live where you live, this is abc 7 news. >> well, if you haven't stepped outside yet, wilet me be the fit to warn you, it's a cold start to winter. this is video of san franciscans trying to stay warm near market and new montgomery this morning. thanks for joining us, i'm natasha zouves. kristen ze will be in later today. let's head over to mike nicco for a look at the chilly forecast. hi there, mike. >> hey, everybody, we'll open the weather window on emeryville, the clear sky overnight is still with us. it will be clear tonight, too. that's going to lead to cold temperatures once again. today, yeah, winter solstice, 8:20 this morning. did you notice it? probably noticed the cool temperatures. the night is going to be as long as ever tonight. that's going to lead to really cold temperatures.

even colder than this where we hit 32 in napa, also in palo alto, to 45 in san francisco. now, let me tell you what's going to happen tonight, if you live along the coast or san francisco, you're safe from the freeding cold temperatures. the areas in purple here, which is just about everywhere else, from 1:00 in the morning to 7:00 in the morning, you got to be really careful with the pets, the plants and the pipes because this could be a killing freeze. that means temperatures will drop down into the 20s in some neighborhoods for several hours. in fact, i'll have your neighborhood temperatures coming up. natasha? >> mike, thank you. an investigation is under way in oakland after a deadly crash brought this morning toes commute to a stand still. southbound iwas closed down aftr a semitruck flipped on its amy hollyfield. >> reporter: the crash happened before 3:00 this morning, fedex big rig and sedan collided. one of the two drivers involved was killed. >> upon arrival, our officers found paramedics were already on

scene working on the driver of the overturned sedan, hispanic male adult pronounced dead on scene. >> reporter: shut down southbound 880 oakland for five hours. vehicles were forced to exit at 66 avenue near the oakland coliseum. the shutdown created a huge backup and plenty of frustration. >> we heard a few drivers yell out expletives at the chp officers as they passed the scene. >> because somebody did die on our freeway this morning, we feel it's our duty to shut down the freeway to comb thr t evidence and the entire scene to process the scene, to ensure that the victim, the victim's families, that everyone gets the best service they can from the california highway patrol. >> reporter: it also took a while for the tow truck team to upright the fedex trailer. the truck didn't lose its load, but we asked fedex about the contents. a spokesman told us, "in cases of damaged freight, we have measures in place to immediately recover as much as possible and to communicate with our

customers." investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the wreck. all lanes re-opened at 8:10 this morning. in oakland, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. >> all right, amy, thank you. after a massive manhunt, a missing houston baby has been found this midday. jessica castro from abc 7 mornings joins with more on the increasely bizarre circumstances surrounding this case. jessica sfw. >> yes, that 6-week-old baby finally found safe and in time for the holidays. that taush shark t thnatash natasha, circumstances are wild. a friend of reportedly suffered a miscarriage and was trying to pass off the 6-week-old as her own kid. the baby was found inside a houston apartment belonging to the family friend and police now say erica miranda alvarez is facing capital murder for killing the baby's mom, carolina flores, found murdered two days ago. police think alvarez even tried to fake her pregnancy among her

closest loved ones. her own family members and her boyfriend. >> if you recall, we talked about this is probably a woman who either lost a baby recently or was desperate to have a child. this proved to be accurate. this woman was due to have a baby in january. >> it was photos that eventually led police to alvarez. investigators spotted two suspicious people holding the baby in front of that apartment. and right now, police are still interviewing the boyfriend to make sure he has no connection to this crime. and this midday, the baby was taken to texas children's hospital. she just underwent an examination and is reportedly unharmed and healthy. she's now in custody of child protective services. i'm jessica castro, abc 7 news. >> what a story. thank you, jessica. congress now has a little over 36 hours to get a deal done to prevent the government from shutting down. house republicans unveiled a spending bill this morning. it is stripped down and provides the funding to keep the government operating into the

new year. it provides money for things like flood insurance and the children's health insurance program. democrats are still skeptical. >> we'll do something, once again, before the end of the year, to make sure those states don't get hit with schip >> we're trying to get as good a deal as possible but the bottom line is we haven't seen anything. >> looming shutdown comes on the heels of republicans celebrating an overhaul of the nation's tax code. the individual cuts are good for eight years. big businesses might benefit the most with corporate tax being slashed from 35% to 21%. companies are rushing to announce special bounces and pay hikes after the gop tax plan. at&t saying it will pay $1 is,0is$1,000 bonus to 200,000 u.s. employees. wells fargo is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour. boeing announced it's investing $300 million in employee training and philanthropic ventures. comcast says more than 1,000 employees will get a $1,000 bonus. happening today the tributes

honoring san francisco mayor ed lee continue. there will be a community candlelight vigil in chinatown at 5:00 at portsmouth square. london breed is expected to attend along with other city leaders. mayor ed lee died of a heart attack last week. individual vigil organizers say he'll be remembered for his dedication, commitment to chinatown, economic development and art and culture. happening today the off duty richmond police officer acushcu of shooting his gun inside a hotel will be inside court. phil sanchez fired multiple shots inside the four seasons in san francisco on sunday. sanchez's attorney says he may have been suffering a mental health episode. he's been charged with three felonies. no one was hurt in the incident. starting tomorrow, most alameda county courts will closed through new year's day due to budget issues. wiley manuel courthouse, east county hall of justice in dublin and juvenile justice center in san leandro will remain open. staff will be available to

handle emergency matters including review of restraining order applications. all courthouses will re-open on tuesday january 2nd. now live look at the bay bridge toll plaza right now, pretty light. here's a question for you, would you pay $9 to get into san francisco on that bridge? welling, there's a new poll out that says moe s most of you wou. 54% of you to be exact. metropolitan transportation commission is carefully crafting a proposal to make it happen. money from the $3 toll increase would go to help ease congestion in the bay area and fund dozens of transportation projects. the toll hike would affect all bay area bridges except the golden gate bridge. >> bay area residents are sick of being stuck in traffic. they need congestion relief. >> presented to the commission in san francisco yesterday. the question now is, how to craft the toll hike proposal for the june ballot. a phased-in aphraproach seems te the most popular idea. $1 hike in 2019, another in 2023 and the last one in 2027. commissioners meet again on january 24th to take a formal

vote. the holidays are off to on early start for children in the south bay. right now thousands of toys and books are packed into a room in san jose ready to be gifted. your help is still needed, though. abc 7 news reporter matt keller is live at sacred heart community service in an jose. hi there, matt. >> reporter: hi, natasha, the shopping has begun. day one of the two-day event. not only is this fun for the shoppers, it's also fun for the volunteers. eileen is shopping for her daughter and son at sacred heart community services' toy box. >> this is a big help for us especially me. i'm not working right now. >> reporter: eileen's kids are 2 of 6,200 registered to receive two toys and one book and if they're lucky, when 1 of 700 bikes in a raffle. >> no peeking i say to them, no opening gifts yet. >> reporter: this is sacred heart's way of helping with the stress of the holidays. paying bills and buying gifts can put a strain on many in silicon valley. >> look around the

neighborhoods, new buildings going up, old buildings going down, neighbors being displaced and possibly seeing their families going through struggles these times. us being able to provide, come together as a community, round up a bunch of toys and just have two days of full-on cheer before christmas, that's awesome for us. >> reporter: the shoppers aren't the only ones getting something out of this. hundreds of volunteers help out at sacred heart during the holidays including mother and son duo, elizabeth and patrick ward. >> toys are the best. it's so much fun to see families come in and shop for their children. >> it's fun to hang out with my family here. i've been going here since i think i was around 8 years old. it's always been a family thing we got to do together. >> reporter: sacred heart still needs a few thousand more toys and books. if you'd like to help, we set up a link on our website, abc7news.com. reporting live in san jose, matt keller abc 7 news. >> >> a great event, thank you so much, matt. attention, shoppers. the shipping deadlines you need to know about today. plus, there is a shocking new report on life expectancy. the factors causing the second

drop in numbers in just as many decades. and the latest on an overnight attack in melbourne, targeting holiday shoppers. and are you dreaming of a wet christmas? well, could be white up in the sierra if the storm does pan out. here's a quick look at the next seven days and the rain chance, or the chance of rain i'm tracking for christmas day and the day after.

new this morning, one persoo

is dead, another critically hurt after a house exploded and caught fire near downtown phoenix. this blast was caused by natural gas but not said what the source may be. the home was destroyed and a neighboring house was damaged when flames spread. the explosion also knocked down some power lines. it now to australia, police are calling an overnight attack on holiday shoppers deliberate. a man of afghan descent mowed through a crowd in melbourne hurting more than a dozen people. abc news reporter has the details on this developing story. >> reporter: taken down and handcuffed on the street today, that's the alleged attacker. the driver of this white suv. at rush hour today in melbourne, australia, officials say he plowed through pedestrians. blowing through stop lights, speeding up, hopping the tram line before crashing into a tram station. injuring 18 other people, witnesses described bodies flying into the air. >> saw people running, turned around. saw people scattered on the road. some of them were nonresponsive. >> reporter: at this time,

authorities giving no indication of his motivation. no evidence and no intelligence that suggests terrorism. >> what occurred was an act of evil and act of cowardice. >> reporter: at man nearby was detained, recording the incident on his cell phone and had several knives in his bag. >> horrific incident, a person driven directly at pedestrians. it's a crime. >> reporter: the attacker is of afghan descent, has a history of mental illness and minor rap sheet with police. he was dragged out of his car restrained by an off-duty police officer. the officer remains in the hospital. the youngest victim, a 4-year-old boy, also injured. at least four people in critical condition. >> this is horrific. it's evil. we are not defined by these sorts of incidents. >> reporter: australia police don't believe this was part of any greater plot. like so sm police departments across the world at this time of year, they're increasing

security at crowded public places. molly hunter, abc news, london. onnto an alarming headline. in the u.s. life expectancy went down for the second straight year. this is the first time since the '60s that happened largely because of the opioid epidemic. overall life expect tancy is 78 years in the u.s. an expert is quoted as saying it's like lie worse than we realize and the opioeioid end p than the aids epidemic at its peak. apple is confirming older phones are slowing down, apple says this is not a conspiracy to get you to buy a new phone but the lithium ion battery weakens over time. less processing power which causes older phones to suddenly

shut off. apple implemented a feature starting with the iphone 6 that p prevents a phone with an old battery to shut off but may notice it sacrifices speed. hurry up, people, cutoff for u.p.s. and fedex overnight shipping is today. missed the priority mail cutoff for christmas delivery. that was yesterday. tomorrow is the cutoff for priority express. get it shipped now. if can you love the royals, stick around. a live look from our east bay hills camera. it's beautiful. we do see some blue skies out there. there's a freeze warning going into effect later today. meteorologist mike nicco is coming up with the

now your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> a little bit of a precursor to what to expect tomorrow morning. this is from san jose. you can see the frost on top of the car and the sun about tole cme up and turn that into come steam. we'll take a look at just how cold it's going to get in your neighborhoods coming up. reminder of that freeze warning. here's the way it looks in san jose at 280 and 17. a whole lot of sunshine out there. temperatures right now, still in the 40s up in the hills like in los gatos at 45, cloverdale, clear lake, ukiah at 42, after dropping down to 26 this morning. the rest of us 50 to 54 degrees. here's the way it looked from sutro tower. gorgeous clean air. my accuweather highlight, that is total sunshine. a lighter breeze as we head into the afternoon hours. that stillness will lead to our coldest nights tonight and tomorrow night. and christmas storm to be or not to be? that's the question in our medium-range models, one says to be. the other one says not to be.

so we'll take a look at the one that says to be in just a second. here's a look at live doppler 7. see wall-to-wall sunshine out there today. it's still gusty in some spots. 21 at half moon bray. livermore. 17 at hayward. 29 in fairfield. 13 in san jose. i promise you those will taper as we head into the afternoon hours. temperature about 55 at half moon bay on the low end to lake port at 54. napa, antioch, santa cruz right about 60 degrees. here's a gorgeous look from our east bay hills camera. temperatures at noon, 49 to 55 degrees. pretty close to where we should be for this time of the year. now, at 4:00, we'll be in the mid 50s. look at that quick cooling. already 40 to 44 at 9:00. almost frosty at midnight, 38 to 44. here's where -- well, i should say, here's where it's not going to freeze. how about along the coast into san francisco? 40 to 43. a lot of low to upper 30s around the bay. it will be frost around the bay. a lot of mid 20s to low 30s in inland. so you got to be careful with the pets, the plants and the pipes especially from 1:00 to

7:00. that's when the temperatures will be most dangerous in the 20s for several hours which is a killing hard freeze. all right. as far as what's going on, here's a look at sunday, 3:00, and looks like the model just updated because earlier today, this model had rain in the forecast for sunday into monday, in fact, now it barely has any, as you can see, just a couple of hundredths of an inch. so, what i did with the accuweather seven-day forecast, i put a chance, just a chance, of some rain, on monday. did not put a storm impact scale on it because the chance is just not there yet. what you'll notice before we get to that are freezing cold nights with all that sunshine and dry air. warming pretty nicely as long as you're standing in the sun, it will feel nice with those mid 50s to 60 tomorrow. then you can see we warm up a little bit saturday and sunday. we'll also increase the clouds with that warmer weather and stay a little bit above after rabl average even if it doesn't rain monday, tuesday, wednesday. kids will get all their kids. the dads who want to get out there and play with their kids' gifts will have fun that

afternoon. >> that sounds good. i think we can deal where a cozy indoors christmas day. we want to protect those travel days. all those looking clear. >> absolutely, bone dry up until sunday. if you're traveling especially around the state, looks pretty good. around the rest of the country, we'll talk about that tomorrow. >> a little messier. thanks so much, mike, appreciate it. next time you update twitter, you'll notice a new security feature. the san francisco-based company is letting the users use a log in, google authenticator as a second layer of protection when you log in. you can find that feature under account settings. kensington palace released two official photos of prince harry and fiancee, miss meghan markle. take a look, they're great. the black and white photo of the two embracing. markel showing off the gorgeous ring. the other photo, color, a little more color but just as formal.

they were taken at the royal-owned house in windsor. this was taken the day of their portrait setting. one good deed certainly deserves another. local bay area animal shelters are helping out their counterparts in southern california. in the wake of the thomas fire. but now your help is needed. find out what you can do after the break. santa visits the mcclure twins. >> i don't know this guy. i've never seen this guy. >> next "right this minute."

a quick reminder, we're on 4/7 on the arkbc 7 news app and abc7news.com. we posted something holiday travelers will love. a live interactive traffic map to keep you up to the date on road conditions. if you're logging on to abc7news.com from your phone, be sure to download the new and improved abc 7 news app to get breaking news alerts. and tune in for the latest news and weather right now on our next newscast, abc 7 news at 4:00. the marin humane society is helping shelters in southern california inundated with animals affected by the thomas fire. 45 pets including dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs were flown to the bay area from the ventura county animal shelter. the pets will be microchipped, spayed and neutered then vaccinated. all will be available for adoption in about a week. if you have room in your home and would like to adopt any of these pets, we have more information on our website,

abc7news.com. >> yeah, that's sad. glad we can help. >> because they helped us when we were dealing with our own wildfires. good we can return the favor. >> absolutely. >> hopefully find them homes here in the bay area. >> that would be nice. forever homes for the holidays. >> yes. from all of us at abc 7 news, thank you for joining us. "who wants to be a millionaire" coming up next, bye-bye.

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>> our young players today have worked very hard in school, and, in just a few minutes, all that studying may pay off with a check for $1 million. welcome to whiz kids week on "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] ♪ hey, everybody, welcome to the show. it's whiz kids week. are you guys ready to go? [cheers and applause] i know she is. so let's welcome our first whiz kid, a geography bee champion. from mount prospect, illinois, 14 year old claire goodman is here. [cheers and applause] i like that--so theatrical. >> yep. >> you're involved in theater. >> yes. >> you must be with that. that was fantastic. >> i've been doing theater for 10 years or so now. >> well, before we're done, i need to learn that move. >> okay. [laughs] >> you're about to face 14 questions from $500 all the way to that $1 million. [cheers and applause]