plus, ac transit leaders head to court today. why they're asking a judge to hit the brakes on the latest contract plan and how that could affect your commute. and thousands of laid out of workers in a closure that made headlines for years get a new shot today. we'll tell you about a job fair going on. 6:00 right now. a misty start to the day, but we promise that warm-up is coming. thanks so much for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. we start with rob, as a matter of fact, and take a look at our forecast and what's in store later today. >> brent and laura, you mentioned it, we have some misty skies and low clouds around the bay area. mostly 50s for now, lunchtime temperatures not warming up a whole lot. low 70s inland today. as you head towards lunchtime, we'll see those numbers eventually climbing up. through the afternoon, you'll continue to see those temperatures climb, eventually

into the 70s inland. the weekend is when we'll start to see some 90s. a full look at that in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. new information that could impact your commute from the east bay. a judge may order ac transit and its union workers to settle a labor dispute. nbc bay area's kris sanchez live now with how this decision could impact your commute, even if you don't take the bus. kris? >> reporter: good morning. a lot of people have been late to work as they've been caught in the middle between that dispute between ac transit and its unionized workers, particularly, the drivers. so there's very good reason to listen to what a judge has to say this morning as she revisits the issue and decides whether or not to revert to an older contract. let's give you a little backstory here. the judge told both sides to go to binding arbitration when they said they just could not reach an agreement on their own. ac transit asked that judge to reconsider, said they'll figure out whether or not that will happen. the transit agency and the unions, they did not reach an

agreement. the transit agency imposed their best idea for a contract, which they say saved about $300,000 a week. the union workers say, hey, that savings comes at our expense. so the judge ordered them to turn to a third party for that. ac transit was to revert to the original expired contract. they say it is going to cost the agency more money, but it has stopped drivers from calling in sick and delays commuters, for hundreds of thousands of commuters. the hearing starts at 9:00 this morning, so we will be watching for that. if you think that this doesn't affect you because you are not an ac transit commuter, think again. because as mass commuters get fed up with the transit agency and this dispute, they may start driving and we could see more congestion on the roadways. kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. ground will be broken on the new transbay terminal this morning. the new term nah will serve 11 transportation services, including high-speed rail system planned for california. speaker of the house, nancy

pelosi, will be at this morning's ceremony in san francisco as well as the governor. we'll let you know how the new terminal will affect you and your commute into the city coming up. a warning for women in the east bay. contra costra county deputies believe that a serial rapist has struck again. the latest attack happened just before 9:00 yesterday morning at the same apartment complex where two other attacks happened. it's in an unincorporated area on oak road not too far from interstate 680. now, investigators say that the suspect went into one woman's apartment while she was asleep. they say he threatened her, but she broke free and he took off. her door was locked, so it's not clear how he got in. these are some of the sketches, the latest ones, of the suspect. he is described as a black man, 6'2" tall, 200 pounds, and again, it's the third attack at that same complex since june 30th. the sheriff's department says to always lock your doors and windows and don't open your door for strangers. call police if you see anybody

suspicious. and here's a pencil for your phone and enter the number for the walnut creek police department. it is 925-943-5844. christie smith will have a live report with some of the neighborhood reaction, coming up. developing news. new video just into our newsroom after a pretty big earthquake. >> yeah. scott mcgrew is getting the new information on that. >> well, good morning to you. it happened on the island nation of vanuatu, magnitude 6. here's a map. you see australia there. van suatu is just northeast of australia. the whole country is about half the population of oakland. video just coming into the newsroom. this is actually the second quake in as many days. no word on injuries, though new tsunami warnings have been issued. laura, as you know, that is always a big concern when you have an earthquake in the pacific ocean. but we will continue to monitor for injuries or any news coming

out of that south pacific island. >> as yo mentioned, they've been hit hard recently. thank you. well, federal investigators will be out at the scene of a plane crash that kill five-day people, including former u.s. senator ted stevens. we're getting the first site of the plane crash into a remote mountainside in alaska. these photos were taken by state troopers there. four of the nine people onboard survived the crash yesterday morning, including a 13-year-old boy who was stranded next to the body of his father and stevens. officials say the bad weather in the area made it tough for crews to gain access to the site. now, alaskans are largely dependent on small planes to get around that rough terrain, but since 2000, there have been 958 crashes in which 159 people were killed. indonesia's best-known radical islamic cleric has been charged with planning terrorist attacks, and that carries a maximum penalty of death.

abu bakr bashir was arrested monday. he is accused of helping set up and fund a terrorist cell that was plotting high-profile assassinations and attacks. investigators say they have strong evidence tying the fiery 71-year-old cleric to an al qaeda linked terror cell that was discovered in february. overnight, israel's army says that forces underestimated the threat that they face when they boarded a goza flotilla in may. they say that soldiers should have done more to ensure, quote, sterile conditions on that ship, indicating more force was needed to subdue pro-palestinian activists before soldiers boarded the vessel. he says the commandos use only two stun grenades to clear the area before repelling from helicopters into the ship, which was trying to brake israel's blockade of gaza. the incident drew international criticism and forced gaza to losen the blockade.

the santa clara skyline could be changing soon. the city planning commission will consider plans for a six-story high minaret tonight. members of the muslim community association say it is a symbol of islam. expansion is under way for an addition to the center and the next step is to add the 64-foot-tall tower. the tower would be symbolic. some opponents say it would make the building an architectural curiosity and set bad precedent for new buildings, but muslims we spoke to say it's an important message that america is open to all regions. santa clara has one of the largest muslim populations in america. san francisco police hope that you might be able to help them catch a killer. they say the person who killed a 36-year-old man inside a hayes valley apartment last month may have been cut on the hand during a stabbing spree and they hope that that detail may help identify the man. a coworker found philip d'martino last monday in his apartment a couple of days

after, they believe, that he was most likely killed. the motive of the killing is still under investigation. former nummi workers can take advantage of a job fair today. it starts at 9:30 this morning and runs until 4:00 p.m. the job fair is at the alameda county fairgrounds. we'll talk to one of the organizers about what workers should bring with them, coming up. the frustrated flight attendant who stormed off the job is kind of becoming a hero for the little guy. we are hearing from former jetblue flight crew member steven slater for the first time since he posted bond. he says he lost his cool when a customer's baggage hit him on the head. after that, he took over the plane's p.a. system, cursed the passenger, grabbed a couple of beers, his suitcase, pulled the emergency chute and slid down. slater seems to have no regrets. >> it seems that something here has resonated with a few people. >> local police are not so supportive. slater faces up to seven years in prison if he's convicted on

charges of criminal mischief, trespassing, and reckless endangerment. >> you know what's really amazing is the amount of supporters that he's getting. twitter is simply overloaded with messages this morning. cocoalicious 46 says, someone get me two heinekens and a steven slater t-shirt. others are calling him their new hero. time is 6:09. we want to check in with felipe who's in for mike, taking a look at our morning commute. >> a really quite commute this morning. nothing really to complain about. let's give you a look at your speeds coming down the peninsula. northbound 280 as well as northbound 87, free and smooth and clear. let's give you a look also at your maze coming out of the caldecott tunnel, says zero, but really on obstructed making yard way through there. oakland, northbound traffic on

the right side of your screen. 880, 60s, all the way up and down 880 as of yet. the bay bridge, the metering lights are still off this morning. one more shot of your golden gate camera. the sun starting to peak out. a little bit of fog. you'll be using your windshield wipers this morning to wipe off some of that drizzle. rob will tell you more about what that means later on in today's forks. >> leather on, he's right here, right now. >> felipe has 60s on the roads, i have 50s on your thermometers. all around the bay area, lots of low clouds. we all have the same sky conditions. low clouds, and as felipe pointed out on the coast and peninsula, misty skies. today, 50s and 60s on the coastline. mostly 70s inlistened. it's the weekend where temperatures are going to warm up. the satellite view shows you a weather system here that is carving out a trough across the west coast. i know it doesn't look that impress, but that will keep the sea breeze going throughout the

day. lunchtime temperature, still kind of cool out there. only the warmest places today making a run at the supper 70s, maybe close to 80 in los gatos. mid- to upp 70s in san jose. but it's the weekend when things warm up where knotts come back for our inland valleys. >> warming up. time now, 6:11. bay area researchers discover er visits are skyrocketing. why medi-cal may be to blame. >> plus, a storm moving into the gulf stops work to cut off a broken oil pipe. next we're joined by ocean expert felipe cousteau on the latest efforts to clean up the waters. jimmy fallon's even paying tribute to that frustrated flight attendant. take a look at his ballad of steven slater. ♪ so when your boss is riding your [ bleep ] ♪ ♪ you've got to get two beers and jump ♪ ♪ when your truck ain't got no gas ♪ ♪ you've got to get two beers and jump ♪ ♪ you've got to get two beers and jump ♪ ♪ you've got to get two beers and jump ♪ ♪ you've got to get two beers

and jump ♪

a new study fipds that visits to hospital emergency rooms are on the rise. in a ten-year period, trips to emergency rooms increased by more than 21%. researchers think that adults on medi-cal account for that jump. doctors aren't paid as much by the government programs as other ensurers, so they may not take medi-cal patients. an estimate 16 million americans are expected to be on medi-cal by 2014, raising concerns if there will be enough health services to accommodate them all. starting next year, changes are coming to the control tower at san francisco international airport. the $80 million upgrade will make the tower taller and more spacious. sfo and the faa agreed to the contract yesterday. the expanded space will give controllers a better view of the runway and more comfortable working space.

a tropical depression in the gulf of mexico is expected to become a storm by the time it hits the gulf oil site today. you're looking at our gulf coast radar of the activity there. right now, bp has halted drilling on a relief well to ride out the storm. >> rob has been tracking some of this from our weather center. he's got the latest on what we might expect there. >> yeah. you can see all the action there on the radar, even though the storm center itself is actually closer to florida right now, you can see our radar map right there, you can see across out towards new orleans, a lot of heavy rain coming down. now, this is a tropical depression for the moment. now, the computer model shows this thing possibly strengthening into a tropical storm. you can see the oil spill area there on the left and the track will take it in across the florida panhandle, possibly to the east of new orleans. even though it doesn't make a direct path over the oil spill, the winds and the wave action, that's going to be too dangerous for the relief efforts that are ongoing there right across the gulf of mexico. keep in mind, this time of year, we're getting very close to the most active time for atlantic hurricanes. through the last two weeks of

august and into september, it's not uncommon to have two or three hurricanes all going off at the same time in the atlantic and in the gulf of mexico. back to you. >> thank you, rob, for the update on what's going on in the gulf. we'll be watching that. is it possible that google might use unmanned drones to map city streets? i guess they're called uavs and it's kind of controversial. >> because a lot of people, google has been accused of kind of invading people's personal information or what not. scott mcgrew is joining us now with more on possible trouble -- >> like predator drones flying over san jose. hays the rumor. a german magazine actually picked this up. it noticed that google had placed an order for a couple of unmanned aerial vehicles, uavs, not as big as the ones the military used, but there was still that creepiness factor. google does use unusual vehicles for maps. it has a google mapping bicycle, a google mapping snowmobile, but

google says this morning the uav purchase, which really was a small one, was made by an executive just for fun and not for maps. san jose's largest company, cisco systems reports its profits after the closing bell today. watch san francisco-based wells fargo. that company lost a court case and pay owe a lot of money. trade deficit hits its highest level in 20 years, but this fed move on wednesday pushes the dollar really low against other currencies, particularly the yen. that's going to make products like sony and toyota much more expensive. that could help the trade deficit, but it will also make oil more expensive, so expect a jump in gas prices. >> thanks a lot, scott. meantime, we've been talking about cleanup efforts and recovery efforts in the gulf. some of that could be hampered because of the bad weather that's moving in. this morning, philippe cousteau joins us live from new orleans. he's the grandson of the explorer, you might know him,

jacques cousteau. he joins us live. good morning, how are you doing? >> i'm doing all right. >> how is the weather there? what are you hearing about trying to clean things up in light of these new storms coming through? >> it's a little stormy, if you can't tell behind me, it's a little overcast, we've had some rain this morning, so actually they've stopped drilling the relief well right now. that's only a temporary hold. of course, the cap is holding, so there's no more oil spilling into the gulf, and that's a good thing. however, there has been a lot of optimistic talk over the last few weeks and i think it's important to remember that this is still a long road ahead of us. there's still tens of millions of gallons of oil that's floating around the gulf. and this is far from over. this is just, at best, probably the end of the beginning. >> and it could take years if not decades to recover from the oil all over the entire environment there. but what was the gulf like and how was it doing before the spill? was it okay in terms of the environment, or did they already have problems before the spill?

>> well, brent, that's a great question. in fact, the gulf was not a very healthy ecosystem, even before this oil spill. it was kind of like adding insult to injury. there's a lot of fishery challenges, there were a lot of pollution coming in from the mississippi river and from the agricultural that flows into it and the agricultural waste that flows into it, creating dead zones in the gulf of mexico in the tides of new jersey, where there's not enough oxygen to support life. so the gulf was having a bit of a hard time even before this oil spill. so this is going to take decades for it to recover. >> the interesting thing is, you guys look at what's going on in the gulf, but you look at other places around the world that also may be in trouble. talk about how many spots around the world that are kind of seeing this kind of pollution and trouble in the water. >> well, there are, according to the united nations environmental program, well over 100 dead zones around the world. those are areas that oftentimes are either so polluted that day

don't have enough oxygen or just pure pollution to such a degree that most of the life can't support itself. even in the florida keys here in the united states, 80% of the coral has declined over the last few decades and it's considered a dead zone. you don't have to travel far afield to find those areas. but that's why i do what i do. and actually the whole month, this month of august, i'm co-hosting with my sister, alexandra, a month dedicated to exploring the ocean on the planet green channel. it's called blue august and it's a whole month of programming celebrating and exploring the intricacies and the challenges our oceans are facing. >> philippe cousteau joining us live this morning from new orleans, good luck in your continued efforts and we'll watch for the show. help enlighten folks so we understand what the situation's really like. >> thank. >> it's nice how the family tradition has continued. their name is so well known. >> even now is such a great name and his grandson, philippe,

helping out and continuing the tradition. all right. felipe escamilla is filling in for mike. >> a very uneventful commute this morning. let's take a look at the times this morning. take a look at the east bay, up and down southbound 680, upper 60s, as well as westbound 580, upper 50s. as we look in the south bay, things are good there as well. take a look, 60s all the way up and down 87 as well as up and down 85 as well as 101. an easy commute this morning as we take a look outside. we'll start you out at the bay bridge toll plaza, as the metering lights are still off right now and things are not starting to back up yet, but people are starting to come in. give you a closer look at oakland as well, at northbound 880. that's on the right side of your screen where you see these brake

lights. 60s up and down 880 as well. the golden gate bridge, uneventful there. a nice smooth commute. sun starting to poke its way out. rob will have more on the weather as it warms up, but for now back to you guys. one sticky situation for the space station. astronauts making another spacewalk today after big problems the last time. bono the back. the u2 frontman is proving he's recovered from a back injury that forced him to postpone shows, including ones in oakland that will now take place next june. he wowed the fans in germany in only hon a appearance since his injury.

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visit remax.com today. welcome back, everybody. 6:24 right now. live look from space, where the astronauts are on a second spacewalk in five days, doing that work right now. they hope to have better luck this time around. it's a pretty important repair. the international space station has been operating with only

half of its usually cooling capacity after a critical pump broke last week, and they're trying to fix that. this morning, the astronauts are going to remove it, but the last time they tried to tinker with it, it apparently spilled toxic ammonia coolant, so kind of a trek tricky job they've got to do out there. this is a live look. they're out there right now trying to get that repair going. 6:25 right now, a little brighter looking over the south bay, downtown san jose this morning. we're going to see some warm-ups when it comes to the temperatures. want to check in with rob. he's got a look at our full forecast. >> we're starting to see the skies lighten up, but we're waking up to low clouds. san francisco, this is a familiar sight. we've got the low clouds there and some misty skies. 57 degrees, southwest wind at 7. so today, like we had yesterday. mostly looking at 70s inland, maybe near 80 in the warmest places, but we're still on schedule for a weekend warm-up that will put our temperatures

in the 80s and 90s inland. not much change for san francisco or the coast, but inland spots will start to climb on up. around lunchtime, we'll see some 70s popping up inland. highs today close to 78 around livermore. i'm going to show you tonight's temperatures, keeping with the space theme. because over the next two nights, if you look off to the northeastern sky, hopefully without any low clouds, may catch the perseids meteor showers. this is one of the better sights we get in the night skies we get as far as meter yoor showers. summer coming back starting saturday. back to you. >> looks nice, thanks rob. san jose mineta airport allowed man's best friend past security and straight on board. a pack of 21 service dogs were in training. they were brought into the airport to become familiar with the new terminal. sponsors say it's a 16-month program with participants care for the dogs and teach them simple commands. the program is organized by canine companions for independence in santa rosa.

oracle arena becomes the big top tonight. the circus gets started at 7:30 and run through sunday. they're celebrating the 75th anniversary of co-founder p.t. barnum's birthday. it's 6:27 now. a new crack don could affect how gun owners get their ammunition in the bay area. >> plus a safety alert in a contra costra county community. we'll show you the sketch of a man that police think that has attacked three women in their homes. plus, getting back to work may be a little easier for some people hit by one of the bay area's biggest layoffs. and a live look outside, golden gate bridge, a little bit of moisture on the roadway this morning, but not as foggy as we have een. we'll check your commute and the forecast coming up in a few more minutes. this is unlike any car you've ever seen before.

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your investments may be in for a bumpy road today. a serial rapist has struck again in walnut creek. i'll tell you where, where investigators are doing, and what you need to know. investigators are out at the crash site of the alaska crash where ted stevens lost his life. questions around how four people managed to survive. good wednesday morning and thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. 6:30 straight up. we want to check in with rob, telling you what you can expect as you head outside today. >> as you head outside today, you'll want a nice jacket. i know, it's still summer, but a little cool outside. 57 degrees in san jose right now with some mist underneath those low clouds. cool temperatures today. 78 around livermore and fairfield. it's the weekend where you see 80s and 90s coming back.

a look at that in the seven-day forecast is a few minutes away. we have an important safety alert for you this morning. the search is on for a rapist in the east bay. police believe he's attacked at least three woman. nbc bay area's christie smith is live in contra costra county with more on what you need to know to try to get this guy off the streets. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. three assaults or attempted assaults since june 30th in the same apartment complex. now, the latest one happened just yesterday morning. residents telling us, they're obviously shaken, but some of them saying they didn't even know about this latest incident at the park regiony apartments. yesterday morning, a woman woke up shocked to find a man's hand over her mouth. he was threatening her, telling her not to scream. she was able to break free, though, and happened to have some pepper spray nearby and unloaded it in his face. in that case, the door was locked, so it's unclear exactly how he got in. earlier, july 6th, a 23-year-old woman was raped by a man who broke into her unlocked

apartment here. june 30th, another attempted rape, but the woman screamed and fought him off. we just spoke with a woman who has lived in the complex for a year. >> all i saw was signs, but there hasn't been anything recently. they took the signs down a couple days after they were put up. i was thinking about looking for other places to live now. >> investigators believe this very well could be the same man. they brought in dogs, but were unable to find him. he is described as a block male, 6'2", 200 pounds. he is facial hair, dark jeans and a black hoodie on. we're told this is a big complex, about 900 apartment units in here. i spoke with one of the security guards just behind the gate that you see there. he told me that this is his first day on the job and he was hired specifically because of the incident going on here. reporting live near walnut creek, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thank you very much, christie. let's hope they catch him. meantime, the sheriff's office stress that people should always

lock their doors and windows and not open doors to strangers. call police if you see anyone or anything suspicious. here's a number for the walnut creek police department, 925-943-5844. a controversial new way to enforce gun control maybe coming to san francisco. supervisor wants to make it easier to trace bullets bought and sold in the city. the chronicle says mikhail pier is working with the city's attorney's office to create legislation that would closely monitor handgun ammunition. it would require vendors to keep a log of who's buying what. it would also block ammo from being bought or sold online. opponents say it effectively violates the second amendment's right to bear arms. big news from cisco could help drive the markets. we want to check in with scott mcgrew to tell us why. >> cisco system reports its profits after the closing bell. we certainly look to that bell in san jose to see how the tech world is doing. meanwhile, on the markets,

nasdaq falling 45 points. dow industrials down 142. macy's saying good things about retail sales, which is a bit of a surprise. wells fargo is one to watch this morning. that company could be paying big fines after a big wall street. we've got new phones coming tomorrow. both the blackberry torch and then the droid 2 are coming. here you see the droid x. lots of new phones to compete with the iphone. blackberry, research in motion down about 1.3%, as, laura, it continues to have problems with foreign countries. saudi arabia and now india as far as not giving those countries any sort of secrets about what people are doing on blackberry, standing on principle, we certainly hope, but we continue to monitor it. >> all right. sounds good. one of the most popular phones out there. it is 6:34 right now. thousands of people are still out of work after one of the bay area's biggest employers closed its doors. but this morning, nummi workers are getting a new shot at jobs. a job fair catering just to

former nummi workers starts at 9:30 this morning at the alameda county fairgrounds. are nummi workers having to adjust their skills to get into a new line of work, or are there some opportunities in the same field for them? >> actually, they have been developing the skills that they've had, they're tuning them up. they've been going to workshops, preparing themselves for the opportunity, for seeking jobs, so the answer is yes. >> i know nummi is making attempts to try to help some of these people. you actually have the reemployment center. tell us how it's doing when it comes to getting people into new jobs. >> first of all, it's getting a relationship with the companies and the customers and having a relationship with them. letting them get to know about the nummi employee, all the

skills that he has and the capability of helping their workforce. >> and is it working? >> once you have that relationship, you can continue going forward. >> is it working? are you getting a chance to place people in jobs? >> yes, we are. we've had quite a few success stories of placings of some of our members back into the workforce. >> what about the fair today? it's only for nummi workers, right? i know a lot of people would like to try to find a job. it's a tough economy. >> you know, i'm excited about that. it's an opportunity for a lot of ex-nummi and dislocated workers to have an opportunity to meet a lot of employers out there seeking employees, especially employees from the nummi facility. this will give an opportunity to actually speak with the representative and they'll be available to voice their, actually, skills and their capability of how they could be

an asset to their companies. so i'm really excited about. we had a pretty good turnout the last two weeks at the nrc, the nummi reemployment center, and a lot of the ex-nummi employees have had an opportunity to speak, they're all excited. they're very excited about this job fair. hopefully this will be a success. hopefully a lot of ex-nummi employees will be employed and we can continue going forward with nap. as employees from nummi get hired, the word gets spread around and also the employer gets to see the skill that they have and they'll be more encouraged to start find more nummi employees to employee. >> hopefully it will make a difference, and it's for nummi employees only. the fair is at the alameda county fairgrounds today from 9:30 to 4:00. you're encouraged to bring 25 to 30 resumes. >> that's a lot of resumes. hopefully get a job out of that. time now, 6:37.

we want to check your commute. felipe is in for mike. >> good morning, brent, and good morning, folks. if you're heading out this morning, here's the first thing to talk about. a little bit of slowing on northbound 101 at millbrae. this has a grass fire there, which somehow connected to that, somehow the signal lights are out there. so that's causing some slowing on the off-ramp gets off of millbrae avenue. a take a look at your peninsula times and what that's doing. everything else looks good. 60s up and down 101, up and down 280, and up and down 680. 101 southbound as well. taking a look at the bay bridge, upper deck of the bay bridge this morning, you can see a little bit of fog. not doing too much to your commute, but everything is going across, speeds in the 50s across your bay bridge into the toll plaza as we take a look at that. things are in the 50s heading westbound as well as eastbound, as well. as we look at golden gate bridge coming across from the north bay into san francisco, things look good there as well.

a really relatively uneventful commute this morning, other than some morning construction going on overnight and up until about 6:00 a.m., things are looking good, other than that traffic signal out at millbrae. for traffic, back to you guys. >> sounds good, thanks. >> checking in with rob. a little bit warmer -- >> slow warming is the story. the weather sharing the same theme as the traffic report. pretty uneventful this morning. low clouds around san jose and san francisco. there you'll find some mist at times across the golden gate bridge. the sea breeze is good news for air quality today. still, we have gone through the summer without a spare the air day. we're not going to see one the rest of this week, but we will see at the end of this week warmer temperatures coming back. we have 90s popping up inland, just not today. warmest places, upper 70s in san jose. 60s again for san francisco and oakland. your seven-day forecast still points to a weekend warm up that should put again in those 80s and 90s inland starting saturday. back to you. >> thanks a lot, rob.

federal investigators going to be at the scene of that plane crash that killed five people in act f alaska, including a former u.s. senator, ted stevens. nbc's miguel almaguer is live in anchorage this morning with the very latest on that investigation. miguel? >> reporter: good morning. with survivors brought to local hospitals, the shift of the investigation is now clearly on what brought that plane down. investigators say it could take several days, potentially even a week or two for them to reach the remote crash site, it's that isolated. shrouded in fog, we're seeing the 1957 plane that carried all nine people for the first time. although it slammed into the ground with tremendous force, the plane remarkably remain mostly in tact. five passengers, including former senator ted stevens, are among the dead. the four survivors include stevens' close friend, sean o'keefe, and his teenage son. the wreckage was first spotted late monday, some three hours

after the plane took down. the plane went down about 20 miles outside of dillingham, alaska. late monday a group of first responders reached the wreckage. they were able to give first aid to the survivors, but because of bad weather, they had to wait 12 hours overnight with the survivors and those who perished for more help to arrive. there's been no cause for the crash, but bad weather, poor visibility could potentially be to blame. back here at the hospital, those survivors are still recovering. brent? >> all right, thanks again, miguel almaguer, live for us this morning from anchorage, the latest on that plane crash. 6:41 right now. the government wants you to pay more at the store. scott will be back to tell us why. and i'm kris sanchez in san francisco, where quite the groundbreaking is almost here for a new transbay terminal. and think you know all about your spouse? it turns out most americans are keeping a big secret ftotr, bute siicant other, but we're

spilling the beans, coming up.

amazing new numbers on how many people keep financial secrets from their spouse. a new survey finds 80% of american couples do spend money, but they don't tell each other. nbc bay area's kristen dahlgren is live from washington, d.c. with what people are doing with all that money. kristen? >> reporter: hey, guys. i feel like i've been single handedly sparking arguments across the country today.

>> if not, an investigation. >> reporter: yeah. it turns out, as you said, 80% of people don't tell their spouse everything they're spending, but listen to this. one in four has a credit card that their spouse knows nothing about, and 15% of people have a bank account that their spouse knows absolutely nothing about. now, when asked why they do it, 43% of respondents in this survey said that they're worried about their spending causing an argument, but 22% say they're worried about their spending causing separation or divorce, so a lot of people taking this issue very seriously. here's what they're spendi inin their money on. the number one indulgence you're not telling your spouses about, clothing and accessories. number two, food and dining. number three, beauty and health care products. number four, on gifts. i can see, maybe not telling somebody if the gift is for them. but number five is alcohol. so apparently people not telling their spouses when they spend

money on drinks either. back to you guys. >> i guess it's hard to hide the big-screen tv when that comes into the house. thanks a lot, kristen. some interesting perspective there. >> it's easy to hide the little things. >> put that in your pocket. yeah. well, whether or not you tell your spouse, the government wants you to know -- >> yeah, they want you to spend more. get more money out there. i have been very pessimistic about the recovery and sometimes i get teased, being the guy who's half empty, but it turns out -- the fed yesterday said essentially the same thing, they've come to the same conclusion. let's break down what the fed thinks. the federal open markets committee says it's rethought its opinion of the economy, said it's not growing the way they had claimed in the past. now, this leaves the fed in a bit of a pickle if it wants to help spark the economy, because it can't lower limits on interest rates the banks charge

each other because they're fundamentally at zero. what the fed does have is a lot of money. the government gets the cash, and what do governments do when they get cash? they spend it. that puts more cash into the economy. this means two things for you. number one, it's going to push mortgage rates down, because mortgage rates are related to government debt. the second thing is, more cash in the system should prop up prices or even raise prices. the government wants that. they're afraid of deflation. if you get prices falling too much, factories stop making stuff, because it's not profitable. stores stop selling stuff, because it's not profitable, and you get layoffs. deflation is scarier for the government than inflation. >> yeah. could be scary for a lot of people too. >> yes, it could. >> thanks a lot, scott. appreciate it. groundbreaking this morning for a new transit facility is going to change the commute for hundreds of thousands of people who work and even if you play in san francisco. nbc bay area's kris sanchez is live in san francisco this morning with what's happening

today. good morning. >> good morning to you, laura. the groundbreaking is just about three hours away. you can see behind me, the crews are spiffing things up, but this is nothing compared to what is going to happen to transform what was a grimy, gloomy, dated and dark transit hub into one that is almost exactly the opposite. this is computer animation of what it will ultimately look like. a $1.6 billion facility that will include terminals and underground bus station, obviously, but also waiting areas and places to shop in the surrounding area. there will be housing and office space and even a park and it will also feature the first high-speed rail station in the nation. so one bragging point. it won't be done until august of 2017, if all goes according to the plan, and you know the old saying, it's going to get worse before it gets better. demolition will be ongoing and commuters will have to arrive and depart from the temporary location, which is about a block away. the temporary hub, not too shabby considering it was an

empty lot. we saw the ceremonial patch of dirt and the shovels there ready to go. we expect to see senator barbara boxer, house speaker, nancy pelosi, obviously, san francisco mayor, gavin newsom, and the governor will be here on hand as well. about $400 million of this money is coming from the reininvestment of the stimulus money by the federal government. kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> thanks, kris. meantime, the ac transit labor dispute is heading back to court this morning. a judge will reconsider a ruling that forced the bus agency to negotiate a new contract with union leaders. the hearing starts at 9:00 at the alameda county superior court in oakland. ac transit says the current union contract is too expensive. new this morning, good news for b.a.r.t. riders. it now looks like b.a.r.t. may approve a temporary 3% fair cut. b.a.r.t. is already using some of its surplus to deep clean the cars and replace some of those seats. and "the examiner" says under new plan from the director, the agency would use the remaining $2.3 million to cut fares on

october 1st. the cuts would last four months. a reprieve for drivers who head to san francisco over the weekend. the municipal transportation agency has shelled a plan to run parking meters on sunday. they say it would have brought in a little under $3 million for the city, but a lot of business owners and neighbors did not like the idea and they fought it. the agency still plans to add 1,300 new meters to san francisco city streets in january. it's 6:50 right now. we'll get the latest on the search for the man who has attacked three women in the same east bay apartment complex. plus, you may have seen this on facebook or in your inbox. the girl who quit and embarrasses her boss with a slide show. well, we investigate the rumors and claims that it's all a hoax. live look outside, overlooking sunol. boy, you can see the sun's up. we're going to have a warm-up, in fact, across the bay area. a little hazy over 880 this morning, but looks like traffic's moving pretty smoothly. the full forecast and a look at your morning commute, next.

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now for today's wine country weekend's favorite word, write it down. russian river valley. now be sure to go to our website at nbcbayarea.com and search "sonoma." then follow the directions to enter the contest. we have a new word every day, or phrase. the more words you enter, the better your chance is to win a prize package worth more than $2,000. and wine country would not be a bad place to visit later on today. right now, we've got a lot of low clouds, misty skies, 50s around the bay areas. we'll see low 70s popping up inland, but it's going to be another mild afternoon.

mid-60s in oakland, but take a look at your weekend forecast. 80s and low 90s return just in time for the start of the weekend. back to you. >> thanks a lot, rob. an important safety alert for you this morning. a manhunt is on far rapist in contra costra county. that's where nbc bay area's christie smith joins us live this morning. christie, neighbors are understandably very worried. >> absolutely. there have been three assaults or attempted assaults at the same apartment complex here in walnut creek since june 30th. residents this morning telling us they're shaken. some wish they had more notification about what's going on. the latest incident happening yesterday morning. a woman woke up to find a man in her apartment with his hand over her mouth. she was able to pepper spray him. july 6th, a woman was actually raped here. june 30th, another attempt. we spoke with a resident this morning who says warning signs were up, but only for a while. >> what did the signs say? >> just what had happened with the last two. i didn't know that something had happened the other day. >> reporter: now, people, of

course, being warned to keep their doors and windows locked. investigators believe this could be the same man. a black male, adult, 6'2", 200 pounds, facial hair, dark jeans, wearing a black hoodie. reporting live near walnut creek, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thanks a lot, christie. the jetblue flight attendant that police arrested after he quit his job and slid down the jet's emergency chute getting about his five minutes of fame. a facebook page dedicated to steven slater picked up 10,000 fans since it launched just yesterday. people are calling him a hero. people saying he did what a lot of them feel like doing. >> it's been shared from our site about 5,600 times, which means people have sent it, posted it on their facebook wall. >> jetblue is not calling slater a hero. it released a statement saying that he could have hurt or killed somebody by deploying that emergency chute without warning. and of course, he does face some charges too. well, scott has another bold

resignation that may not be so bold after all. >> did you see this on the internet yesterday? i think the entire planet saw it on the internet. it was a very attractive young girl and she was holding up a set of whiteboards that said, "i quit," and she was turning on her boss, tattling on her boss. well, the girl posted a new picture this morning, saying the whole thing was a hoax. she is an actress. the website that first posted the pictures is known for hoaxing the internet. it's one of those news stories that probably everyone shared, probably realizing it probably wasn't true, but it was still awesome. >> did she say anything bad about her boss? >> tremendous bad -- picture after picture of her holding up new signs, one of which that her boss spent a lot of time playing farmville, that little video game. everyone dreamed that's how they would quit their job too on the internet. fact that it was a hoax, sign of the times, almost doesn't matter. >> is the boss mad? >> there is no boss. >> the whole thing is a hoax. >> there's a real girl, but she's an actress.

could be a whole dr. seuss thing. >> thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> all right. have a local news update in about half an hour and every half hour after that. >> "today" show coming up in a few minutes. see you back here tomorrow.