holiday weekend travel rush begins on the roads and in the

skies. the tips you need to know before you head out for your weekend destination. and if a party is in your future, make sure you know what the rules are for those airbnb rentals. the agency now using ai to crack down. and hopes fade for another middle east cease-fire. we are live in washington with overnight developments, including an important vote today at the united nations. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you all. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. we're going to get to headlines in just a moment. first, we're soaking in the holiday spirit already. check out this winter wonderland. it is a bay area spot known for its holiday displays. in about 15 minutes, we'll check in with bob redell. he's out there talking with the homeowner, who helps enlighten others about where to view the best neighborhood light displays throughout the bay area.

weather-wise, we're in the christmas spirit as well. >> i love sunshine and i'll gift that to you as a present for you all. >> a california christmas. >> for now, out there right now, we do have that dense fog advisory creeping in from the central valley from the north bay, until at least 10:00 a.m., when we start to mix things out. so give yourself enough space in between the cars, use those low beams if you are heading out the door to work or to your holiday destination. we are in between two systems right now. we have the storm that's exiting down into southern california, we have another cold front that's going to come into the pacific northwest. we're going to settle and soak in all of that sunshine as we go throughout the day. you can expect sunshine for this afternoon. we're going to see that storm and talk about it, making a big impact in socal this weekend. we'll stay cool and dry, but don't put away that umbrella. mike continues to track a

major crash. >> right now the weather and socal are concerned for folks heading down on the drive 152, which still has a one-way traffic control. 1:30 this morning there was a deadly crash at lovers lane. here is gilroy, 101. folks take 152 over toward i-5 if you're heading south or back, and casa de fruta is right about there. that's where the crash is. now fog is creeping into the area and this could complicate things. anywhere else around the bay showing a pretty smooth, light drive. we will talk about other factors coming up. >> thanks, mike. a live look right now at san jose and san francisco airports, all three bay area airports will be extremely busy today. tsa calling this one of the busiest travel days of the year, with about 2.5 million americans taking flight. more people are also flying for the holidays this year compared to last year, so expect security checkpoint to be crowded.

the tsa recommends arriving early to the terminal and bring all presents unwrapped, this is so they can be easily checked. "today in the bay"'s ginger conejero saab is speaking with some of those early bird travelers this morning over at sfo. they'll have a live report coming up in the next half hour. meantime, if short-term rentals are in your future, airbnb is making changes during the holidays to make sure everyone makes it safely into the new year. >> "today in the bay"'s kris sanchez is in the newsroom this morning. in this case we're talking about a new crackdown on parties. >> right, so the crackdown is intended to prevent out-of-control parties. they don't come as a surprise. but how the company is going about the crackdown might be. airbnb tells us they will use artificial intelligence or ai to track for hundreds of signs that could point to a possible party plan, from how long a booking is, to the type of booking people are trying to make. the goal is to avoid tragedies like the 2019 shooting in orinda

where five people died at a halloween house party turned mass shooting. in sunnyvale, another house party in 2019 turned violent and the parents of a young man killed there are suing the property owner, who reportedly never sought the proper permits from the city to run a short-term rental, and they're suing airbnb for negligence, saying the property never should have been listed on the site without those permits. now, in response, airbnb is increasing its party crackdown, putting restrictions on short rentals between one and three days, making sure people confirm that they understand the anti-party policy, and offering hosts free noise sensors and a support line for neighbors. some of these have been in effect already, since 2020, and have resulted in nearly 64,000 blocked bookings in the u.s., more than 13,000 blocks in the uk, and 5,400 blocked bookings in australia. now, people who violate the rules, property owners and

renters alike, risk getting blocked from the site, sometimes for good. if you're worried, i just wanted to do a romantic getaway for one to three days, you're not going to get caught up in that if all the signs are pointing to the fact that you are just looking for a traditional rental. >> thanks for the latest, kris. happening today, two men charged in the murder of a retired police officer who died protecting a television news crew as security are due back in court for a pretrial hearing. as soon as today, alameda county prosecutors may formally drop special enhancement charges against mitchell and hale, both are charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of kevin nishida in oakland in 2021. they face 25 years to life if convicted. but special enhancements would carry a sentence of life without parole. the defendants' attorneys argue a third suspect killed nishida, laron gilbert has not been apprehended. well, to developments

overnight in the middle east, here is a live look in southern israel toward the gaza border, and hopes are fading for another cease-fire. hamas leaders have rejected the latest deal, saying the proposed one-week pause would be too brief. >> the latest news out of israel also a blow for families of hostages being held captive and this comes as u.n. leaders try to broker a deal to bring more assistance to gaza. >> brie jackson is live in washington. a new report is really highlighting the dire situation there on ground in gaza. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, marcus, laura. the united nations says more than half a million people in gaza are starving because of the war. as the war in israel intensifies, there are growing concerns about the humanitarian situation. >> so many innocent people that have been displaced from their homes, families killed, many wounded, a lot of fear and uncertainty. >> reporter: white house officials are pressing israel to shift to lower intensity

operations and minimize civilian deaths. there are also warnings about the ripple effects of the war. the united nations reports more than one in four people in gaza are starving. >> every single person i speak to, everywhere i go in gaza, is hungry. >> reporter: the world health organization says there are no fully functioning hospitals in all of gaza, and only nine are partially in use. >> it's a somber shell of a hospital with people just waiting to die. >> reporter: after days of negotiations, the u.n. security council plans to vote on a resolution today to deliver much-needed aid to gaza. the vote had been delayed several times over concerns that the u.s. would veto it. the biden administration now ready to move forward. >> it will support the priority in ensuring that we put a

mechanism on the ground that will support humanitarian assistance, and we're ready to vote for it. >> reporter: the resolution also calls for a pause in fighting. and the u.s. vetoed the resolution before because u.s. officials say it called for an unsustainable cease-fire that will only plant the seeds for the next war. marcus, laura. >> one that we will certainly continue to follow. brie jackson in washington this morning, thank you. 6:08, we want to show you new video of flooding that's happened in southern california following very heavy rainfall. parts of santa barbara received more than 5 inches of rain over 24 hours, as you see, a lot of cars were stranded. parts of neighboring ventura county will also have a lot of cleanup to do. some of the damage came from an overflowing flood channel which inundated nearby homes and businesses, even triggering some evacuation orders.

a lot of water in a short amount of time. >> cinthia has been following that. it really sounds like it's something that they're used to dealing with, but you don't want to have to. >> you don't want to underestimate the rain, even in parts of southern california, where some people think, it never rains here. it dumps a lot of rain in a short amount of time. we're looking at satellite and radar as the storm system continues to take the counterclockwise rotation. at one point yesterday there was actually a tornado warning as this storm started to gain rotation, thunderstorms were embedded in there. it was pretty active for a good amount of yesterday, and it continues to be that way today. we are tracking it hour-by-hour through santa barbara, los angeles. as soon as you get south of fresno into the grapevine this morning, it's going to get pretty choppy. we won't see clearing until we go into at least early tomorrow. for now, mike is helping you get to places with cheaper gas prices. >> we have prices holding up and

down, i guess, in spots. contra costa county, $3.75 in concord's diamond gas and mart on oak grove road, down a couple of cents. in santa clara county, san jose's national petroleum on keys, up about 3 cents, $3.82 today. solano county, $4.07 at fairfield's best, a&a, gas and food mart. thank you for sharing on gasbuddy.com. on the roadways themselves, a light volume of traffic, and then fog, mist, but not rain. pretty calm. watch for visibility. there is one crash in the south bay, north 101 at tully. the crash has been going on for about 45 minutes. they haven't cleared the right lanes. there are two lanes blocked. no major injuries. that is the slow section for 101. of course we talked about some mist and lower visibility. this is perhaps the worst visibility we've seen at the bay bridge, and maybe it will get tougher to see in areas north of here. back to you. >> thanks, mike. even the last of the

holdouts can hardly hold back any more. ♪♪ ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ >> just about everyone will be listening to holiday music with christmas right around the corner, but what song do you think trumps them all, and the best christmas song? where you can still vote in the popular holiday hits bracket. and i'm bob redell. we're live in livermore where the man behind this house is hanging up his santa hat, not when it comes to the lights, but when it comes to a certain website that many people have been following for years

another one in the books. but we're just 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.

good friday morning. 6:14. we are checking in on the east bay. we are starting out with areas of fog this morning, but once it mixes out, we should see a mostly sunny day. 61 in san leandro, mid-60s in antioch. we'll do 63 degrees in lafayette today. we'll talk about the rest of the weekend outlook and when rain will return coming up. fog, east bay, confirmed. here is richmond. light traffic volume, light fog, lower visibility. that will be a factor for many parts of the bay. light traffic will allow for higher speeds, but it's safe only as conditions allow. trending this morning, a hot

topic we have been following all week, which holiday song is the best? >> everybody has got an opinion, right? the "today" show has been doing this holiday hits bracket, and today they announce who the winner was. here are the finalists. brenda lee's rockin' around the chris tree and the most wonderful time of the year by andy williams. both are certainly christmas classics. they're announcing the winner on the "today" show. we've got a little in. [ laughter ] >> andy williams has had the early lead so far. brenda lee fans will have to rally to stage a big comeback. it was kind of fun to vote on the different classics. ♪♪ ♪ rockin' around the christmas tree ♪♪ >> i thought that was the song.

there you go. >> the holiday spirit is alive and well, neighbors everywhere celebrating in grand style. one man makes it his purpose to track everything out there. >> big job there. "today in the bay"'s bob redell is live outside of that man's home this morning in livermore. bob, we hear he is ready to hang up the santa hat. >> reporter: hanging up the santa hat, but not when it comes to his christmas light display here at his home at nottingham circle. we're outside alex and cindy's home here in livermore. they do have a website that alex has been running for 25 years. take a look at it on your screen. this is californiachristmaslights.com. this has become a go-to place for people to log on to find the best holiday displays, not only in the bay area, but throughout the state of california. so alex is going to be retiring from the website. the website will live on. merry christmas. good morning to you both.

>> good morning. >> the website, what's going on? >> i've hit retirement age. i've been doing it for 25 years, it's been an absolutely phenomenal run. it's time to let a younger person take over, bring the website to a new higher technological standard than i've had. it's kind of long in the tooth, as you might say. >> sure. >> i can spend more time with my grandchildren. >> you've got 300 homes listed on there throughout the state. how picky are you? >> i'm extremely picky. people submit photos, descriptions, i probably get about 150 of them every season, and out of those 150, maybe eight to ten of them will make it onto the website. >> why do you guys do this? >> for christmas spirit. this is how we can give back to the community and we enjoy it, and it brings a lot of joy to a lot of kids, even a lot of adults. >> and you were talking about your website being long in the tooth. it's got an old school design. i noticed this at home, i'm an

incandescent guy. you've had to transition to l.e.d. how has that been emotionally for you? >> so i still have some incandescent things here on display because you cannot find an l.e.d. equivalent to you. but i have transitioned out of incandescent where i had an $800 pg&e bill a couple of years and it brought it down to $400. now it's solar and this is completely revenue free. we pay nothing for these lights. >> how many people do you typically have around this time of the year, showing up on a good weather day? >> a good weather day, you can't get through this driveway without a five-minute walk, how is that? >> that's awesome. thanks for having us. merry christmas to you. >> reporter: just to be clear, californiachristmaslights.com, the website is still going to be up and running, just under new management, new ownership. of course we'll still have the lights here. are you going to be upgrading next year? he's got all sorts of plans. >> where does he store all of

that stuff? >> that's what all the other houses around him are thinking. >> one thing we didn't see in the forecast was snow. >> they had some there. >> caught me off guard. you never know. let's get a check of that microclimate forecast. as you get ready to possibly take a trip up to the snow, let's start out with what's going on right now outside. we do have a dense fog advisory creeping in from the central valley, through the delta, over the richmond san rafael bridge, the bay bridge getting heavy at times. the temperatures, 40s and 50s to start. once we mix out of the fog, we should be in for the most sunshine we've seen pretty much all week. we will stay nice and dry as we go into the afternoon, but could see pockets of heavy fog return for our day on saturday. now, as far as our temperatures go, we should see 60s along the bay, with that sunshine, we'll do 63 in downtown san francisco, 62 in half moon bay if you want to show your family the

coastline. we'll do mid to upper 60s as we make our way into morgan hill. we are tracking our next rainmaker, it won't arrive until after we get through the christmas holiday. you have a couple more days to prepare, because it looks like it's going to bring a lot of rain to the bay area, possibly heavier toward the north bay coast, but it could turn gusty at times, could bring about chances of flooding since we've already been pretty inundated with a lot of rainfall. it looks to continue into portions of late week next week, and possibly into the weekend. early estimates, similar bull's-eye where we've seen the coastal range and through the santa cruz mountains. everybody else, about three-quarters of an inch of rain to an inch. the sierra could benefit from this storm, anywhere from about half an inch to possibly over an inch of fresh powder in the higher elevations. some details to fine-tune, but we will stay with immediate sunshine, a chance of fog later on, but we will be seeing the return of rainfall as we go into

the middle portions of next week. mike, you've been tracking that fog along with me. >> that's right. thank you for guiding me. as we see the fog, we see the golden gate bridge, it kind of qualifies as what people expect to see in this area. it's isolated, a clear view from and to the north bay. you can see how light the traffic volume is. tougher conditions for visibility through novato, and also vallejo, where 37 shows slowing. the volume a lot lighter, before a holiday break, and we're looking at a lot of schools that even finished their finals. congratulations to the high school kids around the area. we're looking toward the area of vasco, still at 18 minutes. we typically see this when we start the show at 5:00. that indicates how light the traffic volume is. easy drive across the san mateo easy drive across the san mateo bridge. look mom, i found one. oh, yeah, you did.

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(♪♪) get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more. 6:24 this morning. our nbc bay area responds team is always giving a gift. >> that's right. to wrap up this season, consumer investigator chris chmura joins us with a few recent cases they put a bow on. >> happy friday. tinsel and garland are nice, but around here we deck the halls with savings and refunds for our viewers, like tin in san jose. he agreed to a newspaper delivery at a discounted rate. well, eight weeks later, his price shot up. he protested, got nowhere. so he asked us if we would give the publisher a jingle.

we did. it acted. tin is saving $208 over the next 12 months. mary in san jose, she recently realized a winery charged her for four years of wine club membership that she canceled four years ago. the winery offered a one-year refund. mary tapped our team to get the rest. the winery then budged and gave mary $1,570 to stuff her stocking. if you've encountered a corporate grinch, maybe our elves can help you. scan this qr code for our complaint form online. have a happy holiday weekend. we've got a lot more ahead at 6:30, including a christmas day showdown. niners fans cannot wait. >> niners have one of the nfl's most potent offenses and they're preparing to take on a defense and there may be a sequel. we're live at sfo where the

holiday travel rush is under way. tsa security times clocking in at under ten minutes. we'll tell you ahead why you should still get here with plenty of time to

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i feel pretty good. surrounding myself with a great team. de'aaron we're going to take a quick look at your knee with ultrasound. everything is looking great. but not just for me. for them. it's great to see you again man. thanks jb. for all that is me, for all that is you, kaiser permanente. right now at 6:30, the rush is on. we've got everything you need to know heading into the christmas weekend, including live team coverage on a busy travel day, and your holiday weather forecast. also, not one, but two

heartless crimes, one of them caught on camera. how robbers added insult to injury for one of the victims. this is "today in the bay." this is also friday morning. quickly approaching 6:30. thanks for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. let's get you out the door with our top story this morning, this weekend holiday travel. >> here we go, it's off. ginger conejero saab is live at sfo this morning monitoring what travelers need to keep in mind on one of the busiest days of the year. mike inouye, of course, tracking the roadways out there. let's start out with cinthia pimentel in for kari with a first look at our holiday forecast. looks foggy out there. >> we've really seen the dense fog advisory trickle into some other places of the bay area, like the bay bridge toll plaza behind me. the richmond camera is also looking pretty socked in. we do have this advisory with us through at least 10:00 this morning. we see it creeping into parts of san francisco. so limit, of course, those

beams, use your low beams, and give yourself extra distance in between the cars. walnut creek, i've seen a few areas of fog rolling on through, but mostly clear. we're starting off in the 40s and the 50s right now. we should see more sunshine after we mix out, staying nice and dry through the holiday weekend, with chilly mornings in the 30s and 40s, before we see the return of rain next week. the most wonderful time of the year, also one of the busiest times of the year for bay area airports. our team coverage continues with "today in the bay"'s ginger conejero saab live at sfo. ginger, how are the lines looking so far? >> reporter: well, there are a number of lines here at sfo, cinthia. there's a line to check in, to drop off your bag, and of course there's the tsa check-in line, security checkpoint, and it's clocking in at less than ten minutes, just nine minutes. of course, that fluctuates and has been fluctuating all morning. whether it's taking these lines

into account or possibly going through a bad experience from a past flight, there are some passengers here this morning that are taking the extra effort to make sure they don't miss their flight, like these exchange students who we spoke with. they've spent their last semester here in the bay area, and it's not just a countdown to christmas for them, it's also a countdown to being reunited with their families, and they did not want to miss their flight. one student was here about three hours before her flight, the other more than four hours. they are just two of the millions of passengers projected to pass through sfo and other airports during the year-end holiday travel rush. yesterday an estimated 2.7 million people were creened at tsa checkpoints, one of their busiest days of the year, including december 29th and new year. you can see long lines during swells of departing flights at sfo, and also at sjc.

it's not just happening here at san francisco. let's take a live look at san jose's mineta airport, where you can see those long lines, a line to drop avenue your bag actually wraps around the carousel. one passenger wanted to make sure that he ditched some of these long lines, so he slept in his car. >> i've got an suv and i came here at 2:00 in the morning, parked here, woke up at 5:30. i should have got up earlier, now that i think about it. >> reporter: welcome to our world. well, there are no scheduled ground delays for sfo, unlike how we started the week. bad weather in southern california may impact bay area flights once again. nationwide yesterday, 3,000 flights were delayed, bad weather in southern california blamed for a lot of them, with

ground delays in los angeles, dallas also seeing some of those delays. now, aaa's year-end holiday travel projections start tomorrow. aaa is saying that 7.5 million people will take to the skies from december 23rd through new year's. i'm hoping to get on a flight next week, so i'm taking all these little tips, what i see from passengers, getting here ahead of time, making those parking reservations, and getting dropped off at arrivals and taking the escalator up to departures to save on some time. >> and then add a few kids to the mix, it makes it all the much more fun. >> i'm just glad you're not jumping on a flight now. >> thanks so much, ginger. people aren't just hitting the skies. they are packing the roadways as well this morning. >> they sure are. let's check in with mike inouye, he always keeps an eye on the roads. you're taking a closer look at how congested roads are expected to get through the holiday

weekend. >> let's take a look, we're talking about travel. ginger is at the important airports, right? but that's just a small fraction of what we have on the roadways, traveling this holiday season. let's get a look at graphics. that's the very important red section that ginger is covering. oh, look at my section, 90% of travel this holiday season will be done by some sort of vehicle, car, truck, suv, or trains, perhaps, so that's what's out there on the roadways and the rails. 104 million to drive, up to 1.8% more than last year's travel. here is last year's travel at 102 million people, this year we're going to 103 million, maybe a little more. still not as much as before the pandemic, but, again, the increase in traffic continues every year. that's what you're dealing with. on the roadways, we want to encourage your patience. right now it's a very light traffic flow.

the morning commute definitely benefits from this. it's about noontime and then afterwards, all throughout the holiday season, that's when the worst time is to drive, afternoon. a better time to drive north 101, the crash cleared at tully. quick recovery. one section of 101 was slow through the area in san jose, tri-valley, east bay looking great. smaller crashes, able to clear without any major issues. there is fog in the north bay, also creeping around. lower visibility in patches. there's the bay bridge toll plaza. you can still see how light the traffic is. >> good to know. thanks, mike. neighbors in berkeley's elmwood neighborhood are unnerved after robbers targeted two women and later returned for more. it started wednesday night when the thieves mugged an 80-year-old woman and her 45-year-old niece on alcatraz avenue, taking their purses. surveillance images captured what police say happened next. a few hours later, the same crew showed up in their neighborhood in a dark sedan and used one of

the victim's keys to steal her honda accord. one neighbor says that this kind of thing is happening far too often. >> this is not occurring because certain property or houses are at risk or because someone has not done something better. i think that we all need to acknowledge the problem is the crime itself. >> neither woman was seriously injured during the mugging. police say no arrests have been made. happening today, pg&e plans to show off one of its most important weapons for fire protection, drones, which teams will use today to inspect power lines following this week's storms. pg&e says the devices can inspect more than 500 utility poles per day, and starting next year the drones will handle all of its power line inspections. we are moving you forward this morning with a holiday giveaway just in time for christmas in the east bay. the davis street community center in san leandro will collect gifts starting at 9:00 a.m. at their facility on

teagarden street. they will hand out the donations collected today to seniors and disabled adults during an event scheduled for tomorrow. today in the south bay, santa clara county firefighters will hand out toys to children at san jose's valley medical center. being stuck in the hospital, you can imagine, is a really trying time for those young patients, but those firefighters plan to spread some joy by arriving there in two decked-out fire engines at 10:00 this morning. >> that will be nice to see. this will be great to see as well. don't want to jinx anything just yet, but some people are calling the niners next game a possible super bowl preview. how big? it will be only the third time since 1970 that the best team in each conference is meeting this late in the season. the niners and ravens are both 11-3, and top seeds. they meet on christmas night at levi's. the niners are going into it knowing the ravens have one of the top defensive units in the

league. >> no hesitation whenever they see the ball in the air or no matter who has the ball, those guys are flying around. >> they're really good against the run, really good against the pass, extremely sound coverages. they know how to get after it with pressure, with front four, so really good defense. >> another thing they have in common, each team has clinched a playoff spot. whoever wins will stand a better chance of grabbing the first round bye. i'm taking the niners. >> look, i'm going for either one. one is my team and one is the home team. >> we're making a bet right now. >> it's a win-win for me. >> i'll see tu day after christmas. if you are heading to south lake tahoe this weekend, travel along highway 50 may be slow because caltrans tweeted out these photos of teams doing avalanche control work, removing boulders just east of echo summit. one-way controls may be in effect in some locations. here is a live look from the

caltrans camera near echo lake. it's easier to say than earlier. the work is not happening right now. >> there's no one out there. >> very clear. cinthia has been tracking what's happening between now and christmas. how should that travel be for travelers? >> it looks a little dicey tomorrow. if people still have to go to work tomorrow and are thinking about heading out early tomorrow morning, i see a little mix of rain and snow, so just drive slow, better late than never. once we do get through the early part of the weekend, we should see better weather for our christmas eve plans, although bring all of your winter gear. it's going to be chilly, starting in the teens and 20s and warming into the 30s and 40s. in southern california, this is where the storm we saw earlier this week is moving down toward. so still today seeing the potential for some thunderstorm activity. they have high surf going on. so really a messy drive to

southern california. it will start to clear out as we go into saturday and sunday, and seeing that return of the southern california sunshine, so just a little bit of a way to get there. back here at home, christmas in the park, downtown san jose, maybe you already have family in town and want to show them around. beautiful sunshine, 60s today, and then cooling into the 50s later on this afternoon. and speaking of afternoon, how about we go in and around chase center later tonight, wizards and warriors. temperatures in the 50s, calm. a preview, taking it into christmas night, we have kickoff at 5:15 in santa clara. pack your jacket because temperatures are in the mid-50s and will cool down into a chilly night. go niners. mike, looking at light traffic. >> we're looking at light fog as well. that will be the factor this morning. richmond, starting here, there's light traffic volume. we do see slowing on the sensors on the approach toward the toll plaza. visibility is probably the issue. there are no incidents. light slowing through the very

foggy highway 37 drive over into and through novato. looking ahead, you pointed this out, i didn't even think about this, wizards and warriors. that's great in san francisco. we're looking at chase center and there will be more traffic, people heading into the city for festivities over the weekend. keep that in mind for the 280 extension. the rest of the bay, a light volume of traffic. just mild slowing for 101 as it continue to say recover from the crash that cleared at tully. also, 152, the crash that was at lovers lane did clear earlier and traffic is at volume and speed between interstate 5 and highway 101. back to you. >> there's a lot going on. thanks, mike. 6:41. we know a lot of folks deal with stress this time of year, managing holiday express is something we want to talk about. coming up, we have some expert advice on how to beat what people find are negative mental health impacts from the holidays. this morning we're moving

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good friday morning at 6:45. we are taking a look at a foggy friday, especially in the north bay, through the delta. look at the visibility in miles, reduced to less than a mile in some spots like santa rosa, novato and toward fairfield. it is starting to creep into parts of san jose as well. once it mixes out, we should see plenty of sunshine through the weekend. there is rain in the seven-day forecast. we do have some fog, we have some traffic. both not a major problem in oakland. we see some of the glow and you see folks traveling north, taillights south. a smooth flow of traffic right now. we'll show you how things are developing. i'll talk about what to watch out for and be aware of as you hit the road. okay, take a look at this. imagine seeing this outside of your window, oakland police hoping you know who this is. they say that he reportedly

rammed his car into a lululemon on broadway early tuesday morning in oakland, and then he did the same thing at another business just down the street. if you know who this is, you're asked to contact oakland police department. 'tis the season not only for holiday joy, but sometimes a lot of stress can creep in for people. the american psychiatric association finds 44% are excited to see friends and family, but nearly three in ten people anticipate feeling more stress than usual. for about 20%, that stress is related to the money spent on gifts, and affording it. and while we may not be able to help our loved ones with that, there are ways to give the free gift of kindness. >> maybe this isn't the season to chastise somebody about why they still haven't picked a major, why they still haven't gotten married, why they still haven't brought grandkids to the party. it doesn't mean there's never a good time to have those kind of conversations, but because we've been separated for so many

years, because of some of the public health things we've been dealing with, let's just find the joy in being together. >> so true. the national crisis help line is always available. if you need help or want to find out how to help someone else, you can just text 988 to chat anonymously. it is 6:47 this morning. and we have a special guest joining us in the studio this morning to spread some holiday cheer. this is the famous therapy bunny, it is alex the great. yes, and you may have seen alex at the giants gamed decked out in orange and black. doing a lot more than just watching the games. he's a volunteer at the airport, as well as hospitals. >> this morning alex is here in studio, as well as his caretaker. josh, thank you so much for coming. >> thank you for having us. >> tell us how you first started volunteering. >> we started volunteering through the spca and we signed up because he's got the perfect personality for it. >> he does, he's mellow and

calm. might i add he's rather big? >> 30 pounds. >> he's a 30 pound flemish giant, so average for his breed. it's a very rare breed, not common. >> he's chill and that's part of being a therapy animal. but, also, volunteering work, something i didn't know, so alex is trying to set a world record with volunteering? >> yeah, he applied to the guinness book of world records for the most amount of therapy hours for a rabbit. he's working on that. >> i think he's going to do well. >> if this is how he's working on it, he's doing a good job. >> an instagram account here, qr code. >> yeah, he's very technologically advanced. yeah, so he works therapy not only through the hospitals, hospice care, assisted living homes, he's also on the brigade at sfo and doing work for happy tails at sjc as well.

>> adorable. a lot of people, you're familiar with therapy dogs. but you have a background with rabbits. >> i had a rabbit for 16 years, a much smaller rabbit, and he lived a great life, but he didn't have near the personality that alex does. alex has taken his personality to the next level and he really does do well. >> talk about that. how do you train a rabbit? i mean, he's very chill, but it's so easy to just touch him and he's, like, it's cool. >> you were saying something interesting earlier. the bigger the rabbit, the calmer they are? >> the more calmer they are with themselves and in their environment. if you get a much larger rabbit, they don't have as many fears and they just don't care. you can really do whatever you want with them. but he's got a lot of extra training. he's been socialized properly, so he loves human touch. >> he doesn't seem to mind. >> yeah, you can go up and touch him and touch him anywhere.

he just enjoys the attention, for sure. >> i love it. >> thanks for sharing. >> he wears a hat well. >> he has many of them, by the way. >> good to have you. maybe you can check out alex at the airport or some of the other events, and you can follow him on instagram. >> do these count as volunteer hours? >> we're logging it. >> it's therapy for us, trust me. >> and this coat that alex has is perfect for this weather. >> it's perfect. and, also, he's flying out this afternoon to new york to rockefeller center, christmas eve. >> he's ready to go. whether he's strolling out or some of us might be driving to our holiday destinations, not quite new york, but let's get you a check of the microclimate forecast. if you're staying in and around the bay area or heading to the central valley over the next couple of minutes, you have to be careful of this dense fog

rolling in right here through richmond and into the north bay. temperatures not too bad. we're starting in 40s and 50s. i'm also noticing fog creeping into parts of the south bay as well. we're kind of in between two systems for the part of our day. we have a cold front up to the pacific northwest and that storm that's barreling down toward southern california. once we do mix out of it, we're going to be left with afternoon sunshine, so don't worry, the fog will mix out as we get into the afternoon. temperatures mid-60s in san francisco and along the shore. we'll do 66 in livermore and 68 for san martin and out toward santa cruz as well. as we go into tomorrow and on sunday, we are looking at a bit of a colder mass settling in over the bay area. the skies will be nice, but you do need sweaters the next couple of days as we drop temperatures into the upper 50s and some 60s in some spots. that's going to bring about very chilly mornings, so do bundle up. we're looking at 30s into the north bay and parts of the peninsula, parts of the south bay as we go into sunday

morning, christmas eve. we're looking at 30s and low 40s around the immediate bay. it will be a chilly christmas morning as we get ready to start our last week of december. we are looking at the next rainmaker creeping in right here as we go into the middle portions of next week, and the forecast continues to be active as we go into the second half of the week, final days of december. hopefully you're asking santa for some new rain gear, because you will need it. we're going to go to mike. i know it's friday light, but there are some possible spots to watch out for. >> let's take a look at the golden gate bridge where, cinthia, you've been talking about the clouds. we've been tracking it. at some points i look at the screen and i don't see any problem. then we look at your machines and we see the data showing low clouds hovering around. there may be slicker conditions, even though it's not raining. light traffic. the reason i'm concerned about misty roadways, light traffic, is because that means higher speeds in many cases. do use caution.

over here, lower visibility, the bay bridge toll plaza, the data there doesn't report anything about the metering lights, it just talks about the fog. north, richmond bridge, as well as highway 37. the entire bay showing a light drive. vasco road, we're at 17 minutes. that's what we see before 5:00 a.m. 6:53 right now. happening now, online sales of two popular apple watches are being halted. the u.s. international trade commission recently ordered a ban on apple series 9 and ultra 2 watches due to the blood oxygen tracking features which regulators say infringes on another company's patent. the ban will remain in place until a licensing agreement can be reached with the other company, and the watches will remain available in apple stores until christmas day, when a full ban begins. also, apple plans to offer software updates. a look ahead this morning, we are following that crackdown on some new year's eve parties. at least the ones happening in

some short-term rentals. the new tool airbnb is using to prevent gatherings at its properties from getting out of hand. plus, the christmas weekend travel rush is on and we've g ot

another one in the books. but we're just 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.

6:57. welcome back. we're moving you forward with a look at the top stories on "today in the bay," including a new effort by airbnb to stop big-time party planning before it gets off the ground. >> with new year's eve approaching, the company using artificial intelligence to search bookings for signs of possible party plans. the company says common tell-tale signs include booking between one and three days and certain types of properties, even before adding ai to the mix, airbnb has blocked nearly 64,000 bookings in fear that it may be intended for large parties. two men charged in the murder of a retired police officer who died protecting a television news crew are due back in court for a pretrial hearing. as soon as today, alameda county prosecutors may formally develop special enhancement charges against mitchell and hale. both are charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of kevin nishida

in oakland in 2021. they face 25 years to life if convicted. the special enhancements would carry a sentence of life without parole. the defendants' attorney argues a third suspect killed nishida. laron gilbert has not been apprehended. a live look at the airports, all three will be extremely busy today. the tsa calling this one of the busiest travel days of the year with about 2.5 million americans taking flight. expect security checkpoints to be crowded. tsa is recommending that you arrive early and bring all presents unwrapped so they can easily be checked. >> they want to see what you got everybody. [ laughter ] >> they're doing a great job. do we bundle up before we head out? >> we bundle up and we're cautious on the roads this morning. there is a dense fog advisory until at least 10:00 this morning. once we mix out, we should see plenty of sunshine, staying dry

through christmas eve and christmas day. the next rain is on the way for wednesday. san jose, the only sticking point we have is north 101 at tully, right two lanes blocked from activity, an earlier crash. no major injuries. north of there, light traffic. you can see why there's a fog advisory. >> if you're sitting still, the "today" show is just ahead. we also continue "today in the bay" on roku and other streaming platforms. you can watch our 7:00 a.m. newscast next. you can see it online at nbcbayarea.com. we'll be here christmas morning. >> we will. make sure you join us. have a great weekend. we'll see you back here on christmas, or midday at 11:00. good friday morning. the countdown to christmas in the home stretch. >> so we've got everything you need to know with just three days to go. it's december 22nd. is