heating up. the campaign stops in the bay area with candidates attacking each other. >> we're better than that as california. it's time for a governor who will believe the same. >> and the new poll showing governor newsom has some reason to be confident. the news at 6:00 starts right now. thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. the winds are dying down and hope is rising on the front lines of the caldor fire. the fire has burned more than 210,000 acres, but containment continues to grow. now at 25%. more promising news, some evacuation orders in el dorado county have been lifted. nonetheless, thousands of people remain out of their homes has firefighters try getting an upper hand on that fire. nbc bay area's thom jensen is live in south lake tahoe where some locals are also going back in some small numbers to help those firefighters, like 4,500

of them in tahoe basin. >> reporter: it is by permission. they're getting special permission to come in, jess, and do this work. i just talked to some firefighters across the street getting gas from colorado. they said they are so happy to be here and help in this important firefight. they like the tahoe basin. they treasure the tahoe basin. but the people who live and work here, they love this community so much. they were just aching to get back in here and help in any way that they can. along a narrow highway 89 in the tahoe basin, firefighters fight fire with fire, burning away dead timber and brush before the caldor fire jumps forward, threatening homes in christmas valley and over the ridge in south lake tahoe. >> today everything's nice and calm. >> tahoe paradise golf course is also on the other side of that

ridge. and the caldor fire already started throwing sparks at the course days ago. >> one street away. we got very lucky. firefighters are amazing. >> reporter: colby lives on the course where he's worked for 34 years, and he could see the flames from his home. >> you know, all of us locals didn't think it would make it over the echo summit. when it did, it was like, oh, know, what's next. >> reporter: now he's back with permission, working to protect the greens from ash and fire, thankful for his neighbors who are also on the fire lines and for the thousands of men and women now battling to save his hometown. >> amazing. i can't believe they've gotten as far as they've gotten keeping control of this and not one house burned in the basin. it's amazing. >> reporter: just up the road at the coveted heavenly ski resort, another command post. a new command post where thousands of firefighters and the people who are strategizing will make their strategies for protecting these communities

going forward. that was just set up this morning. live in south lake tahoe, thom jensen, nbc bay area news. >> thom, thank you. you can see thom there in smoky south lake tahoe. rob, every seems bittersweet. the smoke now here in the bay area. what's happening? >> we're seeing a combination of smoke problems ongoing. i'm glad thom jensen is wearing his n95 mask. those smoke levels around south lake tahoe are off the charts. as the firefighters pointed out, a lot less fire activity around lake tahoe. the active areas are these little red dots. there weren't a lot of those in the last 24 hours. most of those actually burning away from south lake tahoe. let's take a look at that smoke pollution level, which around south lake tahoe level was an aqi index of 700. to give you an idea, spare the air is down there, and this is where tahoe has been for the last two weeks. and more of this is going to be ongoing over the tahoe basin next couple of days, kind of in and out of that wildfire smoke

at times. back to the bay area, you're seeing some unhealthy air around marin county. moderate air quality elsewhere. we'll have to watch that closely as more smoke in our case is coming down from the northwest coast into the bay area, bringing smoke at times as we head into that morning forecast. you see it there heading into your friday morning. the smoke advisory has been extended through friday. it may get extended on through labor day weekend. we'll watch that closely for you during the day tomorrow. another thing we're watching for fire danger, temperatures going up. not the big wind, but we're talking valley temperatures in the 90s to near 100 degrees. temperatures warming around lake tahoe as well. a closer look at those warmer changes ahead in our forecast coming up in about ten minutes. >> traditionally this the weekend where everyone likes to get outdoors and barbecue and it's going to be interesting with our air quality. thanks, rob. we continue our reporting at nbcbayarea.com. we have an interactive map where you can see exactly where the caldor fire has burned and is burning in south lake tahoe. just click on the caldor fire burn map on the trending bar on

our home page. with the drought deepening almost daily, water experts are putting out a warning. if the winter coming up stays dry, much more drastic water rationing might be needed to get us through next year. nbc bay area's damon trujillo is at the reservoir with a closer look at those 3re dictions. >> reporter: ta lair row reservoir is at 45% capacity. it's actually one of the healthier reservoirs by far. the others are a real cause for concern. the kayakers still come out to calero. they say it's one of the few reservoirs in the valley that can still accommodate their watercrafts. it's also where some couples come to see the wildlife, including the local bald eagle. >> killing time, see the sights. >> reporter: but the landscape around the reservoirs in santa clara county is changing dramatically. >> we're extraordinarily concerned about the reservoir levels and the drought. very nervous. >> reporter: valley water released this video comparison of the different reservoirs.

the agency says the water levels were at capacity in april of 2017. those levels have dropped precipitously to a stunning 12 1/2% today. >> it is not a joke. i know we're all suffering from crisis overwhelm. we're overwhelmed with crises. but this could be truly catastrophic. >> reporter: with low water conservation and another winter with little rainfall, the agency warns some residential wells are likely to go dry. there might also be a need to ban watering lawns and car washes along with other serious restrictions. the rodriguezs give this gloomy forecast the thumbs down. >> we don't like it because we're water skiers and we miss the water. >> reporter: valley water is trying to buy emergency water from the central valley farmers who have given up on crops and are selling this valuable commodity. the stage is set in the south bay. seven men and five women. that's the makeup of the jury

that will now hear the high profile case against elizabeth holmes. did she defraud her investors? it took more than two full days at san jose's federal courthouse to whittle the original group of 200 potential jurors down to 12 and 5 alternates. the biggest challenge, finding enough local residents who didn't already have knowledge of this case or opinions about it. the founder of the blood testing company theranos, which was once the darling of the silicon valley. those following the case tell us the 37-year-old holmes is expected to testify. >> she's a chameleon. she can really project the front that she wants. she's a great actress. so, you know, do i expect her to sell this to the jury and to sell it well? absolutely. >> that was the journalist who broke this case wide open. she'll get the chance to testify beginning next week. opening arguments are expected to start on wednesday. dueling campaigns in san francisco between the governor and one of the men looking to replace him. both had one thing in common, looking to get the attention of

every voter they can. nbc bay area's christie smith with a new poll offering the governor a reason to breathe a little easier. >> reporter: governor newsom's message today is one he says you'll see all across the state in the coming days, urging voters to get their ballots in and reject the recall. a new poll seems to show voters tilting that way, but challengers say that's how it also looked before gray davis was recalled. >> i'm here again, mindful of the power of the asian community to determine the fate of this recall campaign. mindful of our responsibility to have the backs of our diverse communities. >> reporter: governor gavin newsom came to chinatown, a neighborhood hit hard during the pandemic, looking for a supportive crowd as he stumped to stop the recall. >> i implore people to vote no on this recall. reject the hate. reject the division. reject the cynicism and the fear that is behind this recall. >> reporter: and he's getting

some good news. a new poll by the public policy institute of california shows 58% of likely voters say they would vote no to removing newsom with just 39% saying they support the recall. but political watchers note the polls have been wrong before. >> polls don't vote. people vote, period, full stop. this is an off year, off month election. that's what recall is about. it's designed to catch you sleeping. >> reporter: and the wide field of potential replacements, including opposition front-runner larry elder, say they see reason to believe the governor is about to lose his job. in fact, one opponent campaigned not far from the governor at nearly the same time today. former san diego mayor kevin faulconer came to the tenderloin to blast the governor for his handling of the homeless and crime. >> we're better than that as california. it's time for a governor who will believe the same and take the aggressive and at the same time compassionate action to help people. >> reporter: in san francisco, christie smith, nbc bay area

news. >> christie mentioned that new poll that gives governor newsom a comfortable lead. but another poll says otherwise. so slightly different results. our political analysts will explain why that is and how much we should be reading into these polls. that's coming up on our 7:00 newscast. if you have questions about your ballot, we've got answers. our scott mcgrew has put together an explainer on how to complete your ballot correctly. find it at nbcbayarea.com/recall. up next, controversy caught on camera. an incident at a high school in contra costa county. labor day weekend. potentially poor air quality. how many families are changing their holiday plans. speaking of that, holiday weekend forecast. 60s now in san francisco but we could be looking at 70s this weekend. but also upper 90s to near 100 degrees before we get to monday. a closer look at those changes ahead when we come right back. more data isvaluate covid-1

booster shots according to a scientist at the cdc. >> there are new developments in the coronavirus. europe might be a no-fly zone for american tourists. >> sos calls on the cargo ship floating in the bay with multiple crew members suffering from covid-19. >> a milestone in the fight against covid in san francisco. mayor london breed announcing 80% of eligible san franciscans 12 and older are fully vaccinated. boost and cricket charge you more for unlimited 5g. metro doesn't. introducing the big 5g upgrade.

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another chapter in the long, sad story of oakland's ghost ship warehouse is getting closer to ending. it's been almost five years since that fire broke out during a party at that warehouse, killing 36 people. now the owners of the fruitvale district building are wrapping up their chapter 11 bankruptcy case involving this property. the ng family is liquidating their assets to pay nearly $12 million to the survivors and families of those who died in the fire. families and survivors sued the

ngs, pg&e, and the city of oakland and party promoters. they claim the landlord was partly responsible for the conditions that led to the fire. well, happening now, a special school board meeting is under way in the east bay over the use of force in schools. watch this video. this comes after antioch police and school security guards were filmed restraining a high school student accused of threatening his class. the video shows an officer gripping the student's hair while the student is pinned to the ground. but it doesn't show how it started or how it ended. nbc bay area's melissa colorado spoke to antioch police and the school board member, who wants the community to weigh in on this issue. >> reporter: this is a tiktok video taken inside antioch high school that prompted school board president ali househlder to call for a special meeting tonight. >> it's very clear the students were terrified, and that is the first huge red flag to me. >> reporter: this video, which

appears to be filmed by a student, shows two school security officers and one antioch police officer -- that's the man wearing a hat -- restraining a black student. police say they were called to the school last friday after private school security officers complained they could not get the 16-year-old under control. the school's principal said the student had already attacked a classmate and threatened to harm his entire class. antioch police say the officers' body worn camera shows something the tiktok video does not. >> he tells the student that he needs him to place his hands behind his back. >> reporter: police say the student instead places his hands down as if to push up his body from the ground. >> the best way to control this student's body was by controlling his head. >> it seems like there was a lot of force that was used. >> reporter: police say the 16-year-old was ultimately arrested for assaulting a school employee, fighting on campus, and obstructing his arrest. the school's principal says while the situation is unfortunate, we take the safety

of all students extremely seriously and cannot allow one student to threaten the safety of others. >> we are just starting the conversation about how we want use of force incidents to be handled in the future. >> reporter: antioch's council member mike bar bon ca urging parents to hold off on any judgments before reviewing all the facts. >> we need to take a step back. the incident is over at this point. now look at it from an investigative standpoint of what went right, what went wrong. >> i can't say if anybody did anything wrong per se. you know, there's an investigation ongoing, and we'll have to let that play out. >> reporter: in the east bay, melissa colorado, nbc bay area news. a disturbing attack on a popular hiking trail. a woman says she was attacked by two men who jumped out of the bushes. it happened at the stevens creek trail in mountain view yesterday afternoon. the woman told police the two men were hiding and then tried

to grab her. this afternoon, mountain view police releasing the sketches of the suspects. the woman screamed and fought back, and at one point, one of the men tried to pull her pants down. both of those suspects sketches there. she was able to run away. if your labor day plans include spending time outside, you might want to make sure you get that n95 mask not just because of covid reasons, but for the poor air quality. it is smoky and hazy bay area wide. today the air quality listed as moderate for most of us and predicted to get worse over this holiday weekend. >> we're getting a very complicated situation with the weather and the wind and how these fires are being contained and how much smoke they're putting out at any given time. >> for now, the air quality district says it's still safe to conduct your outdoor activities, including jogging and biking. but that could be changing quickly. for that, we bring in rob mayeda, who has his pulse on what's happening around the region, rob. >> you did see the smoke there

looking to downtown san jose. why it's a challenging forecast for our friends at the bay area air quality management district and for your local meteorologists, high pressure strengthens, it acts a bit like a ceiling. imagine that ceiling lowering. the same volume of smoke trapped within. it's like a room where the ceiling drops from 10 feet down to 6 feet. now that smoke is getting closer to the surface, that's the pattern we're going to see. right now moderate around san jose. i think in the north bay and inland east bay valleys, you might part to notice more of that smoke especially by sunday and monday. right now, 62. moderate air quality at livermore, 72 degrees. walnut creek, 69 degrees. enjoy those cool temperatures, inland contra costa county. we're going to have upper 90s on your way as we head towards sunday and labor day monday. air quality right now, still moderate. that's good enough for the air quality advisory for smoke for another day, friday. but that might get extended saturday and sunday. we'll watch that for you.

right now worsening of the smoke continues to be over the higher hills. elevations above 3,000 feet have seen unhealthy air at times. as we head towards tomorrow morning, yet again around the higher parts of the santa cruz mountains, near mt. diablo and the higher mountain peaks around the north bay, these are locations that briefly may go into unhealthy for sensitive groups. for the most part, good to moderate around most of the bay area for tomorrow. this is the forecast outlook. as we head into the weekend, i think we'll get locally unhealthy around the inland north bay, lake county, and possibly down along the diablo range where a weak sea breeze may be good enough to keep san francisco, the coast, and the inner bay seeing moderate air quality. cool start to the morning. 40s and 50s outside. temperatures start the upward climb tomorrow, not so much around san francisco at 67 degrees or 73 in oakland. it's livermore and concord seeing upper 80s tomorrow, and san jose close to 80 degrees. high pressure will strengthen. that is the lowering ceiling we'll be talking about that could trap more smoke as we head into sunday and monday.

notice those temperatures too. saturday, low 90s inland. by sunday, mid to upper 90s for the tri-valley and areas south of san jose. very interesting ten-day forecast. spiked temperatures monday for livermore. similar trend for oakland. but watch the drop. it's almost like going off a cliff there, monday into tuesday for oakland from 80s to low 70s. the other side of the coin of this forecast does get interesting. as high pressure weakens. the storm here to the west will bring in a stronger sea breeze, but the possibility is there, the sierra may get a chance of showers middle part of next week. we'll watch that very closely with some great anticipation after the heat and smoke we're seeing this weekend. san francisco, 70s on the way for your holiday weekend plans. hazy skies. cooler middle part of next week. valleys, the heat cranking up. you'll notice it kicking in on sunday. monday, the holiday, looks to be the warmest day. cooler changes middle part of the week.

could we see our first late summer showers returning to parts of the high country and the sierra? a look at that coming up tonight. >> thanks, rob. up next, a new set of rules. what warriors players will now have to do if they want to play at chase center this season.

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a man is being recognized for possibly preventing a mass shooting. back in july, he spotted someone on the surveillance camera prowling in his car lot and called it in. officers ended up arresting a man with an arsenal, including two assault rifles and several high capacity magazines. santa clarita county district attorney will honor him on september 15th. firefighters in san rafael spent the day putting out hot spots at that brush fire we told you about yesterday. the lassen fire broke out yesterday in an open space off mount lassen drive and idle berry road. part of a neighborhood was evacuated as the crews worked to contain those flames. in all, 44 acres burned. firefighters say they're going to stay on the scene through tomorrow morning and make sure

there are no flare-ups. here's the bottom line. get vaccinated if you work in san francisco or you can't go to work. that includes the warriors. this comes after san francisco last month approved proof of vaccination for indoor events with 1,000 people or more. the city's health department will require everyone including the players to adhere to these same rules. you got to be vaccinated by october 13th. the warriors first home game is october 21st. visiting players will not be subjected to these same rules. last season you might recall andrew wiggins of the warriors was not vaccinated but still played. we all know this. everything here in the bay area is more expensive. new data shows, though, that salaries here are also the highest in the country. the new data from site carrier builder reveals that san francisco tops the list of cities with the highest average salaries, just over $96,000. next up, neighbors just down south in san jose, $93,000. seattle, another tech hub ties with boston both at $91,000.

finally new york rounding out the top five. up next, ready to head out of town for this holiday weekend? we're going to tell you how busy sjc is expecting to get for the holiday travelers.

okay. what's the deal? it's the unofficial final weekend of the summer. people are packing up, and the tsa is bracing for all the travelers. >> san jose international is expecting labor day weekend to see nearly three times the number of travelers just a year

ago this past sunday to next friday. sjc says it will see 150,000 travelers departing compared to just over 56,000 who took off during the same two-week period last year. tomorrow all hands on deck when traveler numbers will peak. tonight at 7:00, we know the short term impacts of breating bad area. we'll be joined by one of the doctors at ucsf. that's tonight on our 7:00 newscast. next on "nightly news," with the climate extremes, more severe weather. cities across the country are being pushed to the edge. tom llamas asks why more isn't being done to save lives and prepare for the future. he is in new york city. "nightly news" with lester holt is next. tonight, ida steadily marched north. flash flooding, tornadoes and the states of emergency. the storm pummelling the east coast in new york city, the first flash flood emergency ever subways running through waterfalls, people dying inside

their basement apartments plus, the home explosion caught on camera after floodwaters rushed inside tornadoes striking near philadelphia. also tonight, desperation where ida first came ashore. hundreds of thousands still without power. and this just in, some nursing home residents dying. officials blaming hurricane ida. plus, the supreme court declining to block texas' restrictive new abortion law what other states are now planning to do car prices are they about to go even higher? why a major american automaker is saying it's halting production at most assembly plants. podcast star joe rogan's announcement he has covid revealing the controversial treatment he took. the fda warning it could put you in the hospital the nbc news exclusive. surviving surfside you'll hear for the first time from a family who made it out alive as their floor was collapsing >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >> good evenin