tonight we get some answers directly from the top. a rare and exclusive interview with the ceo of pg and e! she is the ceo of one of the most controversial companies in the bay area and in many ways, patty poppy is on damage control. what do you think the perception of pg and e is? oh, we know that the perception, has been challenged. you know, i think, the company is on a path to rebuild trust with the people that we serve. since taking over pg and e in 2021, just two years after the utility filed for bankruptcy, poppy has dealt with wildfires, government regulations and accusations of mismanagement. but perhaps the biggest damage has been to its ratepayers. bay area families feeling the pinch of a multi-billion dollar company repeatedly raising rates

. since 2019, rates have gone up essentially double more than 100 or about 100% since 2019 22% just last year alone, pg and e literally is bringing a lot of families to tears. how can you justify this? yeah, i think it's really important. number one, that our customers know that we know our most current increases are based on some catch up cost recoveries. that was necessary work to make our system safe. we see a path forward where prices can start to fall, and that will be driven by modernizing the methods of our work and rethinking mandates that exist in the state. a 31% of our bill is driven by state mandates. i think it's time to rethink some of those. as someone just at home watching right now, pg and e made more than $2 billion in profits last year where is that money going. $2 billion in the system right back into the system. and i would like to think that profits is not a bad

word for a utility. so a financially healthy pg and e actually enables lower costs for customers, reinvesting profits into infrastructure is something that critics and watchdogs say pg and e didn't do for years. the low points for this utility, the 2010 san bruno disaster and the 2018 camp fire, which leveled the town of paradise. poppy says she's now leading the charge to improve reliability and reduce fire risk. there are plenty of analysts that say what you're doing is very expensive and you know this undergrounding the power lines. they say you could actually insulate the power lines at a much cheaper rate, therefore saving people money, insulating the lines in our highest dense or our highest vegetation in dense areas, which are our highest fire risk areas, really leaves 35% of the risk. still on the system. i don't know about you, but i don't want

to live in a place where i have 35% risk of a wildfire. when you compare undergrounding power lines to overhead lines with covered conductor and all the vegetation management that goes with it, it is less expensive to bury the lines. you're making some key decisions for everyday families here. yes, under your watch is pg and e mismanaged or has it been? i think it's really important for me to help your viewers know that there has been a significant change at pg and e , this is not the pg and e of the past. we've delivered real improvements at the company, and we have made significant progress in wildfire risk reduction in greenhouse gas, free energy delivery in performance for customers. reliability. there is still actual facts that there has been mismanagement under your watch. a lot of examples. the mule fire in 2021 under you i believe pg and e admitted your contracted

crew had an inadequate response. the dixie fire in 2021. that was the big one, the most destructive fire in state history. a tree fell on a line starting this fire. regulators say pg and e response was inadequate. you talk about things are getting better. we appreciate that. but when these mistakes happen, why do the ratepayers have to pay? yeah. when the dixie fire occurred i was six months on the job and it was a green tree that fell on our normally operating line. we have since that time innovated and implemented new technologies that would prevent that from ever happening again. it's a complex and uncomfortable dynamic between pg and e, the cpuc, and climate change. however, poppy is adamant rates will either stabilize or come down. we are forecasting prices falling in 25 and again in 2026, so that's 25 is next year, 2026 is two years from now. that is

exactly what we're working on. so we've gone up 100% in the last five years. so in the next 3 to 5 years, will we go down 100, 20, 50? we're working on forecasting what those reductions are going to be, but we're going to drive those reductions. is there at any point in your power you can say, i'm the ceo. i want to put a stop to this madness for everyone here and freeze our rates or roll it back substantially. what is my top priority is making sure our system is safe. raj, i don't want people to forget what happened. we have an obligation to have a system that is safe and resilient and that takes investment among the many takeaways here, pg and e has at least ten additional rate hikes, which are pending with the cpuc. ten more rate hikes. also, pg and e has made patty poppy a very rich woman. coming up at 11:00. we'll ask her about her average annual compensation of $28 million. there's a lot to digest here. we're posting the

extended interview about 30 minutes of it on our website later this hour at nbcbayarea.com. we are learning more tonight about the fatal crash that claimed the lives of a pleasanton family. coroner hasn't released the names of the victims, but we know it was a family of four with two kids under 15 years old. crash happened wednesday night on foothill road near stone ridge drive. police now say speed could have played a role as the car hit the curb and then a big oak and then big oak tree hitting that before bursting into flames. police also confirmed today that the car was an electric vehicle made by vinfast, but we don't know which model. we do know that the national traffic safety administration is examining complaints about steering and driver assist systems on some of the vinfast models. vinfast declined our request for an interview as police examined the crash. others in the community are focused on the road where this happened. we spoke with a mother who lost her twin sons to

a solo crash on that same road on christmas night in 2019, and she calls this new crash triggering. it was shocking and emotional. yeah, it's, very emotional. you just. your heart breaks. ana reynoso says that the county needs to look closely at foothill road and consider changes to address speeding curves and darkness. three men are in jail, connected to nearly a dozen robberies across the bay area. police say the 11 robberies took place over a span of seven months. here's a map. they happened in multiple cities, mostly hayward, but also livermore, fremont and san leandro. the us marshals and the fbi teamed up with several local agencies to track the men down. all three were arrested over the last couple of months and are facing multiple charges, including robbery, assault and aggravated kidnaping. new at six a bay area author was among those arrested during a march in

israel. ayelet waldman lives in berkeley and is known for her mystery novels. yesterday she joined a group of american rabbis at the border near gaza. they were aiming to bring food into the region. her husband documented that march with these videos on instagram. video shows reilly police blocking their way. eventually they arrest several people, including waldman. her husband later posted saying she and the other protesters were released. emotions are running high. protests continue at campuses. college campuses. nationwide. students are camping out demanding their universities divest from israel. this encampment at stanford went up yesterday. today, demonstrators held teach ins workshops and prayers. stanford has warned that protesters here could face arrest and possible suspension. however, the protesters say they're willing to take that risk, say a word or get arrested or say a word to be expelled or suspended from the school. that would deeply impact me and my

family because i like support them with the money that i get from here. and understanding that i weighed the personal consequences and my own personal beliefs, and felt compelled to do what i can to be out here. all this is stanford is holding its admit week. that's when it welcomes hundreds of incoming freshman and their families rising from the ashes, a popular oakland barbecue restaurant that went up in flames last fall reopened in a new location today. the owner and workers at horn barbecue say that their focus is on the future and that future looks bright. nbc bay area's robert hondo was there as the restaurant reopened. well, it has been a long and sometimes anxious wait for the owner, workers and of course, customers to see horn barbecue reopen. but even before the doors opened, barbecue lovers were in line. the line to get into the new horn barbecue restaurant on eighth street formed hours before the doors opened. today many customers who arrived

early, such as carter neblett, were well aware the original horn barbecue was gutted by a fire november 21st, shortly after the restaurant had celebrate its third anniversary. the horn barbecue was excellent. i went to their last position on mandela all the time, and when i heard they were reopening, i was like, i got to get in line. i got to get my fix in. the fire erupted just a couple of days after the restaurant was vandalized, and the owner, matt horn, had publicly criticized the safety of the neighborhood. today, the oakland fire department told us the fire is still under investigation. there was times where i didn't feel that we would reopen, and you know, emotionally, it just felt exhausting. you know, just the thought of it having to go through it all again. but you know what? there's always light at the end of the tunnel. they come in and hide that light got brighter today when doors opened and customers flocked in. carter neblett said his to go order was worth the wait. they got some brisket, i got the beef ribs, i got mac and cheese, baked beans. it's a pulled pork as well,

loaded up today. others didn't wait. they enjoyed the food right there. it's absolutely amazing. we've been so excited to check this out and it definitely lives up to the hype. we were super sad when we heard about the fire, so we're really glad that this place is back now. ricardo, are we looking on the side? workers from the original restaurant told us they're happy and grateful to have their jobs back, especially with so many local businesses suffering. it's been tough to see small businesses, restaurants, you know, open up and then close and fill that. you know, they have to go operate business elsewhere. i mean, i think that our reopening, you know, in the midst of having our restaurant burned down, i hope that people will see a sense of resilience and have faith that even in the midst of storms and trials, you know, there's also going to be calm seas. right? well, horn barbecue sure looks good. all filled up on what appears to be a very successful first day. and that's important because there's many customers here. told me today, once you've had great barbecue, you always come back

in oakland. robert honda, nbc, bay area news. unfair to do that, right? during dinnertime, i know. right. so hungry. sounds so good. up next, the controversial law that aims to create more housing is running into legal challenges. we'll explain how it works and the complications it's causing. plus, supporters are rallying around embattled district attorney pamela price as she stares down a recall during her first term. and hold on to your hats and bring all of those blankets for the giants game tonight. temperatures also in those mid 50s. i've got the rest ee the bay area w

legal push back. let's bring in our business and tech reporter scott budman with a new way to build. right? scott and a tech company making it happen. yeah, you're right, raj, we're talking about a way to divide the lot you live on to build more

housing. it's referred to as the california home act. but not everyone is thrilled with it coming to their neighborhood. a big lot in monte sereno. here's what it looks like from the ground. this is it on google earth. melanie griswold is a land use attorney working out a deal to divide the one lot. so two separate owners can build two separate homes. and so being able to split the lot, divide it into two, and then being able to build a single family on both of those lots made it more in their budget. deals like this are made possible by senate bill nine, letting single family homeowners split their lot and build up to two homes on each new lot. it hasn't been used much, partly because of state bureaucracy, partly because some neighbors have pushed back on the idea of lots being divided near their homes. i think it is a controversial law. not all

neighbors like it. they don't want to necessarily see two homes go into a property where there was just one. many of those who are looking to split their lot are reaching out to build casa, an oakland company working to identify which properties are sb nine ready. so we've really built technology to identify all of the best properties in the space spatially, as well as, you know, where it's financially feasible for the homeowner to participate, a way to add more housing unit by unit to an area that badly needs it. sb nine creates the opportunity for starter homes, which can be 30 to 50% less than the price of an equivalent single family home. now sb nine is running into some roadblocks. a los angeles superior court judge ruled it unconstitutional earlier this week. even as it's being put into play now here in the bay area audrey. all right. scott. thank you. you bet. final. goodbye for a fallen officer. family, friends and law enforcement gathered to remember

oakland police officer jordan wingate today. 28 year old officer died recently after battling injuries he suffered in an on duty crash back in 2018. tribute started with a procession from opd headquarters to three crosses church in castro valley. mourners described wingate as an officer who wore the uniform with pride, integrity and courage and always found a way to connect with everyone. his father, a retired oakland police captain, said he's proud of his son's legacy. a show of support today for the embattled district attorney of alameda county, pamela price. the rally was put on by the asian americans for progressive alameda. their urging the board of supervisors not to schedule a special election before the november general election for her recall. they say special elections are too expensive. the county's top election officer says it would cost the county between 15 and $20 million, and the board of supervisors would be out of hand. waste ming

county money that's needed for other services in order to hold this special election. on the flip side, save alameda for everyone. the group behind the recall says the district attorney is soft on crime. the da has defended her approach to criminal justice reform, saying her goal is to hold people accountable without destroying the community. emergency repair work continues on the sausalito pier pier was shut down. you might remember last friday after crews discovered damage during an inspection. the ferry service has been unavailable over the last week. now a bus bridge is in place. golden gate ferry says it hopes to resume ferry service sometime next week, but an exact date has not yet been announced. okay, let's go ahead and switch now to a live look outside from downtown san jose. looks like there's some sun out there, but i could see the clouds as well. i'm here now while we are here now with cynthia pimentel to let us know how things are going right now. really the weekend and it's windy out there. people

are grabbing their jackets this weekend. we don't care the weekend, you know, if you choose to stay inside, that's not too bad either. you'll be safe from all of that wind. let's talk about what the rest of the weekend has and storms. the wind will be staying with us as we go through at least sunday, and then into next week. some major changes. let's take a look. currently outside through san jose, the wind speeds in the teens, out of the west northwest. it's gustier. as you make your way towards oakland, the immediate bay shore and san francisco and we go out towards walnut creek. you can see the blue skies and a bit more of those cumulus clouds. as a couple of systems have been working their way around the bay area, even bringing some isolated thunderstorms at times. and the blue that you see there is, yes, some more sierra snow as we start to approach the month of may. so that is interesting there. another interesting story and also a bit dangerous if you have any family that lives from, let's say, texas to the ohio valley, even through the plains, you might want to check up on them. there is some severe weather going on.

tornadoes have been reported and that will continue as we go on. and we'll watch it overnight. back here at home, we are watching those light rain chances continuing mainly through the central part of the state and the breezy afternoon that will continue with us even as we make our plans for saturday. lots of people want to get outside, make those picnics. anything that you're doing outside tomorrow, you need to make sure that things are secure. as we take these hour-by-hour wind gusts into saturday afternoon, still breezy through the marin county coastline, san francisco, the peninsula, san mateo. we go on inland wind speeds still in the teens, and this trend continues with us as we go on into sunday as well. the temperatures along with the winds won't be too bad. we'll get a couple of more 70s in here by tomorrow through santa rosa martinez, down into the santa clara valley, along the immediate bay. we stick in those low 60s san francisco to those upper 60s in hayward, and we'll do 69 degrees in los gatos. looking ahead into our long range outlook, we are dealing with high pressure and low pressure at the same time. that's going to keep the low pressure to our north. with the storms and the rain up towards

parts of seattle and oregon, we're going to get high pressure building in gradually as we go on into our next work week, saying hello to may, and we're going to start to build a little bit more of those temperatures day by day as we go on through the workweek. i think as we get on into thursday and friday of next week, that could be the warmest of our seven day here. and taking it to our ten day outlook in brentwood. as we go on through a workweek, we're going to climb into possibly those 80s by the middle of the week, mid 80s, as we go on into thursday and friday and still continue with those temperatures in the 70s. and san francisco will also be nice after we get through this windy weekend. the workweek starts off very sunny, and those temperatures in the upper 60s to the 70s by late week. and if we're talking about 70s, everybody in the city, you know, it's going to be nice inland 70s to mid to upper 70s by tuesday, wednesday to those 80s. toasty out there thursday and friday as we look into 82 and 84. peace seeing the 80s have me smiling makes me happy. i'm even looking forward to

monday now. yeah, right. monday is my saturday. so you're really excited. i'm sorry everybody that's got to go back to work. thanks, cynthia. up next, the feds are taking another close look at tesla. why? the company's autopilot is coming under

from the national highway traffic safety administration. it analyzed 956 crashes in which

the feature was believed to have been in use. it found autopilot contributed to nearly half of those crashes, with 13 resulting in fatalities. the agency also said the software update issues issued as part of a recall last november, last december, excuse me, was probably inadequate. their evidence new crashes linked to autopilot continue to be reported. san francisco city college is trying to give students who are non citizens more of a voice. school board of trustees approved a measure today. it will allow students who are not citizens to vote in electing the trustees. so right now to qualify, student must be at least 18 years old and a resident of san francisco. but the school estimates the measure would make thousands more students eligible to vote. the measure will have to pass through a citywide ballot measure before taking effect. all right. up next, no skates. no problem. the new rental service rolling out to san francisco's golden gate park.

and here's a look inside rockefeller center. lester holt is preparing for nightly news, and one of the top stories an nbc news investigation into israeli declared safe zones in gaza that have proven anything but safe for civilians business. it's not a nine-to-five proposition. it's all day and into the night. it's all the things that keep this world turning. the go-tos that keep us going. the places we cheer. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. see why comcast business powers more small businesses than anyone else. get started for $49.99 a month plus ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. don't wait- call today.

available to rent at schatten place. it's an area of the park near sixth avenue on the jfk promenade, designated for roller skaters, and you can get them on the weekends from 11:00 in the morning to 6 p.m. it'll cost you about 20 bucks per hour with a $5 charge for each additional hour, and you could also rent safety gear for five bucks. you need that safety gear. i want to have some fun tonight. giants baseball right here on nbc. bay area. the giants hosting the pirates at china basin. first pitch at 7:00. john lee, you see him here. and de la salle alum kyle harrison is pitching. should be fun out of the ballpark here on nbc. bay area cannot wait. it's going to be a little windy out there. but up next on nightly news, the new testing for signs of bird flu in dairy cows and what the government says is keeping the milk supply ojai safe. nightly news starts right now

breaking news tonight, the dangerous tornado outbreak as we come on the air. the dramatic images coming in. multiple large tornadoes touching down. a tornado emergency in nebraska. giant funnel clouds crossing highways. debris flying as storms sweep through oklahoma and texas. tonight, damage, roofs ripped off homes. tens of millions at risk through the weekend. we're tracking it. also tonight, the new witnesses in donald trump's hush money trial including his longtime assistant. what she told the jury about stormy daniels and karen mcdougal, two women who claim to have had affairs with the former president. the major shift for president biden now saying he's happy to debate donald trump. how mr. trump is responding. the massive inferno. a train carrying