response from team usa gymnastics. it is a medical issue. they did not clarify whether it's a mental health issue or a physical issue. bottom line, a medical issue. what's interesting here, simone biles recently within the last 24 hours telling us here in tokyo she's feeling all that pressure of performing and living up to those gold medal standards. also her body is starting to break down just a bit. take a listen to an interview from yesterday. >> definitely get tired a lot quicker. i'm a litt

we're live in walnut creek, thom jensen, "today in the bay". >>> right now in tokyo our raj mathai likerecautionary working quarantine, posting about the journey to get to the games that included a six-hour wait at the airport just before landing. you can follow raj on twitter at raj mathai. >> all this week the "today" show will be broadcasting live from japan ahead of the 2020 olympic games. you can catch savannah guthrie there every day at 7:00 a.m. >>> we know who is running against governor newsom in the recall election and today we'll know the order the names will appear on the ballot. the secretary of state's office will randomly draw each of the 41 candidates' names to determine how they will be listed on the ballot. the election is set for september 14th. >>> now to this extreme fire season, more than a dozen large fires are burning across the state. the largest is the beckwourth complex burning near the california/nevada border. this morning it's burning more than 105,000 acres and at 82% contained. >>> new video from a wildfire camera shows the dixie fire burning in butte cou

raj mathai is in tokyo and live starting tonight. he's tweeting about the news. you can follow him @raj mathai. >> one giant leap for mankind happening today, oakland's shib bo space and science center will celebrate a pivotal moment in american history. saturday marks 52 years since apollo 11 landed on the moon. the center will hold the nasa kickoff experience celebration. ahead of this center when chabot will open the observation to the public. >>> new travel restrictions could ruin your summer plans. the new warnings this morning as covid cases rise and the delta variant spreads. >>> and a live look now at the rocket that will make history as you can see there. climbing up the stairs right now. we are 33 minutes away and counting. jeff bezos and three others launching into space. we are watching closely for any of those new developments. we're going to keep our eyes here and tell you more after the break. . >>> right now at 5:30, just about 30 minutes away from a joy ride in space like no other. we are taking you live to west texas where a historic space launc

raj mathai is there with a look at one new sport to the games. >> reporter: we are off and running.t's tell you where we are. i'm going to step out of the way here. this is the beautiful tokyo bay, this city is gorgeous, by the way. it's hot and humid but gorgeous. the olympic rings, the rainbow bridge and beyond is the athletes' village. are you ready for the rock star of these games? skateboarding is now an olympic sport and one of the top skateboarders in the world is from davis. his story, pretty wild. just in case you didn't know, nyjah houston is a big deal. the 26-year-old is the new face of skateboarding. it's not just his face. it's his body. covered in ink. the bad boy of skateboarding is very good for the sport. he knows tokyo is a launching point. >> i think the sport grow a lot. i think we'll see a lot more skate parks pop up in other places all around the world, which is going to be great to see. >> reporter: his road to tokyo started in had davis. he was skateboarding at the age of 5. since then a rise, multi-million dollar endorsements, 4.7 million instagram follower

our own raj mathai is in quarantine, being tracked in tokyo, he's updating on twitter and facebook. posted first meal. yum yum, sushi delivered to the hotel room and colleague had domino's pizza. raj can go to nbc broadcast center in addition to hotel and venues. two olympic specials "from the bay area to tokyo," thursday and friday, the day of opening ceremonies. track on nbcbayarea.com/olympics. >>> still ahead, landmark legislation signed by governor newsom, how the governor plans to spend billions to combat the homeless crisis. plus -- >> you control your personal information. >> california's attorney general says not many people are taking control. what the state is demanding to protect your privacy. >>> dry lightning fire danger out of the bay area but in the sierras. thunderstorms to the east and what it's doing to wildfires right now is nothing short of stunning. closer look when we come back. >>> state set to spend record amount of money to attack the homelessness program. more than $12 billion on the way to get people off the streets and under a roof, hopefully for good. >>

. >>> our own raj mathai will be taking off and he'll be in tokyo and he's also hosting two upcoming olympic specials from the bay area to tokyo on july 22nd at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and then a full hour on july 23rd which is also the day of opening ceremony. for more stories on our local athletes, you can track their progress during the games, go to nbcbayarea.com/olympics. >>> okay, you remember this. back in the day before the pandemic when someone new moved into the community and people show up baring gifts, it was called the welcoming wagon. those visits don't happen anymore but every once in a while we can see the sentiment. garvin is here to share the story with "bay area proud." >> tonight i am going start with it. if you are in a tough spot and need some help, just ask for it. that's what a single mom from martinez did with amazing results. >> reporter: this story begins and ends with a woman crying. you will see for two different reasons. the first cry happened a little over a week ago in this parked car. christina sellers in the driver's seat. >> i told myself i am going

that's going to be hosted by our own raj mathai who's in tokyo right now. that show is at 7:00. >>> they have already hit the mat, members of the u.s. women got some practice today, the team rotated and vaulted. team qualifications began on sunday in japan which is saturday night our time. the final is set for tuesday and if you want to watch the opening ceremony live, you are going to have to get up early. it is starting a 3:55 a.m. our time. if you would like to sleep, we'll reair it our time. >>> the dixie fire burning in butte county exploded to more than 100,000 acres. it is now a megafire. it is the second fire to surpass that mark. flames destroyed eight structures, more than 1500 are threatened. the fire is 17% contained. a glimpse of what crew is dealing with the tamarack fire. the fire burned more than 50,000 acres. that one is just 4% contained. ism. >>> while struggling to cover everyday basic needs. the number is a lilibeter here in the bay area but really only a little. scott budman takes a look at the report just a hard time so many people ar

here's raj mathai. >> to see a group of women like this that are so hungry to be the best, even thoughor as long as they have, i mean, you talk about sustained excellence. and that's where it starts, that competitive drive and hunger to get better no matter where are you. >> reporter: the women's water polo team is world. two gold medals in the olympics. but winning a third is going to be a little more difficult. >> we've lost a little momentum and our mojo. if you can imagine a team full of really competitive women trying to achieve this goal, and then for 14 months they've been essentially training together and beating each other up, it gets old pretty quick. >> reporter: only two men's teams have won three straight gold medals. danville's maggie stefans is the team captain. >> our focus is coming together as a team and being the best we can be at that moment. >> we would love for that to happen, not just because we love to win, but because we love to have an impact on society, on our sport, about women in sport. >> reporter: and, when you're at the top of your sport, aren't you feel

so did journalists, including our own raj mathai. >> reporter: all this talk about the tokyo olympics we are here. can you hear the overhead announcements. team fencing is on the flight. it's a 11 and a half hour journey. we have been tested twice already. we'll be tested when we get to japan and filled out all sorts of documents. the olympians themselves are ready to go. >> this feels great. it feels surreal that we're about to get on the flight to tokyo, after a whole year of delays and changing of training schedules and competition schedules. it's coming to action and coming to fruition. feels so real. i'm really happy to go out and compete. >> reporter: there's concern about the covid surge in japan but there's a lot of excitement. this is my sixth olympics, but very no idea what to expect. we got pillows from saks fifth avenue. >>> this photo was posted from the airport. he is going to his sister with sabrina on the fencing team. and dad who is the coach. you can follow the family in our special on july 22nd at 4:00, july 23rd, the day of the opening ceremony. you can find more s

sat down with our bay area native in overturn training facility in southern california, here is raj mathai. >> reporter: coach have not had a play book for year and in tokyo there is a lot of unknown. >> it is so important for us to have a flexible mindset to be able to adapt what we see once we get over there and the one thing i have learned about myself over the last couple of years is that i love the plan. i am planning every second and i am planning of what we are going to do next and in this day and age is different to do that. >> reporter: kirkorian's resume is sparkling. he led this team to three world titles and two olympic gold. >> the way that we are going to play is difficult to predict. i will have a better answer for you on august 8th when it is all said and done. it is 100% full stress until august 8th. it is a consuming job and you don't have time to take a breath but the one thing the pandemic did is it forced that to happen. the time i got to spend with my wife and my two children, i mean some of those days are going to be i think when i look back ten or twenty years from

. >> july 23rd, opening ceremony, raj mathai will be in tokyo. you can watch the olympics right here on nbc bay area. right around the corner. >> come up next. the largest fire in california. we'll talk about where the condition is standing this morning. >>> and we are monitoring our air quality as we are seeing temperatures today reaching into the upper 60s to low 70s. we'll look at our micro climate ahead. >>> a clear look at san rafael, southbound 101 populated with these head lights. no problems right now through the north bay, we are tracking them. there is that issue. wrong way driver still reported in the south bay. we'll follow up. >>> raising tuition at uc schools, how much will it go up and why not all students are affected? if there were a button that would help you use less energy, breathe cleaner air, and even take on climate change... would you press it? >>> right now at 5:00, on our off. new guidance adding into the confusion whether your child will have to wear thosemasks this fall? >> the fire was moving so fast and hot. it was e

raj mathai talked to him while he was training in oahu. >> reporter: you are one of the faces of team usa for the entire team. is that something you embrace? or is that something an added pressure that you don't necessary lie like? >> it's something you grow into. over the years i've been put into leadership roles going all the way back to high school. you gradually get pushed into leadership roles as you get older in college. it's the same thing on the national level. people are looking to you for advice. >> this one-year delay, were you indifferent about it? you know, for me, when the decision initially came down, obviously, challenging. i thought i was in a good spot no march 2020. i took a couple weeks off and really refocussed for this year. and sitting here now i do feel confident that i'm better than i was a year ago. i made the most of it. mentally, i have a lot more confidence than i did in 2020. >> the day of a big race, do you have a routine? any superstitions? >> i listen to music. >> what do you listen to? >> if i'm really nervous, punk rock or country music or if i'm tri

we are your olympics station, raj mathai will be on the ground for your olympic coverage. and on july 23rd which is also the day of the opening ceremony. you can track all of the olympic coverage on nbcbayarea.com/olympics. >>> who's taking care of the caregivers? today a rally was held. they're calling for affordable housing and racial injustice. care givers are demanding 400 billion dollars for essential workers. oakland caregivers say the pandemic hit their community hard and it is time they are taken care of properly. >> many of us provided care without having healthcare for ourselves and our families. so i ask you, is it a caregiver deserving of care? >>> now we have good news to share, that's how we should begin every bay area's proud segment. this is doubly true today. we have updates of two of our recent favorite story. garvin thomas. >> we want to find out what that meant to a group of whom it meant the end of something special. >> reporter: we are talking about a group of san mateo neighbors began gathering on their block everyday at 4:00 p.m. to dance the hokie-

yep, our raj mathai is on his way right now. he rules he has to follow when he arrives.t for you. >>> serenity is within reach to some at the botanical garden. a sound meditation program will soothe jangled nerves. ocean waves, drum chimes and other items will lull people lying in the grass. sadly, it's sold out. hope people who get there enjoy it. >> that's something i could use every day, bye-bye. >>> tonight, urgent new warnings about a growing summer surge that's becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated, says the head of the cdc as cases soar by almost 70% in just the past week one in fife infections now in florida alone l.a. reinstating a mask mandate, but good news too five states where case rates are highest now vaccinating more people as the country battles an epidemic of misinformation the president saying platforms like facebook are killing people facebook firing back tonight. >>> plus my conversation with dr. fauci. >>> the surge at the border more than one million apprehensions in the past year, plus a major ruling on immigration. what it means for so-called d

good evening and thanks for being with us, i'm raj mathai. >> we begin the top of the hour with breaking news out of venetia. skyranger over a brush fire in the north bay. this is in solano county just off 680. you can see trees on fire, the grass on fire. very slow going. this broke out in the past hour. it's generating a lot of smoke. and traffic really slow along 680. this is from benniesha to cordelia. we don't know what started this fire. but you can see it's burning right along the freeway under the overpass. no homes threatened right now. no reports any injuries. skyranger is going to stay over the scene and they're trying to get control of the fiefrmt the top end of it is burning there in industrial area. but no homes are threatened. crews working in conjunction, baniesha, vallejo is assisting with this fire, and it's going to be a mutual aid effort to get this fire under control. skyranger will stay on top and bring you any updates as they come into the newsroom. >>> a san jose bicyclist is hospitalized, and the search is on for the hit-and-run driver who severely injured him on

. >> now our raj mathai is also in tokyo and has been tweeting about the news. you can follow him on twitter. and later this week, watch our specials from the bay area to tokyo. thursday 4:00 and 7:00. >>> more places to travel. any canadian citizen can fly into the u.s., but for 16 months, canada has barred americans and others from crossing its borders. starting in three weeks, americans can go to canada, but only if they're fully vaccinated. they won't have to quarantine when they get there. as for the rest of the world, the rest of the travelers can open in september. >>> the trend of the rise of the virus is causing concerns. the stock market took a hit among fears a pandemic rebound could slow the economy. president biden says economic economy hinges on getting covid under control. he's urging holdouts to get vaccinated. the u.s. vaccination rate has dropped by more than 35% over the past week. >> virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated americans. these tragedies are avoidable. >> the highly-contagious delta variant is dr

athletes on the way to tokyo, fencing team, shooting team flew out of sfo today and there's our own raj mathaipics but will be reporting. spoke with alex at the gate. >> feels surreal to get on the flight here. you know, especially after a whole year of delays. >> alex posted the photo on instagram from the airport. going to tokyo with his sister, her first, she's also on the fencing team and dad greg is the coach. you can see the story of the family in our olympic special from the bay area to tokyo, july 22nd at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. and july 23rd, the day of the opening ceremony. i love this family. >> how can you not? >> so cool. spent a lot of time with them in rio in 2016, love them. >> when you think of bay area and olympics, they're the first family. >> going for gold with them. >>> a's back home in oakland tonight, sports is next. -great idea. [gasps] look at the little cutie. -he's coming for a visit. -hi. [chuckles] aww! oh! he's leaving! -nice work, guys! -introducing togo's new cheese steak melt, featuring fresh artisan bread, layered with tender seasoned steak, sautéed mushrooms, roa

. >> raj mathai is over for us.he knew it was coming. >> i heard him complain about it a little bit. >> so bad. >> he would not miss the olympics for anything. >> not at all. he's the man. >>> helping seniors make it in the bay. tonight the new proposal for affordable housing in theout bay. south bay. here are the two battling to the line and allyson felix... simone manuel's above her trying to fight on, and above simone... getting an opportunity to show her stuff. nonstop, displayed at the highest performance level... finding something and the us takes gold! ♪ dream on ♪ ♪ dream on ♪ ♪ dream on ♪ ♪ dream on ♪ - yes! ♪ ahhhhhhh ♪ ♪ dream until your dreams come true ♪ . >>> farm living can give south seniors agri-neighborhood. the farm fresh concept combining 300 apartments for low income seniors and senior veterans with a small working farm. the growing of food and crops can involve the rest of the community and pop up events. the site is on winchester event across from valley fair mall. >>> money from the states go

raj mathai joining us from tokyo this morning. good friday morning to you. let's talk about that food. >> we got lots to talk about. good friday morning to you. even better than friday morning is friday night and that's what it is here in tokyo. a lot of headlines. in fact, let's start with the past hour, the world's top-ranked tennis player novak djokovic loses, but novak djokovic was going for the golden slam when you win all four major tournaments and on top of that a gold medal. it doesn't happen. he is out. now let's talk about ryan murphy, this is creating quite a stir. ryan murphy the cal grad who still lives in berkeley, talks about doping very sensitive here at any olympics. he says, quote, i'm swimming in a race that's probably not clean. >> i do believe there's doping in swimming. i am training to be the absolute best athlete i can be and so i don't have time to get involved in this situation, but there is a situation and that's -- that's a problem. >> it is a problem. we spent a lot of time with ryan murphy training in the east bay. you can sense

our own raj mathai has been chatting with lots of olympians. we'll be sharing those stories over the coming weeks. join raj in "from the bay area to tokyo". on july 23, which also happens to be the day of the opening ceremony. >>> he is recovering from surgery but that won't stop him. next on nbc bay area, the special service pope francis is set to give in rome. >>> we'll be right back. this unplugged device is protecting our beautiful coastlines and more. put off chores and use less energy from 4 to 9 pm to help keep our state golden. >>> happening now, crews are in the process of removing the metal fencing surrounding the u.s. capitol that was put up after the riot on january 6. capitol police say better security measures are in place. the capitol will remain closed to most visitors. >>> today marks the 17th day of the recovery effort at the site of the condo collapse in surfside, florida. sadly, overnight crews discovered more bodies, bringing the death toll to 86. 43 remain unaccounted for. as the painstaking process continues, there are sig

♪ ahhhhhhh ♪ ♪ dream until your dreams come true ♪ >>> i'm raj mathai.tonight, active and shaky. an earthquake and dozens of aftershocks near south lake tahoe. >> just a hammer, you know. it was bam, and it was there. >> we felt it in the bay area. we're having a conversation about what's happening at this hour. >>> also a state of emergency in tokyo, which impacts the world. bay area athletes who are heading to japan share how they feel about the covid surge and really is it safe to go? >>> and everyone in california being asked to cut back on water. we'll show you the best ways to do it.

our own raj mathai will have to abide by strict rules to keep safe as well.e has to do a two-week quarantine when they arrive. nbc's fernando hertado gives us a look how the media is adapting. >> reporter: we're not allowed on tokyo's public transit but on official tokyo 2020 media shuttle. expect to see a lot of videos of roads in our coverage, at least for the first 14 days. >> media only allowed to film during 15-minute breaks when they leave their hotel rooms. watch full stories and others like it on our new platform, nbc lx. it is channel 185 on xfinity cable or any time on lx.com. >>> raj mathai will actually most three olympic specials from the bay area to tokyo. on july 22nd at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and then on july 23rd, which is also the day of the opening ceremony. hard to believe, but that's just a week from today. >> i know. and then the excitement begins. >> uh-huh. no, let's start it right now. >> okay. i'm going first. i'm running to weather. >> all right. >>> today would be a good day to get outside and run. >> yes, pass the baton. >> get

good night >>> i'm raj mathai.ws tonight, new information about the vta gunman. we now have a report from customs agents detailing the alarming things they found in his suitcase five years before the mass shooting in san jose. it's renewing questions about why local authorities were never warned. >>> and we know it's expensive to make it here in the bay area. >> i make a choice of whether i pay my rent or eat. >> but we haven't ever had it laid out like this of about. how much minimum wage would have to be.