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stuck in too much traffic. >> southern california streets turning into raging rivers, flooding is blocking roads and causing drivers to get stuck in the water. >> then bingo. the warriors spreading holiday cheer ahead of their big christmas day game right here on abc seven. >> and speaking of the holiday, it is silver bells, silver bells , silver bells, jingle bells, jingle bells. >> come on. >> fa la la la la la la la la la. >> sue. it's totally from kumasi. >> take it. >> it's funny that, like, what happened? what happened here? donut. and then boom, boom, she's our bright, shining star. she really is. >> she's the exclamation point to the sentence. >> oh, you guys are sweet. >> there you go. >> it's nice. right? >> it is. and the weekend ahead is going to be very easy. if you have to travel here locally, live doppler seven this morning though we do have issues in the north bay. swease going to talk about more on this in a second. dense fog is in the valleys of the north bay and solano county will flip it on over to visibility mode, and you can see

those lower numbers, but it has been ebbing and flowing for a bit. but do anticipate some areas having visibility down to a quarter of a mile outside of the north bay, visibility is just fine. starting out in the 40s in our coolest spots, 50 around the bay shoreline. it's a bright day today. get ready for a really nice afternoon. it is sunny, a little breezy, but temperatures in the upper 50s to mid 60s. hi sue, good morning drew, and as you mentioned, the fog is kind of moving around, especially in the north bay. >> we just checked on san rafael. it seems to be lifting a little bit there over to walnut creek now. no fog here. you can see 680 is moving nicely. both directions. those headlights are headed northbound up towards concord. overall look how green. not even anybody coming out of the central valley up and over the altamont. so yes, it's a quiet morning. no real commute to speak of. one accident that is on the roads blocking two lanes north 101 near tully, and you can see the back up there. we'll come back with a sig alert for a east of gilroy. actually when we come back. reggie. >> thanks, sue. here's a live

look at sfo this morning. holiday travel in full swing. the tsa has screened more than 2 million people at our nation's airports every day this week and this morning, flightaware is reporting 20 delays and three cancellations out of sfo. in san jose, we see seven delays on the schedule this morning. of course, you always want to check before you leave. and here's a live look at oakland international airport passengers there dealing with a handful of delays and cancellations. but overall not so bad. if you are flying out of oakland today, this is the day you can get free gift wrapping. it will be past the security checkpoint between terminals one and two. that service starts at nine this morning. itrillionuns through noon, then starts up again at one. and i believe it goes until four. yes it does. remember, if you're traveling with gifts, they should be unwrapped when you arrive. so security agents can inspect them. >> if you are driving to your holiday destination, you might want to leave today instead of tomorrow. abc seven news reporter lena howland joining us live from the east bay with the best and worst times to hit the roads. hi, lena. >> hey, kumasi. while the

airports are expected to be packed today, the majority of folks nationwide are going to be driving to their holiday destinations this year. now that means that could possibly clog up a highway near you, just like the interstate 580 right here behind me. now aa says the number of people driving this year is up by 1.8% compared to last year. those numbers are the second highest on record since pre pandemic back in 2019. been the most congested time to hit the roads ahead of christmas is tomorrow anytime between 11:00 and seven. the best time to leave is going to be anytime before 10:00 in the morning tomorrow after christmas. triple a says the best time to hit the roads is before noon next thursday, the 28th, and the worst time is expected to be between 2 to 8:00 that afternoon . >> you're trying to leave for a trip and you're leaving at noon. chances are you're going to encounter some bad traffic, so we always say leave early or leave late. also, if you travel

on the holiday itself, usually there's less traffic. as as the holiday season, rush is on, the good news for drivers is that they can expect to pay about the same or less for a gallon of gas than they did last holiday season. >> today's state average is $4, and $0.58, according to triple a, although gasbuddy says the cheapest gas you can find out here in this area in livermore, is the costco in livermore at $3.99 live in livermore. lena howland abc seven news. >> people love getting that gas to costco. lena. thank you. a storm that brought heavy rain and flooding to santa barbara and ventura counties yesterday is pushing south this morning through la and towards san diego . the rain started wednesday night. it just kept on coming. roads got flooded and despite warnings that you should not do this, many drivers still decide to try to go through it anyway. >> it didn't look that bad 30

minutes ago. halfway through, car just turns off, so always a good time. >> at one point the rain was coming down in some spots at a rate of three inches per hour. one area outside of santa barbara saw more than eight inches of rain. in l.a. some areas got six inches. the national weather service is calling it a 1 in 500 year event . if you pass by the oakland estuary today, you may notice a change. fewer neglected boats are in the water. yesterday, the oakland police department's marine unit destroyed 12 boats in an effort to clean up the estuary. the boats were abandoned nearby. other boats are occupied. people live on them. officials say those people won't be forced to move yet. however, they say the boats pose an environmental threat by releasing fuel into the estuary. officials also say living on the boats is not the answer. >> i think that the homeless problem in the bay area is severe and there needs to be greater opportunity for people to have housing, but living on end of life boats on the water

is not a appropriate solution. >> and police are working on a plan to relocate the occupied boats. >> one developer is hoping $1 billion investment will encourage workers to return to downtown san francisco and inject life back into downtown. he bought the iconic transamerica pyramid and tells abc seven news insider phil matier he believes in the city and in its ability to bounce back. >> there is no doom loop. there is no doom loop. writing off san francisco is not something i would do anytime soon because, like i said, it's an attractive city. the people are great, the food is great, it's a beautiful city and it's been through a lot. i mean, it's been through fires, through earthquakes. it's always survived when finished. >> this could bring in 7000 jobs and millions of dollars in revenue every year. but the road to get there will not be easy. >> the biggest challenge to get this done? it's the city saying yes at every move. they used to say no around here. now they're just saying mayor london breed says. you can't do it fast enough. the biggest challenge is

going to be getting the people in there. i mean, he's going to get done. you have the money for that uh- $1 billion investment. can he get the people in? >> you can find the entire story on our website, abc seven news.com or on the abc seven news, bay area app. coming up, the new overseas venture for tesla, where it is set to open up a new battery factory in oakland. >> leaders touting progress in fighting retail theft and crime. some business owners say it is not enough. >> so seven this morning we are dealing with pockets of dense fog in the north bay. a dense fog advisory until 11 a.m, but it is a bright afternoon on the way with mild temperatures. we'll take a look at the travel forecast. whether you're traveling across the state or nationwide

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46. they're warmer through dallas, partly cloudy skies at 70 in the east coast. no no concerns when it comes to the forecast. temperatures near average with dry conditions back here at home today along the coast. it is breezy, but it's nice a lot of sunshine. upper 50s for our daytime highs around the bay shoreline. we do have some pockets of fog in the north bay. we'll have that fog burn off by 11 a.m. we expect bright conditions, mild temperatures, mid 60s for daytime highs and inland. we're starting out with clear skies. those numbers chilly in the 30s and 40s. but we'll get you into the lower 60s with dry conditions. we'll take a look at how the rest of the holiday weekend is shaping up here locally. in just a few minutes, reggie drew, thank you. >> still to come, expect heavy traffic if you're headed to the niners game christmas day. the team in the city at odds because they're disagreeing over who will pay overtime for those working. then in a few days, you'll have to get rid of that real christmas tree. what you should and shouldn't do when throwing it out. and as we head

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the news conference yesterday with the city's police department to reveal these new numbers, and they show commercial burglaries have actually dropped. there were 256 this time last year, and there are 120 now. >> the investment are starting to bear fruit as we have seen the decrease in the property crimes in the areas that we have actually stood up. >> the statistics are a little

comfort for people in oakland who say the city isn't doing enough to solve the problem. they point to three high profile burglaries. just this week, colonial donuts, lululemon, benner automotive and better automotive was hit for a third time. >> we want to emphasize that there has to be consequence when people are committing crimes and especially in all these many repeated offenders. >> city officials say despite statistics, public perception is a key component to making people feel safe. tesla has taken the next step in building a massive battery factory in china. today. the company held a signing ceremony in shanghai for the property where the new factory is going to be built. construction is set to start next year. this factory will focus on building massive batteries used by utility companies to store solar energy, not not the batteries used for cars. napa valley winemakers are pretty excited for this year's vintage. they say it's possibly one of the best ever for reds and whites. following the longest growing season in a decade. they say this year's harvest harvest red grapes look

great and have complexity. some grapes were harvested late because we had a cool spring, and we had those drought busting rains. those factors slowed the ripening process and created lots of hang time on the vine. >> i was telling someone the other day that i'm not sure we'll see another vintage like this in our lifetime. i'm i feel very as a winemaker, i feel very lucky to have experienced this vintage. the 2023 harvest year should be ready to taste in about 2 to 3 years. >> this is really sad. >> sunday is going to be the final day for the embarcadero location of see's candies. a sign on the door says it's closing at the end of the day on christmas eve. this is according to sf gate. now this particular location is at three embarcadero center and it's not clear why it's closing, but it means there will be three stores still located in the city. the company is based in the bay area. it's been in business for more than 100 years. >> traffic could be a major issue for fans heading to the

christmas showdown between the 40 niners and ravens at levi's stadium monday night, the niners and the city of santa clara are in a disagreement over who should cover overtime costs for police, fire and city employees needed to work the game, according to sfgate. the city is considering paying double overtime because they can't find enough people to work on the holiday. we've reached out to both sides for comment and we're waiting to hear back. i should add the 40 niners are under no contract obligation to pay that double overtime. the city is just asking for it, and the 40 niners have so far said no. don't forget that christmas day game is right here on abc seven. all the action actually starts with the warriors in denver at 11, followed by the celtics at the lakers at two, and then the niners kick off against the ravens at five. >> before the warriors take the court on christmas. they will be giving back to the community. and they did so yesterday. gary payton the second, acted as a bingo caller for the ronald mcdonald house families. he also took some pictures with some of

the families there. even people who did not get or play bingo, they still walked away with gifts. all of this is a part of the warriors season of giving, spreading holiday cheer in the community. that's so nice. >> oh thank god we have a little holiday cheer today because kumasi and i dropped a new track . >> it's hot fire and it has to do with the warriors and the 40 niners. >> and where can we find this? >> yes, you can find it on abc seven. okay. it'll be airing. and then also it's on the instagram on the insta. >> okay. >> my instagram. did you post it yet? not yet. okay it'll be on kumasi instagram two little teaser from when we were in the studio. >> oh i love this. >> getting ready. oh, fun. >> like a little behind the scenes, i love it. it's basically just like little christmas carols that we change. >> urged to include the 40 niners working hard on that. >> we try. it's nothing little about what we did. it's a huge event. >> okay. massive. you know barbie think that. >> yeah, but a little bigger elevator. >> honestly bigger.

>> yeah. the expectations. everyone's talking about it. let's go outside. we have a dense fog advisory in effect for the north bay this morning that lasting until 11 a.m. it is a bright afternoon. a little breezy on the coast, but it is delightful when it comes to our temperatures. and for the holiday, christmas eve and christmas day. it is looking nice across the region where it's not looking nice. this morning, southern california live doppler seven low pressure continuing to inundate southern california with some very heavy rain. flooding at times. one more day of that for southern california. then they start to dry out for us in northern california. satellite showing you a dry, cold front that will push through here this morning. it will just kick up our winds. we're not expecting any moisture today from that front. in fact, highs today. very nice going into the 60s for the most part with a lot of sunshine today. temperatures above average overnight. tonight it is a partly cloudy night dipping into the 30s and our coldest areas 40 around the bay shoreline. future tracker temperatures on saturday. no concerns weather wise when it comes to traveling around the region. we are

finding numbers in the upper 50s to lower 60s, pretty much a carbon copy forecast for christmas eve, christmas day. here's the forecast. a chilly morning leading to a nice afternoon. a mix of sun and clouds and those temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s. the niners christmas night. we're going to find temperatures slowly falling through the 50s again. you can watch the game right here on abc seven. here's the accuweather seven day forecast the next seven days for you. fog to sun today. morning chill tomorrow. but bright afternoon we'll have late day clouds on sunday. we are dry for christmas. on monday. our next chance of rain is on wednesday. it is a level one on the storm impact scale. >> hi sue, good morning. i love that santa wave. he's got the he's got the wave down. all right. the fog is kind of coming and going around the north bay. here it is at the bay bridge toll plaza. it wasn't there a minute ago. and now it's there. so just a heads up. could be a difficult visibility on the span. golden gate bridge is perfectly clear. so the fog is just sort of moving around doing

its thing this morning, but kind of a pain in the neck for drivers early accident north 101 near tully. still in the clearing stages. the car is off into the ditch, but the emergency crews are blocking two lanes there. and let's go to the pacheco pass. early this morning there was a fatal accident. a sigalert still there. one way traffic control

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dense fog advisory in effect for the valleys of the north bay, san rafael, petaluma, santa rosa, over into napa, yountville as well, and solano county. this dense fog advisory, in effect until 11 a.m. this morning, where visibility in spots is quite low, especially novato, napa and santa rosa. anywhere from a quarter to a half of a mile visibility. outside of the north bay, visibility is just fine. let's break down the forecast region by region. the coast. we'll see sunshine today. it will be breezy along the coast with winds gusting up to

20mph. temperatures in the upper 50s around the bay shoreline in morning fog to sun. temps going into the low and mid 60s today and inland it is looking delightful. it's chilly right now with temperatures in the 40s. we'll get you into the low 60s with bright conditions later on. today. if you are traveling to tahoe, we wish we had more snow in the sierra, but we're not going to have any problems when it comes to the forecast. getting up there. some scattered flurries tomorrow, but christmas is looking very nice. kumasi thank you drew. >> rudy giuliani filed for bankruptcy days after a jury ordered him to pay $148 million in damages. the judgment was granted to two former georgia election workers. they successfully argued giuliani defamed them when he publicly stated the falsehood that they stuffed ballot boxes in the 2020 election. giuliani's bankruptcy filing lists debts between 100 and $500 million. some llama drama in the sierra. the chp there pretty much prepared for anything, but officers had to

corral this llama that was roaming westbound interstate 80 at donner summit challenger. that's name had gotten out and officers eventually caught up to him. challenger was in return to its owners. you all this really is one of my favorite things to do in the holidays. or really, any time the yule time log, the abc seven yule time log, it will really just warm your whole house up. not. really, but the spirit of christmas will. we are streaming it 24 over seven. you can enjoy it when you're in the family or at home. you can go to abc seven news.com, put it on your big screen with the abc seven bay area streaming tv app. next, at 630, the california democrat criticizing the white house for its handling of the border crisis. why he says he's disappointed in the lack of movement in certain policies, and ikea is now warning some of its items might not ship on time because of the conflict going on

in the middle east. and as we head to break, we're taking a live look outside right now at 6.25, we'll be right back.

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this is abc seven news now at 630. >> the search for a murder suspect starts in the peninsula ends in mendocino county. what we've learned about the attacker and how one of the victims is doing this morning. ben more

legal trouble for the former president as american security officials say, there is a surge of threats to public officials. and we're going to take a look at the bay bridge now. a busy holiday travel weekend is here, and they could use rudolph this morning. all right. >> right. >> not wrong. see good morning everybody. >> happy friday. it is december 22nd. >> you know dasher and dancer. dasher dancer, dancer dasher and prancer. prancer and vixen. >> comet. cupid. donner and blitzen. >> someone's name was donner. >> yeah. >> okay. >> not dancer donner. could it be, though? you know, make it your own. you know, we've named the one on your graphics package . >> oh, yeah. >> that's pretty. it's prancer. >> yeah. see you prancer in a moment. this morning, though. he's right. rudolph would really help you. especially in the north bay. that fog is thick in spots. a dense fog advisory in effect until 11 a.m. for the valleys of the north bay. solano county as well. you can see those numbers. they are down to a quarter of a mile in some

areas outside of the north bay. we are not dealing with thick fog this morning. day planner will have a mix of sun and clouds because of that fog throughout the north bay this morning, but after 11 a.m. it is sunshine every where. bright though, breezy. this afternoon, but very nice away from the coast. we're going into the 60s. hi, sue. good morning drew. >> we're going to oakland to the 880 freeway right near the coliseum. everybody's behaving, moving nicely. knock on everything. it's clear there. there is some fog at the bay bridge toll plaza. and of course, drew has been talking about that. the north bay, especially. speaking of the north bay, it looks like there's an accident involving the sir francis drake off ramp from southbound 101 and quarter madeira, green bay, southern and central marin police are all there trying to scoot it out of the way, but they may have to temporary shut down the sir francis drake off ramp from southbound 101. we'll follow it for you. kumasi >> thank you, sue. and an investigation is underway after a stabbing along the peninsula. and this morning, we've learned

one of the victims is out of surgery. the attack started in the vallemar neighborhood of pacifica yesterday morning. sources confirmed the suspect in this case, jason gillenwater, took his own life in ukiah after he fled from authorities after the attack. gillenwater was a coma for firefighter law enforcement, tracked him for hours all the way to mendocino county after he stabbed his ex-wife and her boyfriend. the woman survived that attack, but the boyfriend didn't. we've since learned gillenwater was suspended last week and arrested for domestic violence. if you or someone you know is struggling with issues, including domestic violence, mental health, substance use or anything else, there is help out there. you can find local resources at abc7 news.com slash. take action. >> new video shows the gunman opening fire on the roof of charles university in prague. he then appears to move across the roof all of this lasting several minutes. the shooting left at least 14 people dead and 25 more hurt. investigators found the gunman's body on a sidewalk. it

is believed that he took his own life. jesus christ happened right in the heart of the czech republic's capital city. it sent people running for cover, some people ran across historic charles bridge, others huddled on a rooftop. look at that. they were just hoping to keep out of the shooter's sight. >> it was a couple of uh- uh- banks. i didn't even realize it's a it's a shooting. then uh- suddenly there were students and teachers running. >> investigators say the gunman was a 24 year old student at the university. as far as a motive, they say that he was, quote, inspired by another heinous act. elsewhere in the world, police believe he may have killed a man and his two month old daughter. days earlier. >> president biden is urging mexico's president to address the migration surge into the u.s. the leaders spoke over the

phone yesterday morning and agreed additional enforcement will be needed and is needed at the border. the u.s. has shut down multiple border crossings over recent weeks, but despite those efforts, more than 10,000 migrants have crossed the border daily. senior officials will be traveling to mexico in the coming days to discuss further actions. california senator alex padilla is no longer staying quiet, criticized the biden administration's handling of border security. padilla says concessions made as part of a larger funding bill to help ukraine, israel and other national security needs are a return to trump era immigration policies. >> as far as i can tell, the negotiations on the border policy has not even considered providing protections or a pathway not even to citizenship, just to a legal resident status. for these folks that we applauded so much during the covid 19 pandemic. >> padilla says he's especially disappointed in the lack of movement to protect dreamers. last month, he led a coalition

of ten other congressional colleagues to call attention to the issue. >> now to the middle east and the latest updates out of gaza. health officials in the hamas run territory say more than 20,000 palestinians have been killed, and over twice that many wounded in the 11 weeks of the fighting, nearly 85% of gaza's people have been displaced in that time, israeli officials say their forces have killed about 70,000 hamas militants, but it hasn't presented any evidence to back that up. israel is facing pressure from the international community to scale back its military offensive to protect civilian lives, a request the country shows no sign of acknowledging a vote in the un is expected today on a revised resolution that calls for creating the conditions for a cease fire. it's a scaled back resolution that now has the united states support. >> ikea is the latest big name to announce product delays and disruptions because of the attacks in the red sea. the ongoing attacks are from yemen's

iran backed houthi militants in protests of israel's military action in gaza. ikea says it's looking at other ways to get its products to store shelves. >> starbucks wants people to stop targeting stores for protests over the war in gaza. their ceo says false information has led to vandalism at a number of stores. starbucks has recently tried to distance itself from pro-palestine positions taken by some of its employees, and by starbucks workers united, which is the union representing some starbucks workers. >> this morning, law enforcement is on alert, reporting an unprecedented rise in terror threats this holiday season. abc seven news reporter justin finch has the details. this morning, with three days before christmas, law enforcement on alert report the most challenging threat environment since nine over 11. >> many of the threats tied to the ongoing war between israel and hamas since october 7th, the fbi has received more than 1800

reports, reports of threats or other types of tips or leads that are somehow related to or have a nexus to the current conflict in israel and gaza. >> officials also reporting an unprecedented. surge in threats to public officials, including election officials and judges. >> agents now investigating violent threats against the colorado supreme court after its ruling disqualifies former president trump from running for office, citing his alleged role in the january 6th insurrection. trump is expected to appeal thatrillionuling to the u.s. supreme court as soon as next week. meanwhile the justice department has filed new documents in one of the criminal cases against trump in which special counsel jack smith argues the supreme court should quickly take up the case over whether trump is immune from charges. in the january sixth election interference case. >> they want to silence me because i will never let them silence you. and in the end,

they're not after me. they're after you. on the campaign trail, former south carolina governor nikki haley, enjoying a bounce in recent polls, appear to be sharpening her attacks on trump. >> everybody knows four more years of chaos. we won't survive it. >> in iowa yesterday, haley took issue with trump's character, saying, we need a president who's a role model. >> i don't like the discourse that we have. i don't like the chaos and the insanity. we feel like we're in. i don't like the rhetoric he gives. >> justin finch, abc news, washington. >> happening now, the mad dash for the holidays officially underway. triple a says nearly 104 million drivers are hitting the road over christmas and new year's. abc seven news reporter lena howland is live in the east bay. so how's it looking where you are, lena? >> reggie. so far, so good. overlooking the interstate 580 here in livermore. but that's going to change relatively quickly in just a few hours as people start packing up and heading out the door to their

holiday destinations. triple a says the number of people driving this year is up by 1.8% compared to last year. those numbers are the second highest on record since pre pandemic back in 2019. the good news for drivers is that they can expect to pay about the same or less for a gallon of gas than they did at this time last year. today's state average is $4.58, according to triple a triple a is projecting 115 million americans are going to travel over the ten day period between saturday, december 23rd and january 1st. >> and we're projecting this to be the second highest year end holiday following 2019. what we're seeing is that travel demand has been off the charts all of 2023, and this holiday season is no different. we're also expecting this to be the busiest holiday at the airport. >> they're projecting 7.5 million air travelers this holiday season, with today being

one of the busiest days to fly. that surpasses pre pandemic levels of 7.3 million back in 2019. now, if you are driving over the next few days, tomorrow and next thursday, the 28th are expected to be the most congested days out on the roads for tomorrow. triple a says the best time to leave is going to be anytime before 10:00 in the morning, and the worst time will be anytime between 11:00 and seven in the evening. be sure to shop around when it comes to gas prices, using platforms like gasbuddy to make your dollar go just a little further. during this holiday season, live in livermore lena howland, abc seven news. thank you lena. >> now let's talk about staying healthy for the holidays. abc seven news spoke with two bay area doctors, uk's chin-hong, and stanford's doctor dean winslow, about the new covid 19 variant right now, the biggest risk of covid is in the midwest. >> um, but we're seeing it nationally as well. and the new

variant, jn1, is most common in the east coast. but it's spreading across the country. the air is very clean, you know, again, because the hvac systems in modern, uh, aircraft, you know, have very, very high turnover rates. >> they even use hepa filtration. so actually being on the airliner itself is relatively low risk. but of course, you know, again, you've got to walk through the terminal through the tsa lines and the other little bit of advice which , you know, i'd like to give, you know, your listeners, is that this little vents that are over your seat in a commercial airliner, they're called gaspar fans. and i strongly recommend people actually turn them open all the way. >> that makes me cold sometimes. >> what? the air, gaspar. yeah, i like the option. there are a number of planes now that don't have them. oh, really? and i think that that's not right and not okay. it >> well, christmas is almost here. >> you're probably still thinking about gifts and fun,

but once all that is over, you have to decide what you're going to do with your tree. the easiest thing is to put it out with your garbage on trash day. recology is going to be picking up trees with your trash for the first two weeks in january. you just have to make sure that everything is taken off of it. now here's what you don't do. recology says. do not feed it to the bison, and golden gate park was out or the goat herd that lives over in the bayview leave them alone. they don't want people doing that. evidently people are wild. >> still to come, new details from the white house about the president's push to pardon people in prison for marijuana charges. >> and the price of stamps is going up. how much more you'll have to pay for them starting next month? and stay with us on the abc seven bay area streaming app at seven for abc seven at seven. we're live weekdays from 7 to 8 a.m. download the app now wherever you stream. >> 641 we're taking a look at the travel forecast nationwide across the pacific northwest. we

will see rain and snow from la to vegas to phenix. heavy rain at times today as we head towards the middle part of the country, chicago will see some showers. could be heavy at times. dallas looking better at 70 degrees in the east coast. it is quiet when it comes to the weather and temperatures pretty close to average for this time of the year. back here at home, 40 and 50. the name of the game. as we get you out the door this morning, some cooler numbers around santa rosa, napa 42 right now. and both of those cities break it down. region by region. the coast. it's breezy today. temperatures getting into the upper 50s with bright sunshine along the coast. the bay shoreline, especially in the north bay. we are seeing pockets of dense fog, but we'll get sunshine this afternoon and temperatures very pleasant in the low and mid 60s for our daytime highs in inland it is looking lovely chilly right now in the 40s, but we'll get into the low 60s with bright conditions today. so look at highs across the region. it is pleasant, a little bit above average with bright conditions. now for some more high temperatures where you live sponsored by the exploratorium, discover the art of light this

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the goal is to cut off the money that's being indirectly used to allow russia to continue to build its war arsenal. also new this morning, president biden will be pardoning 11 people serving sentences for certain marijuana offenses. he will specifically pardon people who used or possess marijuana on certain federal lands. it hasn't been announced who these people

will be, and they'll see their sentence commuted. but in a statement, he said nobody should be in federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana. >> new developments with the ongoing pollution problems in richmond and we know about the area, shoes. now there's something else chemicals known to cause cancer were found in the soil of an old dry cleaning business on barrett avenue. it occupied the spot from 1960 to 2001. richmond's pollution problem started late last month with flaring at the chevron refinery, which has now happened multiple times. then earlier this month, a stench started coming from a wastewater treatment plant. it was so bad the mayor held an emergency meeting last week in iceland. >> scientists are giving us new details about the volcanic eruption that forced the evacuation of an entire town. so they flew over the volcano yesterday and say lava flows have slowed and volcanic activity is reduced. but the danger is still very real. another eruption could happen any moment, and there's still hot lava and underground lava tubes filled with magma.

residents have been gone for weeks and crews are still in that area. training to respond to other eruptions that may happen in the future. >> so this is highly important for us to do this. uh- during the night and yeah, it's a lot of hazard in world. the people who were forced to leave their homes were allowed to return to visit yesterday, but they will not be allowed to return permanently until it's safe. >> now it's your morning monday report. the price of forever stamps is going up again in january. the us postal service says when forever stamps were introduced in 2007, they were $0.41 each. this will be the fifth increase since then. forever stamps will go from $0.66 to $0.68. january 21st. previously purchased forever stamps can still be used after the price hike because they are what forever over a michigan teacher has been giving the gift of learning to students for more than 25 years. >> but this holiday, her

students banded together to give her a gift instead. miss chansky developed a slow growing brain tumor that affects her hearing and balance, and she got the surgery she needed. but her hearing was gone and she needed hearing aids. and that's when her students stepped in. >> and then she surprised us and we surprised her. yeah, dear mrs. chansky, this holiday season, we are grateful for all your hard work. >> we would like to offer you $1,000 to put toward your your hearing aid. my. >> oh how adorable. she says. the best part of getting the hearing aids is the good it will do for everyone around her, especially now that the only student with hearing aids in her class can now feel included. it's not to her class. i think

that's lovely. >> you know what i'm going to say? >> this is lovely. >> it's lovely. but she shouldn't need that. >> but the kids in that position, you mean. >> no, she should be paid enough. >> she should have health insurance enough that she is able to get hearing aids that she needs to function. yes. you know, like that's true. it's a sad story to me. yeah that's a point. you know, come on. >> but also the kids, the kids came through and i love i love that the kids did it. >> but if i were that school district, i would be embarrassed . >> well, they might be. >> and maybe they should be. >> mm mm. >> merry christmas, merry christmas. >> but the kids, the headline the kids, the kids are kids. >> let's do it for the kids, drew. >> do for the kids. always the morning we have dense fog in the north bay. dense fog advisory in effect until 11 a.m. this building in some spots in the north bay, down to a quarter of a mile. but it's a sunny afternoon, a bit breezy along the coast, but it is just a pleasant day with temperatures

in the 60s as we head towards christmas eve and christmas day, we're looking good. nice for the holiday where it's not so nice right now. southern california, still under the influence of low pressure. another day of heavy rain could lead to pockets of flooding. tomorrow though, this storm system pulls away southern california starts to dry out locally. it's nice. today we have sunshine. after that fog burns off in the north bay. sunshine everywhere today. temperatures going into the 60s for our daytime highs, which is above average for this time of the year. overnight tonight, partly cloudy conditions around the bay shoreline will dip into the 40s. our coldest spots going into the 30s. first thing as we head into saturday. future tracker temperatures know whether concerns when it comes to the forecast over the weekend, we'll have temperatures near average for a lot of sunshine here. saturday we will have some chilly mornings both saturday and sunday. just be aware of that. but sunday pretty much a carbon copy forecast when it comes to our daytime highs. now looking at christmas day, you'll find that we have that morning chill is with us. and then it's a mix of sun and clouds throughout the day. for the holiday and temperatures in the upper 50s to the lower 60s.

here is the accuweather seven day forecast. next seven days for you. morning fog to sun today. chilly start tomorrow, but we have sunshine both saturday and sunday. some late day clouds. sunday leads to a partly cloudy day on monday for christmas, but we are dry. the niners game looking just fine with temps in the 50s. you can watch that right here on abc seven. and then our next chance of rain on wednesday. it's level one on the storm impact scale. sue good morning drew. >> and just a heads up. chp has issued a thick fog advisory for the bay bridge. what are you looking at? it's a blank screen. well, actually, it's fog on our emeryville camera. and you can see a little bit of the headlights headed towards the bay bridge or the macarthur maze. but yeah, that's the fog advisory. that is what's causing a little bit of slowdown, especially in the north bay. otherwise we're pretty green out there. you could see some slowing on the richmond-san. rafael bridge, and we did have a report that they were going to shut down the sir francis drake off ramp from southbound 101 due to an accident. it looks like things are getting by, at least

on the freeway right now. here's a look at some of your drive times. 80 all the way to the maze. everybody is in the green this morning. let's keep it that way, guys. >> thank you. sue and now let's take a look at what is happening on gma this morning. >> good morning. it is great to be with you on a friday morning. and we are tracking the holiday exodus airports dealing with a record number of travelers plus the best and worst times to hit the road and how that storm that i've been tracking is going to impact travel going into christmas eve. and christmas day. also, the new fda warning about counterfeit ozempic researchers exploring potential new uses for the drug that is typically used for obesity and diabetes. doctor sutton will be here live. >> mariah carey got into the holiday spirit at the white house. she visited this week with her 12 year old twins. >> i'm a fan. >> i'm a fan. >> i just want you to know,

we love it. >> come on. thank you. >> come on. >> where are they going? what's the first stop? >> i want an entire documentary about this. >> i'm about to go watch this in its entirety. so mariah got the chance to view the holiday display at the white house. then she went to the library of congress that day, she got her certificate from santa, commemorate the induction of her christmas hit into the national recording registry, and then she put all the photos on her instagram. she is there with both president biden and vice president kamala harris, with the twin s and they had a time >> it's president biden, a lamb, i mean, a part of the family which is the she did a lot with her fans. >> you need friends, call her. you need that jacket. >> look at her. oh this is adorable. >> everyone thinks they might know the best christmas house on

the block. but as it turns out, this year neighbors in the city of san jose are putting together a pretty strong argument. abc seven news south bay reporter lauren martinez spotted one home that's drawing some serious buzz around town. they are not messing around when it comes to the holidays. >> san jose residents are serious when it comes to making spirits bright. it takes luis trejo a week to set up his christmas lights and display off santa teresa boulevard. >> the neighbors and the kids and the grandkids and the family. they enjoy it. so i enjoy it. >> to win. trejo and his wife got home from shopping on wednesday night. there was a line of people waiting that makes me feel very good. >> it gives me the chills, like, oh my god, they're here for me. so i get up and run and turn everything off so they can enjoy it. >> this year, luis trejo received a neighborhood holiday spirit award from nob hill. >> it makes me happy that i'm all his hard work is seen as a appreciated kids in the neighborhood, appreciated and recognized for the effort it

takes. >> i personally think that i would not put in this much work just to take it out like three weeks later. it's good. it's fun to have a neighbor like this. >> earlier this week, the tran family in san jose starred in abc's the great christmas light fight. they were one of four family competing for $50,000. >> i post my picture to many christmas decorations, facebook and the casting director saw my pictures and they liked what they seeing. >> tony tran and his family didn't win, but just being a finalist was an honor. he starts setting up the weekend before halloween. >> it's something about magic, about christmas and the air and the light that will bring peace to me. he kept running around with laughters and you know, the ooh and the ah that make us really, really everything we do is worthwhile in san jose.

>> lauren martinez, abc seven news. >> all right, up next, the seven things you need to know today a reminder you can watch all of our newscast live and on demand through the abc seven bay area connected tv app. >> that's on apple tv, google tv, amazon fire tv and roku.

tomorrow is expected to be one of the worst days to drive over the holidays, with peak congestion between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. triple a is predicting nearly 104 million people will be driving to their destinations . >> number two parts of southern california and arizona are under the threat of flooding again today and yesterday. downpours swamped coastal areas northwest of la. oh, she's talking loud. the inventor and santa barbara counties. cheers >> it's a mess down there. number three we do have dense fog. this morning. a dense fog advisory in effect for the north bay. this until 11 a.m. you see the visibility mode? we are down

to anywhere from a quarter to a half a mile from novato to napa, outside of the north bay. we are doing much better. it is a bright afternoon, pleasant when it comes to our temperatures into the 60s for daytime highs. >> and we're checking your drive this morning. it's pretty light. there's the fog that drew's been talking about, that san rafael, and it's starting to lift just a little bit. traffic overall is pretty light this friday morning . our sensors are showing up pretty green. green is good number five today president biden is expected to sign an executive order allowing the u.s. to increase sanctions. >> enforcement on russia. the order will go after financial institutions that are still doing business with the country. >> number six oakland business owners plan to rally today to call for a crackdown on crime this holiday season. they claim the city hasn't done enough to solve the problem, despite new numbers from the mayor's office showing commercial burglaries are actually down this year. >> number seven therapy animals at sfo are getting into the holiday spirit. they are now greeting travelers with their

cute little festive outfits. >> oh my, oh my little bunny bunny! >> get out! there's a rabbit there is a cat, there is a pig. the wag brigade program is designed to bring trained dogs and animals into terminals to make the experience just a little more enjoyable. >> is this the rabbit that we know? >> yes. >> the one that was at the giants. yeah. >> yes, it must be right. >> this dog right here. >> wow. >> i've seen a couple of these dogs. they are so cute. yeah people get real, real happy when they see them. mhm >> comforting. now that i'm a great christmas everyone happy holidays >> good morning america. the busiest holiday travel season ever is in full swing, and a major storm on the move. christmas storm. dangerous weather makes its way across the