morning. isn't that a gorgeous transition. colorful already from mount tamalpais. so let's throw some numbers up there. 32 in our deepest valleys to 49 in san francisco through 7:00. 59 to 61 at noon. 57 to 65 at 4:00. and still around 50 to 55 at 7:00. so no real worries here. let's find out about your commute with alexis. well, depends on where you are this morning. we haven't had too many major issues, seeing our typical slowdown here through the bay bridge toll plaza so those metering lights on since about 5:26 this morning and i want to do a quick check of drive times too. doing great through walnut creek, southbound 680, westbound 24, wide open. westbound 580, tracy to dublin, a little stop and go traffic there at 48 minutes. but we're recovering. westbound 80 through the hercules stretch and then a problem in the south bay too. i'll talk about those coming up next. developing news this morning, democrats are calling for the resignation of attorney general jeff sessions. >> this comes after the justice department confirmed sessions had contact with russia's ambassador to the u.s. on two occasions. sessions did not disclose that

when he was questioned under oath during his confirmation hearing. his spoerks person is saying there was absolutely nothing misleading about his answer. she says he was asked about communications between russia and the trump campaign and not about meetings he had as a senator and a member of the armed services committee. take a look for yourself. >> if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? >> senator franken, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and i did not have communications with the russians. and i'm unable to comment on it. >> the attorney general quickly responded late last night saying in a statement, "i never met with any russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. i have no idea what this allegation is about. it is false." well, democratic leaders are tweeting their thoughts.

california lieutenant governor gavin newsom writes, sessions, our ag when we're supposed to trust with ultimate prosecutorial power lied under oath to congress. resign. happening today, a top secret version of a bill will be available to a house committee. bloomberg news reports the document is being treated like a highly classifieddom. the unusual ves is a reflection of the sensitivity and the staksz of the gop effort to rewrite the affordable care act. members and staffers on the house energy and commerce panel will get a chance to see it today. it can only be viewed in one room. no one will be able to take copies with them. so what do you think of this. marin is looking at letting buses use freeway shoulders during the commute. >> this is a controversial idea that's actually been done in other parts of the country. abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield here to explain how the would work. >> reporter: hi, good morning, reggie. some commuters we've talked to this morning here at this park and ride bus stop have some questions about this.

here's the problem for buses. they are often in the very far car pool lane on very congested highway 101, and then they have to cut all the way over to the other side to get to the bus stop and that just clogs the lanes even more for other drivers. so the idea is to let the buses and only the buses use the shoulders. but marin commuters are poking holes in the idea this morning. >> i guess it could be a possibility, but i think that they're currently using the side of the roads for when cars and things like that get in accidents and for when people need to pull over and i don't know if that's quite going to work out with the buses coming through. >> reporter: good question. according to the marin county "independent journal," the buses would be required to drive slowly, about 35 miles per hour as one suggested speed or not more than 15 miles per hour than the flow of traffic. the hope, of course, is that this would be faster than what they do now and would attract

ridership. if they decide to try this, they have not set a date, on when they would launch a pilot program. reporting live in novato, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. amy, thaupg. >> now, i'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole concept but alexis is here with that. she's our traffic expert and you know the system from seattle. >> they tried this in seattle in october 2015. it's still in place in one of their main interstates there. and a lot of similar rules, but just -- its success depends on who you ask. on one hand, it's a low cost way to fully use rise the capacity of the road. on the other hand, it's an accident waiting to happen, like we just heard someone say there with amy hollyfield, so someone pulled over, you've got a bus flying up behind you on the shoulder, that could be dangerous. there is one main difference that i want to mention. in marin county, it sounds like they're going have to have to enter on the right-hand side on the shoulder to get all the way over to the left-hand side and use the hov lane. in sooem seattle, it was only for buses entering on the right-hand side and exiting on the right-hand exit so they

stayed on the right-hand side the entire time so this could cause a little more congestion. >> thank you for weighing in. appreciate it. for the first time, we're hearing from an owner of a house damaged by that plane headed for san jose. boy, did he narrowly miss even more tragedy. the cessna crashed into the riverside home on monday, killing three of the five people on board. dave swin infer says that he was sitting in his living room when part of the plane crashed through a wall. he ran out. the house caught fire. and flames destroyed just about everything he owned, including a very special photo album of his late brother. >> even though it's been 47 years, i still miss him and it's hard. >> two victims on that plane were nori and danny of san jose. nori was flying the plane home from a cheerleading competition. 22-year-old adine farelas of san jose also died. two women survived and are recovering now in the hospital.

bad weather equipment problems, runway traffic, these are all things that can ground a plane, right? but have you ever heard of a mouse delaying a flight? well, one did to this flight from london to sfo. someone on board this british airways flight spotted a mouse just as it was about to take off yesterday. the crew couldn't find it so everyone had to get off the plane and wait for another one to get there. the plane finally landed at sfo last night four hours late. one frustrated passenger had these words for other travelers. >> i think if you ever see a mouse, you don't tell anybody. that would be my advice, unless you have five hours to kill. >> certainly understandable for vicky but experts say mice are actually a big concern because they can gnaw through many things, like critical wiring and instruments. new details a jury has awarded $4 million to the family of a woman who died after being hit by a golden gate bus. she was struck in november 2014. she was jogging. the bus was making a left-hand

turn on a green light when it hit her. the jury decided the driver was negligent after attorneys revealed that he was going faster than the transit agency's policies allowed. this story is just coming into our live desk. new unemployment numbers just released show 223,000 americans applied for benefits last week. that is the lowest number since the year 1973 and on a very related note, just minutes ago, home depot announced it's bringing 1800 new jobs to the bay area. the company is ramping up for spring. they need 800,000 people nationwide. the jobs include every position from cashiers to operations and even online order fulfillment. home depot says it takes about 15 minutes to apply online. pretty quick. salmon fishing season in the bay area is threatened this morning and this winter's storms are being blamed for a major problem. also former president george w. bush is revealing his

w. bush is revealing his thoughts on

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i found the freezing temperatures in san ramon. it's 32 degrees there.

we're pretty close in other areas like dublin, pleasanton, livermore at 34, little warmer in walnut creek. we've got 42 right now in oakland, hayward h 43, 46 in san francisco and about 38 in napa. here's a look at today's temperatures. if you're going to be out and about, watch out for the pollen. it's only moderate and it's ash, cedar, juniper, and pine. going to be chilly again tonight. a few areas in the 30s. livermore, napa, santa rosa, the san ramon valley, everybody else in the low to mid 40s. i'll tell you about the rain next. and taking a look at a couple of our spots that are pretty slow here in morning, only a couple issues but we're in recovery mode still here. westbound 80 and that was due to an earlier crash right around pinole valley road so you're down to 17 or 18 miles per hour. taking you to the south bay, we have this vehicle that went off the roadway that's in the ditch now. westbound 237 just before you

get to north 1st street the right lane is blocked by the fire department and you are jammed solid from 880. we'll take a look at drive times coming up. state official wildlife officials say next month's salmon season is going to be limited compared to last year for bay area fishermen. officials say the population of adult salmon from last fall's run was lower than usual. it's a fallout from five years of drought. the chinook adults that are going to spawn grew up during those drought years. next month the state fish and wildlife department will announce when the spring season will open as well as catch illinoiss. happening today, a major deadline for undocumented students in california who want financial aid. and meet candy, cursing. and meet candy, cursing. would you be before fibromyalgia, i was active. i was energetic. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain.

he also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica.

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lies!! its... all ...lies!! why didnt you tell me?!!!! sorry jack, i thought you knew. try my new grilled french toast plate with syrup and hickory smoked bacon. the newest addition to my brunchfast menu. hit me with this, youll feel better. . we're back. former president george bush is back in the national spotlight this week. he's touring the country promoting a new book. one stop yesterday took him to simi valley in southern california. in addition to talking about the book, he pushed back against claims that his recent remarks about the media were actually criticisms of president trump. >> power is very addictive, and it's corrosive if it becomes central to your life. and therefore, there needs to be an independent group of people who hold you to account.

and so i answered that question, and of course the headlines were, bush criticizes trump and so therefore i needed to say, there should be a free and independent pres, but it ought to be accurate. >> former president bush said he decided that once he left office, he wouldn't second guess his successor and the same, he says, holds true for president trump. okay, surely you remember that awful situation where the former vice president joe biden lost his son. well, now people are talking this morning about the fact that his other son is now in a relationship with beau's widow. hunter biden confirmed the relationship yesterday. the announcement comes after he split with his wife. joe biden says he and his wife jill have given their blessing to this new relationship. beau biden died in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer. lent is here. for many christians, it's a

period of fasting and reflection. >> most people give up things like alcohol, soda, sweets, but this year, an archbishop started a campaign called #i phone fast. he's trying to get parishioners to give up their phones for 40 days >> he's asking for the whole 40 days, there's no way. >> i'll give up social media but i can't give up my phone completely. >> there's a great way to reconnect to my faith and then take away my time from always technology. >> the archbishop says if 40 days is not possible, try to disconnect for least good friday. >> how do you do your job? just about everyone's job is connected to their phone. maybe we don't got to work on fridays. how about that? no traffic tweets, i'm not going to be able to send you any information. i guess we can always use the desktop for that too. here's a look at a problem if you're coming through the castro valley area. northbound 238 we've had a crash for about 30 minutes now.

they just pushed this off to the shoulder but you've got 3 to 4 mile backup there approaching so that will take a while to unwind. also still trying to recover from an earlier crash and that drive time reflecting that so between highway 4 and the maze, you're up to 32 minutes. about 19 across the bay bridge and southbound 101 you are in the green at 10 minutes. let's check in with meteorologist mike nicco and another gorgeous day ahead. temperatures warmest today. but i'm already looking ahead to the weekend because i know you got plans, you want to get outside. let me show you what's coming our way. here's this area of low pressure. swirl up in the gulf of alaska. because it's um there, it's going to have limited moisture and be exceptionally cold with snow levels down to 2500 feet saturday night into sunday so we could wake up to a dusting in higher elevations. 44 in -- clear not quite sunny because the sun's not up on the peninsula. bright sky today, warm in afternoon, cold front brings us a chance of rain and snow. still a 1 on our storm impact

scale and it's going to be light to moderate rain but it's a fast moving system so it's not going to cause any flooding and the winds aren't going to be too damaging other than pulling some of the new buds off the trees. here's a look at the rain saturday. if you're not north bay, you're going to get rain for the better part of the day. by 5:00 or 6:00, some of that rain moves into the rest of our neighborhoods and by 2:00, it's exiting the south bay and then we'll be left over with scattered showers for sunday. rainfall amounts again about 1/10 inch in the south bay 3/4 in the north bay. through monday, 12:00 when the clock strikes midnight, we've a. 1 to 2 feet that means all the ways to get up to tahoe are going to be snow packed by sunday evening. once you get past that, nice there. we'll have rain saturday afternoon, showers sunday, and then the 60s return for tuesday ands we. let's talk about travel up to the tahoe area right now with alexis. yeah, it is the toyota tahoe

report and i think i'll translate mike's forecast for you. you need to come out early and head up there today because we've got great driving conditions. squaw alpine, 130 to to inc base and no chains for 39 or 50 but i have that in the yellow for driving conditions because as you probably know, 50 down to one lane in each direction right around bridle veil falls and basically the road just falling apart in that area. that's the reason for those restrictions. probably going to have a 15-20 minute delay even at this early hour. no chains for interstate 80. all the resorts at this point have very healthy base totals and our drive times around 4 hours if you're leaving now at this early hour. if you're leaving later this afternoon, those could go up just a little bit. if you're lan planning a summer vacation, flights probably on your to do list. next the best time to get a good price on those plane tickets. and could this one day replace security guards? a palo alto company plans to use a robot to revolutionize the

security industry. a look outside at waln creek at 6:20 on this thursday morning. you can see what's happening with weather and traffic on your screen and we'll be right back.

could security guards be replaced eventually by robots? palo alto based cobalt roeblts just released this video showing off their invitatioention. it even listens for breaking glass. no word yet when these could actually be hitting an office building near you. interesting. test time to askfinney and this morning, veronica has a question about traveling. she spoke to us at our event in daly city. "7 on your side's" michael finney has her answer. >> i would like to ask when is the best day to buy a cheap ticket to >> hey, veronica, there's a lot controversy surrounding this. people talk about this a lot, at least to me. cheapest tickets are bought 60

to 45 days before the flight. the best time to buy is tuesday around noon our time. however, those are all just averages. it's best to download an app like, perhaps, hopper, that keeps track of flights that you want and then lets you know when prices rise and fall. veronica, thanks for the question. >> if you have a question for michael finney, record it on your smartphone or tablet, share it on social media with #askfinney. or go to abc7news.com/askfinney. you can see your question answered right here on abc7 mornings. the golden gate bridge district says a suicide barrier on the bridge could be complete by january of 2021. the bay area is expected cost more than $200 million. the project involves installing the equivalent of seven football fields of netting along the bridge. the net will be made of stainless steel, 20 feet below and 20 feet out from the side of the span. frequent brisk walks may help those with early alzheimer's. researchers out of the university of kansas looked at two groups, one group walked

briskly for at least 150 minutes each week. the other did stretching and toning instead. for that group, the stretching did not slow the progression of the mental as peck of the disease much if at all. but according to cognitive tests, some of the walkers were thinking and remembering much better. the results were not universal. brain scans revealed that physically facili physically fit older people tend so to have more volume in their brain's hippocampus. why the relief may only be temporary. plus snapchat officially hits the stock market today. and it's just not snap that we're watching. wall street opening at a record high. will it soar up again? i'll have a live look at the big board at the live desk when the markets open. let's talk temperatures. hi, everybody. welcome to the warmest day this week. we're no longer camped below average by it's going to be a one and done as temperatures one and done as temperatures will soar 1 to 3 degrees above

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it is 6:30 and it is snapchat's big day. the company behind the social media app going public. how a bay area high school could make millions off of that ipo. it certainly is their big day and look at this.

they are on wall street right now for that opening bell. president trump's speech this week being credited with a record breaking surge on wall street. will that trend continue today as we take a life look at them ringing that in. plus helping bring down your what bay area lawmaker is now demanding from pg&e. you shouldn't have to really turn up the heat today. at least once the sun comes up, right? on this thursday, march 2. >> he went, we're i would too. >> i would. >> i don't even know what's going on but i'm so happy. good for them and the kids that invested in it too. that high school. but yes, let's get back to the weather. i just thought it was funny. sunshine. i've got sunshine. absolutely. and some clouds but they're over the ocean and that's where they're going to stay today. i'm sorry, i sang that. that was so bad. the exploratorium, i need to leave that to you too. that's how happy i am for the fact we're going to be dry for a couple more days. temperature about 60 and then your 12 hour day planner, mid

60s at 4:00. of course there's rain at the end of the tunnel. i'll show it to you coming up. here's alexis. taking a look at the roads here today, we do have a couple trouble spots, including this vehicle that went off the roadway, in a ditch and the far right lane is blocked on westbound 237 just before north 1st so we've got that backup to 880 and that's spilling over on to southbound 880 as well. things starting to improouch as we head west on 580 trying to get out of castro valley. the company behind snapchat is set to make its market debut as we were just talking about this morning and a school in mountain view could be cashing in. >> it stands to make millions today. abc7 news reporter matt keller live at st. francis high school. hey, matt. >> reporter: good morning, natasha and reggie. here at st. francis, you learn reading, writing, and arithmetic and apparently also stock picking and they're pretty good here at st. francis. this is a beautiful campus here. they're going to make a lot of

money today on snapchat. st. francis's endowment fund, the sf growth fund, was in on one of the earliest investment rounds in snapchat parent company snap. the story goes like this. a former student told her dad that everyone at her school was obsessed with the messaging app. they say it's unclear how much money was invested by the st. francis fund but it's likely going to bring in tens of millions of dollars in profits now that the company is going public. that fund goes to students' scholarships and subsidized tuition. it costs $16,700 a year to sent a student to st. francis. the school districted $2.75 million in tuition assistance this year. now shares of snapchat are priced at $17 each. and we'll see where that ends up later today. reporting live in mountain view, matt keller, abc7 news. we saw a snap -- the leaders of snap on wall street right now ringing in that new york stock exchange and i want to show you

a live look at the big board, the stock exchange down just a little bit, hovering at the 21,000 mark, surging at 300 points yesterday, getting a huge bump from president trump's address to congress. wall street reacting, not so much to what he said or any specific policy details. they liked his tone and said he sound more optimistic. the dow has skyrocketed 2700 points since trump won the election. and of course we'll keep a close eye on wall street today throughout the day and also because of snap. the other big story today, top republicans in congress are calling on attorney general jeff sessions to step away from federal investigations into whether russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. now this comes amid questions about comments sessions made during his confirmation hearing about meeting with russian officials. the justice department confirms that he did have contact with russian officials, not just

once, but twice during the trump campaign. "the washington post" first reported that sessions met with the russian ambassador in his capitol hill office in september. that's something he did not disclose when he was questioned under oath by senator al franken during the confirmation hearing. >> i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and i didn't have -- not have communications with the russians. and i'm unable to comment on it. >> sessions denies any wrong doing. he said in an overnight statement, i never met with any russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. i have no idea what this allegation is about. it is false. this morning, house majority leader kevin mccarthy said that sessions should bow out of the ongoing russian investigations to maintain, quote, the trust of the american people. well, developing news now in the east bay. police have called off the search for the person who fired at an off duty officer. this officer was not hurt. it happened on interstate 880 in oakland shortly after midnight. he called it in and oakland

police spotted the vehicle just few minutes later. they chased the driver but lost them and found the car abandoned near brook dale and 56th street in oakland. officers shut down 880 for about an hour while they searched for any shell casings. police also uses canines to search the area for a suspect. one of the suspects in a violent shootout on the streets of san leandro is going to be in court today. police arrested marcus jones tuesday after more than three months on the run. he and davlon harris fired at each other from their cars along 580 in oakland. that shootout continued into san leandro and this is what happened. one of their vehicles slammed head-on into a toyota prius. a couple in their 70s suffered serious injuries in that collision. that couple is still recovering from the crash. a s.w.a.t. team served a search warrant at jones' apartment in san leandro this week and they found this. an ak-47, three pistols and $250,000 in cash.

jones now being held without bail. palo alto police hope this photo will lead them to a man a woman says exposed himself to her. it happened monday morning on park avenue. after it happened, she grabbed her phone and took this photo of her as he was walking away. police say he is hispanic in he has early 20s, about 5'7" with a pencil thin mustache. state senator jerry hill is urging pg&e and state regulators to ease the bill spikes that you may be seeing right now. hill released a study yesterday that found pg&e bills could skyrocket even higher this summer and in the winter. the report blames a variety of things, including a new rate structure, higher energy rates, and flaws in how customer usage is tracked. he wants the utility to lower bills in winter and to help customers better understand when their usage goes up so they can adapt before their next bill. pg&e says it is reviewing the study. talk about generosity. $5 million worth. that's how much a billionaire philanthropist is giving to

people in san jose. and now we're learning more about the kieu hoang. he immigrated to california as a refugee at the end of the vietnam war. and he made his fortune with two flood victims f .the in the rock springs neighborhood are also vietnamese immigrants and here's an important note. city officials say flood victims need to register at the local assistance center, the shirakawa community center, to become eligible for the money. and if you would like to donate, i know, most of us can't donate $5 million, but a lot of us can afford $10. all you have to do is text the words "red cross" to 9099 and that donation will automatically show up on your phone bill. san jose also looking for volunteers to help out with the flood recovery efforts. they would like people to register at helpindisaster.com/sanjose. we have the information on our weks, abc7news.com. well, crow canyon road in castro valley is back open this morning following a mudslide

that closed it for hours. crews closed the road between norris canyon and castro valley and bollinger canyon. officials say the slide is another reminder that even when it's not raining, we can still feel the impact of our incredibly wet winter. public works officials in oakland say it will take until may to finish skroer major repairs on this gigantic sing hole. you might remember the scene. the hole end up last month and nearly swallowed that bmw. winter storms are blamed for a crumbling pavement, which led to a broken pipe beneath the surface and then this. it disrupted gas, sewer, and storm drain lines. east 27th between east 26th and berry place will be closed until that work is done. all that snow that's fallen in the sierra is good for more than just the ski resorts. the latest snow park survey measured 43.4 inches of snow yesterday. that is a near-record amount of snow and 15 inches more than what we saw last month. this means when that snow melts

over the spring and the summer, our reservoirs should be full. thought we'd start off with the seven day forecast for tahoe because snow is coming in saturday afternoon but 1 to 2 feet of snow is going to fall sunday and that's down to 5,000 feet. so, travel up there is going to be a nightmare sunday. back here at home, we're 36 in cupertino, the cool spot in the south bay and then saratoga, santa clara, sunnyvale, 37, san jose at about 40 degrees right now, 45 in alameda, san carlos, 41, san francisco 46, 44 in san pablo but look at these mid 30s. we're going to top out 63 to 67 with total sunshine and a light breeze today. as far as your activity planners, looking at a beautiful shot from the east bay hills. highlander today if you're on mass transit. dry all day if you're commuting and out and about. it's good except for watch out for that moderate tree pollen. few areas in the 30s tonight. 38 palo alto, 39 morgan hill,

38, everybody else about 40 to 46. an hour-by-hour look at this week's rains coming up next. and so far, we've had a handful of incidents but nothing major. you can see overall on the traffic maps there we're seeing a lot of green except not here. if you're coming through castro valley, we had a problem on northbound 238 near hesperian. that crash has cleared but that has spilled over and things are congested there. quick check of the drive time coming from tracy into castro valley, that's about 58 minutes. northbound 101 between highway 85 and the san jose airport you're looking good, 19 minutes for you and northbound 280 between highway 1 and san francisco, that one's in the green at just 9 minutes and a live look outside at the bay bridge toll plaza. pretty average commute here. we got those metering lights flipped on around 5:26 this morning and pretty early, everybody except the car pool lines are basically at a standstill. we'll take a look at the north bay coming up. a historic dry dock in san francisco on the verge of

closing will stay open for at least another 90 days. at stake are 240 jobs and a vital ship repair yard. puglia engineering took over the dock operation in january and the company threatened to close it after discovering what it says are millions of dollars in needed repairs. it is agreed now to keep the shipyard open while it develops a plan to pay for dock repairs, also to dredge that area. are you priced out of san francisco and silicon valley? you are certainly not alone and now the city of concord is trying to cash in on businesses that can't afford to open in some of the more expensive parts of the bay area. concord has launked a $160,000 pr and advertising campaign aimed at rebranding the city. >> we're seeing a lot of interest through our website, a lot more hits to our website. a lot more interest from the brokerage community, calling, asking us questions about the opportunities that we have in concord. >> look, they put up these posters at the embarcadero b.a.r.t. station. trying to lure entrepreneurs to concord. officials say this is part of an

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welcome back. and just incredible video. take a look at this. this is a storm chaser getting really close to this huge tornado in north illinois. greg belt says he was driving

when the tornado passed over a rural road right in front of him two days ago. he quickly put his car in reverse to drive away from the twister. the tornado left a whole lot of damage. he is okay. officials say at least one person did die after the tornado passed through la sal county on february 28. when i heard this, i could hardly believe it. the usgs says the earthquake risk in oklahoma and southern kansas is equal to here in california. scientists say the increased seismic risk is a by-product of oil extraction. they say injecting the waste water deep undergroupd has triggered thousands of earthquakes over the past few years. we do have some breaking news coming in to the live desk. the united states has conducted air strikes against al qaeda in the arabian peninsula in yemen. happened overnight. that's according to yemeni officials. the air strikes come one month after u.s. special forces carried out a raid in the same

area. a navy s.e.a.l. wa six soldiers were killed. that s.e.a.l. was honored during president trump's speech to congress this week. his widow was in attendance. what do you think of this. marin looking at letting buses use freeway shoulders during the commute. >> that's a controversial idea that has already been done in some other parts of the country. abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is live for us in novato with how this would actually work. >> reporter: reggie, commuters we've talked to here at this park and ride bus stop have some questions. one is, what about cars that are stalled in the shoulder? what happens to them? one viewer asked me on twitter or pointed out, people driving cars will see the buses in the shoulders and think they can drive in the shoulders too. well, that's why this is just an idea right now. and they would try a pilot program to test it out. according to the marin "independent journal," the idea is to let buses and only buses use the shoulder on highway 101

to help open things up for cars and to give buses a smoother, quicker drive. even though we are hearing some concerns, we are also noticing it's hard to deny that this would help the commute. >> i think anything that caltrans comes up with to allow buses more freedom is a great thing. >> reporter: the problem for buses on 101 is they are often in the far car pool lane and then they have to cut across all the lanes to get to bus stops that are on the right side. keeping them in the shoulder would help avoid that issue. the plan is to make them drive slowly, 35 miles per hour is one suggested speed out there for the buses. some transit officials are calling this an interesting idea, but there is no -- no one has said if or when they would try this out. live in novato, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. interesting stuff, amy. thank you. major excavation work is underway on san francisco's first bus rapid transit system. abc7 news was on van ness avenue where heavy digging began to

move the median and upgrade underground pipes yesterday. prep work actually started in november and that's when you noticed van ness was narrowed down from three lanes to just two in each direction. the project will convert one of those lanes into bus only in both directions from mission to lombard street. that's expected to improve muni travel times on van ness by 32%. construction is going to take about three years. oakland's new police chief says one of her top goals is to make the city the safest in the nation. abc7 news reporter laura anthony sat down with anne kirkpatrick to ask her about the future of the department. she told us, despite gains made in recent years, oakland could be safer. the chief acknowledges the police force's history of controversy, from the recent sex scandal to racial profiling. she told us it's important to take ownership of the good and the bad. >> we own it. we are going to address the fact that we're mistakes occurred, we're going to acknowledge it. we're going to talk about how we krek it for the future and we're

going to meet people face to face p face. >> the new chief says her approach is to speak with and meet with all stakeholders in the city. san francisco's police chief is launching an effort to bring tasers and stun guns to the department. scott says officers need them now more than ever especially since the commission banned the coratid restraint. members say officers have nonlethal ap nonlethal options. everybody talking about this today. a tale as old as time taking an unprecedented twist. >> the live action of "beauty and the beast" is opening soon on march 17 and now we know it's ging to feature disney's first ever unequivocally gay character and that character is lefou. gas ton's side kick who is played by josh gad in the mo ae about his sexuality which leads to, according to the director,

the first exclusively gay moment in a disney film. so far, there indirect references to lgbt characters in disney movies. disney is the parent company of abc7 news. >> i was already excited to see that movie. i cannot wait for march 17. let's go over to mike nicco. we have idyllic weather today. >> it is beautiful. i'm going to she shoe grow sunrise in just a second. i'm going to give you a quick update on the flood warning, pushed back to saturday now as the lake is just ever so slowly to come down. 9.8 is the current stage. flood stage is 9 feet. there it is from sky7. you can see the beautiful sunrise as they hover over belmont this morning. you can see the reflection on golden bay this morning. let's talk about what's going on in the north bay this morning. we're looking south on 101 under a clear sky. sunny and calm today, our warmest this week. weekend rain heaviest saturday night into sunday morning, dry

and warmer air returns next week. storm still a 1 on our storm impact scale because of the amount of rain, 1/10 to possibly 1/4 inch from the south bay to the north bay. the whole weekend is not a washout. and the breezes should stay below damaging levels. up in the north bay, starting in the morning through the afternoon hours, you have the best chance of steady rain. by 5:00 or 6:00, you can see the rain moving across most of our neighborhoods so it may get moderate at times but it moves through so quickly that by 1:00 in the morning, it's already gone and then we'll be left with just scattered showers for sunday. our coolest day back in the mid 50s, we'll start to crack 60 with more sunshine monday, all of us will be in the 60s by wednesday. good morning. and yeah, you're going to want your shades in the car with you today as we just saw from sky7. we've got some bright sunshine out there. delay on highway 4. if you're leaving the antioch area, westbound 4, rights around somersville boulevard, we've got a crash. the far right lane and the far left lane, we do have a tow truck on the scene but you are stop and go for a couple miles and we have a significant backup

westbound 237 just before north 1st street in the south bay here. if you're leaving milpitas, we've got a vehicle that went off the roadway and the emergency response is blocking the far right lane so you can see that backup on 237 and that extends on to south bay 808 as well. quick check of drive times. westbound 580, castro valley to the maze, 16 and northbound 101, you're in the yellow at 20 minutes. yahoo ceo is giving her annual bonus to the company's employees. meyers says she's doing it in light of two massive data breaches under her watch. the breaches compromised the information of more than 1 billion yahoo users. the biggest happened in 2014. it was only recently revealed. a yahoo investigation determined that meyer and other managers reacted too slowly. the breaches lowered yahoo's sale price to verizon by $350 million. coming back in 90 seconds with the seven things you need to know before you go. here's live look outside

at 6:52. getting a view from sky7 this getting a view from sky7 this morning as the sun is coming

(vo)have to happen?idn't i didn't see it. (vo) what if we could go back? what if our car... could stop itself? in iihs front-end crash prevention testing, nobody beats the subaru impreza. not toyota. not honda. not ford. the all-new subaru impreza. more than a car, it's a subaru. here are the seven things you need to know today. number one, republican house majority leader kevin mccarthy says attorney general jeff sessions should recuse himself from federal investigations into russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. sessions did not reveal meetings

during his confirmation hearing. number two, from the live desk, the former stanford students behind snapchat just went public with their company snap. their ipo price, $17 a share. they have pretty good timing because the new york stock exchange is opening at an historic high. and speaking of that, number three e, the snap ipo could mean millions of dollars for st. francis high school in mountain view. an endowment fund was a very early investor. and number four, welcome to the warmest day this week, sharting off chilly. look at your bus st 32 to 29 but make you can get your kid to read outside, read across america today. we've had this crash for well over an hour at this point. westbound 237, this is just before you get to no, sir 1st street, vehicle went off the still blocked down to emergency response. down to 21 or 24 miles an hour. 880 to 237 for that backup. number six, a top honor for

tesla. it is the highest ranking american auto brand based on reliability, safety, and owner as fast as satisfaction. people thought oprah was suggesting that she might run for president. it turns out, oprah was likely just joking. >> oh. >> you never know. >> she has surprised us before. >> she still loves bread. that is still true. >> our national food. >> bread and pasta. >> "gma" is next.

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good morning, america. breaking overnight, president trump's attorney general under fire. new reports that jeff sessions spoke to the russian ambassador twice before the election. despite his denials at his confirmation hearing. >> i did not have communications with the russians. >> democrats call for his resignation right now. how the white house is responding this morning. stock market spike. the dow soaring past 21,000 for the first time ever after president trump's big speech. are businesses about to go on a hiring spree? urgent manhunt. police in tennessee searching for this man, suspected of killing a 23-year-old nurse in her apartment while her roommate was sleeping nearby. the hunt for this suspect caught on surveillance tape around the time of the murder. ♪ whoops there it is and buzzer beater madness. the high school hero launching