right now at 6:00, berkeley giving back land to a native american tribe. the reason the city says it is long overdue. the highly anticipated high-speed rail aiming to connect the bay area to l.a. now falling short on cash. the billions more state lawmakers now say is needed to

complete the project. and gas prices are surging rapidly here in california. our mike inouye is going to break down what's driving up those costs while helping you find some cheaper options. this is "today in the bay." mike has the golden ticket. cheaper gas. good morning to you on this wednesday. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. we'll check in with mike with a look at the morning commute. first, cinthia pimentel is in for kari bringing the sunshine. >> and the wind. we have both of those things on the forecast. we are going to start to dry out for the next couple of days and start to see more of that golden thing in the sky. we're starting in san jose, checking in, 47 degrees to start the morning. there will be a few clouds lingering, but nothing like yesterday to dampen the mood. temperatures and more sunshine at 65 degrees later this afternoon, to enjoy daylight saving time. now, as we talk about the winds, it's really going to pick up later tonight and definitely on into thursday. those mountains and our

overpasses could gust anywhere from 50 to 60 miles an hour. it's best to prepare while things are still a little calm. as we prepare for the weekend, we have less of that wind and more of that sunshine. temperatures in the 70s. mike is updating the crash in richmond. >> and not into richmond, it's actually out of richmond. this is across the bridge. that's fine. the other direction, those taillights are heading over toward the eastshore freeway. this crash is eastbound 580, and it is not interfering with traffic off of the bridge. that's great news for your morning commute, pushing that way. highway 37 and the bay bridge show that on the map, so does highway 4 through concord out of pittsburg and bay point. standard build around the rest of the bay and the south bay, things are easing up for 101. new this morning, a momentous occasion for the ohlone people as the tribe wakes up back in control of some of its ancestral land. >> kris sanchez is in the

newsroom this morning. what is the plan moving forward? >> reporter: this is a long time coming and we're talking about a three block area where there is now a parking lot in west berkeley, which was ancestral land of the ohlone people. take a look at the map on your screen. this area is on fourth street off university avenue. it was once slated as a mixed use housing and commercial development area. this is what it looks like today from google maps, images here, a far cry from what it looked like 5,700 years ago when there was a mound of shells that served as both a ceremonial and burial site. in this land by sacred land film project, you see the area in question in renderings, what it looked like before spanish colonizers took the land and forced the indigenous people into forced labor. the shellmound was used as building material on local roadways. here is a description from a member of the confederated

villages with the importance of getting the land back. >> this is where people lived and died, laughed and cried, and buried our ancestors in the shell mounds. ohlone people are still here and we have a vision for this sacred site. not for the commercial development being proposed, but a green space with flowing water, a memorial park where we can re-bury our ancestors who were taken away to museums. >> reporter: berky mayor said in a statement this was a long, long effort, but it was honestly worth it because what we're doing today is righting past wrongs and returning stolen land to the people who once lived on it. now, we'll talk about the money part, the city contributed $1.5 million toward the purchase, but the rest of the $27 million was contributed by the sogorea te' land trust. this is a land trust led by

indigenous women. >> interesting. thank you very much. new overnight, russian president vladimir putin says the country is ready for nuclear war if it came to it. his comments made on russian state tv are being seen as a warning to western countries. it comes days ahead of the country's presidential election. putin is expected to win another six-year term in office. russia's president went on to say that he does not mean the world is heading for nuclear war, suggesting president joe biden's experience ensures the potential dangers of such escalation. putin has repeatedly talked about his readiness to use nuclear weapons since the country's invasion of ukraine in 2022. now to continuing coverage of the scott peterson murder case. new dna evidence may be the key to prove his innocence. back in 2004, peterson was convicted of murdering his wife laci peterson and their unborn son. he appeared virtually in a san mateo courtroom yesterday morning. his attorneys with the l.a. innocence project say that there is evidence that did not make it

into the courtroom 20 years ago, so they point to a van with a stained mattress found in modesto the morning after laci's disappearance and they want the mattress tested for dna. peterson's former attorney says this could be a game-changer. >> if the van is, in fact -- if the dna is still preserved, if the dna has not degraded, if the dna is still available to be tested, that, to me, is game -- not only game changing, but game over. >> now, prosecutors argued against the motions made by peterson's attorney saying that there's not new evidence or new issues here. now, the judge set the next two hearings for april 16th and may 29th. new developments, california's mega high-speed rail project between san francisco and los angeles is facing another major funding hurdle. ginger conejero saab is live in san francisco this morning. ginger, i've covered this story

for years and years and years. i would think at this point i would be able to ride on it. >> reporter: that's what you and many others were hoping for, laura. but we're told more money is needed to make progress on this project, and it's a lot more money. in fact, $100 billion, and that's not all. california high-speed rail project's ceo brian kelly testified this week at the state senate transportation committee about the authority's updated draft business plan. kelly told lawmakers he had $28 billion on hand, but that is still several billion short to make progress on the central valley segment. he said he's hoping to fill the gap with federal funds to get it to the projected $32 to $35 billion cost. that part of the project is now expected to be fully operational at the earliest 2030. now, aside from the money to fill the gap in the central valley, project leaders still need an additional $100 billion

to complete the bullet train from san francisco to los angeles. you're seeing a map of the phases of this project. phase one will connect san francisco and merced to los angeles and anaheim, phase two will add sacramento to merced and san diego to los angeles. voters were originally pitched the idea in 2008. the expectation then was that this would be complete by now, but almost 16 years later, there's no definitive end date in sight. >> right now the air is being sucked out of the room funding-wise by this one project. how do we get the public on board with something that has this much of a downside to it? >> i think the only way you get the public is by performing better, and i think the authority is performing better today than it was, and i think it will going forward. >> reporter: now, the project's ceo hopes there are funding opportunities with the private sector. guys, this is also something

that can't be affected following the november election. in the past, president biden has given his support to this project, but this is something that we as californians can watch out for and see how that progress continues. guys, back to you. >> completely. if you drive out in the central valley, you see segments of it and then nothing. so we'll see where it goes. maybe one day we'll ride it, ginger. maybe one day. >> reporter: together. >> exactly. lunch in l.a. we'll get there faster driving. thank you. 6:08 this morning. let's take a live look outside at downtown san jose and get you caught up on what's happening weather-wise. cinthia pimentel is in for kari this morning. what's going on? >> we're starting off mostly clear in some spots, patchy clouds lingering around. it should break out as we go into lunchtime. we're checking on our planner in san francisco. notice the clouds will start going away and more sunshine, temperatures will be in the low 60s. as we start a bit of a warming trend and also a windier trend, later on this afternoon we will have the wind advisory for areas

in the north bay, our east bay hills, and along the peninsula going into the santa cruz mountains. very gusty wind, especially along our coast side and hills. make sure that you're prepared, making sure things are coming inside, powering up things and devices, as we could possibly see some power and tree issues with all of this. so i'll guide you through that in a little bit. mike is helping you find cheaper gas prices. >> behind me are the lowest prices reported for san jose, oakland and san francisco. this is all through gas buddy by all of you. we've seen prices jump up since the end of february. the head of petroleum analysis, patrick, told us it's mostly due to seasonality, the change to a more expensive summer blend of gasoline at this time of year. that's nationwide, but california is under stricter standards and our summer blend is even more costly to make. >> yeah, it generally is always more costly to produce the type of gasoline that is cleaner, especially in this instance. in addition, adding to the cost

is that california has its own standards. it did not follow the epa. it follows carb mandates and california is on a bit of a pet roll island, the only state in the nation requiring special blends. there are different dates that this california specific gasoline has to be utilized as well. >> he said we're on a petrol island. carb is the california air resources board, and it supersedes the eps when it comes to emission standards. carb mandates a cleaner burning gasoline compared to other states and it's more expensive to produce for refineries, and gas stations to operate in california. so, of course, it's even more expensive for all of us to buy that gas. at least some of the additional costs goes to california trying to help reduce pollution and to fight climate change, because that's what we do. >> that's what we all try to do. >> thanks, mike.

tax season is in full swing, and there's now just about a month left to file. ahead, the new tool you can use to save big when it comes to filing those returns. and a lot of records for you. record stock market, near records for bitcoin, even a record on oil that mike will be interested in. let's go out to the futures this morning, and see what we have. it looks like a mixed market. plus, a historic vineyard up for sale in the north bay. we're going to show you the stunning property and the hefty price tag that comes with it.

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the time is 6:14. let's go to the north bay and check in on santa rosa. we're starting our morning chilly, in the 40s, with a few clouds. then into the afternoon it's gorgeous. take your lunch outside today, at least through the first half of the afternoon, as we top out at 66 degrees. we're going to get some gusty winds ahead for the next couple of days. i'll talk about that coming up. speeds about the same, mid-60s over here through oakland. watch those speeds, folks. the conditions are great. we'll show you what's going on. the headlights heading south to the san mateo bridge, i'm following flashing lights. happy wednesday to you. three figures i want you to look at, s&p 500 hit yet another record, even with the hotter than expected inflation data.

bitcoin remains near record highs, and the price of oil -- this is west texas intermediate. oil, we know that's getting more expensive. we see it in mike's gas prices and he was explaining some of the other costs that california has. but this is interesting. america is now the top producer of oil in the world, according to the latest figures from the u.s. energy department. in fact, the u.s. has produced more oil each year in the last six years than any country ever has. and, yes, that includes the middle east. america produced an average of 12.9 million barrels a day in 2023. russia, a little more than 10 million. saudi arabia, a little less than 10 million. canada and iraq come in fourth and fifth. roku warning some of its users it's been hacked. the bad guys got a hold of customer credit card data, about 15,000 affected, according to the south bay company. best way to tell if you're one of them is try to log into your roku account. the company says bad guys

changed passwords and shipping addresses. apple says it will allow users in europe to download apps to their phones outside the app store. so, for instance, you would be able to download netflix app from netflix directly. it's part of a legal settlement for apple in europe. for years apple has said restricting apps to the app store kept the bad actors out. you don't get viruses on your iphone. a vote in the u.s. house of representatives to demand tiktok make huge changes is expected to move forward today. it has support from both democrats and republicans. tiktok's parent company, bytedance, has close association with the chinese government, and american politicians worry bytedance could either spy on american users or feed them video to influence voters. lawmakers demanding bytedance sell tiktok or make structural changes to separate out the app from the company's influence --

or the country's influence, something that tiktok has been working on already. one media analyst points out while facebook and reddit aren't chinese, they, too, have to deal with china. >> a lot of the critiques that lawmakers have against tiktok could be extrapolated to all platforms, data collection, surveillance, the way information and isn't moderated. so i think by choosing tiktok, if tiktok is indeed banned, it's going to help a lot of american tech companies, but it's not going to solve a lot of the concerns that people have about big tech. i think that's a critical part of the story that's missing in our conversations about tiktok. >> it's a fair point. if you are dealing with china, if you're trying to sell into china, let's say you're tesla or whatsapp or snapchat, you've got to deal with chinese rules just like they have to deal with ours. and so as we do something to restrict something chinese, we may see the reverse as well. we'll talk more about it coming

up. >> a lot of folks probably happy if they forgot to buy their mega millions jackpot ticket because it is still up for grabs. this comes after no one matched all six numbers last night. however, there were two tickets that had five matching numbers. those two winners will get $1 million each. not too bad. the new grand prize is $792 million. people actually have a chance to win that on friday in the next drawing. the pot has been growing ever since december. now, it is the sixth largest drawing in history. something to keep in mind, if you do win the mega millions jackpot, imagine sitting on your porch, sipping a glass of wine overlooking your very own vineyard. yeah, for someone, that is a dream that could be a reality. >> we've got footage of a 130 acre vineyard in sonoma county

now up for sale. petaluma property has 11 bedrooms, 15 full baths, a boat dock and a private airplane hangar so you can come and go freely. it has a price tag of $17 million. quite nice. >> if you win the $792, that's not too bad. >> exactly. >> it's all about perspective. thanks, marcus. >> it's attainable. last hour we couldn't afford a $22 burrito, so i don't know what we're dreaming about now. >> dreaming. >> nothing to dream. >> it's going to be a nice weekend in sonoma county and wine country as we see more sunshine in the forecast. today you can expect the skies to clear up a little, mostly sunny and a bit warmer. look at concord, martinez and santa rosa in the upper 60s. it won't be too bad in san francisco and half moon bay with the low 60s. the wind speeds are going to pick up and i'll tell you what's

happening to cause that. we're seeing the ridge of high pressure build up and behind me we see more activity, with the low pressure going into the desert southwest. when we have these two things combined, it's a little more stubborn to break apart. with the gradients tight together, it causes wind speeds to go up. hour-by-hour, in the north bay, as we go into this afternoon, you're definitely going to start to feel the wind speeds pick up and it might be hard to go to bed with the wind rattling your windows. the dark purple, about 30 to 45 miles an hour and that's just locally. in the bay area ridgetops, we could see the diablo range and santa cruz mountains gusting from about 40 to 60 miles an hour. bring in things that you don't want to get caught in the wind, the trash can, everything else, and you might also feel your allergies picking up. then we should see calmer conditions as we go into the weekend. our temperatures tomorrow, we start to warm up a little bit. you'll definitely feel the sunshine on your skin.

69 in martinez, 71 in hayward, but even warmer still as we take a look at friday's daytime highs. mid-70s, just about anywhere you look, and our beaches also very nice, nearing that 70 degree mark. and, actually, as i take it further, our six to ten-day temperature outlook, so into the middle part of next week, you can notice that the west coast is going to be in that well above average category, which means this warm weather is going to continue. so it's going to be a nice couple of days in san francisco. once we do get past the wind and going into the weekend, st. patrick's day on sunday, the parade is going to be beautiful. spring begins on tuesday and temperatures will sure feel like it. mike, you're tracking a hazard on the san mateo bridge. >> the wind might affect the high-rise at the san mateo bridge. that's okay. we have the service lane blocked because of the hazard, the disabled vehicle. it's not affecting the flow of traffic. i have seen a number of folks shift over to avoid flashing

lights. no one is there to clear that but it hasn't caused a major issue as far as traffic volume or speeds. smooth drive down 880, still a build for the east bay. typical for the nimitz. don't be surprised friday night at 9:00 through monday morning, closure of southbound 680 for the servicing of those roadways. so these are your alternates, 84 and 580 through dublin. >> good to know. next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. >> uncle sam is collectively saving families hundreds of millions of dollars on tax prep fees. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. i'll showou how to y

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it is 6:25 this morning. if you are about to pay someone to prepare your federal tax return, i want you to listen up because you might have a brand new free option. >> the irs rolling out a program that lets many people file for free. consumer investigator chris chmura shows us how. good morning. the irs's new direct file system calculates your tax and files your forms all in one place. it's sort of like tax software, only it's free and it's directly with the irs. it's newly online at directfile.irs.gov. many families will qualify, even if you take deductions or claim common credits for your kids or

other dependents. if you itemize or make money from things like a pension or investments, direct file probably will not do your taxes for free. you can check your eligibility on the irs website. economic security california in san francisco told me direct file should save the tip toll family $150. >> this year around 5 million plus californians are actually eligible to use the direct file tool for free, which will save hundreds of millions of dollars. >> again, to check your eligibility, go to directfile.irs.gov. if you get stuck, there's a chat feature. even better news, it's not artificial intelligence. the irs says no ai, its chat window connects you with a real live human being. same for our team. we are 100% human. if you have a consumer complaint to share, scan the qr code on screen to fill out our consumer

complaint form online. >> thanks, chris. we've got a lot more ahead at 6:30, including california cracking down on water use with new rules, but they're not as strict as first proposed. the changes you can expect and the reason it will take some time before you have to worry about cutting back. the growing problem of organized retail theft. an inside look on how the chp is rgeting those criminatals

right now at 6:30, the house is set to vote on a ban for the popular social media app tiktok. can it actually happen? scott mcgrew is breaking down the challenges ahead. fighting back against retail theft. an exclusive look at the way california highway patrol is working to target organized crime and prevent stolen items from being sold online. the rain is gone and we're warming up. there's new concerns over wind in the bay area this week. the advisory going into effect later tonight. this is "today in the bay." good wednesday morning to you. 6:30. halfway through your workweek. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. let's get a look at the forecast before you walk out the door. cinthia pimentel has been tracking what we can expect. not too bad today. >> you can leave the umbrella at home and maybe bring out short

sleeve shirts. we're checking in on novato, 46 degrees right now. a slight dip as the sun comes up, but then more sunshine and temperatures in the low 60s this afternoon. novato will be included in this wind advisory that goes into effect later tonight and continues through friday morning in the bay area. i'll walk you through the wind speeds. but the weekend looks nice and more sunny, less wind. mid-70s as we get ready for st. patrick's day and spring next week. if you're planning a trip to the sierra, there is a high wind warning up there. so really gusty days over the next couple, but then more sunshine is ahead. we'll talk about that in the full microclimate forecast. this is a big one, happening today the u.s. house is set to vote on banning tiktok. >> scott mcgrew has been watching this. scott, the vote is expected to pass easily, despite needing a two-thirds vote. >> it's one of the few things politicians in the house can agree on. they had trouble agreeing on keeping the government open. now, it's two-thirds because of the way they've set the vote up to speed it through.

the u.s. government has been concerned for years that tiktok's parent company bytedance is too closely associated with the chinese government, and that tiktok could be used to spy on americans or influence them. now, there's absolutely no evidence that has ever happened, that's important to point out. the proposed law would require bytedance to sell tiktok or make sufficient structural changes to allay those suspicions about the company or face the ban. it has to pass, obviously, both the house and senate. senate hasn't even scheduled a vote. it's not clear it's going to come up for a vote. tiktok pushed users to contact lawmakers and ask them to vote no. >> what do you make of the pushback from young people who are prompted on this app to call their members of congress and push against this ban? >> they love tiktok. i know that from my own grandkids. it's part of their lifestyle. they don't want to lose it. we've got to look at the bigger

picture and that is how does it fit in in terms of our constitution and our national security. >> now, tiktok, which is based in los angeles, has been working on allaying politicians' fears, moving data to america, for instance. the ceo of tiktok seen her testifying to congress last year. back in washington this morning to meet with lawmakers. >> we just heard from senator durban, pointing out there are constitutional questions. >> this would almost certainly go to the courts. montana, you may remember, tried to ban tiktok at one point. that ended up getting gummed up in the courts because there are huge constitutional questions. >> a huge presence online for a lot of people. small businesses really do use that. >> it puts the word out, people follow them. and remember your audience. there's a certain age you get to in which advertisers are no longer interested in you. we call that the facebook generation. old people use facebook. young people use tiktok and they're buying things.

>> it's really changed business, too. thank you, scott. well, new at 6:00, as the government looks to ban tiktok, bytedance, which owns tiktok, looking to expand in the bay area. according to the "chronicle," the company is in discussions about subleasing three floors at a building on fremont street in san francisco located near the salesforce tower. meta previously leased the entire building. a lease has not been signed just yet, but negotiations are said to be advancing. retail theft is a major problem throughout the bay area, and now the state is trying to tackle that issue. "today in the bay"'s bob redell is joining us live this morning. we're getting an inside look at chp, i know they have been working and going after the people committing those crimes. >> reporter: correct. good morning to you, marcus. our sister network cnbc got exclusive access to the california highway patrol to show how the law enforcement agency is targeting those organized retail theft rings to

stop those criminals from stealing the merchandise and selling it back online. recently the chp busted a lucrative theft ring that chp says was based out of this mansion in san diego count. the ringleader, a woman, is accused of giving a couple of other women across the country a list of stores and merchandise to target, including ulta beauty, whose products the thieves sell at deep discounts on an amazon digital storefront called the online makeup store. at this mansion, a team from ulta and chp recovered $387,000 in stolen items. ulta beauty's ceo says they are absolutely fed up with this. >> what do you think in this case as we're speaking of in california that amazon could have done to know that these were stolen goods? >> what i would say more broadly is there is technology available, there's use of

advanced analytics and data capabilities to try to understand behaviors that are indicative of reselling stolen goods. >> reporter: amazon declined an on-camera interview, but a spokesperson said they invest more than $1 billion annually, and employ thousands of people to, quote, fight fraud. adding it uses sophisticated detection and prevention solutions. the ringleader of this alleged operation in san diego pled not guilty to charges of conspiracy, grand theft and receipt of stolen property. her husband and seven others were also charged and pled not guilty. now, the chp's organized retail theft crime task force has also been active here in the bay area. just earlier this month, they, along with alameda police department, they recovered $75,000 worth of stolen merchandise, an operation that stemmed from a grand theft at an old navy store in alameda.

reporting live in the east bay, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> it's just shocking how organized they were. hey, caught up to them. thanks so much. a troubling confrontation in marin county amid the holy month ramadan. police are saying it was not a hate crime. a man was assaulted at the islamic center of north marin monday night. one of the members saw a visitor carrying a bag containing a gun. when the mosque member tried to grab the bag, the visitor punched him, pepper sprayed him and ran away. san rafael police say 38-year-old david margolish confessed to the crime, calling it a misunderstanding. >> there were no threats. he didn't brandish the firearm. there really wasn't any evidence that this was premeditated or a targeted attack. >> for us, we have that tension here in our community already. when that incident occurred, we were very scared. fortunately, no one ras really

seriously harmed. >> police say the suspect has a prior felony conviction and he was booked into jail on a quarter million dollars bond. california is relaxing its new water conservation rules. the state is trying to cut urban water use even though california is not in a drought. the old rules say more than 160 agencies would have had to cut water use 20% or more by the year 2035. now just 46 agencies will have to cut water use by that much. many bay area water agencies will not be required to make future cuts through 2035 and will face cuts of less than 5% by 2040. the state water resources control board will finalize those rules in july. let's take a live look outside. san francisco bay from our emeryville camera. very nice start to our wednesday morning. cinthia pimentel is in for kari today. so the rain out of sight right now. >> out of sight, giving us a gorgeous look of the dazzling lights over san francisco, and down here in san jose we're

starting to see the sun break through the horizon. still dark out there toward the golden gate bridge with more cars on the road. we're in for dryer weather over the next couple of days. our temperatures today headed for the mid to upper 60s in santa rosa, 68, as well as martinez, concord, and we start to get into some mid-60s for mountain view and down into morgan hill we'll see 64 degrees. as we go into tomorrow, you're definitely going to start to feel the warm-up. ditch the umbrellas and see more sunshine as we go on and see more 70s on the board. with the sunshine, we're also going to see the wind speeds pick up. i'll guide you through what we have in the wind advisory, the possible impacts and the extended forecast with more sunshine in it. mike is tracking a buildup in the east bay. >> expect a buildup at the bay bridge, but i just wanted to show you all lanes are at capacity, hov a big advantage. we're now at capacity for the bridge from richmond toward san rafael. the larger vehicles can use that, but so can regular passenger vehicles on the right side there.

we're looking at a smooth drive and smo surprises for these patterns. walnut creek interchange sees more volume right about now. this evening i want to give you a note about chase center. there is an activity there, but it's the convert experience by ye and it starts at 9:00 p.m. that's very late as far as i'm concerned. it's a musical experience, so keep that in mind. at about the time that starts, we also have the closure of the posy tube, so that's starting the overnight maintenance work from alameda into toward oakland itself, and that will be cleared up by the next day's commute, tomorrow morning's commute. you can use the bridges to the south as an option the entire time. we do have slowing south 680 toward sunol. there may be an incident. i don't have a lot of detail. i see the slowing sensors and we also have this disabled vehicle, which now has someone helping out, some more flashing lights on the right shoulder. out of lanes, but a distraction as the commute builds. look at all the brake lights. back to you. >> thanks, mike. 6:41 right now.

a rematch most americans did not want. president joe biden is set to face off with former president donald trump this november. up next, scott returns with a look at checks and balances. here is a question this morning. would you pay $22 for a burrito? well, the next story coming up this morning is going viral here on nbc bay area. we're going to tell you about the local restaurant getting some pushback for doubling its price for those burritos and the

good wednesday morning. the time is 6:44. checking in on half moon bay, as we plan for lunchtime, we'll see less cloud cover and more sunshine. not only today, but for the next couple of days. we'll talk about that and the wind impacts coming up. it looks a lot slower, but i think that's good news. i'm watching the high-rise westbound, the san mateo bridge. it looks slow here, but that may mean a smoother drive in a few minutes. we'll track it. it is almost official, the presidential race will be between joe biden and donald trump again. >> scott mcgrew, a race many americans say they just don't want. >> they just don't want a repeat. polls show a majority of americans, neither is their first choice. we didn't want a rerun of the 2020 elections with two men that are just four years older than they were then. but with yesterday's state primary votes, biden and trump won the number of delegates they need to put them over the top

and win their party's nomination. now, we can't say they're the nominees yet because that's done at the conventions later this year. but it's now semiofficial. former special counsel robert hur testified before congress tuesday about his controversial decision not to prosecute joe biden for holding on to classified documents after his vice presidency, and the controversial language in that report calling biden a forgetful old man. here is the white house response to the day's testimony. >> i think the main thing to take away from today is two words for the american people, case closed. we sat for three hours, watched on live television on many networks, hours of explanation of why a trump-appointed prosecutor, who spent 15 months investigating the president, came to the obvious conclusion that there is no case here. after all of this time, millions of pages of records that have been reviewed, 150 witnesses have been interviewed.

the conclusion was simple, that there is no case here. the case is closed. it's time to move on. the next order of business for the house is banning tiktok. the house will vote today on a bill that would require china's bytedance to sell tiktok or see the app banned in the united states. not clear that's constitutional. montana tried to ban tiktok and the law was suspended by the courts. this is just the house voting. not only is the senate not scheduled to vote, it's not clear there will ever be a vote in the senate. senators looking at the house, busy with tiktok, and asking, can you work on more important things, like saving ukraine with that bill called the supplemental that we passed a long time ago. >> i want to encourage the speaker again to allow a vote, a vote, let the house speak on the supplemental that we sent over to them several weeks ago. >> jake sullivan, the national security adviser, said yesterday

the u.s. was sending $300 million worth of weapons and help to ukraine, money that the pentagon found when they got a better deal than they were expecting on replacements for weapons that it already sent. the other big challenge for republicans in the house, the majority just got that much more thin, as colorado republican ken buck announced he was leaving congress next week. he had already made the decision not to run for another term. there's going to be a special election in colorado to replace him, but that will take time. in the meantime, republicans will outnumber democrats in the house by 218 to 213. many conservative republicans don't always vote with their party, meaning speaker johnson is going to need democrats, marcus, to get a lot of his agenda passed super scott, thank you. well, tonight you have a chance to weigh in on the search for san jose's next police chief. the second in the series of public forums takes place at 6:00 at the bascom community

center. that comes following the announcement that the police chief is moving on to become the chief of investigations for the santa clara county d.a.'s office. the transition is expected to begin next month. san jose mayor matt mahan will join us live in a few minutes on our 7:00 a.m. streaming newscast to discuss the search for the new police chief. you can watch it coming up at 7:00 a.m. and watch it on roku and other streaming platforms. march madness starts in about two weeks but the party is getting started, st. marys men's basketball team won against gonzaga, the championship game of the wcc tournament last night in las vegas. it was a close one, but the gales took charge late in the game, st. marys winning 69-60. it's the first time since 2012 they've won the regular season title and the conference title. this guarantees the gales a spot in the ncaa tournament.

we can find out who they play next sunday. i've got to get the brackets ready. let's do it. the michelin guide is adding ten new california restaurants, and one right in san francisco. >> so seven adams recently open in november and features an $87 tasting menu. the guide cites that the restaurant is unfussy californian simplicity, featuring solid techniques and thoughtful flavor combinations that allow quality seasonal ingredients to shine. the other nine restaurants are located down in southern california. >> the presentation looks nice. speaking of food, and money, $22 for a burrito in san francisco. it sounds like a lot. it is trending this morning. >> so the restaurant says the price is just to break even from inflation. la vaca birria is located on 24th street in the mission district. when it opened two years ago the price of the signature burrito was $11. now the price doubled at $22.

the owner of the restaurant says the move is to keep wup the rising price of ingredients. he's explaining to customers if he didn't increase the prices, he would be out of business. >> just everything keeps raising in pricing, one big thing for us is our beef. we use choice beef that was $2.50 cheaper two years ago. there's just no other way around it. we want to serve the quality we serve, we have to charge for it as well, otherwise we're going to close the doors. >> where is the beef? it's in the burrito. he says he wants to thank customers for sticking with him, but it's just a reflection of the times that we live in. i think it's a pretty large burrito. i could cut that up and eat it with my kids. >> the price is going up, but it's a lot of food, and it's something that you wouldn't go every day, but i'm going to treat myself. >> i would buy it. i just don't know if i can afford the extra guac. >> i've got that, you can give me half of the burrito.

see how that worked out? let's take our burritos outside, shall we? we're checking in on that microclimate forecast for you, as we're drying out and warming up, starting today and over the next couple of days ahead for the weekend. we are starting to build that ridge of high pressure toward the pacific and toward the desert southwest, the low pressure system continues. as these two things battle, it actually drives up the win speeds a little. as far as our hour-by-hour forecast for you, we're going to clear out and see more sunshine, more of a chance to get outdoors and enjoy the extra daylight hours. our temperatures today going for 68 in santa rosa and fairfield, 66 in hayward, and 64 in mountain view. as we get ready for this afternoon and into tomorrow, i want you to pay attention to what's going to be happening with the winds. remember the buildup i was talking about with the high pressure and low pressure too close together? that's actually building up the gradient and the winds are going to start picking up, definitely strongest by tomorrow morning. it could be kind of hard to go

to sleep later tonight and those dangerous mountain passes as well as downed trees and the possibility of losing some power. the winds won't only be here in the bay area. if you have any plans to head up to tahoe, trying to beat the crowds, it's actually going to be really gusty up there, too. locally anywhere from about 47 to 55 mile an hour wind gusts, and as you're traveling over the passes it could even reach 100 mile an hour winds. so just take note of that and plan accordingly. back here at home, i wanted to continue to talk about the sunshine as we check on brentwood over the next couple of days. we're starting to build up temperatures into the 70s for this weekend. it looks really nice as we finally start to say good-bye to winter and approach more of those spring-like temperatures. san francisco won't be left behind. as we go through the next couple of days, we have the wind, but eventually by friday and into the weekend, st. patrick's day, temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s. that will continue into next week as spring begins on tuesday

and our inland valleys, low to mid-70s in the forecast. something that could look better is the san mateo bridge. it is kind of looking -- well, horrible right now. we saw flashing lights take that one disabled vehicle over the high-rise. it looks like there's another incident going on, maybe another slower roller there. west 92 is jammed right now. the sensors barely had a chance to adjust. use the dumbarton bridge west as an option if you are coming from the south bay. you may want to go to the bay bridge north of there, because traffic is moving smoothly, but the backup does fill the toll plaza. back to you. >> thank you so much. happening now, four years after the pandemic, new findings indicate the average distance between workers' homes and their job sites has tripled. the research led by stanford and the mexico autonomous institute of technology. in 2019, the average distance between the two was about ten miles, but as of last year it's about 27. researchers say the increase is in part due to the shift, allowing employees to work from home. next on "today in the bay," we're going to look at this morning's top stories.

berkeley giving back land to native american tribe. we're going to tell you the reason the city says this is long overdue.

welcome back. we're moving you forward with a look at the top stories on "today in the bay." >> in just a few hours, the u.s. house is set to vote on banning tiktok. the u.s. government has been concerned for years that tiktok's parent company bytedance is too closely associated with the chinese government, and that tiktok could be used to spy on americans or even influence them. now, there is no evidence that that has ever happened, the proposed law would require bytedance to sell tiktok or make sufficient structural changes or face a ban. today indigenous people are waking up knowing they are once

again in control of some of their ancestral lands. the three block area doesn't look like much today, a parking lot along fourth street in west berkeley. it was once ohlone land with a shellmound that served as ceremonial and burial grounds. the city of berkeley brokered the deal, contributing $1.5 million, so a women-led indigenous land trust could buy back the property for $27 million. california's mega high-speed rail project between san francisco and los angeles facing some major funding hurdles. this week the project's ceo testified to the state senate transportation committee. leaders say they need an additional $100 billion to complete the segment. they say the project also needs $1 billion for the central valley segment. let's get a quick check of the forecast. >> a nice day, but this afternoon into tomorrow the wind is going to pick up, around 25

to 50 mile an hour wind gusts, and then calming down and more sunshine in the forecast for the weekend as we get ready for st. patrick's day. westbound 92, continued issues. it looked like a series of disabled vehicles is causing the slowing west 92 to the peninsula. use the dumbarton bridge instead of 92. the "today" show just moments away. we're continuing "today in the bay" on roku and other streaming platforms. san jose mayor matt mahan is joining us to discuss the search for the city's new police chief, the increasing homicide rate and how he's working to clean up city streets. join us for our 7:00 a.m. newscast next at nbcbayarea.com. >> thanks so much for allowing us to be a part of your morning. . good the battle over tiktok coming to a head this morning. >> the future of t