good morning! it is saturday, december 16th. 7:00. a live look outside at christmas in the park in downtown san

jose. hopefully you've been able to get out and enjoy some holiday displays. thank you so much for starting your saturday morning with us. i'm kira klapper. cinthia pimentel has a quick look at our microclimate forecast and it will be a good one today, but you have a warning for tomorrow. >> exactly right. good morning, kira and good morning everyone. we are starting off our saturday morning around the bay area 30s and 40s. doing 42 in san jose this morning. 48 san mateo and 30s making our way into the north bay and to the interior of the east bay as well. 36 in livermore. look at beautiful temperatures. mostly sunny skies today. also upper 60s and low 70s as you make your way through the santa clara valley. there are changes in store. a couple things to take note of. we are under a spare-the-air alert today and tomorrow as we cap the lid on atmosphere trapping unhealthy air. there is rain on the way for sunday. it will start off light, but then as we go on into the beginning of the week, this is where you want to tune in to the details i have coming up in

about 15 minutes. heavy and getting messy. give you all the details coming up in a little bit. kira, back to you. >> thanks. see you soon. only on nbc bay area, a san francisco father reunited this morning with his young daughter as he tells us exclusively someone stole his car with the little girl in the back seat. "today" in the bap jocelyn moran reports from san francisco's ingleside neighborhood. >> someone kidnaps a child your brain and mind is crazy. that's what happened. going nuts. so relieved. thank god. >> reporter: holding his daughter in his arms after moments of panic. officers rescued her from the back of the truck she was in after someone stole it. >> pulled into the market not far from here. my daughter sleeping. jumped out. ran into the market to get something. before i could even purchase something, someone got in my car and took off in my truck with my daughter and it was like a

kidnapping. >> reporter: police say they first responded to the area of ashton and holloway around 4:26 p.m. just about 11 minutes later officers found the car with the child inside on capitol and ocean avenues. >> seen a guy drive kind of crazy, like, a wild left turn. and he parked the car and started running. >> reporter: jamil is other than of a store near where the car was parked. >> walked up. seen the car. seen the baby crying in there and two minutes after i seen that, a whole bunch of officers and a helicopter came. >> reporter: police say the suspect took off. the father tells us his daughter is doing okay. >> she's okay. she's in the back now. she's fine. she's happy. >> reporter: back with her father. meantime search for the suspect continues. in san francisco, jocelyn moran, nbc bay area news. people in the east bay are crossing their fingers for fresh air today following another

flaring incident. that sent unpleasant odors into their neighborhoods yesterday. huge blasts of flames and smoky merged from the martinez refining company around 9:00 yesterday morning. it's the second time in two weeks that contra costa health issued an advisory because of the flaring. the stench was so significant some neighbors stayed indoors while others left the area entirely. air quality officials received more than 50 complaints about the smell. the air district issued a "notice of violation for public nuisance" to the refinery. there have been 227 level-one flares across the county this year in contra costa and two less serious level two events. sitting on the board of the bay area air quality management district wants to know why this is happening so often. >> while there are investigations over each of

these incidents leading to fines and penalties the biggest issue we want to understand is why these series of events, and steps need to be taken in the safety culture to prevent this from happening in the future. >> county health is now investigating what triggered the latest flaring event and says it may refer the case to the district attorney's office which has the power to impose fines and penalties. meanwhile, the martinez refining company says flaring could continue through the weekend as workers restart affected equipment. turning now to the israel hamas war and shocking revelation. israel admitting and the taking full responsibility for the accidental shooting deaths of three israeli hostages. this morning the idf saying that the three hostages emerged saying they were terrorists, and that the israeli soldiers felt threatened before they shot. israel this morning steadfast that this incident was against their rules of engagement. nbc's richard engel has the

latest. >> reporter: this video was taken by 28-year-old haim on kibbutz october 7th. he opened the window for air he was kidnapped. he announced haim along with two other hostages 25-year-old samer and 26-year-old alon shamriz were killed when israeli troops mistook them for hamas fighters and shot them. according to the israeli military, which says they may have escaped or abandoned by captors. prime minister netanyahu wrote in part, together with the entire people of israel i bow my head in deep sorrow calling it an unbearable tragedy. families of other hostages are calling to restart talks to free more captives. >> we cannot handle more deaths.

we want them now here. >> reporter: israeli troops are fighting hamas street-to-street and bombing incessantly. the biden administration is urging them to switch to a more targeted campaign. >> not here to tell everybody do x or ymplt. here to say this is our perspective as your partner and friend. >> reporter: the military says it does more than any other army in the world to avoid civilian casualties including warping palestinians with leaflets and robocalls. in the west bank i met gazans who were working inside israel now trapped. they've all undergone background checks by israel. this man told me his wife and four children were killed in gaza by an israeli airstrike a week ago. he showed me their pictures. >> i have one left, he said. >> reporter: nearly everyone has had at least one relative who's been killed. >> you're kelling me what bothers him the most is not that

his brother died -- thank you. thank you very much -- but that he's still under the rubble of the apartment he was in. >> reporter: they don't know when they'll go back to gaza and say every time the phone rings it's usually bad news that someone else is either injured or dead. of the 210 gazans at that center, 150 have had their homes destroyed by israeli strikes according to the director. >> that was richard engel reporting for us. protesters who blocked the bay bridge while calling for a cease-fire in gaza will now face criminal charges. san francisco district attorney brooke jenkins is filing the charges against the protesters whose demonstration brought traffic to a halt for hours during the apec summit last month. those delays put some transplant patients at risk, because the vehicles carrying their organs to the hospital were delayed. d.a. jenkins released a statement saying free speech

must be protected but not when it compromises public safety. 80 protesters will each be charged with 5 misdemeanor counts and are expected in court later this month. in los angeles, protesters blocked several streets around l.a.x. last night. airport police say about 100 protesters marched through streets near the airport blocking traffic and causing a massive backup. this happened two days after dozens of protesters were arrested for stopping traffic on the 110 freeway in downtown l.a. and back here locally, amid the war between israel and hamas hundreds ever people are expected to rally today calling for a permanent cease-fire in gaza. members of 14 bay area unions plan to meet in oakland later today. workers involved in today's demonstration are from unions ranging from health care and education to longshore and transit. it starts at 1:00 p.m. at oakland city hall. and oakland is one step closer to hiring a new police

chief. the police commission says it is sending its list of three candidates to mayor chantel. they did not share who is on the list. under the city charter the police commission is responsible for compiling the list and the mayor then makes the final hiring decision. the mayor announce add few months ago she would declare a state of emergency, if a new chief was not selected by the end of this year. 7:10 now. much more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up, time running out to get your holiday packages delivered by christmas day. we help unpack some important we help unpack some important upcoming deadlines.

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welcome back. time 7:13 on your saturday morning. hazy look at oakland this morning. cinthia pimentel says, though, we will be seeing abundant sunshine today before a big change tomorrow. she'll be along in just a few minutes. thieves hit san francisco business owners and now they are frustrating asking for the city to do more after two restaurants were hit in the same night. we have security video from one of those restaurants, thai's saap ver on division street in the city's design district. the owner tell us the group of thieves first tried to pry open the door, you see there, and then broke the glass and rushed in and got away way cash register and a safe.

a witness saw several men jumping into three parked cars outside the restaurant. >> one guy come through here. more people coming. >> less than a half mile away, another restaurant on bryant street tells us they also were hit. their front door damaged. they say via social media they are now taking steps to recover, and get enhanced security. sfpd is still working to determine whether the two crimes are related. in the south bay, representative ra qana is holding a roundtable discussion talking how the proposed republican cut to funding in congress will impact bay area teachers. students and health care providers as well. the cut could impact food assistance to subsidized housing to efforts to fight climate change. the speakers include a doctor who served low-income patients, a student and the president of the san jose teachers

association as well as a youth climate activist. the roundtable will be at the congressman's office in santa clara at 2:30 today. well, if you want anything to arrive in time for christmas day, here are some deadlines you need to know. today is the first deadline to note. the postal service says all ground advantage and first class mail should be sent by today. priority mail, december 20th. and for priority express, december 21st is the deadline, but expect to pay a little more. the u.s. postal service, meanwhile, says last year it processed nearly 12 billion pieces of mail and packages during the holiday season alone. an average, took three days to deliver mail to intended destination last year. postal service also will not add additional surcharges for customers. ♪ wow!

the boys' choir from grace cathedral took their show on the road yesterday spreading holiday cheer in the city on the cable cars first and then made their way to union square. where they then performed on the union square plaza stage. what a delight! happening today, three toy giveaways in the bay area, and we are at one of them right now. the san jose fire department is hosting a toy distribution at vive church on parkmoor avenue in san jose. where our photographer is right now. firefighters packed and sort the gifts for families yesterday and they are ready to go. another toy drive held at the san mateo event center cypress hall. the annual samaritan toy shop open this morning at 9:00. the event is registered for members of the samaritan house only and at 10:00 a.m., silicon

valley tesla toy drive at fire station 2. bring new, unwrapped toys to the event. looking for something to choice to weekend we have a few ideas in this weekend's calendar. >> reporter: good morning, kira. the bayview opera house, memorial theater and a rec center. the site has a long history as a san francisco landmark. number eight in the national registry. today is the sight of winter wonderland, ice sculpts, toy and bike giveaways, christmas tree giveaways and vendors selling stuff and might have an elf visiting, too. go to the website. and here, 15th year for this busting out or busting up the biggest pinata in history of oakland. a petting zoo, real snow. and street soccer, call it

football. live mariachi music and a warm chocolatey drink. that warm, chocolatey drink might come in handy. get a thermos full if heading to the bike party. teams up with the kids bike party for annual holiday lights ride. meet at 5:00. bring your helmet lights on your bike and new unwrapped toys, donating that to toys for tots. hit the road and take in great christmas lights throughout willow glen, sjbikeparty.org. meet-up and information for the teamup. join us again monday morning as we all team up to bring you news, weather and traffic right here on "today in the bay." >> thanks, mike. i like that blue suit. time now to check in with cinthia pimentel for a look at our microclimate forecast. you say today is the day to get out, enjoy the sunshine. >> uh-huh. >> it will be different tomorrow. >> exactly. enjoy today. do the holiday shopping, also once done with that prepare for rain get out the umbrellas and everything needed for wet

weather. be mindful of this. respiratory issues, we're looking at spare-the-air alert for today and tomorrow. notice throat most of the bay area, unhealthy for sensitive groups of high pressure. bringing nice weather, of course, also trapped unhealthy air closer to the surface of the earth. we are also looking at those changes ahead. this storm is already spinning in the pacific. we're going to get the tail end of it right now for today. that means high cloud over the bay area. hazy skies at times. look at these temperatures. 60s and 70s. 71 in ukiah. 68 napa. 60s all around and low 70s as we make our way through the santa clara valley. 73 in los gatos. 71 santa cruz. a nice beach day. mid-70s from san martin south. going into tomorrow, temperatures come down a little bit. we are going to start off the day with light sprinkles throughout the bay area and continue to drop those temperatures going on into

monday with 50s returning on the board. here are the changes. go through today looking at those hazy skies, but tomorrow morning, could start out with most of the rain sitting closer to the shoreline making its way just a little inland. but then going throughout the day starts to kind of push into the inland valleys as we go on into the afternoon intensifying for monday morning's commute. look at that. 6:00 a.m. rolls around. seeing rain across the bay area. heavier at times going on into the interior and look at that. continues to come onshore even as we go on into tuesday. this storm will be the first of many that come into the bay area. also look at that white and pinch color. sierra snow beneficial, as we start off the season just a little light. it will continue on as we go on into the second half of the week bringing our estimates now in those reds and purpleals anywhere from about two to three inches possible especially in the mountains. look at that shading and the greens and blues, typical rain shadow for the santa clara

valley. we continue to watch the storm systems over the next couple days. it will be warm, however. so the sierra snow not getting more than maybe six inches to about less than a foot of snow as we go through the next seven days. so beautiful sunshine for today, then look at that, kira. unstable weather the rest of the week. >> good thing we're getting out today. >> do it today. >> cinthia, thanks. 7:21. much more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up, monmouth butterflies set to return to the bay area. taking to you a spot in the taking to you a spot in the honey, i think i heard something. ok. ♪ from christmas tree mats... to floorliners...

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welcome back. tu gogh know this is the time of year when the bay area sees thousands of monarch butterflies? "today in the bay" shows us in west marin county putting on a show against a challenging backdrop. >> reporter: the north bay town of bolinas not only as a destination for colorful characters. embracing a bit of an outsider. seems appropriate that every winter -- >> stunning. >> reporter: the town is visits by thousands of equally colorful travelers. >> look at that. so beautiful. >> reporter: this grove of eucalyptus trees is one of the sights for monarch butterflies.

>> this on tire today with monarchs. >> reporter: this inferno of butterflies is burned into the memory of this man who grew up with monarchs on his family's ranch. >> a time in my youth and maybe 1,000 would fly off when you shake a branch. i love it when they hang down from the branch. >> reporter: the plight of the butterfly hasn't been that pretty of late. a population once estimated 3 million in california. >> beautiful cluster. >> reporter: numbers plummeted to just around 2,000 state-wide in the year of 2020. it inspires shell to do something. >> about two years ago some friends and i decided to take some action and build a monarch sanctuary on my family ranch, which entailed planting several thousand native nectar plants to give them a food source. >> reporter: he calls the project "the west marin monarch sanctuary."

he's since expanded the project from his ranch to other sites around bolinas, working to protect the trees the monarchs visit and planting the kind of plants they feed on. >> the goal, restore the monarch population much as we can. >> absolutely astonishing to see so many monarchs flying around. >> reporter: since that dire year of 2020 california's monarch population rebounded last year to 300,000. >> i'm always heartened to see this after what i saw in the winter of 2020-2021, when the population dipped down to just a couple hundred butterflies here in bolinas. >> reporter: but many challenges. a couple weeks ago a pg&e subcontractor accidentally cut down a treat protecting them from wind. >> the wax myrtle shrubs are a wind screen this winter to

protect the site. >> reporter: and there is a movement to remove non-native eucalyptus trees, the main habitat of the native monarchs. >> we are concerned if the eucalyptus are removed in one fell swoop it will devastate and maybe end the monarch butterfly population in west marin. >> i'd say there's 1,000 here today. >> the numbers coming back shows resiliency and it's possible they can come back. >> beautiful. >> reporter: so as the monarchs come back here year after year, shell hopes the work will give them more to come back to. >> a special place to come with a lot of history. >> reporter: joe rosato jr. >> beautiful right here. >> reporter: nbc bay area news. >> wow. got to go. 7:27 right now. much more ahead for you on "today in the bay" coming up. i thought it was safe. thank god. that's all i cared about. >> only on nbc bay area, this father relieved after his daughter found inside his stolen

car. new details about what happened and the search for the kidnapper. good morning.

it is saturday december 16th. 7:30, and this live look outside. the sun shining over san bruno mountain and storm ranger in the foreground. a little break today before picking up the work tomorrow. thank you so much for starting your saturday morning with us.

i'm kira klapper. cinthia pimentel has a peek at our microclimate forecast. i'm alluding to your forecast of sunshine today and rain tomorrow. >> yeah. as you mentioned, storm ranger powering up. hanging out on san bruno mountain. scans the skies. rain on the way. we do. starting off a check of temperatures around the bay area. 30s, 40s. notice haze from oakland camera and out towards walnut creek. there is a spare-the-air alert for today and tomorrow. look at those hazy skies behind us. that's because we've had high pressure over the last couple days trapping that unhealthy air. everything that we're putting out is sinking right back down and impacting that air quality. especially if you're sensitive to that. otherwise, temperatures, 60s and 70s today, the better half of the weekend before we get ready for rain and very unstable weather ahead. that's coming up in about ten minutes. kira, back to you. >> cinthia, see you then. we have developing news ouch san francisco where a father and

daughter are reuniting after their car was stoling with the little girl inside. it happened yesterday afternoon in the ingleside neighborhood. a stolen car with a child in the seat. they found the car abandoned ten minutes later a few blocks away. we spoke exclusively to the father of that child. >> they were there fast. know what i mean? sometimes cops do come through. know what i mean? he helped me out. found my daughter and the truck fast and came over soon as they could and did what they had to do. my daughter was safe, thank god. that's all i cared about. >> as he said the child was not hurt. police are looking for the people responsible. people who blocked the bay bridge while calling for a cease-fire in gaza last month will now face criminal charges. san francisco district attorney brooke jenkins is filing charge against the protesters whose

demonstration brought tank to a standstill for hours during the apec summit last month. those delays put some transplant patients at risk, because the vehicle carrying their organs were delayed. d.a. jenkins released a statement saying free speech must be protected but not when it compromises public safety. 80 protesters each charged with five misdemeanor counts and expected in court later this month. >> the war between israel and hamas, union members rallying today calling for a permanent cease-fire in gaza. members from 14 bay area unions will meet in oakland today. health care, longshoremen, transit, starts at 1:00 this afternoon at oakland city hall. a new covid variant is here this winter season while cold weather has left people more susceptible to this virus.

another respiratory virus and others. the new variant jm 1. doctors pushing for people to get vaccinated. cdc says everyone 6 months and older should get the flu and covid vaccines, clarifying getting both at the same time is totally safe. oakland is one step closer to hiring a new police chief. the police commission is sending its list of three candidates to the mayor. they did not share who was on the list. under the city charter the police commission is responsible for compiling the list and then the mayor makes the final hiring decision. the mayor announce add few months ago she would declare a state of emergency, if a new chief wasn't selected by end of this year. we have a new development in a story our investigative unit broke earlier this year about the chief investigators in the santa clara county district attorney's office.

a county employee found derogatory comments about women, trans people and black people according to the probe. the district attorney allowed reyes to stay on the job until he retires in a few days. >> reporter: that decision along with the county refusing to release results of its investigation has a lot of people wanting answers, including san jose's naacp president reverend jethroe moore. chief moore says reyes seen here at an office barbecue earlier in the year is set to retire next week. seven months ago, the county's equal opportunity division found reyes made discriminatory workplace comments about women, trans people and a black prosecutor, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. >> a formal investigation

obtained discrimination allegations. >> reporter: according to our source, this sparked from a complaint, a lieutenant inside the organization alleging more than a dozen inappropriate workplace remarks. in one of the five sustained claims by the county investigators reyes insinuated the lieutenant only got promoted because she's a woman. according to the source. in another case, reyes reportedly said the only reason a female detective in the bureau got an assignment with san jose pd's homicide division was because she got pregnant. >> so my explanation, clean house with this guy immediately. >> reporter: after we broke the story over the summer san jose and naacp chapter president reference moore wrote to the district attorney rosen demanding immediate action. we believe chief reyes based on sustained findings against him should be immediately terminated, he wrote in the letter. integrity includes showing no

favoritism even to senior leaders within your office, he added. >> he made a promise he would not tolerate any type of racism or hate crimes throughout this county. and so when it happens in his own house, my expectation, handing it like handling anybody else. >> reporter: investigates. they're mot happy reyes is still at the helm. one put it this way. how can the d.a. hold others accountable for behavior when rosen protects his own? the d.a.'s office is supposed to set the example. not be the example. >> for me showed disrespect to employees. these complaints come from fellow employees and telling you there's something wrong. >> reporter: it's unclear what discipline, if any, reyes faced after the investigation, because the d.a. says he's not allowed to publicly talk about it. for months receive asked the county for the records from the

investigation, but they've refused to turn them over saying they're confidential. that's in spite of a recent transparency law in california requiring release of those records when there's a sustained finding of a peace officer engaged in conduct involving prejudice or discrimination on the basis of specified proeshgted classes. reyes declined to talk us to and a spokesperson for the d.a.'s office says they can't comment on personnel matters, but in a statement, rosen said he wished the chief a happy and well-deserved retirement and that he's now focused on choosing reyes' successor. in response to the naacp's letter, rosen said he's diversified the office since becoming d.a. also noting that 30% of the bureau's investigators are women. >> sometime if there's a friend, you know, you have to tell them the truth. a real friend would tell you. and i consider a friend and consider myself telling him you have a problem. fix the problem. >> reporter: it's unclear

exactly who will replace reyes at chief investigators once he retires. read more into reyes on our website including more details on the sustained findings on bias. go to nbcbayarea.com/investigations. with the investigative unit reporting for kntv. if you have a tip call 888-996-tips or visit our website. nbcbayarea.com/investigation. 39 past the hour. still to come on "today in the bay," next in our "climate in crisis" one person's trash is another's treasure. how one company is making it easier for people in the bay area to waste less and give some area to waste less and give some hard to ♪honey baked ham and potatoes au gratin♪ ♪tasty glazed turkeys that won't be forgotten♪ ♪their warm mac and cheese has us feasting like kings♪ ♪these are a few of my favorite things♪ every bite is a celebration with the honey baked ham company

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42 past the hour. the microclimate forecast this saturday. starting with 30s and 40s around the bay area, also hazy skies. especially out there in the east bay. walnut creek and some also coming down to the south bay too. starting down with 42 in downtown san jose. this is going to bring us, of course, that spare-the-air alert for today and tomorrow. no wood burning allowed. erg putting out in the atmosphere is trapped under a dome of high pressure today and tomorrow. notice the temperatures. tempting to go outside looking at 60s and 70s. mid-70s in the santa clara

valley. everybody else seeing hazy skies and temperatures in upper 60s for oakland and over on into fairfield and through livermore. going hour-by-hour for you, high clouds rolling around. not until tomorrow, however that we start to see more of that cloud cover rolling in. signaling major changes are ahead. what we're tracking. a nice, comfortable evening for the warriors game tonight. bring a jacket as you linger about chase center. it will cool down into the 50s. tomorrow there is a couple santas running around downtown san jose for the santa run. avoiding rain i think for start of the race through 8:00 a.m. mostly cloudy skies as we look at this major change in the wind pattern. today, data, get errands done. prepare for rain while we have dry conditions, because you really won't get a chance going on into late sunday and on into monday morning's commute. rain is coming onshore as we go on into late sunday night.

monday morning's commute looks absolutely wet for everybody. give yourself enough time to head out the door, that your car is running perfectly today and as we get ready for nome that but some wind that will also come onshore. look at wind gusts hour-by-hour going into monday. 20 to 35 mile-an-hour winds coming from the south as this system continues to barrel on into the bay area. so anything that you love and have put up outside to get ready for the holidays, bring it on in starting later on this afternoon. it's a very active seven-day forecast as we only possibly see the sun for today, but we get unsettled weather, rain, even a chance of thunderstorms with this system being a little bit unstable and bringing in some wind and some rain chances. rain estimates at times that could get heavy. won't get, drying up until we get into possibly thursday, friday of next week. >> wow. thks for thean

welcome back. turning to our "climate in crisis" a new door-to-door service wants to help the bay area reduce waste making it easier to get rid of things that aren't a part of your typical curb-side recycling program. cinthia pimentel, you met we head of the private company expanding into san jose. my neighbor actually uses this company already. sounds great. >> it is. called ridwell. you probably know. i got to ride along with them for several stops here in the

south bay, and actually spoke with a homeowner, kira, excited that the service is around, and as the saying goes, one person's trash is another person's treasure. >> this right here, this could be someone's desk. amazon bubble wrap and plastic bags are turned into those. >> the items, bags, almost like going to the food bank or berkeley food network to fill it up with food and give out to community members who are in need. >> reporter: inspired by a 6-year-old and his dad looking to recycle old batteries ridwell expanded to over 75,000 families in san jose serving more than 6,000 homes in the bay area. the goal, keep things out of the landfill where they'll sit and rot and drive up greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet. california makes over 76.5 million tons of waste and of that 40% is recycled. the state's goal, recycle 75%

waste produced by 2025. things are looking to give a second life to items that usually have us thinking, can i recycle this? bubble wrap, light bulbs. before ridwell rolled into the city many conversations had with officials to prevent overlap from existing services. >> thrilled to expand in the bay area. 6,000 people collectively diverted over 400,000 pounds from landfills in the last year since we started. people here truly care about the environment and we want to make it easy to tribute positively to it. >> reporter: through the app without having to drag bins to the curb, users list what items they need picked up. certain things picked up certain days. pop them into the box and it's done. >> disappointed. we moved away to mariposa. when we came back i thought the city was not recycling as many things as they used to, and i felt bad about throwing a lot of plastic away, because we're polluting our planet and oceans.

so i decided that that was a good thing to do. and i've been very happy. i've been, like, recycling a lot of stuff. >> reporter: the environmental impact and people aspect to the recycling company that this employee excited. >> excited, see me coming up, coming outside to say hi. watch the process themselves, excited to see, like, their stuff being used for something good. not just going to the landfill is a huge motivation for me. >> reporter: now they want to know how much does it cost? varies by how many items you want to save from ending up in the landfill. baseline is $14 a month. kira, back to you. >> great to get the word out. thanks. turning to sports. this weekend for the 49ers, quarterback brock purdy has sort of a homecoming game. arizona cardinals in phoenix. purdy grew up just outside of the phoenix area. right now the niners are on a five-game winning streak. and in case you missed it

yesterday, a big reveal for giants fans. the first glimpse of the player they hope will be a franchise cornerstone. this is outfielder jung hoo lee. native in south korea. a former mvp of the professional league in korea. the giants signed him on a six-year contract worth more than $100 million. lee met the media in a news conference yesterday at oracle park. >> hello, fans. my name is jung hoo lee. grandson of hoo lee. i always love the bay area. let's go! thank you. >> how can you not smile? what a guy. lee's dad was a famous ball player too. his nick name, son of the wind. grandson of the wind.

a five-time gold glove winner in korea and carrying a lifetime batting average of .340. welcome to the bay area! up next, a quick look at the top stories and a story you'll see only on the bay area. see only on the bay area. ap daughter taken

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welcome back. before we get to our top stories this morning, here's what you can expect tomorrow morning on

sunday "today" with willie geist. good morning. >> good morning, kira. great to see you. tomorrow morning on sunday "today," my new conversation with willem dafoe on starring in "poor things "pt the stunning film just earned him a golden gate nomination, and a long career ranging from "platoon" to "spider-man." >> when you became the green goblin. >> a movie like that is so widely seen, you can be in timbuktu and people recognize you. on the subway years ago, some guys got on the train. sitting there looking at me. i overheard one say, got to be him. knob looks like that mother [ bleep ]-er. that's when the i knew. >> a sunday sitdown with willem dafoe plus the morning's latest headlines, harry smith and another "life well lived" at 6:00. not up at that hour set the dvr

and we will see you whenever you're ready for us. kira? >> thanks, willie. hopefully you're awake to catch willie and 6:00 and stick here for your local news with us on "today in the bay" at 7:00. back here locally, here is a quick look at the top stories we're following on this saturday morning including a san francisco father and daughter reunited after their car was stolen with the little girl inside. it happened yesterday afternoon in san francisco's ingleside neighborhood. the dad telling us he left his sleeping daughter in the back seat of his car as he ran into a convenience store, but before he was able to check out he saw his car being stolen. sfpd responded finding the car abandoned ten minutes later a few blocks a. . we spoke exclusively to the father. >> there fast. sometimes cops do come through. know what i mean? they helped me out. found my daughter and the truck fast. came over soon as they could and

did what they had to do. my daughter was safe. thank god. that's all i cared about. >> police still looking for the people responsible. amid the war between israel and hamas hundreds of people are expected to rally today calling for a permanent cease-fire in gaza. members of 14 bay area unions plan to meet in oakland. the workers involved in today's demonstration are from unions ranging from health care and education to longshore and transit. the rally starts at 1:00 p.m. at oakland city hall. if you still need to get holiday shipments out, today it the first deadline of three coming up. usps says first-class mail, cards and letters, sent by today. the deadline for priority mail is wednesday december 20th. and thursday, the 21st, is the deadline for priority express, although it will cost you a little more. happening today at toy giveaway in the south bay. a live look at the church on

parkmoor avenue in san jose. sjsd is hosting a toy drive. packed and sorted gifts from families yesterday. the families already chosen to receive the gifts. it starts at 8:00 this morning. great to see that! a check in with cinthia one last time before we go. >> dry for all the toy drives and errands people have to run for today only, though. we are looking at very unstable weather starting tomorrow. getting rain. going to get wind. make sure that you're taking time to prepare today as that instability could also carry a chance of thunderstorms as we go on into monday through thursday. winter begins thursday and won't dry out in the at least friday. really, take the time to prepare. we also do have that spare-the-air alert today and tomorrow. if you're sensitive to that limit time outdoors, but pretty hard, 60s and 70s in the valleys also. >> looks like the calendar and weather are finally aligning. winter is coming! >> very true. >> so is the rain.

cinthia, thanks. thank you for making us a part of your saturday morning. we'll have more local news for you tonight at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. we're always on at nbcbayarea.com. have a great saturday. we'd love to see you right back here tomorrow morning.

. narrator: when you see this symbol, you know you're watching television that is educational and informational. the more you know on nbc. peter: today on "mutual of omaha's wild kingdom, protecting the wild." we're exploring the incredible world of bats. here they come. dr. rae: look at that! no way. rae: and we'll experience the largest concentration of mammals on the globe. oh you weren't kidding... rae: but when we explore a bat cave for a closer look, all we find are spiders. and one sick bat. what is happening to these animals?