waiting for results. the polls close at 8:00 p.m. but votes are already being counted. millions of votes being returned, millions being cast today. governor newsom did make a quick stop back home and it's believed he's at home with his family. terry? >> reporter: yeah, we expect the governor to be here sometime after the polls close at 8:00 to make some kind of statement and his camp is rather confident thinking that statement's going to be he survived this recall election. today he wanted to play it safe, and he was in san francisco. look at the governor in front of a very, very friendly audience, the international brotherhood. electrical workers, standing ovation for the governor, liked everything he said, laughed at his jokes, but the governor was not laughing. he's upset that new charges that

the election is rigged. that charge has come from donald trump and his main challenger over the course of this election. first of all, let's hear from the governor talking about this rigged election allegation. and then we're going to hear from larry elder, the primary challenger, talking about his path to victory. >> for the second time, what that sends, what that message sends to the united states people all across this country, the vote somehow doesn't matter, that the whole thing is rigged. they are quite literally trying to dismantle democracy and trust in this country, our very nation. this is fundamental. this is serious stuff. >> a lot of independents and republicans are voting late. a lot of republicans want to vote in person. so they're voting later. so i don't put a whole lot of okay? those polls. >> reporter: the governor's saying again and again, it's not about polling, it's about voting and all about turnout today however, one of the governor's number one advisers is saying they cannot find a scenario

where the governor loses. we're going to find out, beginning at 8:00, there's going to be a bunch of ballots released. we'll know a bit then, more as the evening goes on. we could know tonight. it could be way out in front for the governor and maybe not, that's why we have elections. terry mrk sweeney, nbc bay area news. >> governor newsom in northern california, but many of the other candidates are in southern california. let's bring in patrick healy live at the beverly hills city hall. any watch parties planned by any of the gop candidates tonight? >> reporter: indeed, janelle, there are a few gatherings that are planned, but i have to tell you one of the key talking points is whether or not there is voter fraud. one came through with suspicious

timing because there were discrepancies in vote counts. and this coming from a website that is funded by the larry elder campaign. larry elder campaigning late yesterday, still pushing for the recall of governor newsom, still asking voters to choose him as successor. >> will gavin newsom accept the results of the election when he loses? >> reporter: even as he said that, this website funded by elder's own campaign has already stated that newsom had been reinstated. >> this is an embarrassing moment. they're already preparing to lose and preparing to lose in a way that is so problematic. >> reporter: jessica levinson has served as president of the l.a. ethics commission and notes that the claim by the stop ca fraud site, that they have detected fraud in california is false on its face, because no

vote counting has yet begun. and yet the elder-supported site goes on to name an analytical tool that purportedly was used. >> it shows that they're claiming here, and it's not based on anything in reality. it's not based on anything that actually happened. they're saying we lost because there's voter fraud before any vote has been counted. >> reporter: after nbc news reported the false claims, they were removed overnight. tonight the stop ca fraud site simply provides a forum for reporting fraud. elder has not commented on this. his spokesperson said we should all be concerned about election integrity, but not addressing the posting of the false claims. >> larry elder is running his campaign the way larry elder is running his campaign. >> reporter: caitlyn jenner declined to criticize elder but did say this. >> i believe in our electoral

system. >> reporter: elder had initially rejected president trump's unsubstantiated claims of fraud when now-president biden defeated him last fall. >> this really, i think, is taken from president trump's playbook. >> reporter: so elder's campaign has declined to explain beyond their statement, but the candidate himself, larry elder appeared on fox news and said some people are going to vote for the recall that there won't be any question about the outcome. this unfortunately didn't get to the website that his campaign supports. back to you. >> patrick, thank you. we usually don't do this in september, but here we are. this special recall election. early projections, we could see

more than 50% voter turnout. keep if mind the last presidential election we saw about 70% turnout here in california. let's bring in larry gerston. good evening to you. it seems to be too much when we think about this. 46 candidates to replace governor newsom. why couldn't republicans unite and pick one or two or even three to run against him? >> that's a good question. it takes, for the republican party, 60% of the convention attendees to approve any one candidate. now we had 46 candidates running, as you said, raj, nobody was going to get close to that, maybe 20%, 25% for larry elder. given that, it's every person for themselves. it was the same thing in 2003 when we had 135 candidates running. none of this matters unless governor newsom is recalled. >> in 2003, we had arnold schwarzenegger who won that recall election.

any comparisons to larry elder? could he pull something off like schwarzenegger did? >> it's a different environment. the difference was about 10% those days. now's double, 24% i believe it is. that's a big difference. we've got a much different mix in terms of people voting today, fewer whites, latinos. that's different. if you put together the difference in the electorate, along with party differences, it's going to be different all together, and, add to the fact that schwarzenegger was something of a celebrity, if you will, and he had some political experience as well. that differentiates himself from someone like larry elder or the other republicans. it's a different scenario all together. >> we have a long lineage of republican governors, nixon, reagan, schwarzenegger. are we ever going to see another one? >> i think so. these things go in waves. we had years where you said we

had many republican governors, now we're going through a democratic period. one thing we know for sure. as the demography changes in the state, so do the political persuasions of those people. there will be a point somewhere down the road where all these things change again. but these things don't change overnight. they change over long periods time. we call it party realignment. let me tell you t doesn't happen very often. >> if governor newsom survives tonight, does he run for reelection in 2022? that's right around the corner. >> if governor newsom survives, he's likely to run for reelection, but he's got to survive well, by double digits to feel comfortable. if he wins less than double digits, number one, democrats in his own party are going to wonder what's going won this guy, number two, republicans will be emboldened by the fact that these people who came out of nowhere, this was not a machine, this was grassroots, came that close. so it's very important not only that he wins tonight but that he

wins by a comfortable margin. otherwise you're going to hear a lot of second guessing come tomorrow or the next day. >> really, it's election 1 and 1a. because then we have the next election in november of 2022. we have a full list of voting centers throughout the bay area. you still have time to vote, along with an entire page dedicated to this recall election. head to nbcbayarea.com, and click on the newsom recall right there at the top on our trending bar. we'll be on also throughout this evening with updates during prime time and then a full recap tonight on our 11:00 news. in other news, the u.s. withdrawal of afghanistan has prompted the secretary of state to endure a second day of harsh criticism from a senate committee. alice barr has more from washington. >> reporter: secretary of state anthony blinken in the hot seat on capitol hill for a second day of tough questions about the withdrawal from afghanistan.

>> the execution of the u.s. withdrawal was clearly and fatally flawed. >> reporter: senators grilling secretary of state blinken over how the biden administration misjudged how quickly the afghan army would collapse and the taliban would sweep back into power. >> what was not anticipated was the collapse of the afghan government. >> the biden administration caused this disaster. >> reporter: the u.s.-led airlift evacuated roughly 124,000 people, but 13 american service members were killed in a suicide bombing at the airport, and some 200 americans, plus thousands of afghan allies were left behind. >> we continue our relentless efforts to help any remaining americans. >> reporter: democrats stressing the failures in afghanistan began long before the biden administration. >> let's stop with the hypocrisy about who's to blame.

there are a lot of people to blame, and we all share in it. >> reporter: but the focus on afghanistan presents new challenges to president biden's domestic agenda. he's on the road in colorado today trying to drup up public support for his infrastructure and tax reform and social spending plans that face an uphill climb in a divided congress. in washington, alice barr, nbc news. well, here's a big question, we've been discussing for months. do we need a booster shot? dr. anthony fauci on msnbc today was asked about the possibility of needing a covid booster. >> myself, as a scientist, who have seen some of the data, i believe when you look at that data carefully, there's going to be a decision to actually give the boost as opposed to not giving it. ? >> he says research shows there's a waning of immunity

among those vaccinated. up next, here we go again. powerful winds, unrelenting rain. tropical storm nicholas is on its way to louisiana. and i'm jeff ranieri, a much welcomed storm on the way for california. i'll have the updated numbers and continued good news on this in about six minutes. and there's no shelter like it anywhere else in the country. we'll he show you what makes this south bay animal shelter so special.

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hurricane nicholas rocked the texas coast last night. it lost strength after reaching land, but flooding is the main concern now. the tropical storm reached hurricane strength just before hitting texas monday night. it's already dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of texas. nicholas lost strength after making landfall but had enough punch to do damage. >> got three feet of water if in

here which fried all our equipment is probably going to shut us down for probably a week. >> the biggest threat from nicholas is rain and flooding, and that's obvious for people in louisiana who are still struggling to recover from hurricane ida. nicholas should weaken some more tonight as it heads east. in washington, d.c., senate democrats are rallying around a new voting rights bill designed to attract support from progressives and moderates. west virginia senator joe manchin is trying to gather republican support. the freedom to vote act would set national voting standards, allow mail-in ballots and early voting and make election day a federal holiday. today we're profiling the state-of-the-art new shelter in the south bay.

employees say it's the best facility in the nation. it also has a unique feature no other shelter in the country has. nbc bay area's ian cole has more. >> reporter: the santa clara county animal services shelter in san martin just opened in february, and this month is their first time participating in the clear the shelters. the 37,000 square foot facility is described as an extreme upgrade, with state-of-the-art dog dorms, harm play areas and places to interact with your new animal. >> we've put a ton of thought, when we were thinking about the design and making it very comfortable for the animals, very low stress. and also not just for the animals but for the visitors, so that everybody here has a really good, positive experience. >> reporter: program manager lisa jenkins says the buildings fill a major need in south santa clara county. >> many animal lovers out here, they really wanted a center like

this. >> reporter: and the san martin center is the only one in the county to house large livestock and has a ten-stall horse barn. >> in is a huge asset for us. before, we were running out of stalls that were donated stalls. >> reporter: and it can be used for large animals evacuated due to flooding or wildfires. >> a round pen to work with the horses and get them out and exercised and get to know about them. our large pasture space. >> this is a little water fountain. >> reporter: it has more than just new bells and whistles. >> we have ambient music playing. >> reporter: there are multiple operation rooms to save hurt animals. >> when i first started over seven years ago, we literally in a room about that big. but here again because of the space and more staff, we're able to tackle more, a lot more than just spay/neuter. >> reporter: adoptions spiked at the beginning of the pandemic

but now have dramatically slowed. employees say the facility serves the community much better than before, for the animals and the people looking to adopt them. >> just come on down. you can meet the animal, and we can take it from there. >> reporter: in san martin, ian cole, nbc bay area news. >> i want that guy. >> i know. so sweet. impressive facility. now our clear the shelters coverage is just beginning. we're going to have great rescue stories all week long and it leads up to our big event at berkley humane on saturday. dozens of dogs and cats will be up for adoption right there, but you don't have to wait until saturday. hundreds of animals need adoption all over the bay area. go to nbcbayarea.com, click on clear the shelters on the trending bar at the top of the home page. our nbc colleague, lester holt is moving down to the ground floor. you may notice the change when you tune in to nbc nightly news. this is video behind the scenes of the historic 1a studio at 30

rock. he joins us from his new studio at, that's nice. >> yes, that is nice. >> you can watch nightly news at 6:30 tonight right here on nbc bay area. >> very futuristic. >> fancy. >> high tech. >> they even have marble floors. >> i think lester's like in the seventh floor. now he's on the first floor. >> he's down on the "today" show studio. >> he anchors the news. he's the anchor of the building. >> right there on the street. let's bring you out here to san francisco. we are in a fog storm right now. and this is really helping to begin to cool down our temperatures after all that heat, those mid to upper 90s inland we had the past few days. this is going to help to make it better for you. in san francisco right now we're averaging 60. and it's not only the fog that's

going to help to drop temperatures but colder air off to the north. still looks good for this to continue to drop down. it's all five to ten degrees cooler. i think we could go a little more than that as the fog pattern combines up with that new change. let's get you ready to go. we are already close to midweek, and it feels good, right? tuesday out of the way for most of you. best chance of the fog in the morning will be right here near the water in the east bay, so right up near the bay. of course san francisco and the north bay. now daytime highs tomorrow, again start to drop, so i think this is just going to leave us with a fantastic day down here through the south bay. check it out. can you see my numbers in morgan hill at 86. milpitas also coming in, in the low 80s. right through the east bay, relief for some of you tired of the mid and upper 90s inland.

back down to 87 in pleasanton. over to martinez, 80 and hayward at 77. the peninsula starting to feel some of that chill. 73 in san mateo and redwood city 75. san francisco, lots of 60s from downtown to the ingleside and the marina at 59. let's move it off to the north bay. because of the stronger ocean breeze we'll struggle to get to that 76 in santa rosa. the temperatures are looking better, and that rain forecast also continues to look better. let's go ahead and take you to what i'm tracking. it's a system by saturday and sunday, things are looking more improved for this to hold up a little more for northern california. but it will start to break up here once it reaches the bay area. however, i think we'll get spotty drizzle chances, maybe a few isolated showers. but the rain totals in the fire zone, they are looking higher, a quarter to three quarters of an inch. and it could actually help us to get full containment on some of the fires to the north.

san francisco temps will stay in the 60s next six days. lots of 80s here through the inland valleys. more looks at this, also our rain forecast into october at 6:00. >> october, that sounds good. >> thanks, so much, jeff. granted permission to leave the country. the reason a judge is allowing lori laughlin to go to canada even though she's on probation for the college admission scandal. ♪ i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪

(music) ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ i think to myself ♪

from california to outer space. spacex launches a big bundle of laser-equipped satellites into orbit. this is from santa barbara county last night. a rocket successfully delivered 51 star link satellites into space to provide broadband internet service in rural and remote communities. the next mission for spacex is tomorrow in florida where

non-astronaut civilian also be launched into space. a judge has accepted lori laughlin's request to leave the country. her film project is in canada where she filmed a romance series for the hallmark channel. producers wrote her out of the script after her arrest but hinted she could be welcomed back. break out the champagne, we have a celebration at oracle park. we'll show you new video into the newsroom of the giants partying last night in the clubhouse after clenching a play off spot.

plenty of champagne, or was it beer, raj? >> it might have been beer. >> for the giants last night after clenching a playoff spot. they're back to work tonight. >> the work is not over. let's take you out to oracle park, a live look from our exclusive center field camera, a mixture of sun and fog out there. the giants hosting the padres. the ceo said we can't be hungover today. because we still have work to do. they got to win the division. >> yeah. >> maybe a little hungover. here's video from last night's celebration. this is fun to see. these guys worked so hard to get to this point. some adult beverages and goggles and a lot of celebrating. not many people thought the

giants would be a playoffs team this season, but here they are. their first trip since 2016. we have 49ers news, raheem mostert is out for the season. he will undergo season-ending surgery. of a consulting with multiple doctors he felt this was the best decision for his long-term future. we'll see what the 49ers look like in philadelphia. right now at 6:00, you still have two hours to vote. the race to decide weather whether governor newsom keeps his job ends tonight. a steady stream of voters pouring into this center if east san jose. why some feel today's decision will be pivotal for the future of california. and tragedy on the track.

dragged to her death by a b.a.r.t. train. we investigate the horrible accident of a woman who had her dog's leash tied to her waist. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening, and thanks for being with us on this election night, i'm raj mathai. >> i'm janelle wang of after months of campaigning, voters are weighing in. governor newsom's future in office will be decided in the next few hours. voter turnout has been high. in contra costa county, we are live in martinez where they're feeling pretty confident about getting results out throughout this night. thom? >> reporter: they feel pretty confident about voter turnout, too, because they've got more than half of the mail-in ballots came back already, 360,000 of them. in fact, the registrar of voters told m