the nearly $8 billion price tag. the portal will be a tunnel to be dug from the current caltrain station to the salesforce transit center, which is nearly two miles away. it's actually closer as the crow flies, but the tunneling will zigzag under the city a bit. in this animation from the agency, you can see how the trains will go underground, then turn under second street and then eventually arrive at the transit center under natoma and many streets. according to tjpa board vice chairman supervisor rafael mandelman, the cost of the 2.4 mile tunnel has ballooned over the years, in part because of inflation, and unfortunately, that number will continue to climb the longer it takes to get the project started. right now, the agency is still short 2 to $3 billion. regular public transit riders say those costs are staggering, but say they remain supportive of anything that leads to more accessible public transit. i like lower taxes, so if the if they're, you know, planning to fund that by increasing our taxes, i'd say, you know, maybe do some

reshuffling of the budget, look around to find those funds somewhere else. it's a great investment. i mean, public works tends to waste a lot of money. that would be a really good investment. the anticipated completion date for the tunnel, which could also eventually accommodate high speed rail, is 2032, in san francisco, sergio quintana. nbc bay area news while a new start for the city of oakland after more than a year without a police chief, the new top cop started today. chief floyd mitchell spent his first day on the job. today, new chief comes to oakland from lubbock, texas, where he also served as chief. he says his first order of business is getting up to speed with what's going on in the oakland community. i look forward to meeting each and every one of you personally, whether it be at a community meeting or out on the street, with that, thank you for having me as your police chief, and i look forward to seeing you in person. opd hasn't had a permanent chief in 15 months since the mayor fired former chief leronne armstrong. now, coming up at 7:00, i'm going to

be joined by the former opd chief, anne kirkpatrick, 12 chiefs and 11 years. what she thinks needs to happen now to unify the department and end ongoing federal oversight of the oakland pd. that's coming up tonight at seven. well, we have some sad news in the east bay. a car crash killed two community leaders and political activists. california democratic representative barbara lee posted on exit. she's heartbroken at the loss of peggy more and hope wood, the couple was among four people killed in the wreck on highway 76 in san diego on friday night. another car veered into the lane that hit the jeep they were riding in . moore, who is on the left in the photograph, ran for an oakland city council seat in 2016 and was an advisor to oakland mayor libby schaaf. she and wood then co-founded the khanna ferm hope action change. police are still trying to figure out why that car veered into that lane. san jose state students are joining colleges across the country, setting up an encampment on campus demanding transparency from the

university. this one began this afternoon around 330. students say the school has not addressed what they call genocide in gaza to fuel the university has been silent on that issue. they started a sit in last week. now today they say they will set up an encampment. they're asking to stop the silence, asking the university to divest funds from israel. the california faculty association, or cfa, signed a resolution last week saying they stand against oppression and in solidarity with the pro-palestinian movement. a faculty member tells us the university branch of the cfa has not recognized this resolution. unfortunately, our local union, the sdsu, cfa, has refused to tell its local membership about this historic resolution and won't even publish the historic resolution on any of its public web pages so that our faculty here on this campus can know about it. so we're working against many layers of silences on this campus about the genocide. this is the first official encampment by pro-palestinian students at san

jose state. following a nationwide trend, encampments at uc berkeley and san francisco state have been in place for weeks. it is moving forward legal action against the state for a deadly covid outbreak at san quentin prison during the pandemic, families of those who died at san quentin as well as inmates and staff who were infected but survived, have filed four lawsuits against the state. they say prison officials moved inmates from chico to san quentin during a covid outbreak at san quentin that killed 26 prisoners and a guard prison officials appealed, seeking immunity from the lawsuits. but today the supreme court denied that appeal, allowing the suits to move forward. the pleasanton man accused of killing, dismembering and dumping the body of his girlfriend near an alameda shoreline last year, is now facing life in prison. today, a jury found joseph roberts guilty of that gruesome murder of rachel buckner. nbc bears velena jones spoke to the victim's family after that verdict was read. the trauma is still with

me, but today i can breathe a little bit easier on the steps of an alameda county courthouse surrounded by family. as jameelah buckner is reacting to the guilty verdict in the murder of her daughter, 27 year old rachel elizabeth amani buckner. her justice has been served and we can now feel, we won't have, the trauma that i and my family has faced for the last four years. today, a jury found rachel's fiance, 42 year old joseph roberts, guilty of second degree murder. da pamela price explains dna evidence helps secure the guilty verdict. we have every optimistic hope that the court will oppose the maximum sentence, in order to address the horrific crime that was visited upon this family and upon our community. rachel's

body was found dismembered and wrapped in plastic near the bay farm shoreline in alameda. rachel howard, graduate and recent law school graduate, met roberts when they were both students at golden gate university law school. family and friends say there were years of warning signs about roberts and blame pleasanton police for not doing more sooner. what you didn't hear is that 17 times the police came out and did barely anything. this is an injustice that should never have happened because if they looked in the records, they would have seen that joseph roberts came and beat the hell out of me and my mother for. and so he's a dangerous man. he was a dangerous man even before she first called. roberts faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison, while rachel's family waits for him to be sentenced next month. they're advocating for better protection for domestic violence survivors. if

you don't see a scar, that doesn't mean it's not there. if the person says they don't want to leave, it doesn't mean they're not shouldn't leave. do your job. we need different training and different outcomes, so we'll never have to be here again. in oakland. velena jones, nbc bay area news. san francisco could soon be the first city in the nation to extinguish a possible health hazard. it's blamed for threatening america's more than 1 million firefighters. i'm talking about the protective pants and jackets. first responders wear to keep safe during disasters. there are concerns some of the chemicals used to make the gear could cause cancer. our investigative unit first told you about the safety risks earlier this month. it's associated with so-called pfas chemicals. tomorrow, san francisco supervisors are expected to cast their second and final vote on an ordinance now that would force the city to phase out the clothing over two years, while alternative gear still isn't widely available, the city is hoping its ban will entice more manufacturers to increase supply of the safer

gear. san francisco estimates outfitting its entire fire department with new uniforms is going to cost right around $10 million. now you can catch up on our full investigation online. that's nbcbayarea.com slash investigations. also happening tomorrow half moon bay city leaders could finally vote on the project, which the governor blasted them for lagging in. last week, he issued a warning saying he wants the planning commission to stop delaying a 40 unit affordable housing project for farm workers. mr. newsom told commissioners to pick up the pace or face legal consequences. does all of this after that deadly mass shooting at two farms last year that also exposed poor living conditions for farm workers, the city had proposed building a complex for senior farm workers, but never approved it. as the weather heats up, california officials are sending out warnings about water safety. the warning comes after multiple deadly incidents over the past week. one happened on bethel island. it is a heartbreaker. this is in contra costa county saturday afternoon.

a five year old was pulled from the water and later died at a hospital. the child has not yet been identified. further north, a woman died after being pulled out of the american river near auburn. it was yesterday afternoon and a 30 year old mother died trying to save two children from the san joaquin river last week. emergency agencies are now warning people to take extreme precautions as snowmelt enters the waterways across northern california. that influx of cold water can also bring debris and unexpectedly swift currents. the warning is especially important as families begin making plans for what could be a warm, it can do mathw updates to artificial intelligence program chatgpt. why some are warning that ai ai may be getting too smart, too fast. plus a heated debate in san jose why the mayor wants to take money allocated for permanent housing and spend it on the homeless. how you can join that debate and a look outside right now looks like a

tour of our summer microclimates around the bay area. sunshine and walnut creek drizzle moving back into san francisco when both locations start to see warming returning in the forecast, we come right back tonight. our team from the courtroom, michael cohen's testimony in the trump hush money trial has mr. trump's former lawyer drawn a critical link for the prosecution's case, and why one big city fire department could ban its firefighter uniform when we joins.

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housing versus temporary housing sounds familiar, it's because the city debated it last year and it caused quite an uproar. a compromise won't be as easy to reach this year because the city is in worse financial shape, and there's a new problem this time around san jose. creeks and rivers have a pollution problem, and a study indicated almost 90% is a result of homeless encampments. that is the new factor that once again has san jose mayor matt mahan proposing the city take money from measure e, essentially earmarked for permanent affordable housing, and use it for homeless issues, including interim housing and creek cleanup. the first argument has been over interim housing, and some of those who oppose the mayor's plan include people currently using interim housing. they say if too much money keeps going to temporary homes, we will never get permanent affordable homes. a good analogy, i was told, is to like, look at middle school and high school. they have a bunch

of middle schools, but they don't have high schools to go to, and that causes a problem. a woman who has now found permanent affordable housing agreed. the large number of, beds that they're wanting to create with interim housing, it just isn't necessary. and it ties up a lot of funding that could be used for permanent affordable housing. but san jose has been found in violation of the clean water act and faces fines of $60,000 per day per pollutant if they don't clean up. the problem. and that means cleaning up encampments and getting people off the streets quickly. we need to divert more of those dollars to addressing that immediate crisis on our streets, to come into compliance with the clean water act, but this budget allows us to still put anywhere from 20 to $40 million into permanent affordable housing. know the santa clara county association of realtors drew the wrath of homeless advocates last year because those advocates said they felt realtors were fighting to block money from being used for interim housing. the

association says that was not accurate, and also says this year they fully support the city plan. yes, there'll probably be some short term impact, but we really need housing of all types and we need to create an environment where housing of all types can be built. the public hearing will take place tuesday afternoon here at city hall. it will be the first of two sessions that will be held before the council votes in june in san jose. robert honda, nbc, bay area news. some are calling it a wonder, others are calling it a warning to us humans. as of today, the machines are sounding a lot smarter. thanks to artificial intelligence. san francisco based openai showed off its latest version of its chatgpt program, translate

foreign languages in real time? impressive but also worrisome to a group called paws ai, which protested outside openai headquarters group wants more safety guardrails for the emerging technology. we're out here asking for openai to be reined in until we know that what they're doing is safe and that they're doing it in a safe way, and it really shouldn't be us doing that. it should be our government leaders. it's going to be very, very, very close to the humans. and now we're going to look at your phone. your phone is not, you know, a smart phone is basically, you know, a friend, a friend. tech watchers say in the short term, this kind of ai will likely cost jobs like tutors and translators, but they believe as ai develops, it will create a lot of new tech related jobs as well. some new job cuts are in the works in silicon valley, google and rivian automobile are going to be laying off workers. google is set to lay off 57 employees in

san francisco next month. this comes after the company said it's closing its embarcadero office in the city next year. rivian is also laying off 28 employees at its palo alto office. it's dealing with billions of dollars in losses. the companies filed documents with the state alerting them to the layoffs. okay, an important project underway, creating a space for the vietnamese community here in the bay area. san jose city leaders came together this morning at the vietnamese heritage garden, rolling up their sleeves. they got out some shovels for a groundbreaking ceremony. they're installing a statue called the thank you america monument. it's part of a long term vision for the heritage garden. the goal is one that they the space will host community events, cultural performances, and educational programs. san jose mayor matt mahan was there talking about what this means. over 100,000 people of vietnamese descent call our city home. san jose is yours and you deserve a place just for you. somewhere with reminders of where you've been

and where you have yet to go. the mayor says. the statue will be unveiled later this summer. rob mayeda here now with a forecast and the forecast for san francisco is fog at the moment. very gray, very gray. there we go. he dressed accordingly. yes, and drizzle, of course. we're seeing that right now. highs today near san francisco only 59 degrees. and what we have is kind of a jump into our summer microclimates around the bay area. we get those 5060s 70s almost 80s and about a 20 minute drive around the bay area. let's show you how things look in terms of those high temperatures today. yet we should see 60s and 70s instead. well, 59 degrees in san francisco, livermore still up to 77. that was down from the 80s yesterday. so concord and livermore right there where you should be for this time of year. but a little bit cooler with that south wind into santa rosa. 69 degrees today. and right now it is a chilly 54 degrees. the wind and the mist probably makes it feel even colder than that in

san francisco right now. still seeing some late day sunshine around san jose at 69 degrees and back over to walnut creek 74, we will again see some 80s into eastern contra costa county. i think returning as early as tomorrow. right now, the sierras where all the action is. in terms of the radar though, notice the last few frames on the radar view there. as the sun sets, we lose the heating of the day. those thunderstorms are weakening. what's left of some of that moisture in terms of high clouds will likely drift to the west, but without any rain chances for the bay area. those rain chances instead will be tied to drizzle like we saw this morning, like we're seeing right now around san francisco and along the coast and look how far inland those low clouds are for the morning towards the altamont pass and solano county, and then clearing skies once again. again. that's the summer microclimate pattern for you with the fog locked in on the coast and that sunshine inland starting the day in the 50s around the bay area with cloudy skies, spotty drizzle, lunchtime time into the 60s to mid 70s inland, and as you head out

towards fairfield and vacaville, climbing into the 80s tomorrow. but the warmest days of the week will likely wait just a bit longer. here we go wednesday into the mid 80s inland. thursday should be the warmest day of the week with low 80s around san jose, upper 60s returning to san francisco. so really are talking about a 5 to 10 degree warm up as we head into wednesday and thursday. then friday temperatures cool down again as the sea breeze is going to turn stronger and we will see more low clouds as high pressure backs offshore approaching to the weekend. this area of low pressure pushing the coast right now will likely deepen that pocket of marine air, push it farther inland, leading to that weekend cooling in the 7-day forecast. so san francisco got lots of low clouds and drizzle, a little bit warmer midweek, and valleys will begin to see temperatures about 5 to 10 degrees warmer. so not too cold, not too hot, pretty comfortable. good air quality for now too. as long as that sea breeze keeps going. just trending a little bit cooler heading into the weekend. all right rob, thanks very much. coming up next, a close call in

too close, too close, very close. this happened, yesterday at an air show in fort lauderdale. if you saw it closely, you could see the moment the two jets actually touched wings. this was during a performance both pilots momentarily go out of formation. then they regain control. organizers did declare an emergency that they paused the

show, but the pilots did land safely. the jets are from a group called ghost squadron. they're known for flying in precision formations, but maybe not that precise. okay some airlines are challenging president biden with a legal battle. president biden published its new airline fee disclosure late last month, which requires airlines to be upfront and clear about any additional fees like seat selection and the check bags. you know how they get you every time when you're going up, president says. customers should know how much they're paying without the hidden fees. however, airlines claim they're already clear about it now there's too much information during the ticket buying process, and it's confused customers today, major airlines sued the biden administration in an effort to toss out that ruling. the world watched them hatch, and now the cal falcons chicks are three weeks old. those who track the bird posted a photo compilation today showing just how much the four baby birds have grown. yes, and so popular for you see there in

the middle how small they were on day one. and you see up to day 21, there getting big. cal falcons are seley's campanile clock tower since 2016. cal says the birds are now big enough that researchers are soon able to determine their sex. and then here we go again, folks. people are going to get to vote on their new names. it's always exciting. okay, you may have noticed someone missing from our anchor desk this evening. the special honor that our own raj is getting at the state capitol today. and here is a look inside rockefeller center lester holt preparing for nightly news. one of the top stories michael cohen's testimony in the trump hush money trial has mr. trump's former lawyer drawn a critical link for the prosecution? highly

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that town? yes. sacramento. yes. he is the asian american pacific islander legislative caucus took a moment to honor those who have made huge contributions to the aapi community in california. there is our guy. state assembly member ash kalra nominated our

own raj mathai. he tells us he believes raj should be recognized as a trailblazer in the community and as a role model for south asian people all over california. we agree and we are proud, very proud of raj. way to go, my man. congratulations. yes, we're very happy for him. all right. coming up tonight at seven, a new warning about drinking raw milk. this time it's over. the outbreak of the bird flu in dairy cows. we're going to talk to a health expert to see at 7:00 if you should be worried about drinking raw milk. but up next on nightly news, keeping firefighters safe in their own uniforms. tomorrow, san francisco could become the first fire department in the united states to ban chemicals in fire gear believed to cause cancer. our own bigad siobhan investigates. that's next on nightly news. we have been bringing you those reports. we had it for you last week and now it is going national. lester holt joining us from new york

tonight, the dramatic showdown at donald trump's hush money trial. michael cohen testifying against his former boss. mr. trump's former fixer turned foe, michael cohen, taking the stand for his highly anticipated testimony, telling the jury mr. trump directed him to pay off stormy daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair to protect his 2016 campaign. cohen saying mr. trump told him, "just take care of it." the defense preparing to attack cohen's credibility after calling him an admitted liar. and the secret tape cohen made of trump played for the jury. also tonight, the race to escape rafah. 360,000 people fleeing as israeli forces advance on the southern gaza city. terrifying moments at a louisiana church during a livestreamed service. a teen with a gun stopped as he tries to get into the building