we saw and we couldn't believe it. there was i think three feet of water. >> massive flooding. dozens of people had to be rescued after floodwaters rose dramatically in hollister. good afternoon and thank you for joining us, i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm larry beil. at least 50 homes were affected overnight. the flooding happened in hollister, a small down in san bonito county. david louie ijoining us with the very latest. >> reporter: there is no question there are dozens of homes here on lover's lane in a designated flood zone but the boundary ends with that house. but that didn't keep floodwaters from advancing to many other

homes on this street, causing 59 residents to evacuate on their own and 49 others to escape using trucks and boats. sky 7 provides a clear sense of the scope of the flood as the nearby pacheco creek turned into a river, quickly threatening houses. this family was first urged to evacuate and then ordered to get away from the advancing floodwaters. she escaped on someone's back. >> piggyback ride. my little sister got a piggyback right. it wasn't that deep, i had boots on, but it was pretty bad. >> reporter: matt's house flooded damaging the floor, carpeting and walls. a neighbor alerted him at 1:30 in the morning how fast the water was rising. >> it was about two or three feet deep out there moving fast. so it came out there, it came from a break somewhere up there and was coming around the house, came down the road around into

that pasture. >> reporter: pacheco creek was primed to flood. years of drought allowed trees and ground vegetation to take over the dry creek bed, creating log jams when the heavy storms hit. the creek is the dividing line between santa clara and san bonito counties. >> it's dark and it's cold and it's pouring down rain. you don't know where the roads are. you know, if the roads are flooded, then you're in danger. >> reporter: the creek began to recede as the rain stopped, giving residents a chance to clean up. just as sky 7 gives us an overall perspective of the damage, the san bonito search and rescue team flew a drone to survey the rescue zone. the red cross is providing temporary shelter for those residents who cannot yet return to their homes. building inspectors have been making the rounds looking to see how much damage has been done and whether individual residents can safely we occupy their homes. we're live in hollister, david

louie, abc 7 news. it wasn't just people who were stuck in the floodwaters, several large and small animals got stuck as well. abc 7 news reporter jessica castro has that part of the story. >> reporter: a tough scene to watch as rescuers pick up a family from higher ground and drive away in an atv. their dog running alongside for quite some time through several nearby properties and then even into deeper water, waiting to be rescued. other animals captured by sky 7 took a more comalm approach. cattle surrounded by fast-rising waters. then a few moments later, watch as they realize it's not too deep and join the group huddled together in a corner. we counted at least seven there. then a bigger herd of cattle seen not too far away, you see them huddled together as well in a more open area, water reaching halfway up their legs.

horses had to be taken out of their stables also, seen here being loaded on to a large trailer that would ultimately take them to safety. you can see the water knee deep for people helping those animals. and on a more light-hearted note, we found the only animals that don't need to be rescued. if they have survived more than 200 million years, they'll make it through this storm. we've reached out to the hollister animal shelter, and we're told they are working on a plan of what to do with all the rescues. they may need additional help to house the larger animals. we'll keep you posted. i'm jessica castro, abc 7 news. well, the sun came out today. >> finally. >> let's take a live look outside from our east bay hills camera. there are some clouds but you can still see there was sun out there. >> the sun was out for like five seconds, i think, because more rain is coming, course. spencer christian is here with the forecast. >> the sun has been in hiding for a while. here's live doppler 7.

we have little pockets of light rain and showers scattered around the bay area right now in advance of our next approaching storm, which is out at sea at the moment. it's a light storm ranking 1 on our storm impact scale. it will move in tonight and continue through much of the day tomorrow bringing pockets of moderate rain. of course there is the potential for more flooding and it will be slightly breezy with the storm. a flood warning along much of the russian river remains in effect until friday morning at 1:30. there is light rain falling in that area which does not diminish the chance of flooding. down in the south bay flood warnings in effect for a long stretch of highway 101 from coyote southward beyond morgan hill and south of gilroy until 2:45 a.m. and a flood warning along watsonville until 11:15 tomorrow morning. coastal flood advisory is in effect for virtually all of the bay area until noon tomorrow. we have the king tides or unusually high tides adding to that a chance of flooding. high tide will occur at 10:30

tomorrow morning and we'll keep you up to date on all of this. i'll give you a look at the accuweather forecast in a few minutes. in the north bay, the russian river is expected to stay at flood stage until tomorrow. that's having a huge impact on people living there. abc 7 news reporter wayne freedman is live in guerneville. wayne. >> reporter: well, flood stage, flood stage looks like what you see behind me over here. flood stage means water in the streets. guerneville residents say it's not getting any worse right now, but it's bad enough. this is going to take quite a cleanup. in guerneville tonight, what amounts to a variation of an age-old question. why would anyone stand by the water along neeley road. >> to get to the other side. >> reporter: and to wait for a ride from bruce mcdonald who has volunteered himself and a duck boat in place of public transit, serving all needs. >> the best story is i took this woman right over to her cat and the best story was the cat was fine. >> reporter: one woman among 300

residents cut off from the rest of the world by the rising russian river flooded in, they say, not out. there's a distinction. >> flooded in means you're stranded. flooded out means you've got a mess. >> reporter: if the rain holds off, all infrastructure will return wi return. with every inch that the river recedes, life returns back to normal. >> it's only bad if people aren't prepared for it. >> reporter: it is the spirit of guerneville, maybe a little water logged but enduring a much easier bad time than it's dealt with in bad times before. >> does this alarm you? >> no. >> reporter: wayne freedman, abc 7 news. but this might alarm some. incredible damage that can only be appreciated from the air. sky 7 was over a gap of 70 feet near pinole. that's just a gusher right in the middle of the roadway. the road washed out in last night's rain. the road is closed between bear croak and castro ranch roads. there's so much damage that

officials have no idea how long it will take to fix it. a mudslide forced a family of seven out of their home overnight in sunol. the alameda county fire department tweeted out these pictures of kirkare road, which remains closed. niles canyon road will reopen at 5:00 this evening. our camera captured this video of an exva kavart removing mud. look at this, fremont police posted this picture of a car that was abandoned during the flooding. you can see it's covered in mud and debris after that flooding was cleared. trees brought down power lines and there were power outages throughout the oakland hills. a pg&e crew told us they had been working since 7:00 a.m. yesterday trying to keep up with all the outages. despite it being spirit week, things were very quiet at mon tara middle school where the power went out yesterday and classes were cancelled today. >> max, our son, is a sixth

grader here. i woke up to a lot of messages saying the school is still closed. >> reporter: oakland school officials tell us montera was the only school with a storm-related problem. this is orinda where the trees were also coming down from last night's storm. a crew took that tree down, then cleends cleends up all the mud. the soggy unstable soil has caused another huge tree to topple over. an 80-foot eucalyptus crashing down on this house. the woman inside escaped injury. the tree also dragged down a power pole and crushed a parked car nearby. chris sent us this photo. a tree came down on his neighbor's bmw. >> oh, goodness. >> this is near all at that plaza park. the chp tweeted out this photo of a washed-out section.

here's how it looked. i know it's a little unstable here, but you can see the road just give way right there and then splash. morton road is located near the alta exit of interstate 80. the abc 7 news app is also a great resource for closures and everything you need to know about the storms. you can track live doppler 7 any time right under the weather section. just enable push alerts so you can get weather alerts right on your phone. still to come at 4:00, straight from the congressional hearings on capitol hill to the hospital. why senator dianne feinstein is now resting at home. plus -- with donald trump and russia once again making headlines, trump held his first press conference as president-elect. i'm elizabeth hur outside trump tower with all the details, coming up. it's very overwhelming. >> yeah, overwhelming is right. two 10-year-old sisters, actually twins as you see there,

they met face to face for the first time today. their story is coming up. >> wow. look at traffic right now at 4:10. this is 101 in san jose. southbound is all backed up, as usual. northbound moving nicely. 880 over the top is fine. the best news of all, it's not raining. we'll be back with more on abc 7 sure, you could sit around all night waiting for a pizza to be delivered. but wouldn't making it yourself be a lot more fun? it's baking season. warm up with pillsbury. protein. protein proteiny protein. proteiny protein? protein proteiny protein. at least 14 grams of protein. 100 calories.

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an illegal casino, drugs and raw sewage. deputies say they stopped an operation bringing crime as well as unsanitary conditions to east oakland. during the raid today, deputies arrested 20 of the 28 people who were found inside this building

at 69th and bancroft avenue. sky 7 shows the backyard just filled with trash. a 5-year-old was among the people illegally living inside the building in unsanitary conditions. that business had been in operation for a long time. vallejo police are looking for help identifying the gunman in last month's shooting death of a pawn shop owner. investigators have released this surveillance video showing two men considered suspects in the shooting inside pawn advantage. this took place on december the 20th. 49-year-old timothy polt and a dog were killed. a 45-year-old man who worked at the shop was wounded. the state pawn association is offering a $25,000 reward. layoffs are coming to pg&e. today the san francisco-based company said it's cutting back in an effort to save $300 million annually. nearly 400 jobs will be cut, including eight corporate positions. 800 contractors will also lose their jobs. the company also plans to cut costs by renegotiating contracts with vendors. president-elect donald trump held his first news conference

since the election today. this was not your normal presidential news conference. things got a little heated. >> elizabeth hur is live outside trump tower with the details. elizabeth. >> reporter: donald trump today covered a number of topics but his relationship with russia dominated that hour-long press conference with him once again calling the new allegations a political witch hunt. in his first news conference since july and first one as president-elect -- >> it's all fake news. it's phony stuff. it didn't happen. >> reporter: donald trump dismissing and denying the unconfirmed reports that russia has compromising information that could e used against him. >> it was a group of opponents that got together, sick people, and they put that crap together. >> reporter: the allegations are supposedly from anonymous sources inside the kremlin talking to a former british spy. the claims were contained in a dossier democrats and

republicans gave to the fbi. among the claims, during trump's travel to moscow for a miss universe contest in 2013, whether the russians filmed trump with prostitutes to be able to blackmail him if they so wished. >> does anyone really believe that story? i'm also very much of a germophobe, by the way, believe me. >> reporter: from russia to taxes to obamacare to the wall -- >> we're going to build a wall. mexico will reimburse us for the cost of the wall. >> reporter: trump announced his sons will take over his business, maintaining there will be no conflict of interest when he takes office, but russia was the big headline with trump finally admitting president vladimir putin may be behind the dnc hacking. >> he shouldn't have done it. i don't believe he'll be doing it more. >> reporter: trump went on to say his administration is now working on a hacking defense report, which will be released within 90 days after inauguration. russia in the meantime is

denying any involvement. reporting live outside trump tower, i'm elizabeth hur for abc 7 news. the president-elect's news conference prompted some very strong reaction today. >> it did. abc 7 news anchor kristen sze gathered opinions and is here with that part of the story. >> strong reaction on several points, including president-elect donald trump calling cnn fake news and refusing to answer its reporter's questions. >> no, not you. not you. your organization is terrible. >> reporter: just watching him talk and denying the allegations saying that it was false media, it's just hard to watch. >> i think he has tremendous just blatant disrespect for the media and the press and so it's not surprising. >> at the ferry building in san francisco, russian tourist olga agrees with mr. trump that russian president vladimir putin holds nothing over him. >> i think this is newspapers, tv channels, they make story

that trump and putin and putin helps and that's like billboards. >> not true? >> i think it's newspaper. >> there is also reaction over mr. trump slamming u.s. intelligence for leaked unsubstantiated reports that russia may have blackmail material on him. democratic congressman from burbank, adam schiff, tweets comparing the intelligence community to nazi germany, a new low. these men and women who serve our country are patriots. larry and ama. >> all right, kristen, thank you so much. senator dianne feinstein is resting at home after having a pacemaker installed. the 83-year-old issued a statement today saying the procedure went smoothly and was done out of caution. the implantation was performed yesterday after feinstein participated in the confirmation hearing of alabama senator jeff sessions. president-elect trump's nominee for attorney general. feinstein says she'll return to a full schedule soon. spencer is back. i guess we are literally right in the middle of the calm

between the storms. >> we are indeed. a little bit of a teaser today as we had pretty calm weather. a few scattered showers but another storm is on the way. here's live doppler 7. at the moment we have scattered pockets of light rain and showers. you can also see areas of rain getting better organized offshore so we have that next storm arriving tonight. here's a current view from our -- a live view looking at the western sky which is bright, but still mostly cloudy. it's 54 degrees right now in san francisco, 51 in oakland. low to mid-50s in mountain view, san jose and gilroy and 50 at half moon bay. this is the view from our sutro tower camera looking northward at mostly cloudy skies. it's cool up north, a temperature reading at 48 at this hour at santa rosa but low to mid-50s at napa, novato, fairfield, concord and livermore. a view from mt. tam, we don't see the turbulent conditions we've seen the last few days. these are our forecast features. we expect moderate rainfall overnight.

slightly cooler conditions tomorrow. and dry days lie ahead, beginning on friday. the approaching storm ranks 1 on our storm impact scale. it will arrive tonight, continue into tomorrow. arrive late tonight, i should point out, with pockets of moderate rainfall. there is potential of flooding with all the rainfall we've had. it will be slightly breezy tomorrow but we don't expect powerful wind gusts. it's flooding already, much of the russian river near guerneville, a flood warning is in effect on the russian river i should say until early friday morning. near guerneville, the river is expected to crest at 6:00 this evening at nearly 38 feet, which is six feet above flood stage. of course significant flooding is expected from those conditions. the river will drop below flood stage at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. here's our forecast appearmatni. we'll see the rain move in rather quickly. by 5:00 tomorrow morning, a

messy start as we have pockets of moderate to heavy rainfall over much of the bay area and even some snow in the higher elevations around mt. hamilton as cold air will accompany this storm. late in the day tomorrow, late afternoon to early evening we'll see the storm breaking up and winding down. we'll be left with rainfall totals ranging from only a few hundredths of an inch to 0.4 of an inch to over 0.6 of an inch in livermore, san jose and mountain view. so on we go to lows tonight. generally in the low to mid-40s, a little chillier in the north bay valleys where lows will drop into the mid to upper 30s. tomorrow's highs will be in a small range, low to mid-50s. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. more wet weather tomorrow. a storm ranking 1 on the storm impact scale. this will be mainly an overnight and morning event. drying begins on friday. we could have a string of five dry days through next tuesday

before our next storm arrives. it looks like that will be wednesday of next week and it ranks only 1 on the impact scale. >> we'll need all five days. >> give the rivers a chance to recede a bit, the waters to recede and possibly the flooding will be over by then. >> let's hope. thank you, spencer. coming up, a dream come true, so says steph curry. not sure if he was serious about that. how the harlem globetrotters helped him out. taking a live look at the traffic over the san mateo bridge. it's moving in both directions, although better on the right-hand side. that is your westbound traffic heading to the peninsula. your eastbound traffic on the left. stay w

the surviving member of one of the biggest selling pop duos of the 1970s wants to get paid. grammy winner richard carpenter filed suit today against universal music and a & m records. he claims he and his late sister's estate are owed $2 million in royalties from the licensing of their songs from

online services like itunes. karen carpenter died in 1983. the duo sold more than 100 million records featuring hits like "close to you" and "we've only just begun." as you know, steph curry can do just about anything with a basketball. even more so now thanks to some help from the harlem globetrotters. he was hanging out with handles franklin and scooter christianson. this is video from the trotters. they helped him spin a basketball. something steph says he can't do. i can't believe he can't do it. and then he called it a dream come true. the globetrotters will play eight games in the bay area starting this weekend. a california lawmaker wants to name a section of a los angeles freeway in honor of vin scully. "the l.a. times" reports assemblyman jimjimmy gomez introduced the measure.

last session it died without a committee hearing. scully died after broadcasting dodgers game for an amazing 67 seasons. coming up on abc 7 news at 4:00, a mudslide is blocking roads in the south bay. how long it will take to get this cleaned up. flooded roads, flooded streams as well. the water hasn't stopped rising yet. we'll have the latest from the north bay. plus, what does all this water mean for bay area reservoirs? just how full are they? coming up.

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and here are the stories making headlines at 4:30 as the waters of pacheco creek recede, residents of lovers lane and hollister are beginning to assess the damage that flooding left behind. 108 people were forced out early this morning, 49 had to be rescued by a boat or a truck. in orinda, as eric thomas tweets, crews are working to clean up a sinkhole at miner road that was caused by a sewer line break under the street. we'll have more coming up at 5:00. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony is in contra costa county and spoke with one business owner who said he hasn't seen it like this in more than a decade.

and in the south bay, an overflowing dam and a rushing creek in los gatos became an instant attraction for residents. abc 7 news reporter vic lee live in los gatos with the story. vic? >> reporter: larry, this is los gatos creek. people here tell us it's normally calm and gentle. but as you can see, this is the epitome of what you call a raging river, thanks to the lexington reservoir. the lexington reservoir peaked at midnight at 104% of capacity. in layperson's terms, that's about a foot and a half above the spillway. so where did all that excess water go? here, to los gatos creek, where it turned into a fast-moving, rising waterway. >> usually it's like a really easy slow bubbling creek and it looks like a class 3 rapid now. >> reporter: from the creek, the

water swirled and heaved violently, lapping some 2 feet over. >> it's just amazing. it's something to take in. >> reporter: the sight of the overflow drew long-time los gatos residents like rosie ramos. >> it's like five, ten feet, it's pretty high, the splashing from the dam. >> reporter: tom berkeley has lived here nearly six decades. >> have you ever seen anything like this? >> not even close. >> reporter: it flooded large parts of the park, enough to shut it down. that was bad for hikers and bicyclists like brian hughes. >> lots of water. it's the usual low places all blocked off and you can't get through. >> reporter: if this wasn't enough, university avenue alongside the creek was blocked by a mudslide. for many in sleepily well-healed lo los gatos, a ranliging creek an mudslide made for an exciting

day. >> reservoirs all over are filling up quickly thanks to this rain. sky 7 captures water being released from anderson reservoir. right now anderson is at 54% of capacity, but officials need to release water because of seismic restrictions. seven of the county's ten reservoirs are at or above capacity. here's how northern california's large's reservoirs are doing. lake shasta is 81% of capacity and 126% of average. folsom lake is 69% full, 139% of average and lake orville is 74% full and 117% of average. people in the north bay, they're getting ready for another round. >> yes, the san anselmo creek has been rising and continues to rise. >> abc 7 news reporter alyssa harrington is live at the preparations for possibly, unfortunately, more flooding. >> reporter: we already felt a few raindrops and merchants are prepared for another round of

moisture. we've seen sandbags stacked, flood gates are up and this little flower shop boarded up its front entrance with a note for mother nature that says "please go easy on us." >> it was pretty harrowing. we heard evacuation notices all night. we saw the power go out. >> reporter: chris allen lives down the street from this, a landslide in fairfax that trapped people inside this home last night before they were rescued. allen says his wife moved their valuables up high, in case there's more flooding. >> where we live right on the river, everyone has got sandbags. i think everyone is vigilant, but i certainly think that another rain like we had for 24 hours yesterday could be catastrophic for us. >> reporter: the rain took a break most of the day, but marin county public works still had a lot to clean up. sokesperson julian kalen explained sunday's storm plus yesterday's storm plus high

tides saturated the soil. >> so you have these big trees and the soil gets soft. high winds, 50, 60 miles an hour, starts knocking over trees left and right, falling into roadways, falling into houses, that kind of stuff. >> reporter: an enormous redwood tree toppled over blocking lanes of traffic. flooding closed highway 37 at hannah ranch road in novato. at one point the water rose three feet. a few drivers got into this trouble and had to abandon their vehicles right in the middle of highway 37. the floodwater here got so high it nearly covered their tires. caltrans and the california highway patrol are waiting for the water to recede before they reopen the highway. alyssa harrington, abc 7 news. the city of benicia issued a state of emergency because of the storm. city officials say there's extreme flooding, downed trees, residential and commercial damage and a lot of street closures, flooding the industrial area of park and

channel roads. there's a lot of splashing going on in mill valley this morning. not because of the rain, though. abc 7 news was on shoreline highway as the king tide came in once again and cars made it through. they braved the conditions and got through the flooded roadway. caltrans closed off the road as the king tide reached its peak. in san francisco, we're seeing yet another day of flooding from the high tides. abc 7 news was along embarcadero where the eastbound far right lane remains closed because of all the water. yosemite national park is back open. all overnight lodging, food services and campgrounds reopened today after being closed the past several days. this is video from yesterday. traffic is also flowing smoothly again on highway 140, also known as el portal road. however, officials are telling visitors not to stop along the road. it may close again if driving conditions become hazardous. >> this is video from a caltrans

camera near donner summit about a half hour ago. portland, oregon, residents are dealing with more snow than they have seen in years. more than 12 inches alone fell last night and continued to fall most of today. look at this. this is video from overnight. it essentially shut down neighborhoods all around the city. it's pretty, the trees are pretty, but it's not much fun. all the snow created gridlock on local roadways. this morning freeways were littered with abandoned cars and trucks. people couldn't go anywhere. still to come at 4:00, a touching reunion. >> it's really overwhelming. >> they are so sweet. twins separated at birth adopted by different parents met face to face today for the first time. i'm michael finney. ask finney is coming up. i'm taking your questions on twitter and facebook. just post them with a #askfinney and i'll answer them right here in just a little bit. i'm spencer christian. our emeryville camera picked up a few raindrops a few minutes a few raindrops a few minutes ago and more rain is on the wa

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now to an incredible story. what if one day you woke up and found out you had a twin. two 10-year-old girls got the surprise of a lifetime when they discovered they had a twin sister living across the country. and today, they met face to face for the first time. jessica castro with abc 7 mornings has the story. >> reporter: identical twins audrey and gracie meeting each other for the first time.

the emotional reunion was shown live on abc's "good morning america." a moment they'll never forget, both girls overcome with happiness. >> excited, happy. >> it's very overwhelming. >> the girls both have heart conditions. they were adopted from china and live now in wisconsin and washington. two states with two separate families. they only recently learned of each other when one twin's mom decided to look into her daughter's family history. with the help of a researcher she found a photo showing both girls with their foster mom. >> it was unbelievable. i'm like how -- i mean this is stuff you read about. how could it really be that there are two of them. as soon as i had that picture, i was desperate to find out who that other child was. >> reporter: and she did, with the help of facebook. >> it was so crazy to be looking at what looked like gracie but knowing that it wasn't gracie.

yeah, it's just surreal. it's hard to process that information. >> reporter: both girls are now 10 years old, and before today's big moment, they had used facetime to see and talk with each other. these next few days, though, they'll get to hang out and explore new york city together in person. very special. i'm jessica castro, abc 7 news. >> wow. >> that is amazing. >> that's so fascinating. i'd be really curious, how similar are they. >> their habits. >> what are they like, what are they not like and all those things. what's your favorite color, this, your favorite food, all that sort of stuff. nature versus nurture. >> absolutely. >> and now they're going to make all these new memories together. that's fantastic. >> can you imagine two spencer christians? >> no. >> i have no twin for which the world is thankful. here's live doppler 7. we have little pockets of twin showers moving into parts of the north bay right now. mainly light rainfall, may get a little heavier overnight. how much rain have we had since

sunday, though? some in locations like ben lomond, almost 14 inches. up the amount st. helena almost a foot as well. over 3 inches at san francisco and oakland, so we've had a soaking. our percent of normal rainfall for the season to date, most bay area locations are over 100% of the average rainfall totals for this point in the season. santa rosa closer to 200% of average. the approaching storm is coming in tonight and will continue to tomorrow. it ranks 1 on the storm impact scale. there is the potential for more flooding as the ground is already saturated. and more snow will come to the sier sierra. a winter storm warning is in effect until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. we expect 12 to 18 inches of snow. snow levels will come down to 3,000 feet. here's the accuweather seven-day

forecast. tomorrow's storm ranks 1 and then we have five dry days, friday through next tuesday, before the arrival of our next storm which will be wednesday of next week. by the way, it ranks 1 on the storm impact scale. >> thanks, spencer. still ahead on abc 7 news at 4:00, more political drama as congress grills two of the president-elect's more controversial cab kneinet picks today. i'm michael finney. what can you do if your cable provider changes your contract without your approval? what are your

congress is grilling some of the president-elect's cabinet nominees. among them two of donald trump's more controversial picks. lana zak is at the capitol following the drama. >> reporter: it was a rare rebuke. >> i know it is exceptional for a senator to testify against another senator. >> reporter: but new jersey democrat cory booker said he followed his conscience in testifying against fellow senator jeff sessions for attorney general. >> his record indicates that we cannot count on him to support state and national efforts towards bringing justice to the justice system. >> reporter: and senator booker was not alone, joined in

opposition by civil rights icon, congressman john lewis. >> it doesn't matter how senator sessions may smile, we need someone who's going to stand up, speak up and speak out for the people that need help. >> reporter: but sessions had his defenders too. >> our expectation found that several aspects of senator sessions' record unfortunately have been mischaracterized. >> reporter: meanwhile former exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson, donald trump's choice for secretary of state, was grilled with some of the toughest questions coming from republicans. >> is vladimir putin a war criminal? >> i would not use that term. >> reporter: the performance of mr. trump's nominees in these contentious hearings won praise from the president-elect. >> it's very interesting how it's going, but it's -- i think they're doing very, very well. >> reporter: and in contrast to the protesters opposing tillerson and sessions, there has been far less drama for the transportation nominee, elaine chao. she's expected to be easily

confirmed. a former secretary of labor and wife to republican majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> and i'll be working to lock in the majority leader's support tonight over dinner. >> reporter: tillerson faced the harsher grilling today. in one testy exchange with senator tim kaine, he was asked if he lacked the knowledge or refused to answer on climate change. tillerson responded a little of both. lana zak, abc news. time for ask finney. michael finney is here answering questions sent to him via facebook, twitter and e-mail. the first comes from sima who wants to know our cable and internet provider changed the terms of our contract without our knowledge. how do we make this right? >> look, generally you can't change a contract without everyone agreeing to it, that's the whole idea behind contract law. however, i've got to tell you big businesses do know all the loopholes so maybe there's something there, but i doubt it. i've got a two-step plan i want you to follow. i want you to go ahead and call

your company and say, hey, look, this isn't what i agreed to. when did you change this and why do you think it's legal? see what they say. if they back off, you're set. if they don't back off, call my hotline and i'll give them a call and we'll find out what happened. >> when is the best time to start saving for college and can i recommend yesterday? >> larry, the consumer guy, is absolutely correct on this. you want to start saving yesterday. look, it's all but impossible to save enough for college now anyway. it's so expensive and moving so much faster than inflation, so you want to start right now. the only deal out there is a 529 plan where anybody can contributing money to your plan that's for you. and the savings is you don't pay any taxes on the money that's earned. so, for instance, if you earn a bnch of money in the stock market, you don't pay taxes on that money earned. this is also a good thing because you can tell your grand

parent, aunts, uncle, anybody else, rather than give me a gift i won't care about in a few weeks, why don't you put money in my account. >> have you met my family? actually you have. >> lisa asked i just received a lump sum payment from social security for my disability benefits. what tax forms do i need to fill out so i can break it down per year? >> we run into this occasionally. it's easier than you think it's going to be, but boy, there's a lot of steps. you need form 915. you can get that online. just go to irs.gov, put in form 915. now that you have the form, i want you to be super, super paranoid. you may not want to go this alone. if you're low income, call my hotline, we'll hook you up with somebody that will help you out. if you're not low income, talk to your accountant or other tax professional. the deadline to enroll in cover california is at the end of this month so agents will be here to answer your cover california questions on friday to get you started and enrolled. they'll be here in our 7 on your

side office. my phone lines will be open from 4:00 until 8:00 p.m. you'll also be able to get your questions answered on facebook and twitter using #askfinney. look, the deal is still going now, get in on it. >> thank you, michael. north carolina -- northern california's only bristol farms grocery store is closing. an employee tells abc 7 news the location on the lower level of the westfield mall will be closing on january the 27th. the southern california based chain known for its cookies opened in san francisco in 2006. state records show 82 employees are getting laid off. restaurant meals are a treat for kids, but just how nutritious is that food on the children's menu? here's karen travers. >> reporter: the kid's meal, once associated with hot dogs and chicken fingers. but lately restaurants have been trying to shake the perception that this segment of their offerings is not health conscious. in 2011, the national restaurant

association even launching an initiative called kids live well. a voluntary program in which restaurant chains pledged to offer more nutritious food items for children. but how successful has it really been? the answer, perhaps not very. harvard researchers looked at 45 top restaurant chains. comparing those who participated in the kids live well program with those who did not. what they found, none of the restaurants, regardless of their participation in the program, had much improvement in the nutrition of their offerings for kids. that means making sure they choose fruits and water over fries and soda. and pick foods with low calorie, low sodium and low fat content. with a little extra attention, you can ensure that kid's meal is a healthy one too. with this medical minute, i'm karen travers. taco bell is introducing an unusual new item on its menu. it's a taco that's made with a shell made entirely out of

chicken. >> what? >> yeah. you heard that chicken chalupa. i see the picture and it makes a little more sense. it tested well in bakersfield and kansas city, missouri. it will be on the menu january the 26th. if it's fried, people often like it. >> yes, they do. all right, abc 7 news at 4:00 continues. the next big thing could be here. >> he can speak, he can move. >> the new class of hardware makers showing off their creations in san francisco. kristen is here with a look at what's coming up at 5:00. thanks. coming up, our storm coverage continues. marin county is cleaning up after a tree came crashing down onto sir francis drake boulevard. contra costa county is cleaning up after a sinkhole opened up. also ahead, why the irs is delaying tax refunds for millions of people. and the animals taking advantage of some extra snow. those stories and more when dan

and i

sure, you could sit around all night waiting for a pizza to be delivered. but wouldn't making it yourself be a lot more fun? it's baking season.

warm up with pillsbury. protein. protein proteiny protein. proteiny protein? protein proteiny protein. at least 14 grams of protein. 100 calories. new greek 100 protein. from yoplait. from big robots to teeny tiny medical devices, a new class of hardware makers is graduating from the hacks accelerator program in san francisco. >> jonathan bloom was there alongside potential investors as they showed off their creations. >> reporter: if you own a skyscraper, you probably have $80,000 to spare for this robot. >> i used suction cups on the

window. >> reporter: from washing windows to teaching your child a second language. >> he can speak. >> reporter: robots are always a staple at hacks, the san francisco program that sends entrepreneurs to china. >> over there is really a school to learn how to build products. >> reporter: for this class health is a focus like this for back injuries. >> it decompresses the spine to relieve the pain. >> reporter: and a mouse who can tell if you're dehydrated. call this fitbit for feelings. it tracks your emotions. >> you probably notice how you sweat when you are stressed or your heart is pounding faster when you're angry. >> reporter: this sensor tracks your sleep from the bedroom wall. >> we look at the displacement of our chest. >> reporter: and programs this therapeutic light you can put at the office. >> if you get a bad night's sleep, you get customized light therapy based on how you sleep. >> reporter: these founders are at the start of a race that's much more a marathon than a sprint. the challenge is building a business. >> you have to become a great designer as well as a branding

expert to some extent. >> reporter: hacks often supports entrepreneurs for several years after launch. >> we have a store out there which helps us test the retail environment. >> reporter: they help find partners like michelin for this breathalyzer. >> you can get the blood test right away and do the transfusion on the emergency vehicle. >> reporter: some products sell themselves. >> it self cleans. you only step in once every 14 days. >> reporter: when reporters get hungry, frobot serves up frozen yogurt. >> how is it? >> the best frozen yogurt you've had in your life. >> reporter: in san francisco, jonathan bloom, abc 7 news. >> that doesn't look so bad. >> all right. well, a talent for knitting has turned a man into an entrant internet sensation. >> he posts pictures of him wearing the sweaters in places like stonehenge. golden gate bridge is fantastic. some are random places are like

power lines and a dog's favorite napping spot. >> very interesting. thanks for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. >> abc 7 news at 5:00 starts right now. the road just fell. anybody could have been on that road. >> so true. fortunately, though, no one was. washed away from all the storms, people who live in this contra costa county town can't believe it. flooded fields and inundated homes. a community cleaning up south of san jose. and bringing in the jaws of steel to fix a sinkhole that stopped traffic in the east bay. bay area dams are spilling over. the drought feels like a long time ago as ravaged reservoirs are revived from all our rain. that's the good news. >> yeah, the bad news, though, trees are still falling. this one crashed onto sir francis drake boulevard.

>> over 5,000 pg&e customers in the bay area are without power. abc 7 news found this crew working in the oakland hills. they told us they had been on the clock chasing outages since 7:00 a.m. yesterday. >> take a look at this scene from sky 7 near pinole. flood waters washed away the pavement leaving a gap almost as long as two big rigs. can you believe that? good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us. let's show you exactly where this is happening at alhambra valley road. >> laura anthony is there live for us with the story and the amazing pictures. >> reporter: dan, we have seen a lot of storm damage these past couple of days but nothing tops this. check this out. this is alhambra valley road near castro ranch. the swollen pinole creek, which is what we're showing you, washed away this roadway in the middle of the night. fortunately, nobody was driving on this road when it