Upsetting. Its so frustrating. So what happened that prompted mayor breed into damage control today. And one of the wealthiest communities in the bay area has one of the deadliest stretches of road. Watch out, candace. See, the guy doesnt see you. Reporter the Close Encounter we witnessed while reporting on the problem. Plus, the show goes on. A San Francisco movie premiere happening as we speak, but without any of the stars. Its the latest impact of the sagaftra strike. Good evening. This nbc bay area news tonight. Im raj mathai. Lets start with some of the headlines that we are watching on this wednesday. Former President Trump will face a judge in washington, d. C. In a courtroom tomorrow. He is charged with trying to overturn the president ial election of 2020. The historic indictment was announced yesterday. Mr. Trump was accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States of america, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding as congress certified the election results, and conspiracy against the right to vote and have that vote counted. The indictment alleges that former President Trump spread lies that he actually won the election while knowing that the claims were false. Mr. Trump adamantly denying any wrongdoing. In a new fundraising push, he accused President Biden of weapon nicing the department of justice against him. Mr. Trumps legal team is forming a free speech defense, but the indictment spells out that that while mr. Trump had a right to speak and even lie about the election results, its his actions that led to the charges. The hearing 1 00 p. M. Tomorrow our time. Back here at home, the man accused of tacking the husband of House Speaker nancy pelosi was in court. David depape is accused of breaking into the couples home and attacking paul pelosi. Today his legal team said they want access to the pelosi home in San Francisco. The request came out ineral court today. According egal analysts, his defense teams request is unusual for a federal trial. Heres why. Assault cases are typically in state court where Defense Attorneys are sometimes granted access to the crime scene. But this case is in federal court because nancy pelosi, of course, a member of congress. U. S. Attorneys argue allowing the defense team to take photos or video inside the former speakers home would be a serious invasion of the familys privacy and potentially their safety. If those pictures or videos are disseminated in some way, i think that not only violates privacy interests, but could cause Security Issues for the former speaker and her husband. The judge said that she would take some time to make a decision on this motion, but she did schedule the trial to begin november 9th. Now we spoke briefly today to congresswoman pelosi. She was in San Francisco for another event. We asked her how her husband is recovering. He is coming along. It will take him a couple months, i think. But thank you for asking. Paul pelosi is expected to testify by the way in this federal trial. Also tonight, heartbreaking news in the south bay. We have just learned a student has died after being found unresponsive at a Swimming Pool at a school. The incident happened yesterday at the Harker School. This is off saratoga avenue in west san jose. The child was taking part in a Summer Program when someone found the student in the campus pool. The child was taken to the hospital but did not survive. Investigators are now on this case. The Harker School releasing this statement to us, saying in part, quote, our lifeguards performed cpr until the paramedics arrive. We continue to send our thoughts and prayers to the family and are focusing on their needs and respecting their privacy. The school also canceled the remainder of summer camp. Heres a story that continues to unfold. A bay area District Attorney is fighting to keep her job just seven months after being on the job. Embattled Alameda County d. A. Pamela price is facing a recall effort. Similar to former San Francisco d. A. Chesa boudin, her critics accuse her of being soft on crime. Now a former prosecutor in her own office is questioning her decisions about charges in a high profile cold case. The case is the disappearance of 9yearold Michaela Garecht in 1988. Garecht was riding a scoot were a friend in hayward when she was kidnapped. The case went unsolved until investigators say they recently tied two palm prints found on one of the scooters to david emory misch. Here is his photo. He is already serving time for another murder. Hes plead not guilty to all charges. Deputy d. A. Colleen mcmahon was preparing to take misch to trial this year when just days after taking office in january, District Attorney pamela price reduced the charges against misch. Pamela price also put mcmahon on administrative leave. Mcmahon says the charges were reduced without consulting her or mckayla garechts family. Is that ordinary . Unheard of. Unthinkable. I know more about these cases than anyone, probably each to this day. And to not have a discussion with me about the impact that charging decision may have on the future of the case is unthinkable. Joining us now is Jessica Aguirre leading the investigation into the story. Remarkable what she is saying. Why is that District Attorney speaking publicly and to us about the case . Well, Colleen Mcmahon says she is really doing it for the victims families, because two things. This case went unsolved for 34 years. And the families have waited a long time. And to get to this point, to have the case altered and have her taken off the case means the families are going to have to wait even longer to find some sort of resolution. But the other issue is charging decision. Removing those additional charges known as special circumstances which are an aggravated form of murder, which then allows for a harsher penalty like in this case, life in prison without the possibility of parole, removing those changes the specter of the case. Mcmahon says the jury wont get to hear what they allege happened in the course of these murders. And she says that really alters and sanitizes the case. We can talk about the legal part of this. We can talk about the politics of this. But what about the family, not to be lost here. You have spoken to the family members. What are they going through . I spoke to michaelas dad, rodney dodd, and he is very disappointed what w what happened. The special circumstance allegations, he was hoping those would be the key to find out where his daughters body is. They want answers. They want answers. He says theyve lost their bargaining chip. And they feel now theyre never going to find out. He wants to bury michaela. He is elderly as well. Sharon, michaelas mom already died. His last hope of ever finding out what happened to his daughter, he feels seemingly vanished. This is a tough part about being a leader, a District Attorney here. Whats the response from pamela price, the d. A. Of Alameda County . Well, numerous times i asked pamela price to sit down with me. We invited her on multiple occasions, and we never got any sort of a response. But she did talk to some of the other reporters here on our staff. And she said that she does feel for the family. She understands their frustration. But while she didnt talk directly about the misch case, she has been very open in the past about talking about added charges, these special circumstance allegations. She is not in favor of them. She has said that she is committed to criminal justice reform, and she feels that these kind of special circumstances have put too many minority people in prison. And thats not something that she is in favor of. And she says this is what she ran on. This is what she was elected on. And thats what her position. She continues to fight off a possible recall in the months to come. Yeah, there is a recall effort under way. But its in the infancy stages. This just started about three weeks ago. Some more than 90,000 signatures need to be, you know, collected and then verified before a recall can even be put on the ballot. So were way far away from that. In terms of this case in my story at 11 00, at 11 00, were going to hear more from mcmahon. Were going to hear why she was placed on leave, and why she says that there is a it could be a situation of political payback for her involvement in a 2018 campaign that price also ran. So deeper issue here is within the Alameda County d. A. s office. Well see you at 11 00. Thanks a lot. Lets move on now. A story also catching our attention, this time in San Francisco. That major fire in hayes valley. The flames are out. Look what happened here yesterday. But the controversy is redhot. A Neighborhood Group says it warned city leaders about the fire danger on this block and in this very area months ago. Yesterdays fire happened at the corner of octavia alaska and oak. A building right there under construction, this is a vibrant neighborhood. At this point, we do not know the exact cause of the fire, but the head of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association says the area has had problems with smaller fires along octavia boulevard. She sent this letter dated may 30th to mayor london breed to the police chief, bill scott, and other San Francisco leaders. The letter mentions three other fires that started around encampments earlier this year. This is one of those fires in april. The fires all happened near the building that burnt down yesterday. And photos from a fire in january. You see here appear to show a fire under scaffolding of that same building. And that site we thought we were going to have a lot of new homes and neighbors activating the street, now were left with a hazardous fire pit and eight neighbors who have been displaced from the neighborhood. Its really, really upsetting, so frustrating. We warned about this. So the mayor is speaking the truth in her response today. By the way, you got her attention in that there is a federal injunction that prevents or makes it very hard for them to move the homeless people. Does that anger you . Or is that the answer youre accepting . Look, i think we all need to work together. These encampments, if they arent posing a danger is one thing, but were repeatedly reporting encampments are lighting fires. I understand people are trying to stay warm. But weve got to move them to a safe location. People are slicing into utility poles for power. Sometimes were seeing the sparks. Thats got to stop. It is such a danger for our neighborhood. Weve been trying to raise the alarm about it. We dont yet know the result of the cause of fire, the investigation is under going. But look, weve been weve been seeing fires at this location over and over again, caused by encampments. And weve got to do something about it. We cant let our city go up in flames. We mentioned mayor breed. She is on damage control, responding today in a lengthy thread on social media. She cites an injunction from december that stems from an unrelated federal lawsuit brought on by homeless advocates. That federal injunction prevents the city of San Francisco from moving most tents, even if the People Living in those tents refuse shelter. The mayor tweeted, we cannot force people to accept or stay in shelter, and were unable to prevent people from setting up an encampment in an area that was just cleaned. The mayor also addressed those dangerous conditions cited by the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, writing as long as there are encampments, there is a risk that conditions like this will persist. We will do everything we can within the law to address that. Up next, we investigate the deadly stretch of road on the peninsula. Is it time for the state to step in . Plus, the movie premiere in San Francisco is happening tonight. It almost didnt happen, though, because of the strikes in hollywood. Youre watching nbc bay area news tonight. News tonight. Introducucing togoss new frech dip p sandwicheses. Feataturing fresesh artisan n d piled hihigh with tendnder roast b beef, smothered d with meltyty provolonone cheese, just enougugh chipotlele mayo and d served witith hot au j for dippining. Try ththe roast bebeef or pasti french d dips today. Y. Onlyly at togogos. Welcome back to nbc bay area news tonight. The drive around San Francisco is about to get slower. The city is lowering the speed limit. You see it right there, to 20 Miles Per Hour in nearly two dozen streets. Not everywhere. Here is a look at where its happening, some of the spots 20 Miles Per Hour in several stretches along the embarcadero. As well as chinatown and north beach neighborhoods and around union square. All these areas, as you know, considered busy activity districts. Advocates say slower speeds will make these areas safer. Right now the speed limit is 25 Miles Per Hour. There is pushback. Transit activists note the data from sfmta show the cars didnt actually slow down when the speed limits were lowered on other roads. This chart shows the average speeds before and after the changes. In some instances, cars actually drove a bit faster after the speed limit was lowered to 20 Miles Per Hour. Tonight we have an update now on our investigation thats prompting action on the peninsula. The dangerous spots along el camino real, specifically in atherton. Atherton is ranked as the most expensive zip code in the country. But as Investigative ReporterCandice Nguyen found out, it has one of the highest pedestrian death rates in the bay area, particularly on that side of el camino. Two of the recent victims were elderly people with dementia. Our reporting prompted more Traffic Enforcement on this stretch of el camino and prompted a county supervisor, who you see there with candice, he is calling on state and local leaders to act, includes himself. This is wild. Wild about it . Its just i mean, look at the cars. Look at the speed. I want to work with caltrans. Weve issued a letter. And that letter is to tony tavares, the director of caltrans in the state of california. And its clearly this. You hear it in the background. You just heard it. This is what im talking about. We hear it. Investigative reporter Candice Nguyen joins us now. Were both very familiar with el camino, especially that stretch. This is a long major artery around the peninsula. But why atherton specifically . Why did you focus there . I really did happen on this. I wasnt each looking into pedestrian fatalities, if you believe that. Months ago i got a call from a samtrans bus driver who said he sadly hit a woman on that stretch. I went out during the day, noticed it was very dark, and it was the border of menlo park and atherton. I noticed she was on the road because there wasnt a sidewalk to walk on. Thats when i called our data expert shawn meyers and asked how many pedestrians have died here, and what is the pedestrian death rate so we can really compare to it nearby cities and big cities like oakland and after San Francisco. And found that atherton on that stretch is a major outlier. Cars are going fast. It seems 50 and 55. Posted speed limit is 35. Everyone there will tell you cars are going 45, 55. Supervisor canepa, how did he get involved with that . It is his district i presume . Its not his district. He just north. But he does represent san mateo county. And thats why we spoke to him. He represents san mateo county, and he is an mtc commissioner. Mtc plans and funds transportation projects across the bay area. We really wanted to get his take. And he told us he wanted to head out, himself. This was his idea. And there is no sidewalk there. Youre on the bike path. We were on the menlo park side. See that . Were crossing the street. To a bus stop where someone lost their life, one of the recent deaths. On that side, its just trees and shrubs, no sidewalk, just a little slim path. And this is when he really starts noticing that its quite a dangerous spot. What does he want caltrans to do . And we can say we want them to do it. Can they do it . Great question. The first steps, he wants caltrans to focus on a project thats been stalled there on sell by lane about a mile. It costs 3 million to upgrade this intersection that a lot of kids cross. They dont have traffic controlling lines across that sixlane highway, just a painted crosswalk. So he wants caltrans to prioritize 3 million there. But caltrans cannot do it alone. They really need partnerships locally, statewide, regionally grant to help push things forward. And canepa understands that caltrans needs to work with partners to really fund this entire stretch. But its on their radar now . It is definitely on their radar. And it is their jurisdiction. Okay, thank you, candice. To watch candices full reports on this Pedestrian Safety and accidents right there on el camino, all in one place, we exposed it on our website, nbcbayarea. Com. You can also find it on our app. Just click on the investigations tab. Lets move on now. Hollywood in San Francisco, kind of, sort of. The city is hosting a movie premiere as we speak, but without any of the stars. Thats because of the ongoing actors strike. The movie is called love in taipei. Its based on a book by bestselling bay area author abigail hing. The main character is a High School Graduate sent to a Cultural Immersion Program in taiwan. But instead of strict academics, she finds selfdiscovery. Tonights movie premier almost didnt happen because of the sagaftra strike, but as you can see, a lot of people are there right now. Nbcs robert handa explains how the aapimunity fou a w ake tot happen. Were here at the great star theater in San Franciscos chinatown, and it is a great theater. This is where the advanced screening of love in taipei is showing. We didnt want to talk during the actual showing. Thats why were doing this now. Any way, this event was supposed to be canceled because of the sagaftra strike, but the Aapi Community came to the rescue. When they did, they bring out a lot of movers and shakers from the Aapi Community who brought a lot of support to take the place of the actors who couldnt be here, and that included of course a lot of free merch. A lot of people like a story with mystery and intrigue, but we all want a happy love. For those involved with clothe love in taipei they got it. Robert handa, nbc bay area news. Thank you. Love in taipei on paramount plus, if you want to stream it. If live look at sfo. Jeff okay. Kekeep tahoe blue. Herere is the l latest t technol dedevelopmentt to keepp the lak sparkling. G. Its a a lakecleleaning robot. Youre lookingng at the p pixie dronone. It s swims throuough lake watatd catches debriris in its o open mouth. H. Plusus i it avoids obstacleses adjustss its coursrse i in rea kind of like a roomba for water. You may remember there is already a robot for the shores of lake tahoe. This one is called bbot. It gathers trash from the sand. I like that. A roomba for lake tahoe, jeff. Thats pretty cool. Its great. That lake is sparkling. Talk about the forecast as we head to work friday. Comfortable weather today. Were going to stay with that trend here, even though we have some hot weather through the central valley. That fog is saving us. Lets move it into that microclimate forecast. Ill show you what were dealing with right now if youre headed out over the next couple hours. A lot of 50s and 60s on the map because of that fog moving in at the coastline. A few 70s too right at the santa rosa. 75 right now. 70 in napa. 70 in concord. But we are going to see that fog come back and in a big way tomorrow morning. Widespread low clouds in some areas of drizzle, especially near the bay and the coast. Most of that will clear back except for some of that fog through the afternoon near the bay, and through the coast it will linger there. So numbers to start for tomorrow. Back again in the 50s. Then through the afternoon, a decent rebound through the inland valleys. Well get up to 78 in napa. 79 martese. Also upper 70s in san jose. 81 in morgan hill. So not too hot. And we have some cool 60s here, San Francisco to San Francisco bay. By this weekend, as weve been telling you, the temperatures will be heating up. 98 on saturday. Back into the 80s tuesday and wednesday. You have to get out towards livermore, antioch and brent moore to get into the 100, 101 category. A lot of the bay area is going to be fine this weekend. Our usual hot spot the microclimates. You got it. Just into our newsroom, before we go, new reinforcements to help Oakland Police fight its recent spike in violent crimes. The chp just confirming to us that it will partner with the Oakland Police department by strategically deploying chp officers throughout the city. The chp will specifically focus on car thefts, sideshows, highway violence, and organized crime. Chp also partnering with San Francisco with some similar actions. Chp says this is all to improve safety within the oakland community. More on the story coming up on our 11 00 newscast. Thats going to do it for us here at 7 00. Nr everyone here at tonight on access hollywood. Its hard to love yourself in a world that d doesnt lovove y back. Whahat was the e moment wheh saidid enough is enough . Its the battle of the big i justt its crazy. The lawawsuit against lizzo w two of h her accuserers come fod claiaiming the empopowerment me she preaches doesnt even come