>> beginning our team coverage, we are joined by velena jones. what a day. >> what a day indeed. protesters are calling these demonstrations a success after closing parts of 880 down until the afternoon hours they joined more than 50 other cities across the world in similar demonstrations but tonight drivers have some mixed opinions. some commuters support the efforts, other drivers were left very frustrated. space space if those multiple protests effectively shut down traffic for miles. it started on northbound 880 around 6 a.m. as protesters chained themselves to barrels filled with cement blocking traffic near the exit. it took hours for chp to clear the area and cut through the barrels to chisel the protesters out. >> officers responded to each

location and determine your protesters had utilized various tools to impede officers ability to remove protesters. >> reporter: another group of 300 protesters took over the southbound lanes of 880 at seventh street during the morning commute, halting traffic there for more than four hours and leaving drivers stranded and frustrated. >> it's frustrating now, it's been more than four hours. >> nobody is doing nothing. and everybody is waiting, for what? we want to go to the bathroom? you going to eat? you going to work? we are not going to change for anybody. >> reporter: some drivers turned around on the freeway hoping to find their way out of the gridlock. >> it's not as effective as everybody wants it to be but it's showing something. there is power in people, to bring us to a halt.

i'm not sure if anybody is listening. >> reporter: after hours of no movement, law enforcement managed to do remove the protesters. protesters say they targeted 880 because it's a main economic driver connecting commerce to the word of oakland, the airport in the railroad. >> we needed this, the only way is to make this extension as possible. >> reporter: protesters called the demonstration a success, drivers stuck in the sand who are unable to go to work saying they don't understand how this helps the cause. >> we don't decide anything. we are nobody. >> reporter: in total between those two demonstrations on 880, 12 people were arrested. they face charges of unlawful assembly as well as failing to comply and there could be

possible other charges as well. reporting live in the east bay, velena jones, nbc bay area news. >> a scene similar in san francisco as testers shut down traffic on the golden gate bridge for more than four hours today. according to chp some protesters chained themselves together two people sitting inside cars. the goal was obviously to make it more difficult to end this demonstration and keep the bridge shut down even longer. this is an event that police say they had heard discussions about, but did not have pacific information about when or exactly where it would happen. according to the chp, 26 people arrested at this location, the golden gate bridge and they were taken to san francisco on a bus. they also say among the charges, protesters are facing a conspiracy charge. >> we will continue to do the best we can with our intelligence for tracking conspiracy, because this was a protest that was across

multiple cities, and we believe conspiracy is the appropriate charge. >> cars used in the protest were also impounded. we've seen demonstrations like this before around the city of san francisco and one that shut down the bay bridge late last year. now that it is becoming more common and impacting more people, while the protesters start facing different penalties, possibly even jail time? we found out what can and cannot be done with that story coming up at 5:30. >> it has been called the rape club. the federal women's prison being shut down, it hasn't been able to effectively address employee misconduct. here is nbc bay area's julie hernandez. >> mr. garcia touched me inappropriately, went through my clothes, went through under my shirt, and into my pants. >> former inmate rhonda ashley

details the abuse she says she experienced at the hands of the former warden at dublin's correctional institution, it is still impacting her. >> this stuff is still haunting me. i don't trust probation officers, i don't trust any of the staff for federal. because they failed me. you're feeling people in prison. >> reporter: since 2021 eight prison employees including the former warden have been charged with sexually abusing inmate, two have been convicted and five others have pled guilty. a judge appointed a special master to oversee the present. she started just last week. but today, the bureau of prisons announced it's closing the facility, saying its efforts to correct things haven't worked. quote despite these steps and resources, we have determined that fci dublin is not meeting expected standards and that the best course of action is to close the facility they said.

>> they don't want an independent person poking around in their business because they will find out a lot of things. >> inmate advocates say the prison is trying to evade accountability and they say transferring inmate is nothing more than punishing victims. >> all of these people who are survivors, they are being transferred to prisons where they don't know anyone, some of these women have been incarcerated for decades at dublin and they are going to be uprooted from their community and family that they have established in the prison here at dublin. >> there is no justice if are just going to transfer these women out to other facilities. that's not justice. that's not going to do anything. >> ashley says prison abuse isn't just a dublin problem. she and others are calling for compassionate release. >> we don't need to be transferred to another prison for being sexually abused. no, we need accountability. >> the board of prisons

declined to tell us if transfers have already begun, but today the judge ordered that each case must be reviewed by the special master prior to transfer. inmate advocates say they will not stop fighting for you. more than 60 lawsuits are underway. in dublin, jody hernandez nbc bay area news. speak up a 47-year-old brett bymaster began assaulting the girl back in 2014. the sexual contact continued for four years ending in 2018. during that time he was a youth pastor at the river church community. he was also volunteering at afterschool programs outside of the church. he was arrested last week in manti got and is in the santa clara county jail. the white house and the world waiting and watching for israel's decision on whether it will retaliate against iran after the weekend missile and drone strike by that country. while president biden says he

stands with israel, he is urging restraint and a limited response. alice barr is in washington with more. >> against the backdrop of soaring middle east tensions, president biden hosting the iraqi prime minister today and directly addressing this weekends unprecedented iranian air assault against israel. >> together with our partners we defeated that attack. >> the u.s. joining israel's in shooting down the nearly 300+ drones launched. no one was killed and injuries were limited. they call it retaliation for a strike on the iran embassy compound in cereal. iran says it's over unless israel fires back. >> strength and wisdom are different sides of the same coin. >> the bride and biden administration is urging restraint. in major cities this morning, israelis appeared back to

normal but the israeli war cabinet is still weighing its options and signaling it could retaliate soon. president biden told israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu that although the u.s. is committed to defense, u.s. forces will not participate in any counter offensive against iran. that, according to a senior administration official. the president seeking to stay.stave off a wider regional conflict as war rages on in gaza. >> we are committed to a cease- fire that will bring the hostages home and preventing conflict from spreading beyond what it already has. >> he is urging congress to act on funding for israel and ukraine. the latest developments are raising the pressure on house speaker mike johnson to resolve republican infighting over foreign aid and bring a long stalled package up for a vote. in washington, alice barr, nbc new's.

speak up watching an investigation into the baltimore bridge collapse. it crashed into the francis scott key bridge class in a matter of seconds. text construction workers fell from the bridge and died. the fbi is investigating what led to the crash and agents boarded the ship with search warrants. close to the investigation says looking at whether the crew left port knowing the ship had mechanical issues. supreme court justice clarence thomas was missing. without an excellent nation. most of the time they log in remotely. thomas didn't attend online either. the court usually gives a reason when justices aren't present. the court simply said thomas couldn't make it to the bench adding he will participate in today's case is by looking at transcript of the arguments. thomas is the longest serving sitting justice and at 75 he is

the oldest. still ahead looking at the recounts, poll workers are prepared to start counting again with the congressional race that ended per second. thousands of ballots are set to be examined. adobe is rolling out an ai assistant for you, what it does and how much it will cost you. im chief meteorologist jeff ranieri, warming up today. 68 in concord. we will talk about how t it ho

the process of recounting votes in a tight race to replace anna as you is underway. right now sam carter, evan low and joe simitian are set to advance to the november runoff unless the numbers change. robert handa joins us from the hectic warehouse in san jose with more. >> at controlled chaos today is about 30 workers prepared to push, sort and examine about 150,000 ballots to get them ready for a machine recount

tuesday. this activity is the start of a weeklong process to see if the new count could change the outcome for the riptide between congressional candidates evan low and county supervisor joe simitian, both finished with the exact same number of votes, putting them in a tie for the second runoffs but in the race for the 16th congressional district. getting the ballots ready here in san mateo county is a painstaking process. >> recounts them precinct by precinct. we are working on a flow basis. so as we are able to dig up all of the ballots for specific precincts and those precincts are complete then we take them over to the county machines for tallying. >> the process started after days of uncertainty in santa clara county, there is no automatic trigger for a recount. somebody had to agree to pay for it. two people requested the recount without public support of either candidate.

jonathan padilla committed to paying a deposit for the first day of recounting by machine, about $16,000 a day. a recount by hand would have been double that amount. >> by law, the requester has to pay a deposit every day that we are conducting the recount. if the requester does not pay for a specific day, then the recount is concluded. >> as you can imagine there is a lot at stake for both candidates since every single ballot is crucial. this is going to be the one and only recount and the results of this recount will be final. and jose, robert handa, nbc bay area news. adobe is making sure to keep up with artificial intelligence. today the san jose-based company released ai assistant that will help users understand the content of digital documents. the chat but no answer whatever question you have, generate summaries and provide citations. it's also launching a free mobile version. subscriptions start at five

dollars a month. >> americans are spending more on retail, that is the word for the latest consumer report. retail sales find steadily last month outpacing the dow jones forecast. it ran at 3.5%, annual rate in march, consumer spending grew at 4 percent. consumers are keeping just a little ahead of inflation. rising gas prices helped push retail prices higher but online sales have the largest gain in the latest numbers. economist say strong consumer spending trends have helped keep the economy a float, but looking at cutting interest rates. stocks week despite the boost in spelling, all the major indexes well, the dow lost more than 200 88 points marking its sixth straight losing day. 200 points dropped for tech points and the s&p 500 at 51 points. it could be tied to conflict in the middle east.

a new work week has begun and we had some chilly temperatures over the weekend drying out and warming up. >> it was like back to december on saturday. so chilly out there. we are expecting even a chance of some 80s coming in a seven- day forecast. we will get you all ready to go for the week ahead and even what is coming our way for this upcoming weekend. let's take you outside to the bicameral network. look at all of that blue sky, if you're down across the south bay, you are in luck. this is the spot with the most sunshine as you head towards a lot of the east bay. we had some breaks and sunshine at some cloud cover lingering. all in all, warming up. look at this temperature change here. on saturday, we have the rain coming in, we had only 53 in santa rosa, today is 69, 58 on saturday, and 70 today. a lot of the bay area warming on the. along the creek, 60 degrees,

the 50s are coming in by eight, nine, and 10:00. we will continue to warm up here as we head into tomorrow's forecast. some high pressure building in from the south. that will move the storm track off to the north, keep us dry, and temperatures will be anywhere from about 4 to 8 degrees of warming. i see a chance of patchy fog for tomorrow morning. the forecast doing a great job of showing that in the morning, but again, just be on the lookout for that if you're heading out around five, six, or 7:00, just patchy fog. as we get through the afternoon, some cloud cover through one or 2:00, and we will see some more brakes of sunshine by 4:00 and 5:00. for tomorrow, not too bad of a start, 46 in the south bay. in the tri-valley, 45. san francisco dipping down to 50 and here in the east bay, 47. check out these temperatures. man, after this weekend this is going to be so nice tomorrow, not only in the south bay but for lot of the bay area.

look at these numbers, back up to 75 in cupertino, 77 in morgan hill. scott is at 74. in the east bay, concord, livermore at 77. 76 danville, 74 in hayward. through the financial, 63 at half moon bay, we will be up to 73. san francisco, 67 in downtown and right to the north bay up to 76 in napa and 74 in nevada. as we had through this week we are looking through a storm that will develop in this the pacific, it will get some rainfall close by saturday's forecast but everything shows this breaking up which would allow some sunshine to stay with us through saturday and sunday, and some relatively comfortable temperatures. look at this trend over the next 10 days. we are in the 70s through sunday and by next week it drops. overall, not that bad. right here on a seven-day forecast in san francisco,

clouds increased by thursday and this weekend coming in with those. sunny skies, in san francisco and in the inland valleys, we go through 80 on wednesday. the warmest day going back a little bit weird this is just shaping up really nicely for us in this upcoming weekend. this will make only the fourth weekend so far this year, we would have had sunny skies consecutively on saturday and sunday. so make your plans. make them now. >> thank you, thanks jeff. the armor on the set of the alec baldwin movie comes out her deat the amount ofh,

the armor convicted of the deadly shooting on alec

baldwin's movie rust is being sentenced to 18 month in prison. the judge giving hannah gutierrez-reed given the maximum sentence possible. she was convicted for involuntary manslaughter. a popgun was discharged on the set and a real bullet struck cinematographer halyna hutchins killing her. baldwin, who is also charged with involuntary manslaughter is set to stand trial in july. closing its solano county plant, 125 employees will be laid off of the abbott nutrition facility in fairfield next month. it coincides with a fadeout of a nutrition bar product line. the company says the decision was difficult but necessary to cut costs. it is that best known for its miller places replacement. could have a new ingredient and could help women's stay healthy during pregnancy. would require all muscle flour

to add folic acid. folic acid is essential to pregnant women, used to prevent serious birth defects and help babies develop. the government always already requires it to be added to bread and cereals. it is a big night for one

the wnba draft is going on and less than an hour ago, caitlin clark was picked first overall by the indiana fever. >> not a surprise. caitlin clark talked about making that move to the pros. >> i have confidence in myself and being confident in the work i put in and knowing i earned this. that's what i remind myself. you are not here by accident, it's all of the hard work that you put in and that is what let you lead you to this. >> you can see more of that interview on nbc's nightly news coming about 6:30. >> you can watch our newscast on roku and other streaming platforms. what is joining us at 5:30.

those protesters shut down 880 and the golden gate bridge. this isn't the first time we have seen protest like this. in fact what are some of the ramifications moving forward? our legal experts weigh in. former president trump hush money trial is underway. what does the public think of his latest trial and how will it effect his election? and team usa basketball continues to be the gold standard at the olympics. we catch up with a northern california star hoping to head to paris as she juggles two other high profile jobs. welcome back, the news at 5:30 start that right now. >> we start with the traffic nightmare. protesters blocking traffic on three major arteries of the golden gate area, the golden gate bridge, and 880.

people are stuck, frustrated and still upset. this is part of a nationwide effort on tax day to protest u.s. tax dollars going towards israel and the war in gaza. many locations across the country but it seems the bay area got hit the hardest. here's one of three locations, just after 6 a.m. on northbound 880 on fifth avenue, protesters chained themselves to 55 gallon barrels filled with concrete and rebar. you see one of the barrels right there. chp officers had to use jackhammers and other tools to free those people and clear them from the road. seven people in all were arrested. in other locations, south bound 880 near 980, around 300 people blocked the seventh street on ramp onto the freeway, blocking all southbound lanes. five people were arrested after the hundreds of protesters refused to leave. and then on the golden gate bridge, anytime