. the news at six starts right now. good evening, and thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai and i'm jessica aguirre. what should be on the chopping block? the city of san francisco is facing a massive budget shortfall over the next two years. right now, the mayor's office and the board of supervisors are trying to figure out what to cut in order to balance that budget. today at city hall, community leaders tried to make sure the city knows their programs should be spared. here's nbc's sergio quintana. we love s.f. s.f. love us. back on the steps of city hall today, a coalition of youth service organizations, immigrant support groups and lgbtq youth support groups came together to offer one message don't cut our programs. the groups say their services are vital to making the city a safe, vibrant and diverse place and should not be on the chopping block as the city tries to balance its strained budget. in fact, they say investing in their programs will prevent bigger costs later. we're going to wait until someone's on the

street and try to get them care. we're going to wait until a violent, you know, crime happens and then try to clean it up. let's try to get ahead of those things by investing where it can have an impact to prevent those things from happening in the first place. san francisco runs on a two year budget cycle, according to the mayor's office. the city is facing a $789.3 million shortfall over those two years. the mayor's office is currently working on a proposed budget, which needs to be handed over to the board of supervisors by june. the first part of the problem, san francisco's downtown office core, is still about 36.6% empty. that means the city is missing a significant source of property tax revenue. the vacancy rate also affects other revenue sources, including business and sales taxes. the budgeting process is still in progress, but the mayor's office has already asked all departments to cut their budgets by 10. and for some of these organizations, that could mean a lot of money. today's rally comes ahead of a hearing at the board of

supervisors about the city's department of children, youth and their families. the agency says it's facing a drop off in money for grants, and some organizations funded through dcyf say they could see budgets cut by 40% or more. we've done our own internal analysis, and when we look at the trend where our organizations and our communities are being cut systematically across departments in the 60 percentile, we want to really address that these community members say the budget shouldn't be balanced on their backs after the board of supervisors gets the mayor's budget june 1st, they'll spend the rest of the month deciding where those cuts should come from. in san francisco, sergio quintana nbc, bay area news. a traffic stop helped get three dozen guns off the streets in the south bay. san jose police arrested juan sandoval. they say he had illegal guns, including an assault weapon. the traffic stop led police to serve search warrants at two homes, one on cortez avenue in san jose, another one in san benito county. police seized a total of 36 guns. sandoval could face

charges of a child endangerment as well because he had two kids under the age of 15 in his car along with illegal guns. that's not good. don't get the kids involved in something that you're that you're doing illegal. leave the kids at home or you know it's not right. you can put your kids in more danger than they are with you. police say six of the weapons seized were ghost guns, which are privately made and nearly impossible to track. happening tomorrow, president joe biden, first lady jill biden are touching down in the bay area separately. tomorrow, mr. biden will land at moffett airfield in mountain view. first lady jill biden will touch down at sfo. first lady will be speaking at event in marin county thursday evening. the president will make two fundraising stops on friday in portola valley and in palo alto. after the fundraisers, the president off to seattle for another campaign event. there new at six. another complaint now urging excuse me, a new complaint urging an investigation into islamophobia

at the berkeley unified school district. the council on american islamic relations or care and the american arab anti discrimination committee filed the complaint. it outlines instances of discrimination, harassment and intimidation against the students since the october 7th attack on israel. it says slurs have been directed at palestinian, arab and muslim students. the complaint says teachers who have supported the students have been harassed as well. it's asking the department of education's the civil rights to launch an investigation and also asking berkeley unified to stop this behavior on campus. well, it's been a day of tough questions and accusations the superintendent of berkeley schools had to answer to lawmakers. this all stems from how the district is handling accusations of anti-semitism in its schools. here's nbc's christy smith. in berkeley unified, we work to ensure that each and every child is seen

valued and educated. berkeley school superintendent nikki afford martell made her way to washington, d.c, today to testify before a house education subcommittee. the committee said it wanted direct answers to republican lawmakers accusations of pervasive anti-semitism in k through 12 schools since october 7th, the district has had formal complaints alleging anti-semitism arising from nine incidents within our jurisdiction. however anti-semitism is not pervasive in berkeley unified school district. ford martel was one of three leaders from school districts around the country who testified before the committee today and pushed back against accusations that her district has been slow to respond to complaints when investigations show that an anti-semitic event has occurred. we take action to teach correct and redirect our students. we do not publicly share our actions because student information is private and legally protected under federal and state law. as a result, some believe we do nothing. this is not true. the

superintendent also responded to accusations regarding anti-semitism by teachers, saying when an educator across the line, the district also takes appropriate actions privately as required by union rules. legislators also had questions about a federal complaint, says incidents include students repeatedly hearing anti-semitic comments in classrooms and hallways. the superintendent admitted there have been incidents, but also says those incidents are always addressed. there have been incidents of anti-semitism in berkeley unified school district, and every single time that we are aware of such an instance, we take action and we follow up. we spoke with one parent today who shared another perspective. i was able to watch the hearing. i'm really saddened by the fact that we're even having to have this conversation and that we were experiencing bullying and anti semitism, you know, at all, but both of them are very pervasive in busd and my daughter experienced it firsthand. the family ultimately

turned to home schooling. congress isn't the only body asking questions. the federal office of civil rights has also said it also received a complaint about the district and is investigating. we are fully intending to cooperate. we just received a letter yesterday actually informing us officially of that complaint, and we do see it as an opportunity to reflect and grow. christie smith, nbc bay area news questions tonight about a phrase used by pro-palestinian activists and many in the muslim community. meta is looking into whether it is acceptable to use it on facebook and instagram. they're taking up three cases involving posts that use the phrase from the river to the sea. the phrase has been used by palestinian nationalist movements for decades, including hamas pro palestinian activists say it is a call for liberation, but israeli and jewish groups view it as advocating for israel's destruction. the three posts in question were left online after meta's board reviewed them, but the board is revisiting the issue after some users appealed the decision, saying the phrase violates meta's hate speech policies. an update to the

proposed and controversial name change of the oakland airport, san francisco and oakland could collaborate here. last month, we reported the port of oakland's board of commissioners approved a plan to rename oakland international to the san francisco bay oakland international airport. a few days later, san francisco filed a lawsuit to stop infringement on sfo's trademark. today, san francisco city attorney david chu sent a letter to the oakland port commissioners. he wants the city's both of them to come up with alternative names tomorrow, the port commissioners will have their final vote regarding the name change. well, the latest bay area rent numbers are in and they show a pattern. they also show just how challenging it is and expensive it is to make it here in the bay. our business ad tech reporter scott budman joins us. we talk about where we live. we also talk about where we work. that has obviously a relationship here. yeah, it

really is where we work that has a lot to do with the rent and how often your employer wants you to come back into work one day a week, three days a week, something like that. right? which means you have to live close to the office. and that's why we're seeing these latest rental numbers from zumper. they just came out absolutely a pattern here. mountain view seeing the biggest jump in the bay area monthly rent up 13% since this time last year. cupertino and santa clara were number two and three. by the way , those cities no coincidence here home to alphabet, apple and nvidia, all tech companies bringing people back to the office. and as that happens, those people want to live closer to where they work. that means rents go up. san francisco, by the way, down about 3% in the last year, oakland down by 9. not as many techies needing to go back to the office. raj in those spots. okay, well, we have meta in menlo park. what about the peninsula and even south city here? in terms of rent numbers, peninsula is where we see the biggest growth. the south bay, though, has seen some growth. san jose up, we saw santa clara up and we've seen

santa clara county as a whole also rise. most of the bay area is up. some people are willing to commute to those companies, but it's specifically that peninsula that's really seeing the big growth and east bay. is there any indication that companies will start moving across the bay or right now? is it still concentrated in san francisco to san jose, a little bit more in the housing prices? when you look at alameda county, they're up. rents for oakland are down, rents for alameda, though, are up. so not really sure that that's specifically because of tech companies. but i think you're right. i think people are willing to move away and rent, at least for a while, if it means getting back to the office. and that's why for at least 3 to 4 days a week, we're starting to see a lot more traffic during the commute hours. yeah, or just companies start to relocate and open office space in the east bay as well. right. thank you scott. you bet. up next, it's not just safety officials taking a closer look at tesla. why federal prosecutors are demanding answers about the company's autopilot system, plus beautifying the south bay, how city leaders are hoping to keep a promise to a san jose

neighborhood. and lots of sunshine out there today. temperatures tonight. staying on the mild side. look at this. goes even hotter tomorrow. i'm tracking that heat into your weekend. plus travel delays and where it could slow you down nationally. i'll have that update in about eight minutes tonight. the feds calling out a texas school district profiled by nbc news about complaints of a culture of racist and homophobic bullying. and do whales use a phonetic alphabet with research have just discoveredhen w

found this morning at a homeless encampment. this is at the old bayshore highway and north 10th street. still no word on the identity of the person or cause of death. san mateo county is taking action to support farm workers. the county is set to fund a new housing project for families impacted by the 2023 shooting massacre in half moon

bay. as you remember, a gunman killed seven workers at two farms. that tragedy shed a light on the conditions that farm workers were living under. last night, the board of supervisors voted to grant nearly $6 million for the housing project. 47 homes will be built. and what's being called the stone pine cove neighborhood. 28 homes will be set aside for the farm worker families and those displaced by the shooting will get first priority. well, new at six tonight. legal trouble for tesla. the justice department is investigating whether the company deceived investors about the autopilot feature on its cars. reuters first broke the story. tesla's autopilot system assists with steering, braking and lane changes, but it's not fully autonomous. the justice department is looking into statements by tesla and elon musk, claiming the cars can actually drive themselves. companies could be in legal trouble if investigators find it did commit wire fraud by misleading customers. securities fraud by deceiving investors. neither tesla nor the justice

department have commented on the investigation. federal investigators are looking into tesla for a series of crashes that happened while drivers were using that autopilot feature. the bay area's biggest city continues to look for solutions to improve its neighborhoods. the latest one came today in the form of nearly 30 trees. here's nbc's ian cull. they're not just planting trees, but moving an entire neighborhood forward. the city of san jose is answering a call from businesses in the willow neighborhood, just south of downtown. they say when summer rolls around, the heat along sidewalks makes it unbearable to be outside. this one doubt only bring more visitors to our to our area and encourage people to take a stroll along willow. san jose mayor matt mahan and council member omar torres were on hand to help plant some of the 29 trees the city is putting in to increase shade and beautify the

area. we may see temperatures reach as high as 90 degrees by the end of the week, which makes cutting the concrete, as we call it, all the more important. across our city. the forestry division is planting over 2000 trees across san jose. this year. we are dedicated to increasing tree canopy in areas of san jose that have not historically had sufficient canopy cover. alonzo lopez owns the ortega's food center and heads up the neighborhood association. nobody wants to go to a place that's ugly or maybe scary, right? so the trees are going to are the starting point of making the area welcoming. they hope to have new street lights installed as well. the project already getting a green thumbs up from people walking around. pretty hot here most of the time, so it's a it'll help revitalize. have some freshness here. the city has contractors who will water and maintain the trees for three years as they grow along with the community in

san jose, ian cull nbc bay area news. well, this month we are celebrating asian american, native hawaiian and pacific islander heritage in san francisco's chinatown. a lot of events to celebrate this year. the theme of the celebrations is moving forward together. on friday, edge on the square is hosting an event to make paper lei necklaces on saturday, the third annual lion dance meet competition. community members have noticed that all the celebrations have grown in the past few years. the word i want to use is opportunity is given many people up here a chance to showcase, you know, our community, our pride and our ethnicity and i feel like right now, i've been talking to the kids, and we see your apa heritage sign on the bus, and we're like, wow, everything seems so big this year. yeah, a lot of community pride, a lot of cultural pride here. there are about 60 events happening across san francisco to celebrate aapi month. all right. it couldn't be

a better month or a better week to celebrate. man, beautiful sunshine outside for any great event. it's like a ten out there. it is. it was kind of hard to walk into the office right? you're here. we're all here. we made it. we made it. but i know a lot of folks out there today. right? you were thinking, oh, man, i wish you just had the day off. we had that sunshine. warmer temperatures. don't worry, though, it's going to continue right into that weekend forecast. let's show you more in that microclimate weather tonight. and i want to show you how warm we got today and how that compares to the average. and look at these numbers here. santa rosa coming in at 8310 degrees above your average concord at 80 average 76 san jose 81. and that average 72. now one of the main driving forces behind some of that wind today was certainly some of the dry and strong winds that really helped to push up these temperatures, that wind coming out of the north and the east. anytime you get a northeasterly wind, it's going to help numbers warm up because it's coming from

this drier direction. we did get up to 61mph at mount saint helena, a napa 31 los gatos 30, san francisco 23. so thankfully we had that rain this past weekend that really helped to lower that immediate fire danger with gusts like this coming on in. so tomorrow, high pressure stays here just to the north of us. that's going to keep the storm track away and warmer air moving on in. i do see this system to the east of us. that will give us a little bit of wind here as we head through tomorrow morning. it's not going to last too long. we'll see some gusts of 20 to 40mph right up here towards the north bay mountains. and then as we roll through tomorrow evening, that wind really starts to calm down. it's only 5 to 15mph here by tomorrow night. morning temperatures to start, mostly sunny. probably don't even need a jacket. look at this. we're up to 59 here to start in the tri valley. south bay 58. and we have more of those 50s for the east bay, san francisco and the north bay. daytime highs for tomorrow because we've got the second consecutive day of this area, high pressure going into the mid 80s. we're out here to

84 in san jose. warmest day we've seen so far this year, at least widespread 86 here in vallejo today, 80 in oakland at 84. how about the beaches? maybe you happen to have the day off 70 here in half moon bay is going to be real nice up towards daly city 78 and redwood city 83 san francisco. we're doing it. we're going up into the low 80s here for downtown in the mission and the outer sunset, even up to 76 and right here through wine country, upper 80s are back with us. so we've got the dry and calm weather here, but it's an opposite situation on the eastern half of the country. we are following several tornado watches right now from dallas, just to the south of saint louis , also including kentucky and tennessee. we'll see the strongest right here of severe weather. saint louis, paducah and nashville tonight for the chance of some large tornadoes tomorrow, the severe weather threat shifts to dallas. jackson, mississippi and atlanta. so be careful if you are headed that way. right here on the 7-day forecast. dry all

the way through the next seven days and we're at 74 on saturday, 69 on sunday in san francisco. and for the weekend, 88 on saturday and low 80s on mother's day on sunday. so yeah, jeff should get a bonus for all those. i will take it brag on him when he's when he when he's when it's raining. i feel like we should. we need to i need all the sunshine. all right, let's pay up. pay up. yes we appreciate you. i take dinner

community charter school in east oakland publicly declared the colleges are going to be attending at a special ceremony today. now 50% of oakland's black and brown seniors graduate with all the requirements needed to go to college. but at lighthouse community charter, parents and students partnered with families in action. and this year they doubled that rate to 91. that's one of the highest college eligibility rates across oakland schools. it is such overwhelming success and we know it can happen for our kids. we want to know how to make it more prevalent in our city. my advice would be to just focus on your education. try not to be distracted by, you know, stuff going on in oakland and just just have a clear goal and follow that goal. not many of the seniors at the ceremony are the first in their families to attend college. today was all about celebrating their academic

achievements and acknowledging the challenges they've overcome. some students also declare they're going into the workforce training programs to start their careers as well. well, here's something fun two rivals are teaming up this summer the warriors and the kings will co-host this year's california classic summer league in july. six teams will play 12 games over five days. some of the games at chase center and the other games at golden one center in sacramento. the warriors, lakers and miami heat will play in san francisco. the kings, hornets and spurs will play in sacramento. teams will include rookies, undrafted rookies and other young players vying for roster spots. okay, up next, traveling with your dog abroad is about to be a little tougher. what you need to know about the new rules for pups landing in the us. and let's take a look inside 30 rock. that is the control room. lester holt getting ready for nightly news. what are the top stories? do whales use their own alphabet? what researchers have discovered, lester joins us in

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to do that? yeah, a little bit more cumbersome. the government put out a new list of rules for dogs arriving in the united states. as of august first, all dogs will have to be at least six months old and microchipped. they'll also have to be vaccinated for rabies if they're

coming. for a country where the virus is common, the rules apply to dogs that originally left from the u.s. and are returning no exceptions. it also goes for service animals and dogs brought in by breeders and rescue groups . dogs that don't meet the rules will be sent back to the last country they came from, and you'll have to foot the bill tonight at 7:00. can you get rid of pg and e, a city in the east bay is pressuring state leaders to dump pg and e, but how realistic is this? we're going to talk to one of the council members supporting the plan. that conversation and more stories coming up on our 7:00 news. up next on nightly news, the plea deal by the former interpreter for baseball's superstar, shohei ohtani. he's accused of stealing millions of dollars. so now what happens next, lester holt joins us from new york

tonight, the state of emergency in michigan as severe storms threaten more than 50 million people from texas to virginia. the deadly new threat after days of relentless severe weather. dozens of tornadoes tearing across the central u.s. and deep south. in michigan, the side ripped off a massive fedex facility. a home flipped upside down. our team in the storm zone, and the forecast coming up. and just in tonight, president biden saying he will stop sending bombs to israel if it goes ahead with its ground offensive in rafah. donald trump winning another legal delay and another chance to remove d.a. fani willis from his georgia election case. congresswoman marjorie taylor greene pushing her hand on a motion to oust speaker mike johnson as boos erupt in the house