live where you live, this is abc 7 news. oh, yeah, rain jackets required. what you see here on live doppler 7 is just the beginning of three days of storms. thank you for joining us this midday. i'm natasha. >> you're going to see the storm rolling into the area as we speak. here's a live look at the camera on mount tam. it shows droplets on that lens getting socked in up there with wind and rain and gray skies in the north bay. there's the golden gate bridge camera. the north bay sees theheart har rain in the afternoon commute. let's get over to mike. >> hi, everybody. we'll start with storm impact

scale and let's see what's going to happen. first, evening, overnight, drenching rain, windy today from 8:00 to 5:00, and a chance of lightning, today, tomorrow, and strongest storm over mount diablo and another in fairfield. there's a a lull after a steadily rain throughout the morning. broken showers in the southwest. that means the strongest of the storm is still ahead of us. talk about the winds up above 1500 feet. they are gusting up to 55 miles per hour. in the lower elevations, especially our east-west bridges, they are blowing at 45 at 8:00 tonight through 5:00 tomorrow morning. i hope you're not in exposed areas when the wind are blowing fastest. let's take a look at the storm and when the heavy rain gets to your neighborhood. >> make, thank you. >> drivers, you know that terrible feeling going over a pothole or piece of road so uneven you hope the tires are all right? well, the storms mean new

trouble spots pop up all the time. generating a lot of complaints in the south bay. matt? >> reporter: well, natasha, behind me is the connecter ramp from highway 85 and highway 101. with the recent rains, it's become a wild ride. take a ride with me and my photographer, steve. this is the car pool lane from southbound 85 to southbound 101 in san jose. >> doing 50. 50 miles per hour. they got you more than me. from a distance, the cars look to jump from the pavement. >> it's a low car. you can feel it when you're going. >> the engineering staff is reviewing road conditions. they say the spot on the connecter ramp is one of many areas directly impacted by the past winter storms and excessive water runoff. their crews are spread thin and could take a few more days before a repair plan can be discussed. if you are driving in the area,

just remember slow down and hold on tight. >> it's a roller coaster. you just -- everybody in the car gets ready, you know, because you're going to go flying. everybody lifts out of the seat, literally, it's that significant. >> reporter: yeah. takes a lot of money to fix all the roads in santa clara county damaged by this past winter's weather. right now, estimates put it at $72 million to fix it all. reporting live in san jose, matt keller, abc 7 news. >> thank you. the state senate expected to vote on the plan to fix the crumbling roads and rough commutes. the two-pronged approach raises the gas tax about 12 cents a gallon and hikes our vehicle license fees. combined, it raises an estimated $52 billion over ten years. most of the money would be used to fix roads and potholes, some going to less tangible products like reducing congestion on

major corridors. republicans say it's too big a burden on drivers, and the governor does not have the votes to pass it. a woman facing murder charges posted an unprecedented bail, $35 million. she's expected to be released from jail any moment now. we have a crew there monitoring the situation. we'll let you know as soon as release happens. lee is accused of murdering heath green april. she has two children with him. lee made bail posting property rather than cash. the equity is $70 million. that's double her bail. she's also required to have extensive electronic monitoring as part of the release. a source who knows lee's family says they are rich and powerful in china and her mother has real estate holdings in california. abc 7 news learned the wife of the orlando nightclub shooter left the bay area jail on the way to florida to stand trial. she agreed to stop fighting extradition earlier this week. the u.s. office is currently

moving her to orlando where she's going to face charges of aiding her husband, omar, in planning last year's pulse nightclub massacre. she was arrested at her family's home in january and held in jail in dublin ever since. new this morning, two women and five cats had to be rescued from a burning home in san francisco's glen park neighborhood this morning. the one-alarm blaze broke out at 8:45 near randall. the women and cats suffered smoke inhalation. the cats were rescued, given oxygen by firefighters. this is video shot by a neighbor. all are expected to be okay. firefighters brought the fire under control in a half hour. happening now, search underway for a missing woman in san jose. there's the picture of her. she's considered at risk. she is 67 and suffers from dementia. the family is worried about her. police say nobody saw her leave her house yesterday. she typically walks, and goes

campbell and home. so far, no signs of her. she was seen wearing a black or gray sweater with black pants. new this morning after weeks of digging in, nunes removed himself the investigation into russian's meddling in the presidential election. the california republican has been under growing criticism. today's announcement comes as the house ethics committee looks into he disclosed classified information without authorization. questions of impartiality sfagsed after the mystery meeting in the white house with a secret source. he received information showing the trump team was incidentally caught up in surveillance. showing that intelligence to the president instead of the bipartisan committee he runs. paul ryan says nunes has his full support. >> no one is more eager to demonstrate to the ethics committee he followed all proper guidelines and laws. >> all charges against him, he says, are false and politically motivated. breaking news from the nation's capitol where the

senate cleared the way for a confirmation vote tomorrow on president trump's nominee for the supreme court. republicans have effectively eliminated democrats' attempt to block neil gorsuch. here's the story. >> hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of neil m. ggorsuch. >> reporter: the nomination of judge gorsuch to the supreme court. >> it doesn't have to be this way. when the nominee get enough votes for confirmation, the answer is not to change the rules. it's to change the nominee. >> reporter: now senate republicans answer right back, triggering a move so controversial it's called the nuclear option. blowing up senate rules. getting rid of the need for a super majority of 60 votes making it so a simple majority of 51 from either party pushes through the nominee to the supreme court. >> i raise a point of order the vote on closure under the

precedent set in 2013 is a majority vote on all nominations. >> veteran gop senator john mccain reluctantly supports the nuclear option but reminds the colleagues in the senate the rights of the minority are protected for a reason. >> elections have consequences. >> reporter: democrating fought until the end citing his record and still furious about the way republicans treated president obama's nominee garland, refusing hearings for nine months. >> that last year was robbed. not just from president obama, but from the american people by republicans in the senate. >> reporter: as the drama continues to unfold here on capitol hill today, the vote to confirm him is not expected until tomorrow night before congress goes on a two week recess. abc news, the capitol. bart responds to a new lawsuit now, disability rights

advocates says elevators littered with human waste amount to discrimination. they say roadblocks make it difficult for people in wheelchairs to get around. advocacy groups and two filed the class action lawsuit yesterday. they are not asking for money. they just want a fix. now, bart is responding saying it's already addressing the issue with a $16 million escalator and elevator improvement plan. the agency says, quote, we share the frustration the disability rights advocate group, but disappointed our program of capital improvement is met with litigation. new king of san francisco skyscrapers is getting its crown. the tower ascending to the final heights. this was post online by boston properties. kate larson is live in selma next to the tallest building in the west. hey, kate. >> reporter: hey there, reggie. a lot of people worked on the salings force tower for years,

construction workers who worked here 24 hours a day trying to get the building complete, and today is a big milestone because it marks the end of these structural phase of the construction. right now, there's a big event going on, so for the ceo here as well as mayor ed lee, but let's go ahead and take a look at this. it's pretty cool. today people are actually signing the final steel beam which will be installed today weather permitting. the tower has been in the works for a decade and under construction for four years. it's not yet complete, but nevertheless, it's been dominating san francisco's skyline for quite some time, and until the tower came along, the pyramid was the tallest structure in the city for 43 years, but now sales force 6 is 1-story building here at 1st and mission took the record. >> the steel's been finished, concrete's finished, the skin of the building is coming up, and then in terms of later phases of construction, the building really needs to be fit out for

tenants. each that comes in, the space is designed and constructed for its particular uses. >> reporter: the millennium tower, which we know is sinking, is just one block away, but the big difference between the two buildings is that the sales force tower is anchored to build rock and earthquake safe according to the builders. now, a little technicality about the tower's record for tallest building west of chicago, a new building in los angeles spire 30 feet taller, however, at 1070 feet, the sales force tower in san francisco has the highest occupible floors. l.a. has a little spire, but we got people working on a floor that is higher than them, so i think it counts, reggie, as the tallest building west of chicago. the first phases complete in july and should be completely wrapped up by 2018.

live in san francisco, kate larson, abc 7 news. >> look, i'm team kate on this. >> for sure. that's me holding this on top of the head saying i'm taller than reggie, but it's not true. >> i saw that shade about the spire, and i like it, katd. a new way to go mobile. the special offer for comcast customers too good to pass up. >> a job hiring spree, jobs up for grabs soon. >> mike is tracking the storm that's bringing us several days of rain. remember, you can download the abc 7 news app for updates on your phone and track live doppler 7 where you live.

now on the to morning money report, comcast jumped into the wireless game announcing they plan to start selling cell phones. they are using a network leased from verizon. the service a available to comcast customers who pay for internet service starting in a few months. get five lines for $65 a month, unlimited talk and text included. a hiring spree from amson now. the online retail giant announced this morning they are hiring 30,000 part-time workers. 25,000 warehouse positions, 5,000 jobs in the service program, and that's cool allowing you to work from home. amazon says home based employees who work at least 20 hours or more a week receive benefits. no word yet oven how many of the

25,000 jobs, if any, will be at the company's distribution center in tracy. good news for warriors fans. kevin durant was cleared by doctors so he'll be back in action this saturday. coming up here, a battle brewing over a high school masc mascot, and why some say it's offensive, and what students and parents are doing to protect its legacy. a live look from the tower cam, yes. the winds are picking up. you can see it just blowing around there. our meteorologist has today's accuweather's forecast.

and we now have word that legendary comic, don rickles died, earning a reputation for insulting people of all walks of life for six decades. the reputation took off after endorsement from frank sinatra, and recently, a new generation discovered him as he was the voice of mr. potato head in the "toy story" movies. getting insulted by him was the ultimate compliment. he died in his home from kidney failure and he was 90 years old. now your accweather forecast. >> yeah, what a shame. i loved him as mr. potato head. don't forget your angry eyes when going out on something. >> that was a good one. >> don't put the angry eyes on now if i tell you it's going to

rain because it is. look at this, a time lapse, showing you what you have seen if looking up. no, not sales force tower. i wanted to show the clouds, no, actually, i wanted to show you both. it was trying to scrape the low clouds. they will be lower and eventually cover that and the rest of us in rain too. so far, we had .001 and that's as far south as measurable rain so far. late season storm arrived today. already has a little bit, but this is just minor nuggets. second system tomorrow evening. leaving us showers saturday, but sunshine for sunday. you can see not too much yellow. just green. waves of light showers continue if you head out over the next couple hours. see the swirling air mass? that's the area of low pressure coming in and really energyize this system and bring us the moderate to heavy rain and potential for thunderstorms. 62 at half moon bay for a high. 66 to 71 for theest of us.

mild without the sunshine. winds, if you were with us at the top of the hour, 22-37 up at 2600 feet. once the rain starts, that pulls down those winds to our level, and that's why it's breezy at 4:00 to 6:00 with the steadier rain developing and spreading throughout the rest of the neighborhoods other than the south bay at 6:00. windy with heavy rains for us at 6:00. all right, a look at the game. we're going to squeeze it in, 12:53, 64, warming to 67 degrees, no sun, but feels mild. tonight is mild, low to mid-50s. at noon, not much going on other than the north bay. same at 5:00, and you see the rush of moderate to heavy rain in the north bay, starting to sly into the heart of the baby 7:00. the cold front, a wider path of moderate to heavy rain from about midnight through about 4:00, 5:00 tomorrow morning, and then as the morning rush unfolds, it gets drier, but all that residual moisture is

around. there's debris in the roads from the winds. tomorrow, in the day, just random showers on the light side, and that second cold front comes through at 7:00. and then this one's going to be faster at midnight, it's gone, but it will have intense rain. just not as much as we're going to get. you see by 7:00 tonight, northward, we have the possibility of some measurable rain. the rest of us have it by tomorrow. winter storm warning at 6:00 in the sierra. look at that, 2-4 feet of snow above 6,000 feet. the heaviness of the snow is not the issue, but the fact that the freezing level is down to 6,000 feet in april is impressive. scattered showers saturday, no rain sunday. then spring warmth monday and tuesday. >> ready for that spring to come. >> yeah. >> can we skip the next couple days? go right to that? >> i understand, but as someone who has a yard, it's getting dry -- >> stop bragging about your yard, mike. >> no, i have to work in the

yard, so i'm going to send you pictures next time. >> michael, thank you so much. happening today, a rally planned by some parents and students who want to save napa high school's mascot, and this is it. the school known as the indians has its local with the native american in a bandanna and feather. groups are offended complaining this dehumanizes native meshes. last month, they said the faculty and school board members recommended they change it. this evening, the board discusses that recommendation, a rally against that will be held at 4:00 p.m. before the 6:00 pvm meeting. a final decision expected in two weeks. it's a girl. a perfect little baby hippo. discovered there's nothing cuter. >> so cute. although it looks like slimy and wet, it is adorable. up next, the tiny new resident making herself at home at the memphis zoo. we'll introduce you to the 76 pound bundle of joy.

how do you name a hippo? no idea, maybe you do. >> you can help name the lovely thing. the zoo celebrates the birth of the nugget baby hipp on. >> nugget? >> little nugget. >> it is a nugget. little tail. >> she loves swimming with mom and wagging her tail.

she's 14 days old, and the world is a beautiful place to her. we hear the lady follows mom everywhere. yeah. >> yeah. the zoo says you can typically find her asleep on her mom's nose or back. she'll make her public debut tomorrow, and you can take part in trying to name her. the zoo just kicked off the naming contest. the winner's announced next friday, april 14th, and if you're interesting, find our link to the contest with more photos of the baby hippo on website, abc7news.com. >> she looks 5 pounds but over 70 pounds. >> oh, yeah, that's surprising. she's next to mama who is large and in charge. that's not an insult. from us here at abc 7 news, thank you for watching. the latest on the stray cat mom that made this garage her home. >> everybody's happy and crawling all over mom. >> like a kitten entourage.

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