>> abc7 news reporter carolyn tyler is in the newsroom with a look at this case. carol? >> well, judge kaszynski was already the subject of a judicial investigation that began last week into these claims against him. today in a statement, the judge says family and friends urged him to stay and fight, but instead he retired. it is an abrupt ending to a high profile career. just last week judge alex kaszynski was hearing a case at the u.s. appeals court in san francisco. now, after 32 years serving on the 9th circuit, he stepped down today, following allegations of sexual harassment by multiple women, including emily murphy, now a professor at u.c. hastings college of the law. she was a clerk for another judge when she says kaszynski suggested she exercise in the nude. michelle dauber is a stanford law professor. >> when that kind of misconduct is enabled or perpetrated or

condoned within the legal profession, i think it is especially problematic because it sends a message to women that they do not have access to justice. >> reporter: the allegations against the 67-year-old kaszynski span decades. >> alex kaszynski. >> reporter: some pointing to the 1968 appearance on the show the dating game as an example of his behavior towards women. judge kaszynski issued a statement today saying, in part, it grieves me to learn that i caused any of my clerks to feel uncomfortable. thises what never my intent. while sexual harassment allegations now seem to be coming every day, larry represented what was then a watershed case in 1994 that captured international attention. and ended with millions in punitive damages for san francisco secretary named rena weeks who sued her boss and won. >> i hope that the message to

all women is that, go ahead and stand up because i think it's reaching a critical mass now where -- >> reporter: the 9th circuit is the largest of the nation's appellate courts and considered the most liberal. president trump will now appoint kaszynski's successor. in the newsroom, carolyn tyler, abc7 news. >> carolyn, thanks. after the latest on that deadly train derailment in washington state. >> officials say three people were killed earlier reports had the death toll as high a six. >> dozens of others were hurt in the crash. the train left portland when it went off the tracks in interstate 5 in dupont near olympia. >> marcy gonzalez has the latest. >> track 501, emergency. emergency, we are on the ground. >> reporter: that amtrak train from seattle to portland went off the rails south of tacoma, washington just after 7:30 a.m.

crashing into the busy highway below during rush hour. >> the train started to wobble for a moment and then catapulted in front of us. our car had crumpled. >> reporter: at least 86 passengers and crew members were on board. several people were killed, dozens of others including motorists whose vehicles were hit by the railcars were injured. other drivers jumped out of their cars to help. >> we climbed underneath the train as best we could. there were people with half their bodies pinned, couldn't move. they were in a lot of pain, a lot of them were screaming and moaning. but there's nothing we could do to help them really. so we just stayed with them. >> reporter: the passengers on board were the first paying customers on this debut run of the amtrak cascade service using tracks recently upgraded to carry passenger trains up to 79 miles an hour. >> when i stepped out, i didn't really realize i was standing on another train car.

>> reporter: president trump responding. >> my deepest sympathies and most heart felt prayers for the victims of the train derailment. it is all the more reason why we must start immediately fixing the infrastructure of the united states. >> reporter: as investigators work to secure the scene and figure out what caused this horrific crash. marcy gonzalez, abc news, seattle. >> if you do have questions about friends and family who may have been on that train, amtrak has set up a hot line. you see the number on your screen, 1-800-523-9101. >> abc7 news was at the emeryville amtrak station this morning where the affect on train service appears to be minimal. a coast starlight train is scheduled to arrive in emeryville tonight just before 10:00 p.m. right on schedule. amtrak is the largest train service in the state. the emeryville station serves nearly 600,000 passengers a year ranking 20th on the nation's list of busiest rail stations. now, doan load our newly updated abc7 news app for the late est on this crash.

turn on your push alerts so you'll get updates like the one we sent just before 9:00 this morning when this accident happened. >> well, abc7 news was inside terminal 1 at san francisco international airport where there were long lines at the check out counter for delta airlines. delta passeners are still trying to get where they are supposed to go following yesterday's massive power outage in atlanta. the 11-hour black out cut off power to the world's busiest airport that is also delta's biggest hub. some people learned this morning they won't fly until tomorrow. >> it's just hard to be away from family. we need to get back. >> it's crazy and we know that. we got up early, the baby has been crying on the car ride. hopefully he's done with that. >> take a look. you are looking at some of the damaged electrical equipment that caused yesterday's outage. georgia power's top executive apologized for what happened. the black out forced more than 1,000 flights to be canceled. >> well, as of today six people have announced they will run for

mayor of san francisco following ed lee's sudden death. the most recent person to throw their name into the hat is -- ring rather is former supervisor an gel angela alioto. >> reporter: an event put on by the health department proved to be an excellent setting for a new politician. here new beds added for those who needed extra care. london breed in her new role as acting mayor was there, but refused to talk about a potential run for that office. >> i don't know. i mean, you have to understand, this is a shock to me, it's a shock to san francisco ans. >> reporter: long time political observer says there's a lot of positioning going on right now. >> every politician in town is saying the appropriate calming somber solemn words about the passing of the mayor and the back room conversations and the communications with political consultants are nonstop right now.

>> reporter: there are at least two supervisors whose names are circulating as possible candidates. mark farrell and jane kim bhochl yet to decide. >> i am incredibly committed to the city. we have huge challenges and also so much that is great about san francisco and it is a city i love to serve. >> reporter: state senator mark leno turned in his papers last thursday and former supervisor angela aliota did so today. another possible candidate is assemblyman david chiu. the special election will take place six months after his passing, june 5th, 2018. >> anyone who wants to be san francisco mayor, whether it be london breed, mark leno, other members of the board, other elected officials citizens, need to articulate the clear san francisco they wish to lead. >> reporter: in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >> it starts at 5:00 at portsmouth square. >> nothing was too small or too

big for him. from stuffing envelopes to speaking on stage, my dad was happy to do it all. >> those are ed lee's two daughters speaking at yesterday's memorial. we have every single speech as well as a look back at ed lee's life and career online. our website is abc7news.com. >> new details tonight about an off-duty richmond police officer who authorities say fired a gun inside the san francisco four seasons hotel this weekend. no one was hurt, but tonight the officer is facing charges for the incident. abc7 news reporter melanie woodrow has the story. >> reporter: a richmond police sergeant is on administrative leave after san francisco police say he fired a gun inside the four seasons hotel on market street early sunday morning. san francisco police say 45-year-old sergeant phil sanchez was booked for negligent discharge of a firearm. vandalism, a $400 or more, assault with a firearm, and shooting in an inhabited dwelling. his attorney says san francisco

police took him from the hospital to the county jail this afternoon where he was released on bond. in this 2015 richmond police department photo, you can see officer phil sanchez on the left. according to the caption, officer sanchez was a veteran officer with 17 years of total law enforcement experience who was promoted to sergeant. in an e-mailed statement, sanchez's attorney harry stern writes, quote, by all accounts this incident is completely out of character thus we are attempting to ascertain what took place and why. according to scanner traffic, sanchez had been acting erratically. >> walking erratically through the hotel, walking upstairs, they didn't have lights inside the room. >> reporter: stern also writes, quote, witnesses report statements and behavior which may indicate a mental health episode. everyone is extremely thankful that no one was injured. police sources tell abc7

news sanchez fired the gun on a floor that was under construction. >> we are hearing gunshots on the 17th floor of the four seasons, about six or seven shots heard. >> reporter: it took nearly two hours for sanchez to surrender. the san francisco police department said he surrendered peacefully. melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >> coming up on abc7 news at 6:00, culprits caught. >> see who was behind an east bay attack involving flares shot into several houses. >> i'm spencer christian. as december winds down we finally have a little rain, as fall winds down, too, we have a little rain coming our way. i'll show you the approaching system in a few minutes. >> a robot that learns by playing, just like a baby. i'm jonathan bloom with a breakthrough at u.c. berkeley ahead on abc7 news. >> advances in technology takes photography if in a whole new direction. i'm michael finney. i'll give you a picture of what you can expect coming up on 7 on your side.

that is a celebration. the football team from mcclymonds high school just won the state championship for the second straight year. it is the perfect way to end a perfect season. the mcclymonds warriors went undefeated at 14-0. abc7 news reporter laura anthony has the story now from oakland. >> reporter: this one was a run away. >> on the outside. >> reporter: for the second year in a row, the mcclymonds high school warriors claimed a state football title defeating visalia's golden west 42-12. >> incomplete, number 5. >> i think we came together and the scoreboard showed that. >> reporter: damond gardiner is one of 18 seniors on the

mcclymonds proud to shoeld a state trophy, a dream a few years ago for a school that has just 350 students. >> the kids look up to everybody on our team in the community. it's good for them, too, make them want to play mcclymonds state football to get a championship themselves. >> it's amazing. we felt this last year. to feel it two times back to back is great. you can't even -- i can't even explain what it feels like. >> reporter: indeed, these young men are well aware that their success on the football field extends well beyond their school boundaries into the larger community. >> a lot of kids come from struggling backgrounds, you know what i mean? for us to come together as a brotherhood and work hard, this means a lot. kids seeing hard work payoff translates to other aspects of their lives. >> there's ups and downs on the football field. >> reporter: cleveland mckenny is an assistant principal at mcclymonds. >> it definitely reinforces all

the qualities they use to use this championship on the football field are already instilled in them for the success of life. >> reporter: is this the beginning of a dynasty? >> i'd like to say so, yep. that sounds just about right. >> reporter: in oakland, laura anthony, abc7 news. >> dynasty is a good description. happening today it is the last day to apply for unemployment benefits if you became jobless as a result of the north bay wildfires. benefits are under the federal disaster unemployment assistance program. now, the u.s. department of labor extended that deadline from last month. weekly benefits will expire in april. >> two weeks after it started the thomas fire continues to burn across ventura and santa barbara counties. you can see on this map how much land has been burned. all that area highlighted in orange adds up to more than 420 square miles, believe it or not. fire crews hope calmer winds today and tomorrow give them a chance to gain more ground on this fire. right now it is 45% contained.

powerful santa ana winds pushed the fire over the weekend. those gusts may return on wednesday. >> i would like to say that the firefighters did not lose these homes. the fire storm destroyed them. we had strong gusts of over 60 miles an hour. >> flames have destroyed more than 1,000 homes. the thomas fire is currently the third largest fire in california's history when you measure the amount of land it's burned. one firefighter was killed battling the flames. >> illegal fireworks are usually a concern around the 4th of july. given our dry weather recently that concern remains for new year's each. san jose is making changes to its ordinance banning fireworks but just how effective will those changes be? abc7 news reporter jeannine de la vega has the story. >> reporter: every new year's eve, 4th of july and in between the skies light up and this summer residents who were fed up filed complaints in san jose. but this winter the city is going to need more proof beforehanding out citations to

people. >> you have to be able to go out and photograph your neighbor setting off fireworks. your neighbors are going to see you because this happened to me last year. they are going to start yelling at you. the pictures are going to be dark. faces aren't visible. >> reporter: in preparation for new year's eve festivities, the city is trying to get the word off you can be cited for setting off fire works. each with a $500 fine were sent out for the first time. some residents protested saying the city was handing them out without visual evidence. the city revamped the guidelines. it will online to report illegal fireworks. city officials say the change in the ordinance is subtle, but it does provide more clarity into how much proof is needed to cite someone for illegal fireworks. >> things such as including photo evidence or video evidence, getting precise addresses, that sort of thing are now tools that are built into the website. >> reporter: banners like this are up at firehouses across san jose. it hasn't been a wet winter and firefighters want to get their

message out. >> still very dry, haven't had a lot of rain. so, the concerns for fireworks are still valid. >> reporter: and that's 9 concern a lot of homeowners share. the city is hoping they will speak up and report to make it a safer holiday. in san jose, jeannine de la vega, abc7 news. >> hard to believe thursday, the first day of winter. >> fall a fading memory, winter is here. spencer is tracking the forecast. >> a dry memory also. >> true. >> here's a look at live doppler 7. we can use some rain. but it's been beautiful. we've had clear skies and lovely sunsets and all that sort of thing. but of course as it gets dryer, the fire risk increases. so, we have a little wait on the rain. not tonight. live view under dry condition at sutro tower looking down over san francisco. current temperature readings low to mid 50s. san francisco, oakland, mountain view, san jose, gilroy, 46 at half moon bay. pretty chilly down there already. this is the view from emeryville looking westward across the bay along the bay bridge. we have temperature readings in

the low to mid 50s, santa rosa, napa, novato, chilly 44 at this hour at fairfield. low 50s at concord and livermore. here's a view from our abc7 exploratorium camera pier 15 here in san francisco looking back at embarcadero center. these are the highlights. we have light rain developing tomorrow night continuing into wednesday morning sweeping down north to south. could be wet pavement for early morning commuters wednesday. winter begins officially 8:28 a.m. pacific standard time. the dry pattern will continue -- we have it already, from the beginning of winter right on through christmas. overnight look for a few high clods. we'll call it mostly clear early, partly cloudy later. overnight lows will be generally in the low to mid 30s in our inland valleys which will still be pretty chilly. right around the bay we'll see upper 30s about 40, near the coast mainly mid 40s. tomorrow as clouds increase we'll have bright skies but increasing clouds as we get later into the daytime hours. look for highs ranging from upper 50s at the coast to mainly low 50s right around the bay and

down into the south bay low to i had am 60s. low 60s on the bay low to mid 60s south ward. moving along and talking about the approaching rain here is the storm impact scale. approaching storm ranks 1 on the impact scale, storm of light intensity. moving in tomorrow night, continuing into wednesday morning. produce light rain and showers, less than 2/10 of an inch of rain expected across much of the bay area. it will be a fast moving system as well. the forecast animation starting 8:00 tomorrow night at which point it will already be wet in northern sonoma county and mendocino county. the golden gate producing rainfall there by 11:00 tomorrow night. and down into the peninsula, parts of the east bay by about 1:00 a.m. and down into the south bay between 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. so, once again there could be wet spots for morning commuters on wednesday, just bear that in mind. you may want to give yourself a little extra commuting time. after that it starts to clear out pretty much by mid-morning on wednesday. meanwhile over in the sid era where it will be a little bit

colder it will be snowing and we expect up to about half a foot of snow in most central sierra locations. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. after morning rain on wednesday we get at least partial clearing by afternoon. then we have a string of sunny days beginning with thursday, first day of winter all the way through the weekend and through next monday which is christmas day. ho-ho-ho. and a happy and a merry. >> so festive you are. >> no ba huh bug here. >> thanks, spencer. >> what will it take to improve bay area traffic? >> could $100 billion make a difference? >> that story next on abc

(hard exhalation) honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever, to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ when can we do this again, grandpa? well, how about tomorrow? ask your doctor about entresto

and help make tomorrow possible.

thanks for staying with us. aaa expects a record number of americans will drive for the holidays this week. more than 97 million total. we are taking a live look at the conditions on the roadways right now and kind of interesting to see the bay bridge, maybe people are taking that vacation earlier. lighter than usual. the san mateo bridge you can see the taillights on the left-hand side of your screen. san jose also a little heavier than normal going southbound on 101. now, gas prices have dropped in the last month, but we are paying a lot more than last year. in fact, california had the second highest increase year over year in the whole country. remember in november, a 12 cent per gallon tax took in effect. statewide california gas cost 43

cents more at this time than last year. san francisco drivers paid the most in the state at 3.25 a gallon. currently according to triple afrmt. it is slightly cheaper in oakland and even less in san jose at 3.10 a gallon as of right now. >> meantime there is a new approach to tackling traffic back ups across the bay area and the solution is not cheap. civic and business groups are coming together to think on a large scale about how to help ease traffic congestion that we deal with. one plan being talked about is a megameasure focusing on regional projects. regional measure 3 would cost taxpayers around $100 billion. and will fund projects across the nine bay area counties. >> bay area residents look at traffic at a crisis level. so they want their regional leaders to look at traffic regionally. traffic doesn't pay attention just to city or county boundaries. >> civic leaders stress that at this point the measure is still in the idea phase, and the less

distant future voters will be asked to raise toll prices to help short range congestion. >> well, by the end of the week republicans tax reform bill could be on the president's desk. >> beer here to take a look at who holds the key votes who could kill it or clear it. >> plus, california is getting a big benefit from volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal. next we'll see just how much money is being invested in the golden state and what it's going towards. >> remember you can get the latest any time with the upgraded abc7 news app. it now has enhanced live video features, more customization for you and personalized push alerts to get more of the news that you want delivered to your phone in real-time. check that out

>> announcer: live where you live, this is abc7 news. >> a gunshot and flames in the middle of the night all caught on camera, but some relief tonight for san ramon residents. just hours ago police say they have four teenagers arrested for several flare gun attacks. >> abc7 news reporter carlos

secedo has the arrests. >> reporter: the night sky was ill luis palomino nated by a bright flash then a loud bang. >> checked the security camera and there's someone driving by shooting a flare gun at us. >> reporter: sean wasn't home saturday night but saw the footage captured by a security system the next day. the front porch on his stair drive still with visible scorch marks. he didn't know why someone would target his home, but then found out other neighbors were also hit. >> knowing that it's multiple people kind of helped us ease up a little bit because it wasn't, you know, someone specifically targeting us as far as we can tell. >> reporter: san ramon police say at least seven houses and several cars were randomly shot at with a flare gun saturday night into sunday morning. the most extensive damage was broken glass, but the shootings left a lot of neighbors rattled. >> that was like a really loud bang and so i thought, what the heck? so i came out and was looking up

and down the street. looked at my truck to see if it was hit and that was it. >> reporter: sue stone's property was spared. her neighbor not as lucky. >> very shocking, especially in this neighborhood. >> reporter: police were able to use surveillance video from multiple residents to get say description on the suspect vehicle. they arrested four teenagers in connection with the drive-by shootings. three of the four teens live in san ramon. as residents work to clean up, they're relieved the damage wasn't more serious. in san ramon, carlos salcedo, abc7 news. >> and new at 6:00, fremont police say a woman who has been charged with murder in connection with an overnight stabbing death. officers arrived on fremont boulevard near washington boulevard last night. shortly after 10:00, they found a man suffering from a stab wound which may have resulted from a domestic violence dispute. the suspect was found and arrested 90 minutes later. no names have been released this in case. >> people with a marijuana conviction will benefit from a state measure that legalized

recreational pot. bob is -- problem significance 64 allows them to have it cleared or reduced. 4500 people have filed petitions to have prior convictions according to the california judicial council. >> one of the main reasons offered in favor of it was the disproportionate impact on minority communities, in particular black communities, of the policing and the convictions and the jailing for these low-level cannabis offenses. >> while people with the marijuana conviction cannot apply to have it reduced or expunged by filing paperwork, filling out paperwork online and returning to court where their case was heard. now, recreational marijuana isn't the only law taking effect on january 1st. the state's minimum wage will go up 50 cents to $11 an hour. many bay area cities already have minimum wages that are higher. all-new parents can take 12 weeks for maternity or paternity

leave and smaller companies not protected by federal law. it will become a state preventing officers from filing immigration laws. i can find a new list at our website abc7news.com. >> in washington congressional republicans are eager to post their first major legislative victory of the year before heading home for holiday break. but they also have to come up with a way to avoid a government shut down before midnight on friday. reporter karen kaffa reports now from washington. >> reporter: after months of bruising battles, congressional republicans finally find themselves poised for a legislative victory. early indications point to a sweeping tax reform bill passing both the house and senate this week. adding to president trump's debt. >> this is a plan that can give a jolt to the economy, allow the economy to grow. >> reporter: senate leadership feeling more confident after bob corker of tennessee said he'll vote yes. corker repeatedly expressed concerns about adding to the federal deficit.

notably absent from the vote will be senator john mccain whose no vote sent the gop health care plan during the summer. the arizona republican is heading home as he recovers from brain cancer treatment. the tax vote isn't the only thing standing between congress and a holiday break, however. a spending bill needs to be passed by midnight friday to keep the federal government up and running. republicans need some democratic votes, but the gop wants more defense spending while democrats want more money for domestic programs. and a deal on the daca program for young undocumented immigrants. most lawmakers anticipate another short-term continuing resolution to avert a friday shutdown rather than a comprehensive bill. >> we need a budget agreement, a bipartisan buy camera budget agreement. that will not happen before friday. it will happen early in the new year. >> reporter: congressal aides expect members to still around until friday to get everything done. in washinton i'm karen kaffa.

>> stocks rose on hopes that the tax reform bill which includes corporate tax cuts will pass. the dow added 140 points ending at 24,792. the nasdaq up by 58 points and the s&p gained 14. >> volkswagen's punishment for cheating emissions test is about to become visible. vw agreed to spend $2 billion to build electric car charging stations across the country and 800 million of that is budgeted for california, which is one of the biggest markets for zero emission cars. 2800 charging stations will be built in 17 major cities nationwide and in california, 277 stations will be built in five metro areas. those include san jose and san francisco. more cities may be added in the future. stations are planned at a apartment buildings, parking garages and businesses along the shopping centers. >> stay with us. more to come as we continue on abc7 news at 6:00. learning through play. >> and we are not talking about kids. we're talking about robots.

and while this may not look like mu i'm worried. i have this medical bill...oll, huh? dave, you have anthem and they have people to talk to who are empowered to help any question you... is, is he okay? real people? living and breathing. hopefully not breathing like that. for all the things that keep you up at night, anthem blue cross has a solution.

for many of us, the memories during holidays are best captured in photos and videos.

>> absolutely. 7 on your side michael finney is here with his snapshot of new innovations. photography is a fast moving game. >> wait till you see this. this is not your father's film piece. the submarine camera to a high-tech way to take a selfie, creators of technology are after your dollar. this pocket sized drone is yet another way to take selfie-like pictures. it's supposed to be less clumsy than a selfie and more versatile than trying to snap the picture yourself. >> you toss it in the air and fly it up and take selfies with you and your friends. you can do it indoors and outdoors. and it fits in your purse or your pocket. >> you control the flight of your air selfie using an iphone or android app that takes both snapshots and video and retails for $299. now, if under water photography is your thing, you might be impressed with the under water submarine power ray. made by power vision, it's like a drone except it travels under

water. it comes with a 4 k camera. you can watch all the video on your tablet or smartphone. but for the best picture, it is recommended you pull out your virtual reality glasses. >> you come upon places where there is a lot of sun and water and get a rerererere if you p -- reflection. if you put the vr goggles on it cuts the light. >> it starts at 1400 and goes all the way up to 1900. once you have your photos and videos, where do you store them? well, there is a way to stash them in a safe place without having to pay monthly fees. it's called the quilt shoe box. >> you take your photos and then you go to application, the quilt tab, and you actually transfer your photos and your videos back to your quilt shoe box at home wherever you are. >> the photos are then stored in your external hard drive. unlike other storage systems, there is no monthly fee to increase storage space. >> instead of paying a monthly

fee, you buy the device and you transfer it home and privately and securely with your own app. >> the quilt shoe box retails for $69. now, i want to hear from you and if you have any weird selfies, i want to see those, too. 7 on your side hot line is on monday through friday 10:00 to 2:00. my number and abc7news.com. >> it will come in handy with your scuba diving in hawaii. >> maybe you should go back. >> yeah. the station star. >> wait, just you and dan? >> hey, i'm going. thanks, michael, very much. >> speaking of photos, take a look at the duke and dutches of cambridge. william and kate along with their two adorable kids george and charlotte. this is their holiday card. kensington palace tweeted the photo this morning saying it was taken earlier this year at the palace. kate is currently pregnant with their third child due in april. >> that's a nice shot. well, next we are going to check

in with spencer christian and the 7-day

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ really? really? really? really? really? see zero in a whole new way. get zero down, zero deposit, zero first month's payment, and zero due at signing on select volkswagen models. now with the people first warranty.

those are the forces strong at the box office. "star wars," "the last jedi," just wrapped up the biggest debut weekend of any movie this year. the eighth film in the sky walker saga crushed the competition with just over $220 million in ticket sales. this is the second biggest opening of all time after "star wars" the force awakens. >> unbelievable. the robot at u.c. berkeley is doing something that isn't robotic at all. it is learning about the world by playing with toys, and then imagining its own future. >> abc7 news reporter jonathan bloom talked to the researchers behind this new chapter in robotics. >> the goal is to enable a robot to learn entirely on its own. >> reporter: that's what this robot is doing here at u.c. berkeley. >> it is an active robot. you push this up over here. >> reporter: it spent a week playing with various objects, learning what would happen if it pushed them around. >> learning howell a baby can learn how to play with toys and how they respond. pushes it, that sort of thing.

>> reporter: it's different from this robot two years ago which practiced the same task until it got good at t. >> sort of like how you would train a dog to do a good trick. this is good, this is bad. it takes a lot of effort in terms of the human constantly supervising the robot and telling it what to do. >> reporter: vestry learned with no human input and imagined the outcome of its actions before choosing what to do. >> you can see the robot is imagining pushing this car to the front and here you can see the exact motion predicted. >> reporter: because of the way it learns the robot can interact with objects it's never seen before. for instance, this microphone. we would like you to position this microphone over here. he rot bought gets in position. then imagines it might break the microphone in half. it's not sure if the microphone is one object or two. it is designed as one and correctly moves it to the goal. if it slips or gets stuck it patiently tries a different approach. >> it is going to go around, back around the cup. >> reporter: the potential is huge. >> for elderly care and so on.

>> reporter: they are always changing, objects moving around and new ones showing up. >> it needs to have a common sense. >> reporter: the robot already knows moving one object will also push the objects behind it. next they want to teach it to pick things up, lifting them over the stuff that is in the way. >> this is definitely future. >> reporter: the robot that learns like a baby is still in its infancy. at u.c. berkeley, jonathan bloom, abc7 news. >> with just one week until christmas, the u.s. post office says it's the busiest mailing and shipping week of the year. nearly 3 billion pieces of mail will be delivered this week and 200 million packages. the post office is working sundays and most big cities to make sure everything arrives on time. tomorrow is the deadline for the first class mail including christmas cards to get to their destinations. wednesday is the priority mail deadline. now, you can ship until friday through priority mail express and your package should still arrive at christmas. i don't know how they do it, but it's impressive. >> it is impressive.

i don't know if they ship or beaming up. speaking of christmas, a little more seasonal now. >> it is indeed. winter is almost here. spencer? >> the most wonderful time of the year also the driest time of the year now for winter that is. a look at live doppler 7. clear skies right now. a few clouds hang ag round. how dry has it been? check out locations around the bay area that has had only 1% of average rainfall for the month of december so far. livermore and san jose only a trace of rain the whole month. but rain coming our way, ranking number 1 on the storm impact scale, this system is. coming in tomorrow night into wednesday morning right rain and showers. breezy, fast moving and expected to produce, tada, under a 10th of an inch of rain in most bay area locations. however up in the north bay places like ukiah might see 2/10 or more. here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. wednesday morning partial clearing wednesday afternoon, a string of sunny dry days. begins at 8:28 a.m. on thursday

and it will start off dry and mild -- not mild, but dry and sunny and looks like sunny skies through next monday which is christmas. >> i'm getting that new bike for christmas. i'm excited. >> you'll be able to ride it. >> spencer, thank you. >> what a day, what a finish. wow. >> not so much something you've never seen before. >> that's true. >> nobody had seen this. speaking of less than a tenth of an inch. never mind inches when your season comes down to a sheet of paper. fold the like this. >> no luck. >> it's the day after the great paper chase and the

for mild-to-moderate eczema? it can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody. the face of a fisherman? the hand of a ranch hand? the knee of a needle pointer? prescription eucrisa is a nose to toes eczema ointment.

it blocks overactive pde4 enzymes within your skin. and it's steroid-free. do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. allergic reactions may occur at or near the application site. the most common side effect is application site pain. ask your doctor about eucrisa.

>> announcer: abc7 sports brought to you by river rock casino. >> good evening. the warriors are in l.a. tonight. it is almost secondary to the main event. the kobe bryant jersey retirement ceremony. kobe still good, he has two numbers to retire, 8 and 24. the five-time nba champ was the heart and soul of the lakers so many years. he was honored at halftime. warriors coach steve kerr said he wants to take his team out onto the court to watch the festivities. >> the greatest players in the history of the game getting his

jersey retired and we happened to be there. we're not going to keep them in the locker room after the first half. the players look at me like i was nuts. something interesting is actually going on on the floor. let's go out there. so, we'll go out there. >> everything you want in a basketball player you have in kobe. the level of attention he brought to the court, he raised the level of the opponents, coaching staff, he raised their level of play. that's what great players do. you can learn from watching somebody like that. >> a lot of memories tonight. 53 players on an nfl roster, but if jimmy garoppolo's arrival proves anything, if you have a good quarterback, you've got a chance and if you don't you are toast. garoppolo threw for 381 yards and the touchdown for the niners against the titans yesterday. he was brady he is being. want to go montana esque? setting up the 6th field goal of the game by robby gold.

he found a no-name guy that he's hardly worked with. 4 and 10 never felt so good. jimmy g. has given the niners hope. >> i am very excited with how we're playing. makes it more exciting going into the office season. you can see it in the players. you can feel with them, at the end of the year i don't hear them talking about vacation or talking about what they're going to do in january. i see guys generally coming in excited to get the game plan and go to work. i think it's pretty unique from a group of guys when you're out of the playoffs and you're looking at these last two games. >> all right. there's a lot of agonizing ways to lose a game. but nobody has ever seen this, a referee determining a critical measurement with an index card. it's folded over. if you're going to use t use the card, don't fold it. slide it in like this. referee gene came up with this in the fourth quarter. and by virtue of, i don't know, a millimeter, gave dallas a first down that led to their game winning field goal.

today raiders coach jack del rio was in disbelief of what went down. >> nothing really surprises me after 32 years. things happen in this league, but that was, that was unusual. i know what i saw. i saw it myself, from the sideline. but i also saw plenty examples on twitter. the guy ran out there with a camera and put the camera right down on it so the whole world got to see what it was. it's not like we're making something up. the guy with the camera was right there. so, how you can look at that and then get up with a smirk, i don't know. that's hard to take. >> and gene is clearly mugging for the camera. best audio of the weekend came from panthers quarterback cam newton chatting with linebacker klay mathews who thinks he knows what play karolina is about to run.

he said, you've been watching film, watch this. he didn't run the wheel route. it was a slant and it went for a touchdown. a look inside the game we don't usually get. speaking of the panthers, the for sale diddy is interested. steph curry wants to join him and kaepernick wants to be a part of their team as well. it would be a fun ownership group to see in action. not really sure the nfl wants to see that. one guy who has a better chance of potentially buying the team, that would be former 49ers owner eddy dibartolo. espn says eddy d. is considering putting together a group to put a bid in on the karolina panthers. abc7 sports brought to you by river rock casino. been 27 years since he owned the niners. >> he ran a first class operation no doubt. join us tonight on 9:00 kofy cable news. sexual haas rasment, holding them accountable. aiming to lift the secrecy of out of court settlements. >> then on abc7 news at 11:00,

law enforcement could take a big step tonight toward stopping the dangerous and sometimes deadly east by freeway shooting. >> that is all coming up. this is the latest edition ever abc7 news. we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. >> for all of us on abc7 news, good night.

even if no one in your home smokes, secondhand smoke can be closer than you think. secondhand smoke from a neighbor's apartment can enter your home through air vents, through light fixtures and even through cracks in the walls and the floors. secondhand smoke is toxic. especially to children. protect your family. visit tobaccofreeca.com.

♪ this is "jeopardy!" here are today's contestants -- an insurance salesperson from florence, new jersey... a research consultant from rochester, new york... and our returning champion, a project manager from west hollywood, california... ...whose 1-day cash winnings total... and now here is the host of "jeopardy!" -- alex trebek! thank you, johnny. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. welcome, everyone. one week to go. time to start shopping. denise, as you just heard, earned enough money

to do a lot of shopping on last friday's program. ben and kate, welcome aboard. good luck to the three of you. let's go to work in the jeopardy! round, shall we? one daily double awaiting you three in one of these categories... next... then we deal with... followed by... and finally... gdansk, a tour of a polish city with deep german influence that made its mark on european history. and, denise, you pick first. completes the nonfiction title for $200. ben. what is isis? that's it. completes the nonfiction title for $400. ben. what is parachute? good. completes the nonficton title for $600, please.