even repeats of our newscasts. right now at 6:00, our microclimate weather alert coverage continues, a storm moving through the bay area to start out our workweek. not just rain and wind, but in some cases lightning. >> you can see how active the radar is at this hour. we have live team coverage for you, including those conditions around your neighborhood, and what to expect as you hit the roads this morning. this is "today in the bay." keeping things going as we started at 5:00 this morning. good morning to you on this monday. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. >> let's get right to those conditions outside. meteorologist vianey arana is joining us. she's keeping track of how it's looking out there. >> it's a rough commute. any time we see any rain, but when the rain really starts to pick up, that's when it can get really dangerous because it's dark out. we talked about the lightning and you saw images over san

francisco. you can see we've still got some lightning strikes off the coast and that is going to be a possibility through this afternoon. right now we've got rain moving through san jose, notice santa cruz, we just had a decent amount of rain push through san francisco. this is going to continue pretty much through the 10:00 hour. we'll catch a break and then we did see another band pick up in the model that did show some heavier rain at around 1:00. i want to show you, this is the last 24 hours. this is sunday's rain. it doesn't include the rain we're seeing now or the rain we're going to see in the upcoming days. but notice on sunday we did get a couple hundredths of an inch, some of the heavier pockets were in santa rosa. keep in mind, this wasn't the main band of the rain and we are expecting to see some heavier rain and higher rain totals in the next couple of days. coming up in a few minutes, wind south, 15 to 30 miles per hour, especially higher elevation areas. the second storm is expected to

move in tuesday into wednesday, so you definitely want to keep an eye out for that. i hope you got a chance to check your tires and also those very important windshield wipers. i know it's been a weekend split by sunshine and rain. the rest of the week we're going to keep rain in the forecast through and through. let's get a check of the roads with mike. >> folks, consider yourself warned. we've seen this all morning, very wt conditions. here is the bay bridge toll plaza, suddenly had a backup once the metering lights were on. traffic moving at a good pace around the bay, so do be careful because of the slippery roadways. we've seen reports of spinouts, single car crashes, and jackknifed big rigs. puddling and ponding. we have one slow crash heading south toward marina. that has cleared, as has the sigalert in the tri-valley. again, wet conditions right now, very tough soupy conditions. let's check in with bob redell out there live. bob, obviously you have tough conditions out there.

what's it like for you? thank you for being out there. >> reporter: you're welcome. good morning to you, mike. we're in livermore along 580 and the rain is coming in waves. right now we're in the middle of one of those waves. it's cold, it's windy, and definitely rainy. the brake lights are heading eastbound over the altamont into the central valley, headlights are heading westbound, the commute direction. you can see from the road out there that it is very wet, very slick out there. you do want to be careful as you're heading into work this morning, the week before the holiday week, which is next week. this is video from overnight in oakland. you can see there was some minor flooding northbound 80 to the eastbound 980 transition. there was localized flooding on the streets. as you head across the bay into san mateo along the peninsula, there was a lot of rain there as well, northbound 101, we also saw a lot of rain in the parking lot of a shopping mall at hillsdale near el camino real.

this is video, also, from last night, the richmond san rafael bridge, chp had shut it down in the westbound direction. unfortunately, somebody died in a car crash midspan. we do not believe that was weather related. we bring this up to let you know the bridge has reopened. we're back out here live in livermore, where it's still raining. we've been getting it on and off. again, if you are headed into work this morning, remember to keep the distance between you and the person in front of you. this is also one of our first big rains of the season, so those oils and whatever other liquids have been sitting on the roadways, those have a tendency to come up during the first big rain. the roads might be slicker than you might expect. reporting live in livermore, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> a good reminder for folks out there. thank you. in santa cruz county, meantime, people in capitola are bracing for the brunt of the

rainy season, while still trying to get over last year's brutal winter. the town still has a long recovery ahead. many businesses endured an unusually slow summer. with winter nearly here and the weather likely to turn more severe, many merchants are taking extra precautions after being forced to close last january. >> now that the rainy season is target to come, we have sandbags that are hidden in front of our business, we also have our windows protected with plastic on the inside. so you can't see it, but they're really protected so no water can come in. >> she was forced to close her restaurant for two weeks, losing power last january. it cost her about $15,000. we have a lot of ways to get you the information that you need to know about this latest storm. get our nbc bay area app. it's a great resource for you. free to download. you can get up to the minute weather alerts sent to your

phone and customize it for your neighborhood. two developments overnight in the middle east. here is a live look from the israel border into gaza, where there's growing outrage from news israeli troops mistakenly killed three hostages. this, as israel faces mounting pressure to scale back its offensive. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is in israel this morning. he visits pressing israel to dial things back as civilian casualties mount in gaza. austin is expected to meet with israeli leaders to discuss the next steps in that conflict. he also plans to visit qatar. on capitol hill, senate lawmakers are resuming talks today to try to broker an aid deal for israel and ukraine, that also addresses border security. the white house is hoping the funding plan can be approved before the end of the year, but immigration is still a key stick ing point.

>> this is policy that will stem the flow of mass migration across the border, along with the drugs and everything that goes with it. >> we need to do something on immigration. but we need to do it in a right way that keeps compassion, but protects our national security. now, scott mcgrew is following developments this morning on the immigration issue and the mood in washington surrounding a new funding deal. he'll have the latest in his checks and balances segment at 6:45. as we mentioned, it's a rainy monday morning across the bay area, but across the united states heavy storms on the east coast caused weekend flooding from maine to georgia. this is in south carolina and florida. you can see flooded roads, power outages, made the driving on the roads rather treacherous. so if you're starting your holiday travel early, be careful heading out on the roads, or if you're headed to the airport. meteorologist vianey arana is here to explain what's happening there. we're going to see this rain stick around for a bit. >> unfortunately, they are going to remain under flash flood

watches and warnings for quite some time because of the amount of rain that's picking up, the rain rates per hour are causing a lot of ponding and concern for flooding. if you look here on the national travel outlook, expect possible major delays likely for the northeast u.s., stretching from boston down through new york, and then, of course, through parts of d.c. as well. so we could see this begin to make its exit into the weekend, but the thing is, it looks like we do have another system potentially lining up. so we're going to keep a close eye on that as well. on the west coast, you can see that on the national map as well, we do have this low pressure system we've been monitoring. it's making its move through and through, widespread rain right now through san jose, santa cruz, up through monterey as well, and then, of course, through the interior. now, the rain rates per hour right now, we're getting some pockets of rain and some heavier moments, but expect to still see some daytime highs in the 60s. so for san jose, a high of about

66 today, but because of that instability out there, we do still have a chance for some thunderstorm activity, especially around the coastline and through the interior for this afternoon. we'll take you through the timing and exactly how much rain we could see over the stretch of the next three to four days coming up in a few minutes. let's check in with mike for gas prices. >> we are seeing our ten best prices reported for santa clara county, all in san jose. the best deal goes to the big box, $3.79 at costco on center road. same deal as far as the price in alameda county, $3.79 at abe, two locations, mission boulevard in union city and another in hayward on mission boulevard as well. we found the same price reported this morning in san mateo, arco on south delaware street. all these prices, and there are other prices besides this, at gasbuddy.com. very wet roadways. look at the blue out there, puddling, ponding, flooding, reported in many patches. a live look at oakland shows you

conditions are really tough and the volume is starting to build. we've seen a number of crashes along the 880 corridor through oakland, the last of which is southbound 880 at marina, we have a distraction as volume builds. westbound 580 and north 238. we have typical patterns, but today is the day we're glad we're inside reporting. coming up on "today in the bay," a huge business deal involving a company from the gilded age. now to the futures this morning, it has been win after win after win, seven straight weeks of upward movement on the stock market. the 49ers make a big move to secure a first round bye in the postseason. postseason. a look at brock look mom, i found one. oh, yeah, you did.

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another one in the books. whe but we're justyou ge getting started. everything going well? oh yeah. let's take a look at this knee. because it's the work behind the scenes, that truly matters. [ physical therapy staff discusses results ] for your mind. for your body. and for the community. -team! for all that is me, for all that is you. kaiser permanente.

it is 6:13. we are under a microclimate weather alert. we've got light to heavy rain at times moving through the bay area. expect to keep these stormy conditions through the remainder of the week. we'll talk about timing and how much rain we could see in my full forecast. 101 across the golden gate bridge, all the way into the south bay, similar conditions. wet roads, rain actively falling. farther north from san jose, 101 gets wetter and slower toward mountain view. good morning. happy monday to you. it's been a rip-roaring seven weeks on the stock market.

longest winning streak for the s&p 500 since 2017, all economic indicators looking good. southwest airlines will pay a big fine to the federal government for its big meltdown at christmas, last christmas. southwest promises that won't happen again. big news, nippon steel in japan, obviously, buying u.s. steel for $15 billion. u.s. steel trades as x on the new york stock exchange. it's been around since 1921, in many ways it's the backbone of america. the logo on the helmets of the pittsburgh steelers is the u.s. steel logo. here in silicon valley, nvidia is part of a bunch of tech stocks that have boosted the markets. there are seven big ones, nvidia, meta, apple, google, amazon, tesla and microsoft, the magnificent seven as wall street is calling them, are up 75% collectively just this year. the "wall street journal"

calculates those seven companies based mostly in the south bay, account for 30% of the value of the 500 companies in the s&p 500. a lot of good football over the weekend, a lot of ads featuring travis kelce. cmo magazine says ads starring kelce have run 375 times this nfl season, more than any other person from sports or otherwise. kelce comes in first at 375, ahead of patrick mahomes at 341, and kevin myles at 237. now, kevin is not a household name, but i think you recognize him. that's jake from state farm. we're seven days from christmas. this season we've been tracking the prices on four possible gifts you might give, and we do this every holiday season to try to figure out if black friday really offers good deals. and in the past we have found that prices generally get cheaper the closer we get to christmas.

but not this year. a dyson hair dryer that was such a good deal that we had been tracking on amazon is sold out. an icemaker from walmart and a mixer from macy's are the same price as they were on black friday. a barbie dream house at toys"r"us online is actually more expensive, back to its regular price of $199. i have a friend who has one of those countertop icemakers. it makes fancy cocktail ice. you think to yourself, your refrigerator makes ice, it's right there. and then you have another. it's the chewy ice. i love the chewy ice. [ laughter ] >> you know, you're really comfortable if you have an icemaker next to your icemaker. >> no kidding, exactly. >> things are going pretty good. 6:16. 49ers suddenly have the inside track on the top spot on the nfc. the niners clinched first place

with a dominating win yesterday in arizona. you know, brock purdy actually grew up just outside of phoenix, so this was a homecoming. the game stayed close during the first half. niners really blew it open after halftime. look at that long pass to christian mccaffrey. he fell down, then he just got up and scored. cmc had three touchdowns as the niners win 45-29, with another day to remember for the niners starting quarterback. >> i've always dreamed of being able to come home and play in front of everybody, and just because of how much i know that they have my back and support me. and so i hope i was able to give them a good game, and i appreciate all they've done for me. definitely something i'll look back on and be thankful for. >> nice to see. philadelphia has to win tonight against seattle to stay level with our niners, who also hold that tiebreaker. on a good role. it's a good feeling. >> that it is. i love the feel of that.

the feel of this wet weather, not so much. it is a part of what we have to go through. >> i will say that taking a positive angle on it is that we are actually behind on where we should be when it comes to rain. >> compared to last year. >> yes, especially compared to last year. we had a record, over 31 atmospheric rivers last time. it helped wipe out our drought. the weather extremes are definitely becoming more of a frequent scenario for us here. and satellite radar right now is doing a great job of showcasing the low pressure system. you'll notice, i'm going to zoom this in, but first i wanted to point out the lightning strikes. that's caused by instability in the pacific. we could see the possibility for some thunderstorms to roll through, and if you notice, right here, we just had a good line of decent storms move through vallejo, but really we've got pockets coming down through brentwood right now. our friends in brentwood, please be safe if you're going to be traveling on the roads, along

80, san francisco just got a downpour as well. they're catching a lighter pocket. showcasing through san jose. it's more light to moderate at times. we had a cell move through. this is similar to what we're going to be seeing within the next one to two hours, pockets of heavier rain and then light rain. sort of waves of heavier pockets. the hour-by-hour forecast, let's take you through this. i put the timestamp forward to about 9:00, and notice that we do catch somewhat of a break. so the rain becomes a little more scattered by about 9:00, but i put this timestamp over to 12:00, so right around your lunch hour, and it does look like the model runs are showcasing a decent line of heavier rain moving through right around that time, starting out in the north bay, stretching down all the way through san francisco, parts of half moon bay. this will likely continue its track east through the afternoon. notice by 2:00, that's when the cell really begins to move through. we get some pretty decent

downpours through santa cruz, notice yellow, red, purple colors, that's the heavier pockets of rain. we'll catch another scattered chance into the evening. by 2:00 a.m., we get another round of rain. really the santa cruz mountains seem to be picking up the highest totals from the second storm system that's expected to move through. in addition to this, i want you to also note we're going to see the wind pick up as the cold front sweeps through. tuesday's storm is a little colder, but we've got another line of showers lining up wednesday into thursday. so rain totals right now, high expected for the north bay, we're talking 2 to 3 inches for the santa rosa, san rafael stretch, also rain shadowed san jose, typical to see those numbers a little lower. it's looking pretty decent. not much in the way of snow. it's not cold enough. 3 to 4 inches. daytime highs have been in the 40s and 50s over the weekend. let's get a look at the roads with mike. >> expected backup, usual spots,

made tougher because of the conditions. the volume continues to be lighter. here is the backup at the toll plaza. we had a hazard, a disabled vehicle reported at the toll plaza. i believe that's cleared from the lanes because they're all moving in that same area. as we look at the approach, a smooth drive. more importantly than the red and yellow and orange is the blue. blue, puddling, ponding, wet roadways, in the outer lanes, especially for the freeways. a gradual slowdown out of concord, pleasant hill, westbound 24, it is wise to slow down because the speed laws are as safe as the conditions allow. a crash at marina blocks one lane and slowing up the castro valley y because of recent rain through the area. mountain view, 101 around ellis. >> thanks, mike. next, nbc bay area responds. >> he files a claim for his broken phone and somehow winds up with an extra bill for $750. i'm consumer investigator chris

chmura. nbc bay area responds next. >> hey, there, it is day seven of the 12 days of christmas, and i think i've got a gift i'm not going to be able to give away. this is a vintage plate and cup that nestle together. >> well, christmas continues on day seven. kris shows us how to thrift vintage glassware for a special gift. you can catch all of her ideas you can catch all of her ideas on her instagram, her handle

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this is fun, a bay area nonprofit this morning is looking for help making thousands of tamales for farmworkers. they're trying to make 3,000 to be handed out to half moon bay farmworkers on christmas. the group will host a class to get people ready for the big assembly line. the party is happening today at saint john vianney community center. it starts at 9:00 this morning and is it is expected to last until 6:00 p.m. sweet news for fans of willy wonka. the movie made its debut over the weekend, and while it got mixed reviews from critics, it had a sweeter reception from fans. >> i'm something of a magician, inventor and chocolate maker. quiet up and listen down. scratch that, reverse it. >> willy wonka actually earned

more than $14 million on friday and ended its debut weekend with a whopping $39 million in the box office. audiences are giving the musical story a solid a minus grade through research, the research firm cinema score. now, next weekend is expected to be a busy one at the movies, because several major movies are coming out, including aqua man the lost kingdom, as well as anyone but you. coming up next, the top stories we're following, including a massive settlement involving a major airline. >> southwest airlines will pay a record amount in connection with some of the industry's worst travel headaches ever. the timing of the announcement as our holiday travel hits high gear. and if you're waking up in san francisco, you may have heard the rain this morning. up ahead, we'll tell you what you can do to possibly avoid the

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right now at 6:30, a live look outside, and we are in a microclimate weather alert, as rain, wind and even some lightning moves through the bay area. we have live team coverage for you. we already know there are weather related travel disruptions at sfo arrivals. we'll tell you about that.

the big headline is the record-breaking fine southwest was ordered to pay for stranding millions of passengers last year. "today in the bay" continues right now. here we go, monday morning. thanks for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. our big story this morning, that rain now saturating the bay area, and you'll have to take it easy when you head out on the roads. let's turn to meteorologist vianey arana, getting a look at those conditions this morning. >> it's looking rough for commuters especially, because we've seen a lot of ponding water already begin to develop on the roads. as those heavier pockets move through, it could make it more difficult. i want to show you the big cell looks to be a little more through the interior, making its way through brentwood, vallejo. san francisco just got a break. we had a cell move through. it looks more scattered. petaluma as well.

through the south bay, we're getting light rain moving through san jose, los gatos right now. we had rain move through los altos. here is what we're going to talk about coming up in my full forecast. we're going to talk about the wind, we're talking 15 to 30 plus miles an hour, and also a second storm system that's expected to make its way in. we've also got to see the possibility of isolated thunderstorms. we saw lightning last night in san francisco. please be safe. if you do see lightning, please head indoors. we're going to talk about that, getting a look at the situation outside, lots of areas getting hit with heavy rain. >> "today in the bay"'s ginger conejero saab is live for us in san francisco. this is where, after last winter's storm, there are a lot of people trying to get ready early, because they know what could happen. >> reporter: they do know what can happen, they took a break from holiday shopping, possibly, this weekend to clean those drains out, rake up leaves

outside their homes and businesses because last winter was rough. good morning to you guys. the rain feels like it's calmed down a little since 5:30 or since we last saw you, but we are still expecting that to come as vianey mentioned. the city taking initiative to put up flood barriers in low-lying areas to help mitigate any sort of damage. you're taking a look at 17th. over the weekend, san francisco public utilities commission set up temporary flood barriers in that area because it is known to pool water when rains come. last winter homes and businesses were impacted, people saying they are doing what they can this time around so it doesn't happen again. >> the new thing that happened last year is people started adopting the drains, and so if that continues into this season, that's really going to help.

>> reporter: now, here is some video that came in overnight, lightning lighting up the san francisco night sky. the national weather service posting that some lightning has been seen with cells over the water. residents in san francisco, those living in certain areas like twin peaks, are keeping a close eye on the rain. there were mudslides in that area last year. also, as you guys have talked about all morning long, those commuting into the city as well watching out for areas where water pools, especially on those freeways, so you may expect a slower monday morning commute. i know mike is talking about that. the north bay seeing quite a bit of that downpour this morning. petaluma, santa rosa and rohnert park, just several of the areas that have seen that. back in san francisco, the city is offering free sandbags to residents. you can go ahead and pick that up at the public works yard over

on bayshore, and they started on saturday giving out free sandbags. they will continue from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. until next saturday, until this coming saturday. back to you. >> ginger, thank you. so she mentioned the roads. let's check them with mike. he's been keeping tabs. got to slow it down. >> the conditions don't allow for high speeds. we're looking at the san mateo bridge where the conditions are also crowded. this is not as bad as we often see at 6:34 on a monday. so the speed sensors, just a little brake tapping. we had a lot of blue. over the last hour it's starting to calm down. you see the puddling and ponding, likely roadway flooding. south 680 sees gradual slowing through pleasanton, slow across 580, same areas where there's a lot of blue. stay to the middle lanes. the outer lanes tend to get flooding. there's a crest in the middle of

the freeway. we haven't heard of any closures, but it is a tough area, the mud can also come down. the contra costa county drive, notice here just gradual slowing continuing through concord, pleasant hill, and continuing down 680 through the walnut creek interchange, lafayette, orinda, toward oakland, the berkeley curve, a slower drive. even the peninsula, palo alto, we're picking up the volume. we've had rain pretty much all morning. back to you. we do have a lot of travel news this morning. a major settlement for southwest flyers who got stuck in the week-long travel debacle last holiday, and possible delays today because the weather here and in the east. >> let's check in with "today in the bay"'s kris sanchez, following all of this in our newsroom. >> let's start with what might affect you this morning, if you're traveling, build in extra time to get to the airport because it is sloppy on the roadways, as mike just told us, and weather could be a factor all week long, which is the

busiest week for holiday travel. here is a live look at sfo. if you are expecting someone to arrive at sfo this morning, they will likely be delayed by about 1:15 because of wind. we are monitoring travel there, also at mineta san jose and oakland international. we'll keep you updated when things pop up. in the bay area, we could see a ripple effect from the east coast storms that already hit the southeast and are traveling up the east coast. look at this. this is the biggest headline of the day. southwest was ordered to pay a record fine for the holiday havoc of 2022. the airline was ordered to pay a $140 million fine, and between that and passenger compensation from refunds, reimbursements, rapid rewards, the airline's frequent flyer program, the airline will be out more than $750 million. there were 17,000 flights that were delayed or canceled. you may have been among the 2

million passengers snarled in that mess that stretched from christmas to new year's. it started with bad weather, but then southwest's staff scheduling system had planes and flight crews out of position. a statement by u.s. secretary of transportation pete buttigieg says taking care of passengers is not just the right thing to do, it is required, and this penalty should put all airlines on notice to take every step possible to ensure that a meltdown like this never happens again. much of the customer compensation has already been settled, but southwest is now required to have a $90 million fund for travel vouchers in case people are delayed or canceled on their flights, laura. >> thanks so much, kris. we'll, of course, continue to track this wet weather. you can get more info on our free nbc bay area app. you can sign up for alerts and modify it for your neighborhood. well, thieves almost shut

down santa's workshop in the east bay. over the weekend someone broke into santa's photo shop at broadway plaza in walnut creek. security believes the break-in happened sometime between friday night and saturday morning. workers and security say the thieves stole $2,000 and two cameras. families expecting to meet santa claus, they were surprised to find the workshop closed. >> it's obviously really disappointing. you think everyone comes in the holiday spirit and you find out someone is taking advantage of what is supposed to be a joyous occasion. >> it's despicable, and in the spirit of the holidays, you know, it's even more hurtful. >> now, they are still looking for those thieves, but workers found a replacement camera and reopened the workshop on schedule by saturday afternoon. let's take a live look outside across the bay area this morning. those drivers in for a soggy commute this morning, as we get

started this with monday. monday wet blues this morning, vianey. >> indeed. we're getting some pockets of some light clearing before we see more rain again. so it will come in waves heading into the afternoon. let's zoom this in right now to see where those heavier pockets are and who is catching a bit of a break right now. we had seen some rain in petaluma, but there's so much moisture just off the coast that the waves are going to continue as this continues to trek east from the pacific. you'll notice san jose catching a bit of a break right now. we have heavy pockets through livermore, brentwood, and san jose, light to moderate rain through and through from los altos to san jose, stretching through monterey road and also the gilroy area. the wind speeds, we're also looking for this to pick up right around 11:00, and expect to see some gusts upwards of 20, 30 plus for higher elevations. san jose, about 22 miles per hour, even around the coastline as well, 29 miles per hour, and

then it starts to pick up and ramp up. monday night and tuesday, we've got 20s and 30s for the higher elevations. be mindful of the things in your yard as winds kick up. that's also going to be potentially problematic. let's get a check of the roads with mike. >> if you can see the roads clearly, your wipers are in good condition. we haven't used the wipers on the golden gate bridge, but i wanted to show the volume of traffic increasing. tougher conditions. we've had a lot of spinouts reported, very early in the commute. there's more traffic, speeds are lower, not quite so many reports. here is west 580 heading toward san rafael, we do see a little slowing just building up over the last few minutes. we talked about a deadly crash overnight but that bridge has been open all morning. it's westbound, your commute. the san mateo bridge, a lot of mist, but not a lot of problems. back to you. >> thanks so much. fighting the holiday blues. still ahead, the project born in

the east bay designed to bring joy to all all year around. the president's motorcade involved in a car accidt. the preensi it's the work behind the scenes, let's take a look at this knee. that truly matters. [ physical therapy staff discusses results ] for your mind. for your body. and for the community. -team! kaiser permanente.

it is 6:43. we are under a microclimate weather alert. everyone, please be safe. we've got some heavy to moderate rain coming down through your morning commute. isolated chance for thunderstorms, gusty winds, and we're talking a second storm.

we'll talk timing and how much rain coming up. your timing is delayed at the bay bridge toll plaza. vianey showed you the smooth-moving span. we see movement here and see good movement on the nimitz south of here. the headlights are nicely spaced heading past the coliseum. in all shots, you're going to see wet roads. i'll show you the slowdown coming up. 6:44 right now. the president's motorcade was struck by a car last night in delaware. the president is fine. >> scott mcgrew has been following this. still no word on who or why or much of anything. >> really, no idea at this point. it could have been a simple traffic accident. laura points out the president not hurt. he was walking up to the suv when a car struck a different part of the motorcade. you can take a look for yourself. secret service agents hustled the president into his vehicle as a precaution, drew guns on

the driver. that's all we know at this point. nobody hurt. the president continued as normal. he's in delaware for a few days. we'll keep his schedule as posted. today, by the way, is the anniversary of the day his first wife and baby daughter were killed in a car accident. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is in israel, reinforcing america's message to slow down the attacks on gaza and be more careful. though the u.s., of course, remains solidly on israel's side. the latest figures show 1,200 people have been killed in israel since october 7th, according to the israeli foreign ministry. 18,787 killed in gaza, according to the palestinian ministry of health. over the weekend, candidate for president donald trump told a rally of his supporters that immigrants on the southern border are poisoning the blood of our country. >> i think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country, when they do that,

we've got a lot of work to do. they're poisoning the blood of our country. that's what they've done. >> shortly after on "meet the press," nbc's kristen welker asked senator lindsey graham, a close ally of donald trump, about that line, closely associated with nazi germany. >> the biden campaign has accused former president trump of parroting adolph hitler. are the president's comments representative of how you and other republicans feel? >> 76% of the american people, not donald trump, believe the border is broken. they're worried about fentanyl coming over and killing their kids. >> what about his language, just that language, that poisoning the blood? >> i'm worried about an outcome, he is right -- he ha the border secured, the lowest in 40 years in december of 2020, to the biden administration you're talking about donald trump's language as you sit on the sidelines and allow the country to be invaded, 172 people on the terrorist watch list have come

on your watch. fentanyl is killing more americans than any time in history. >> now, the senator did not answer the question. hitler used the word poisoning in his propaganda. he described, quote, the worst kind of germ carriers in poisoning the human soul. trump used the phrase poisoning the blood during an interview with the national pulse in september as well, and posted it to his truth social a short time ago. he has also used the word vermin, which has left critics comparing those words to mussolini. later in that same rally in new hampshire, trump directly quoted vladimir putin and his recent criticism of president biden. in washington, meantime, homeland security secretary mayorkas is meeting with both democrats and republicans over a deal to fund ukraine and fight putin's army, while adding new rules and restrictions to immigrants at the southern border. we'll continue to track that and have more on our midday news.

>> thank you very much, scott. the holidays can be stressful and in some instances depressing. >> a new project in the east bay might add a little happiness into your life. here is "today in the bay"'s bob redell. >> reporter: worldwide, almost 85,000 people and counting have performed over 340,000 so-called micro acts of joy as part of the big joy project launched by uc berkeley's greater goods science center. >> happy life inside, not outside. >> reporter: this project was inspired by the works of the dalai lama and archbishop desmond tutu, both featured in this documentary. if you sign up online t project will guide you to perform those so-called micro acts of joy over the course of seven days, whether it's doing something nice for a stranger or setting aside time to meditate. a survey found that after that week of small acts of kindness, emotional well-being jumped 26%,

positive emotions 23%. >> this infuses us with a sense of meaning and we have this warm feeling in our chest often called the warm glow, and when researchers put people into a brain scanner and look at what's happening in the brain when people have that opportunity to be generous and kind to others, the pathways that signal pleasure and reward light up. they get activated. so we're fundamentally built to enjoy and to get meaning from being generous and kind to others. >> reporter: a project organizers hope to demonstrate that things like happiness, resilience and kindness are skills that can be taught and practiced, especially around the holidays. bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks, bob. >> nice to give to others. >> i think that definitely can be taught. >> oh, definitely. way of life. well, the way of the weather today. >> the way of the weather. it's going to be a stormy week ahead, so if you had any sort of outdoor plans that involved the workweek, i would say within the

span of the next four days, friday you might have better luck leading into the weekend. the week ahead is going to be rough when it comes to the commute in general. satellite radar, we have a low pressure system. one thing you're going to notice as the rain moves through, you likely already did if you haven't been outside, but if you are heading outside, it's going to move in at times heavy and then it will get light and you'll catch a complete break, then we'll get another pocket. right now in vallejo it's kind of light. notice, san francisco, scattered through there. if i zoom this out, down through san jose you'll notice we've got some light to moderate rain coming down along 101, 880, through gilroy as well. now, rainfall totals are estimated to be a lot higher for the coastal mountains and the north bay. look at santa rosa, san rafael, this is stretching out to about wednesday. this number could change just based on how long this storm lingers. it could linger over one area longer than the other. if that happens and those

numbers go right back up, notice in through santa cruz as well, a little over 2 inches. but some areas could see upwards of 4 inches, which is why there's concern for possible debris flows, especially for burn scarred areas. through the san jose area, rain shadowed south bay, the numbers are a lot less, less than 2 inches, a little over a half inch, a quarter of an inch, maybe under an inch by the time the five days stretch out. the temperatures, we'll be in the 60s. it's not going to be cold today, but we do have a chance for thunderstorms because we've got an instability in the atmosphere that's going to bring the chance for lightning strikes. if you hear thunder or see lightning strikes, please head indoors to a safe space. i mentioned how it's going to linger through the remainder of the week, but i also have been looking at the model runs and the long-range outlook because we're talking holidays. christmas is already next monday. look what's lining up out in the pacific. this is for monday, december

25th, right now it looks like it will still be out in the pacific for christmas day, which is the 25th. but this could move in a little sooner or a little later. the model runs right now, if they hold true, show that system moving in on the 26th, so the day after christmas, and then lingering with a pretty wet start into the 27th as well. so your seven-day forecast, we get some showers to the north on friday and then the weekend does look like it's going to dry out a bit. let's send things over to mike. >> you mentioned what's next monday, christmas. so there may be a lot of folks trying to do some last-minute preps, shopping for whatever, and we're looking at wet roadways. use caution throughout the day today. fremont shows you how sloppy the conditions are. the traffic is manageable as far as the volume goes. mostly greens and yellows throughout the area. that means speeds that are just below the speed limit here. north 101 and north 87. north 280 seeing a little more traffic flow. there may have been some recent rain. i do know that i warned you

north 101, coming toward ellis, there was an earlier crash. a solo car spinout. we've seen a lot of those on slippery roads this morning. use caution as you're driving around the bay. the blue, puddling and ponding likely in all parts of contra costa county and slow generally through walnut creek. back to you. >> thank you so much. it is 6:52. happening now, court appearances getting set to again for 78 activists charged in connection with the protests last month on the pay bridge that happened during the apec conference and blocked all traffic into san francisco for several hours. protesters were demanding a cease-fire in gaza. each protester will be facing five misdemeanor counts. ahead of the hearings, palestinian supporters are planning to gather later this morning outside the hall of justice. and a quick look at the top stories we have this morning. this morning could only be our microclimate weather alert and all the incomingain we're r

welcome back. before you head out the door, we are moving you forward with a look at our top stories on "today in the bay," including the heavy rain across the bay area. >> san francisco is one city getting the brunt of it.

"today in the bay"'s ginger conejero saab is live there this morning. any letup at this hour, ginger? >> reporter: it has let up quite a bit, marcus and laura. much different from the heavier rain we saw at the 5:00 hour. i want to show you the rain has made the roads pretty slick. you're taking a look at 80 west as commuters come into the city. the rain earlier making for some slick roads. but still looks like a steady flow of traffic. over the weekend the city took the initiative to put up flood barriers in low-lying areas like 17th street, which is an area that's seen flooding, especially last winter. here is some video that came in overnight, lightning lighting up the san francisco night sky. the national weather service posting that some lightning has been seen with cells over the water. now, the north bay has also seen quite a bit of the downpour, petaluma and rohnert park seeing

quite a bit of rain. you may want to drive over to the public works yard in san francisco today to pick up some free sandbags. they will be giving out some free sandbags from today until saturday, and that is open from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., so take some time to do that to prepare for possibly some heavier rain in the week. back to you. now taking a live look at the bay bridge this morning, this is where you can see roads out there are slick and wet, making driving conditions more difficult. now, this was the scene overnight in oakland, some minor flooding there on northbound 880 near the eastbound 980. also, there was localized flooding in some neighborhoods. taking a live look at sfo. if you're traveling today, build in extra time to get to the airport. pretty sloppy out there. weather could be a factor all week and the busiest for holiday travel. southwest airlines has agreed to pay $140 million for the holiday havoc that happened last year.

that's along with $750 million in passenger compensation, after thousands of flights were delayed or canceled. the government says it's determined to learn from the mistakes of last year to avoid any repeats. a last look at the forecast. a wet one out there. >> it really is. and we can expect to keep this pretty much for the first half, toward the end half of our seven-day forecast. we get a second storm system that moves in on tuesday and we've got so much instability, a cold front that sweeps through. the winds will begin to kick up as the cold front continues. the temperatures are going to remain in the 60s. looking ahead to friday and saturday, that's when we could see a change in the weather pattern. the alert for today is the weather alert for traffic. look at the wet lens in san jose, north 101, the volume is slowing down. but it is lighter than your typical monday volume. san mateo bridge looking better than earlier, but it's still soupy in most of the bay.

the "today" show is just ahead. you can get more local news with our brand new newscast live on roku and other streaming platforms, not to mention nbcbayarea.com. >> that's what's happening "today in the bay." we're streaming 24/7 on roku and xumo. follow us on social for news as it breaks. >> thanks for joining us. we'll see you during our midday newscast at 11:00. >> yeah, and it's far from over. >> good morning. it's december 18th. this is "today." wicked weather. tens of millions from the carolinas to maine waking up to heavy rain and high winds. roads turn into rivers. drivers trapped. a damaging tornado touching down near myrtle beach. and behind it all, snow. we'll have al's full forecast and the impact on holiday travel with christmas just one week away.