live, where you live, this is abc 7 news. >> now at 11:00, an early morning delivery truck crash on 680 kills the driver and sends holiday packages all over the roadway. seven and a half hours later, traffic is still impacted. thank you for joining us. >> 680 southbound was just a serious mess throughout the morning commute. abc 7's jessica castro live in danville with the conditions right now. jess? >> reporter: reggie and natasha, they still have a little bit of cleanup left to do. in fact, toii want to show you mail left out here. they took an entire semitruck of mail away, but have this sent over, so they sent a smaller

postal service truck. eventually, these boxes will make their way towards san jose. a big mess on the biggest shipping day of the year. thousands of holiday packages damaged after a deadly crash on 680 southbound. it happened in danville during the morning rush hour. a delivery truck drifted on to the shoulder, then hit an suv. >> the big rig traveled across the shoulder and struck the large freeway sign. >> reporter: the driver of the semi was hospitalized, but ultimately died from his injuries. no one else was hurt. police think the suv that got hit was an abandoned vehicle. >> fire did an extensive search in the area. doesn't look like there was anybody in or about that area. >> reporter: the delivery truck driver was in a private company carrying fedex mail being transferred to the postal service for its last leg, ultimately destined for san jose, but because the truck crashed during the transfer, here's what happens next. if your package is is

advantageable, they'll deliver as is and it should make it by christmas. if damaged or destroyed, it will go back to fedex so they can deal with their customers and that could take longer. and we just learned within the past hour that the driver was just 26 years old from sacramento. the cause of the crash is still under investigation. they are looking into the possibility that he may have fallen asleep behind the wheel or if icy road conditions played a factor, since it did dip below freezing overnight here in danville. jessica castro, abc 7 news. >> jessica, thank you for the update. that crash did make for tough driving along danville and 680. >> alexis smith is tracking the impact. alexis? >> this happened just after 3:30 this morning. we are still feeling that impact. we have the far right lane blocked, so they were able to get another lane opened in the last couple hours, but look at this long line of red. that's where the right lane is blocked, jammed up to walnut

creek and beyond. that's about ten, 11, 12 miles of solid backup. on top of that we have another sigalert past the 242 interchange, that's since cleared. i want to show you what it k loos like through wawalnut cree. that's building. quick check of the drive times, too. concord to danville, about 48 minutes, at least 30 minutes over what it normally takes you, so avoid that if you can. let's check in on the weather now. >> let's talk about spared air, first one of the winter season. here's a look at san rafael and that's one of those areas that could have some thicker smog as we head into the afternoon hours. right now everybody's moderate to good in the south central bay, but later today the north bay could push up into some of the potentially dangerous soot and fine particle measurements brought about by wood burning, and there's a possibility we could have second and third ones

tuesday and wednesday. let's talk temperatures this morning. it was freezing cold in many areas. palo alto 29, oakland 23, a lot of 20s inland. the warmest spot san francisco, about the only place that had 41. tonight is not quite as cold, but still some frosty spots in our inland valleys. we'll talk about warmer temperatures and a chance of rain friday and christmas coming up. >> let's talk about that, cold temperatures not only means scraping ice off the windshield, it means black ice on some local roads. matt kelly is live in san jose. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, ng a natas natasha. her it is 11:04 a.m. and i checked my abc 7 news app and it shows me the temperature here in san jose right now is 43 degrees, so it may be uncomfortable right now, but this morning it was dangerous. highway 17 is a dangerous highway. add ice during the morning commute and you get this, three separate crashes involving four

cars along lexington reservoir. >> there were black ice, clipped the median trying to avoid another car that already crashed in front of me, and here it is. sitting cold on the side of the road. >> people need to slow down. obviously, the faster you go, the less traction you have when you hit things. >> reporter: everywhere was cold, many places below freezing. cars and rooftops were frosted over in santa clara. my abc 7 news app showed me it was 28 degrees in livermore before the sun arrived. people bundled up to go out for their morning coffee. others bundled up to sleep. >> we keep our house pretty cold, so we all sleep with knit hats on and, you know, sweats, and covered the plants, and wrapped the pipes. >> reporter: landscaping work is a lot more difficult in freezing temperatures. >> pretty frozen. >> reporter: makes your job tougher, right? >> makes it a little bit tougher, but shovels are pretty good. >> reporter: cold weather isn't keeping people from getting in

christmas shopping less than a week away from the big day, but people must prepare before they go out. stay warm, what's the key? >> i think it's the uggs and the hat. it's a bad hair day under this hat, but you have to wear one. >> reporter: check out these beautiful blue skies. the sun is out, but don't put away the jacket just yet. we could expect more temperatures around freezing tomorrow morning. reporting live in san jose, matt keller, abc 7 news. >> thanks so much. we'll switch gears and talk about breaking news. the state department warning all americans in turkey to avoid the embassy after russia's ambassador was shot and killed in that country this morning. the shooting happened as ambassador andrei karlov was speaking at an art gallery in ankara. this is video from a different event. there is video of the actual shooting, but it's very graphic, so we are not airing that video right now. we will show you a photo of the shooter. you can see that he is still holding the gun just a few feet

away from the ambassador's body. and the a.p. has just reported in the last few seconds that the gunman who killed russia's ambassador to turkey was a policeman. he was heard shouting, "do not forget aleppo, do not forget syria." turkish police say the gunman has been neutralized. not clear if that means he's been killed or captured. more local news now. this morning the highway patrol investigating a deadly accident in santa clara. investigators say an elderly woman was pushing a shopping cart when she was hit by a red toyota pickup on lawrence expressway around 6:30 a.m. witnesses say she was crossing against the red light at cabrera avenue. emergency responders performed cpr, but she died at the scene. officers shut down three lanes of traffic to investigate. they say the driver stopped and is cooperating. developing news in san jose, where police are investigating an overnight shooting that left a man dead. it happened at a gas station on winchester boulevard and williamsburg drive before midnight. a man was shot in the head and later died at the hospital.

officers are putting together a suspect's description. they are asking anyone who may have information to call 911. in san francisco, police are looking for the suspect in a shooting in the mission district that left a young man and young woman dead. the two were shot near a homeless encampment at 16th and south van ness last night. officers found a woman already dead, an injured man was taken to the hospital, but he later died there. police say both victims appear to be in their 20s or 30s. one person who lives nearby said the victims had been living on the street and right now police do not have a motive for the shooting. a sigalert remains in effect this morning. last seen last night in antioch, suffers from a medical condition, he was wearing blue jeans, blue polo shirt, black jacket and black hat. police say he drove away in a black ford focus with california license plate 6 mcf 913.

if you see him, please contact antioch police. in the south bay, a sigh of relief for a family in san jose. 83-year-old colin francis grant was found safe this morning. he was reported missing last night after he drove away from his home. no word where he went, but he is okay. right now, electoral college votes are starting to roll in. donald trump is expected to reach the votes necessary to officially clinch the white house. there is a last ditch effort to keep him from office. abc 7 news was outside san francisco city hall last night. protesters are holding out hope enough republican electors will vote for hillary clinton instead of donald trump. the chance of that happening is very slim. abc 7 has reaction now from both sides of the aisle. >> pleased to announce we have four votes for hillary rodham clinton. >> reporter: decision day in america, an unprecedented push for the electoral college not to

vote for the president-elect. >> this message is for you. >> reporter: pleas from celebrities and petitions online with nearly 5 million signatures, democrats hoping for a hail mary as the 538 members meet in every state capital and washington, d.c. it would take at least 37 to deflect from trump and side with hillary clinton for her to take the white house, but the vast majority insist they aren't changing their vote. >> it really shows a lack of understanding of our democracy. it shows an honest lack and disrespect. >> reporter: the president-elect once blasted the electoral college as a disaster for the democracy, but now nearly 3 million votes behind clinton in the popular vote, saluting the system that will put him in the white house. >> i never appreciated it until now, how genius it was, what they had in mind. >> reporter: accusations of russia's hacking in the election, 80 directors asked to be provided with classified

briefings before voting. those requests were denied. janay norman, abc news, washington. coming up on abc 7 news at 5:00 and 6:00, continuing coverage of today's electoral college vote. abc 7 news reporter lonnie navarro is in sacramento. you can also follow her twitter account for updates throughout the day. the countdown to christmas is on. if you're trying to beat the holiday rush, you're certainly not alone today. we'll help you beat the shipping deadlines. how much technology is too much? new advice every parent needs to hear just as your kids kick off your holiday break. and the deep freeze. the dangerous cold gripping dozens of states right now that could affect your travel plans this w

welcome back. one doctor is stirring up a lot of debate about how much time your kids should spend with technology. millions of people have viewed an article by the doctor saying that technology could be as addicting as drugs. in fact, he calls it digital heroin. dr. carter lists smartphones and tablets as too much for children's brains and it can affect normal development. any screen time for young kids can lead to adhd, anxiety, depression, it can even have psychotic effects. kids under 10, he says go cold turkey. >> advice is to hold off as much as possible. it's extremely difficult to treat once that child has fallen into the rabbit hole.

>> the american academy of pediatrics disagrees, saying some screen time is okay for younger kids and some educational programming can even be beneficial. need to drop off a package today? trust me, you're going to find plenty of company. today is the busiest mailing day of the holiday season. post office is expected to see 611 million pieces of mail. that includes more than 30 million packages, which, and this is interesting, is a 12% increase from last year. in order for your cards and packages to reach their destination by christmas, here is your official usps guide. all right, you need to send them by tomorrow if you're using first-class mail service. by wednesday if using priority mail. and if you are really pushing it to the limit, friday is your deadline for priority mail express service, but get ready to pay. >> exactly. if you have plans to travel for the holiday, listen up, because mother nature may have a very different idea. a look at the bitter cold blanketing much of the country that could change your plans to make it home for christmas.

and here's a live look right now at our east bay hills camera at the golden gate

a deep freeze is hovering over millions of americans. now we know at least 19 weather-related deaths have been reported so far, and 19 states are under weather alerts this morning. storms are wreaking havoc this holiday travel week. here's abc's elizabeth hur with more on that. >> reporter: the blistering cold, snow, and ice on the highways, a deadly combination. in baltimore, a stranded driver watched helplessly. >> oh, my god!

>> reporter: as truck after truck crashed right before his eyes on i-95. >> stop! stop! >> reporter: driving straight into that inferno. >> whole 95 is on fire. >> reporter: in maryland alone, at least 20 people were injured and three dead after police responded to 377 accidents in 24 hours. first responders kept busy across the country with pile-ups from new mexico to north carolina. and for millions trying to fly, more headachs with nearly 5,000 flights cancelled since thursday. >> got through security, and my flight got cancelled. >> reporter: which led to passengers sleeping in airports, and in denver, frontier airlines scrambling to deal with these bags piling up at baggage claim. meanwhile, these die hard football fans -- >> we have frozen guacamole and hummus. >> reporter: -- tailgated in sub zero temperatures. in chicago, one of the coldest

games ever with negative 4 wind chills. it was so cold, take a look, a hard hit even sent one player's helmet sticker flying off. in at least a dozen cities, a new record was set this weekend. new record lows from texas, all the way up to the dakotas, and after all this, most of the country is set to bounce right back to normal temperatures by wednesday. abc news, new york. the west coast has made me so soft. >> i know. >> there was a time, i lived in chicago, i lived in green bay, wisconsin. >> now, ear muffs, it is mittens, it is everything. only the 20s and 30s here. >> it is great. my house stinks when it's cold. i was sitting next to the windows and cold air was pouring in. my house is only about 28 years old. >> not literally stinks. >> i was like why would it smell? >> i was going to say the other "s" word, can't say that on tv.

>> it's cold. >> put it that way. fine. need a house with better insulation is what i'm saying. good morning, everybody. here's a look and we just got word from the bay area, air quality management district that yes, spare the airs will be issued for tuesday and wednesday. so three in a row no wood burning. that's nearly 72 hours. frost to sunshine today. check out the high clouds that are dimming the sunshine just a little bit, but not enough to keep us from warming nicely from the overnight lows. this is how it looks from the east bay hills camera. accu weather highlights, high clouds, sunshine today, spare the air. minor warming through thursday, and friday and sunday, i know it's christmas. it's trending weather, but looking like it will come in during the eervening hours on christmas. 46 in san jose, oakland 49, san francisco 50, san mateo, 52. good news, look at the breeds. they are calm to 7 miles per hour.

little faster up in fairfield, but not much of a wind chill until you get to the coast. here's a look at the high clouds. increase just a little bit, especially across the north bay. still about 53 to 56 is going to be our range. here's a look from beautiful right now, light breezes 49 to 53 2:00. already in the mid 40s at 6:00 and upper 30s to mid 40s at 8:00, so it's going to be chilly if you're heading out. issues until 6:00 this evening, wst and north-facing beaches, swells. waves aren't impressive, the swells will be as they come in and they'll have a lot of energy with them. the thundering crash of the waves is awe inspiring. tonight we're still going to have scattered frost. looks like the weather service at least right now is not going to issue another freeze warning, but if you have some of those precious plants, might want to keep them covered tonight through 9:00 tomorrow morning. temperatures in the 50s at the coast, rest of us around 60 to

62 through thursday. first chance of rain on friday. i haven't put a storm impact scale on sunday, but it is trending weather. reggie, natasha? >> rain jacket on christmas. all right. how about this for a christmas present, something we haven't said in 14 years, the oakland raiders are going to the playoffs. >> oh, yeah, raiders came back to beat the chargers yesterday. that win, plus the chiefs losing means the raiders are now playoff bound for the first time since 2002. that snaps the second longest playoff drought in the nfl. oakland's next game is on christmas eve at home against the indianapolis colts. kickoff at 1:05 p.m. okay, if we haven't made this point clear enough yet, it's quite chilly outside today and this wild cat is doing everything he can to keep warm. >> the story of kitty and his

new at 11:00, the santa clara county judge at the center of the brock turner case has been cleared of any wrong doing. the commission of judicial performance just concluded the judge did not engage in judicial misconduct when he sentenced the former stanford swimmer to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a young woman on campus. we are working to get more information and will bring that to you this afternoon right here on abc 7 news. okay, we all have our favorite things, and one little

kitty cat in fiji loves nothing more than this. he loves his lamp to the point where he falls asleep with his little arms wrapped around it. why? apparently because it's warm. >> yeah, just a way of keeping nice and cozy. soaking up the lamp's radiant glow. he is a little quirky, but that's what makes him so special. by the way, if you're wondering what kind of temperature we're talking about, it is 88 degrees in fiji right now. so cold, very relative when it comes to an itty bitty kitten. >> also, what kind of light is that? >> alabaster glowing light, it's gorgeous. >> someone about to do a reading for you or massage therapy. >> gets in the 70s there at night. >> o

>> for the next 30 minutes, you can watch some amazing people try to answer some mind-blowing questions and possibly walk away with $1 million. or you could do the laundry. it's your call. this is "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] ♪ hey, everybody, welcome to the show. you guys ready to play "millionaire" today? [cheers and applause] good 'cause we have a great game going on. our returning contestant's husband made her audition for our show because he's sick and tired of listening to her scream at the tv. from fremont, california, please welcome back pauline weaver. [cheers and applause] >> thank you so much. >> come on over. ♪ i'm glad you got the blue memo. we match. >> yes, absolutely. >> we look great today. >> wdo