afternoon. you can see a few showers heading towards mendocino county. the bulk of the moisture, the brighter, whither clouds still off shore. still a day away. let's break it down for you. waking up mostly cloudy with increasing high clouds this morning. 38 to 46. we'll hang out in the mid to upper 50s at noon to 4:00 with increasing clouds from north to south. by 7:00 starting to see some of those scout showers move in to the north bay before the heaviest and the steadiest of the rain moves in tonight. i'll have an hour-by-hour look at that coming up next. >> thanks. this morning a grim reminder of how bad the pandemic is right now. for the third time since the coronavirus started, the u.s. surpassed 3,000 deaths in just a single day yesterday. that's according to new data released by johns hopkins university. it comes as california sets another record. now 14,000 people are in the hospital. 3,000 are in the icu. this graph charts the number of

icu patients and it goes back to march. look what's happening now. the current trend is nothing but a steep climb up. icu availability is monitored in five separate regions across the state. dropping under 15% means those extra restrictions, gyms and salons closing along with any on-site restaurant and dining closing. the bay area is on the brink of dropping under that threshold, like three other regions already have. but 7 of the 11 counties making up our region chose to adopt those rules early. only san mateo, napa, solano and santa cruz have not. it may take a while but the vaccine is giving some hope of bringing those numbers down. health care workers have already received the bay area's first doses and a lot of you have been sending us questions and the main one is when will you be able to get the vaccine? abc7 news reporter julian glover is live with the timeline. julian? >> good morning. the short answer of when the

general population will be able to get vaccinated is in a matter of months. exactly how many months is where things get more complicated. marin county's health officer, dr. matt willis saying phase 1a of vaccinating health care workers and residents of nursing homes will be complete by january. come february, people with pre-existing conditions will be up along with essential workers outside of the health care field like teachers will begin to get the shot. by march, the general population should be eligible for vaccines. >> if we're able to get up to 70% of people vaccinated across the community, it will be a total game changer. our lives will be different by the end of this summer. >> dr. willis says people are likely to get vaccines from one of three places, medical providers, pharmacies or special events like a drive-through vaccination clinic.

the pfizer, moderna and astrazeneca vaccines will require two doses, so they will be getting phone calls, texts and other messaging to make sure people get the second shot for full protection. the general population could begin getting vaccinated as early as march. keep in mind though with 40 million people in california alone, it will likely take months for everyone who wants to get vaccinated to get a vaccine. reporting live this morning, julian glover, abc7 news. >> thank you. in the north bay, sonoma county is expected to receive its first pfizer shipment today. the county health officer says 4,800 doses will be delivered to kaiser permanente, sutter hospital, memorial hospital and the county health department. the doses will then be distributed to other hospitals in the county. officials say that they hope to start vaccinating people no later than monday. as the third full day of vaccinations gets under way, a second potential covid-19 vaccine from moderna could be given emergency use authorization by the end of the week. we broke that news yesterday on

abc7 news. we are learning more about that timeline once the vaccine is authorized. >> yes, so moderna's vaccine could go out as soon as this weekend if the fda gives the green light at a panel vote tomorrow. new data released yesterday found the vaccine is highly protective and prevents severe cases of the coronavirus. we know that the vaccine is nearly 95% effective. a panel vote will decide whether it will be recommended for emergency use authorization. the fda would have to approve it before shipments could begin. >> we know we'll ship just a little bit short of 6 million doses out to the american people. we're shipping it to 3,285 locations across the country. >> the vaccine would only be for people older than 18. most common side effects

reported were pain at the site of injection, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain and fever. pfizer and moderna use similar technology for their vaccine. both require two doses but the brands cannot be used interchangeably. >> thank you. experts are saying that the similarities between the two vaccines are a huge benefit for americans. they're both created with messenger rna, the blueprint that allows the human body to create antibodies against the virus. both vaccines were found to be effective across genders and race, and they are at least 95% effective. experts say you won't get a choice of which one you get, but they're confident in both. >> every time i look at the data, every time i see new data i'm more and more impressed at both vaccines. the efficacy as well as the safety profile. i'm excited about where the moderna vaccine is going to end up. >> both vaccines need to be studied in children, pregnant and breast feeding women and those who have compromised immune systems. all this week we'll bring you in-depth coverage on the vaccine with our team of reporters and medical experts.

if you have any questions we'll try our best to answer them. just go to abc7news.com/vaccine to submit your question. this morning an abc news exclusive robin roberts sitting down with kamala harris. the two discussing a wide range of issues including the stalemate in congress about a new relief package in congress. >> the people here in washington, d.c. have to stop living in a bubble. the people have a right to expect that their leaders in congress see them and act in their best interests. >> harris and roberts talked about president trump's denial of the election results. a controversial op-ed calling for dr. jill biden to drop the doctor from her title and what will be the first ever second gentleman. you can watch that exclusive interview on "gma" at 7:00. our abc7 week of vaccine watch coverage rolls on with the

covid-19 now boarding. we're giving you an up close and behind-the-scenes look at how united is preparing to fly. and one of the worst winter storms in years starting to slam the east coast this morning. alerts going from georgia to new england and the coronavirus only making things worse except how one area is making the day a little more heart warming for some. and the rainfall potential from tonight a 1 on the storm impact scale. a light storm. it's still impressive. a quarter to a half inch for most of us. double that up in the north bay. an hour-by-hour look at t

satchel paige was still dominating batters at 59.at 52 celia cruz was still winning grammys at 77 john wheeler illuminated our ideas of the universe at 70 and roger crouch was 56 when he first went into space your best is yet to come

6:09. happening now, a potentially crippling storm is taking shape. it's set to affect 65 million

americans. snowfall totals could top 1.5 feet in some areas like the mountains of new hampshire, vermont, the poconos in pennsylvania. the storm is also threatening to delay shipments of the covid-19. u.p.s. and fedex say they're monitoring the conditions and will divert shipments as needed. meanwhile some kids are now blame the pandemic for ruining snow days. it just got that worse. public schools in new york city will be holding class no matter the condition except in west virginia, jefferson county schools sent a letter to parents saying it's keeping schools closed for kids to enjoy the first snow of the year with lots of sledding and hot cocoa. i like that. that's a nice way to look at it. here's a look at live doppler 7. the snow is moving from the river valley there south of cincinnati and heading up towards new england. the ohio river valley, that's where it will be damaging. back here at home, we have

increasing clouds and temperatures from 36 in santa clara to about 41 in san jose. some of our coolest temperatures, 39 right now in napa, novato, 37. 35 to 37 in danville and lafayette. mainly mid to upper 40s around the bay shore. as far as your activity planner today, at home, it's going to be dry all during the day. take some frequent breaks. king tide at 11:50 this morning and we have that hazardous surf advisory until 3:00 this afternoon. mendocino county could get wet this morning. the mountains of the northwest corner, the coastal mountains of sonoma county could have steady rain today. mount tam could have some rain, the southwest facing areas. that's where the wind is coming from could have steadier rain. you can see by 5:00, more showers are developing. look at that. when you get red in there, that's some of the embedded downpours we were talking about. so thankfully this is a fast-moving storm that could wake you up with the heaviness

of the rain. the steadiest and heaviest is out of here by 5:00 tomorrow morning. left with light rain and drizzle. then a rogue shower with increasing sunshine as we head into the afternoon. it will be really sloppy on the roads tomorrow morning, but how about this morning? let's bring jobina in here and find out. good morning. >> good morning, mike. thank you so much. good morning, everyone. so we are going to start with the bay bridge toll plaza. no metering lights on there yet. so, we've been watching them progressively come on later and later. look at that. just a smooth, clear ride into san francisco if you're traveling westbound. moving over now to check out the san mateo bridge, there was some roadwork in san mateo that was causing a bit of a delay. westbound we're not seeing that -- we're not seeing that so much right now. but things are moving. lastly i do want to bring in the map here. we have a crash in vallejo that is causing a bit of a slowdown

now. so this is going to be for everybody that will be impacted by this. on westbound 80 before magazine street, speeds down to 14 miles per hour. no injuries reported. but there is at least one lane blocked. >> all right. thank you. san francisco unified now scrambling to cover millions in its budget short falls. they met last night to make some tough decisions. how it might change the return to in-person learning. and the san jose family going all out for the christmas season. the legendary light display

the san francisco unified school district is trying to determine how it will deal with a 1$169 million budget deficit over the next two years. the chronicle reports the school board met last night to figure out which programs and resolutions to cut or put on hold. in addition, san francisco unified may spend another 5

million to 38 million to reopen schools next month. the school board plans to hold another meeting on january 5th to talk about budget priorities. this is a live picture of sfo this morning. one of united airlines hubs in the u.s. the company is busy joining u.p.s. and fedex in transporting the covid-19 vaccine to medical centers across the country. with airline travel down and flight schedules reduced, united has aircraft it can allocate. a single 777 can carry an estimated 1 million doses. regular passenger planes also have space. now this is not something out of the ordinary. the airline routinely carries other types of vaccines. >> there's the yearly flew vaccine campaigns that happen every year. we're involved in that. it not anything new. a higher profile. >> united says it has 80 facilities in its global network certified to handle

temperature-controlled products. when it comes to the holidays, the bay area is still the place to be this year. all three of the bay area's biggest cities made wallet hub's best cities for christmas. san jose ranked second behind durham, north carolina. honolulu was third. oakland in fourth place. san francisco seventh. wallet hub based its list on 15 key indicators for a safe and affordable christmas as well as holiday traditions and the city's overall generosity. i was criticized for my alleged shade about this list, so i will just move on now. >> okay. thank you. >> even though it makes no sense. >> happening tonight, a san jose family will receive national attention for their christmas light display on their apricot orchard. >> how do we get it started? >> back in the day the apricot orchard would have a whistle to get everybody working. now our light show has a

whistle. >> let's wake it up! here we go! three, two, one! >> okay. so the mattos family is featured on the show "the great christmas light fight." they decorated this orchard for 35 years now. this year's display is the biggest yet. it has more than 90,000 l.e.d.s. you can check out the mattos' lights every night until january 1st. the orchard is located on stone creek drive in south san jose. then you can watch them on "the great christmas light fight" here on abc7 tonight at 8:00. that's just one of the many things we can do here in the bay area, friend. that's why we are on that list. >> touche. >> mm-hmm. >> i see this time around you brought a receipt. well played, my friend.

>> i think maybe kumasi should be between both of us to balance us on this shot. >> sometimes i need to be. >> we're both cynical about that. kumasi, we love you for your positivity. absolutely. we love reggie, too for shis cynicism. it's 48 degrees under a mostly cloudy sky. our clouds will get thicker. it will be mainly dry during the day except a few scout showers up in the north bay. a little light rain on the southwest facing north bay coast mountains. if that makes sense. from mount tam up to sonoma county. the best chance of rain will be tonight. window of several hours of light to moderate rain with embedded down tours. cou downpours. we have tule fog. the leftover moisture will rear its ugly head that way for the

morning commute. we have highs well above average as we march towards monday, which is winter solstice. temperatures in the mid to upper 50s in the north bay and along the coast. the rest of us around 60 to 62. look at that rain tonight. temperatures will be mild. you have to have mild air to hold that much moisture. mid 40s to low 50s. i'm concerned about tomorrow's morning commute, especially for our first folks out the door. that heavy rain will be ending which means there will be plenty of standing water as you go out. maybe slow down and leave some space. jobina and i will get you through that commute. here's my accuweather 7-day forecast, a 1 for tonight through tomorrow. then tule fog with afternoon sunshine and temperatures eventually by monday, the winter solstice in the low to mid 60s, which is 5 to 10 degrees warmer than it should be. here is kumasi and reggie. >> we will not complain about our weather because we have it so good compared to what's about

to happen on the east coast. ginger zee knows all about that. she has a look at what's happening at 7:00 on "gma." hey, ginger. >> i'm not in the basement anymore, i'm at the new york city department of sanitation. behind me something you would not be familiar with in the bay area. those are snow melters. they can melt 60 tons of snow an hour. so we're anticipating 8 to 12 inches in the city. more north and west. that's why i'll be covering and tracking that. there's so much more to talk about including those impacts from the storm on the coronavirus vaccine. speaking of, there is a second dose of hope now. the fda saying the moderna vaccine is highly effective against coronavirus. the race is on to get it authorized. we'll tell you how it compares to the pfizer vaccine, the effectiveness, side effects and what you need to know leading into this. the abc news exclusive,

one-on-one with collkamala harr robin sits down with her at howard university, just a short distance away from where she will be sworn in as the first woman and first person of color to be named a vice president of the united states. what she is saying about how she and joe biden plan to bring the country together. then, you know, it wouldn't be a "gma" show if i weren't standing in front of a bunch of snowplows and telling you about the big dramatic bachelorette decision. and also day five of our 12 days of christmas. so much coming at you right here on "gma." >> and i have to thank ginger for something. the other day we were talking about this cookie extravaganza going on at "gma." my mom saw it, and she said i saw you and ginger and kumasi talking about the cookies. so i'm sending you grandma's recipe with the cookies in the mail. i will be receiving those. >> pass it along, please. >> yes. so thank you, ginger. good luck with the storm out there. >> yeah. >> thank you. well, a star is born.

after a worldwide search, we'll tell you who was just picked to play whitney houston in her upcoming biopic. >> and other headliners picked to ring in the n

here's a quick look at what to expect tonight. a 1 on our storm impact scale. several hours of light to moderate rain with downpours and hazardous surf today. thunderstorms tomorrow and thundersnow around yosemite. wow, that would be awesome to experience. until 3:00, we could have breakers up to 25 feet at our beaches. don't turn your back on that water. the warriors tip off the regular season in less than a week. last night they played their second preseason game against the kings. steph curry started out hot scoring 29 points, but the kings kyle guy hit a three-pointer at the buzzer and they beat the dubs 114-113.

the two teams meet again tomorrow night at chase center. the warriors open the season against the brooklyn nets next tuesday night. well, after a worldwide search we have someone who is playing whitney. nobody will ever be whitney. >> respect her. >> let's move on. british actress naomi aike will play the legendary singer whitney houston in the upcoming film "i want to dance with somebody." she starred in the latest "star wars" movie. the biopic is being made with the full cooperation of whitney houston's estate. this will be out thanksgiving of 2022. we must wait. >> she is -- whitney is the voice. there will never be anyone like her. get this movie right. >> i think it's just going to be such a high standard. >> miss pat who runs the runs tn

houston estate, get this one right. >> exactly. did you watch the one on lifetime? >> can we forget about that one? >> okay. so, how does now years eve with some a-list celebrities sound? this year you can spend it with j. lo. >> she will be headlines dick clark's new ocking eve with ryan seacrest on abc7. the other performers include cyndi lauper and gloria gaynor. joining ryan seacrest will be billy porter will perform, sierra will be there and lucy hale and there will be no crowd at new york's sometimes square because we're in a pandemic. everyone on the stage will have to keep their mask on unless they are performing. you can watch dick clark's new year's rocking eve with ryan seacrest on abc7. the celebrations start at 8:00 p.m. on new year's eve. we'll be right back. vaccines are set to arrive in marin county today. just as

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about the covid-19 virus. it's real. and it's dangerous. so, on behalf of all of us working on the front lines, please take it seriously. and while we don't yet have a cure or a vaccine, we do know how to keep you and your loved ones safe. wear a mask. wash your hands. stay six feet apart. do your best to stay out of crowded spaces. and get a flu shot, it's even more important this year. we can do this. if we do it together.

making news right now at 6:30, vaccine delivery day in marin county. and not a moment too soon. we're live from one hospital there that doesn't have a single bed available. plus -- >> howard university. >> yeah. >> just a short distance. the capitol, the white house. >> the one-on-one with vice president-elect kamala harris. i'm at the live desk with what the historic future vp from oakland is sharing this morning. and doorstep delivery of the future. where we'll be seeing these autonomous vans rolling up in your neighborhood and the bay area company behind it.

>> first, a live look at the exploratorium camera. i'll tell you where and when you will be getting wet. >> that is the benefit of getting up early. you get to see images like this. it's fantastic. >> this is basically our view from the studio. lucky for that every day. good morning on this wednesday, december 16th. we'll get to all of that in a second. we do start with mike nicco and rain in the forecast tonight. >> yeah, expect some rain tonight. 1 on the storm impact scale. several hours of light to moderate rain steady with embedded downpours and some rough surf out at the beaches through 3:00 this afternoon. here's our front. you can see it's still well off shore but it has healthy looking bright white clouds. that's the rain shield moving in. right now a few scout showers

about to move into mendocino county. the further north you are along the coast especially, the more likely you will be to get a rogue shower or two. the rest of us will see increasing clouds, 38 to 46 when you step outside. 56 to 57 at noon. 56 to 59 at 4:00. mild this evening, 51 to 55. we'll have an hour-by-hour look at the heavier rain coming in tonight. let's get over to reggie. >> i'll take it. thank you. >> abc7 is on vaccine watch all this week as part of our effort to build a better bay area. the vaccine distribution comes as governor newsom is painting a bleak picture of the coming days. he shared the state ordered 5,000 body bags. 60 refrigerated mobile units also being put on stand by. another indication of how dire things have become.

california set another record for hospitalizations due to covid-19 as well as the number of people in icu. it topped 3,000 for the first time yesterday. but the governor did share that the state will be getting 672,000 doses of moderna's vaccine once it's authorized. the fda will meet tomorrow to vote on authorization for emergency use authorization for the moderna vaccine. the fda released new data about the moderna vaccine showing its nearly 95% effective. 6 million doses could go out as soon as this weekend if the panel gives the green light. the vaccine comes as icu availability continues to drop across the state. the bay area is slightly over 15%. both southern california and the san joaquin valley are under 2%. those two regions along with greater sacramento have dropped below the state's 15% threshold, that means extra restrictions. the bay area is officially on the brink. seven counties have preemptively adopted rules early closing gyms, salons and any on-site restaurant dining. marin county is in real double

when it comes to covid spread. there's zero icu capacity there. the only good news, they are getting their first shipment of vaccine today. abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is live for us in san rafael. amy? >> good morning, reggie. nearly 2,000 doses of the pfizer vaccine are set to arrive in marin county today. they will start giving out the shots tomorrow. they were expecting to get the doses on monday, but they were delayed. officials were disappointed but say they understand these things happen during such a huge operation involving such a sensitive vaccine. >> we were slated to be among the first, that was exciting. now we're not at the front of the line, but again, 48 hours over the long-term doesn't make a big difference. it might give the teams a little

bit longer to really be even more prepared. >> the vaccine comes as the county runs out of icu beds. marin says all icu beds are full. 12 of the 29 beds are covid patients. they will give half of the vaccines to hospital workers, the other half to skilled nursing facilities. they will get the general public vaccinated between march and june. live in san rafael, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. >> thank you. health care workers in san francisco and contra costa county are among the first people in the bay area to get the coronavirus vaccinations. in contra costa county, 9,750 doses arrived yesterday. the plan is to distribute them between the eight medical facilities in the county. in san francisco at zuckerberg general hospital, five medical

workers were vaccinated yesterday. dr. antonio gomez was first in line. >> i trust the fda's evaluation process. i trust the experts that we have here at this hospital who have seen the data, looked at it and, you know, we all believe that this is a safe vaccine. i wouldn't have administered it on myself if i didn't think it was safe. >> san francisco is expecting over 12,500 doses of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine this week. for the very latest updates on the coronavirus vaccine, head to abc7news.com/vaccine or download the abc7 news app. make sure that you are enabling the push alerts so you can get exclusive content and developments as they happen. this morning a uc berkeley alum is headed to become part of president-elect's joe biden's team. oakland resident jennifer granholm has been selected to lead the department of energy. she closely worked with then vice president biden on bailouts

for michigan's auto industry during her time as governor and is an outspoken supporter of zero emission vehicles. the official cabinet nomination is expected this week. joe biden selected pete buttigieg to be secretary of transportati transportation. buttigieg would be the first openly lgbtq person confirmed by the senate to a permanent cabinet position. ahead, an exclusive announcement from amazon this morning. what it's revealing about its shipping date cutoff that you need to know to get those gifts sent on time. and a live look at the new york stock exchange. we're down about 38 points. another update on how the markets are doing next. plus daveed diggs already has done so much for oakland, but in so many amazing things including hamilton. we're hearing from him this morning giving us a sneak peek of the upcoming disney plus animated film "soul." >> i'm excited to see that. >> you should be excited.

to see the interview, to see the movie. >> all of it. >> all of it. first we talk to mike and the rai rain. >> now i see why he hasn't been on "blackish" lately. he usually plays tracy ellen ross's grandmother. haven't seen him in a while. it's chilly in some parts of the peninsula. menlo park and redwood city, upper 30s. we get into the low 40s as we head north, mid to upper 40s heading up to daly city and down to 52 in half moon bay. fog not an issue this morning except for look at that in the central valley, that's thick tule fog. so far it has not crept into our reporting stations. so, we have mid to upper 30s through the tri valley, the fairfield, napa, 38. most of us in the mid to upper 40s. here's san jose, it's dry as we look northbound from 87 near the shark tank. ferry rides will be dry all day. late evening rain if you're taking mass transit and late

evening wetness hitting the roads up in the north bay. otherwise most of us the commute will be fine today. future radar, we'll start a few moments from now at 7:00. more of those showers developing off the coast and heading for the sonoma county coast and mendocino county as we head through the morning and afternoon hours. we could get steady or light rain down to marin county. the usual places up on tamalpais, possible kentfield as we head into the afternoon hours. most of us will see increasing cloud cover. look at the yellows, oranges and reds. those are the embedded downpours i was talking about. we have several hours of light to moderate rain with embedded downpours. could be heavy enough to wake you up tonight. it comes through right into the middle the night. by 5:00 tomorrow morning, we're winding this event down. left over with drizzle and light rain. increasing sunshine in the afternoon and a stray shower possible as we head into the evening hours. as far as rain totals, holding on to about a quarter to a half inch for most of us. higher amounts in the higher

elevations, double that, a half inch to more than an inch up in the north bay from the valleys to the mountains. it's going to be a good soaking. just going to come in at a very small window compared to what we had over the weekend. it's dry out there this morning. let's get over to jobina and find out about that morning commute. hi, jobina, how are you? >> i'm doing well this morning, mike, thank you. good morning, everybody. so we are going to begin at the toll plaza. metering lights are on now. they came on at 6:13 this morning. it is beginning to back up there as you see. really it's not as bad as it looks. once you make it through those lights, smooth sailing into san francisco. you know where it's extra smooth? in the south bay. live picture here showing off san jose, 101 camera there. really clear ride. pretty much everywhere else around the bay area, so bringing in the map, i want to point out one problem spot that we're seeing in vallejo. there was an earlier crash on westbound 80 right before magazine street. the off-ramp there. everything has been moved off to

the shoulder, we have residual delays. speeds a

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the fda is funding a new effort that could lead to the removal of long-time restrictions around blood donations by gay men. it's a collaboration between three of the nations largest blood centers and eight lgbtq plus centers nationwide. the goal is to gather and present data to the fda for review by late 2021. a change in policy would mean that more gay and bisexual men would be able to give blood and end what critics have called discriminatory federal guidelines. on monday the uk announced it would relax restrictions on gay men giving blood. the vaccine is bringing some hope that it will bring the number of coronavirus victims down. the bay area received its first doses. a question a lot of you have

been sending in to us is when you will be able to get the vaccine. julian glover is live with a timeline. julian? >> good morning, kumasi. the short answer is it's a matter of months when the general population will begin to get vaccinated for covid-19. exactly how many months, that's where things get a bit more complicated. this morning we're hearing from the marin county health officer, dr. matt willis who suggests phase 1a of the vaccinating process of health care workers and residents of nursing homes will be complete by january. come february, he says people with pre-existing conditions will be up to get vaccinated along with essential workers outside of the health care field like teachers. they will likely begin to get the shot. by march the general population should be eligible for vaccines, a major challenge, though, will be making sure people return for that second shot of the vaccine on time. >> i'll be working with our health care providers to make sure those phone calls are happening, texts are happening, automatic messaging to remind people that it's their time.

>> the pfizer, moderna and astrazeneca vaccines all require two doses for full protection. dr. willis says people are likely to get vaccine from one of three places, medical providers, pharmacies or special events like a drive-through vaccination clinic. so again, the bottom line, march at the earliest for the general public to begin getting vaccinations which will likely stretch many months into the summer for everyone who wants a vaccine to be able to get one. reporting live this morning, julian glover, abc7 news. all this week you can see all of our coverage on your own time from our website. you can submit your vaccine questions as well to our team of reporters and medical experts. all of this at abc7news.com/vaccine. the french laundry received two loans through the paycheck protection program totalling more than 2$2.4 million.

that's 17 times more than what the average bay area restaurant received. according to an abc7 i-team analysis, more than $1 billion of ppp loans went to full and limited service restaurants across the bay area. sba data indicates french laundry received two loans. the first for more than $2.2 million to retain 163 employees. the second loan was for more than $194,000 to retain five employees. that is more than six times what the average full-service bay area restaurant retaining five employees received. french laundry is one of at least seven bay area restaurants with two or three michelin stars that also received ppp loans. california says one of them received a $214,000 loan to retain 14 people, mainly management. >> still trying to figure out how to spend it correctly, which has been and continues to be cloudy. whether the ppp will be forgivable or not will be the

final thing we'll see. i'm not sure if it will be or not. >> the abc7 i-team reached out to french laundry for comment and to confirm how many employees the company was able to keep on payroll for each loan. we have yet to hear back. for the full story go to our website and click i-team. five weeks from today president-elect joe biden and vice president-elect kamala harris will take office. this morning harris spoke exclusively with robin roberts about making history and the challenges that the new administration will be facing on day one. jobina is at the live desk with that "gma" exclusive. >> thank you, kumasi. good morning. vice president-elect kamala harris sat down with robin roberts at her alma mater, howard university, which is just up the road from the capitol where she will be sworn in as the first female vice president of the united states. harris says when she takes the oath on january 20th she will be thinking about all the women that came before her including her mother.

but she also addressed the multiple challenges lying ahead that includes uniting the country, the ongoing pandemic and financial crisis. >> in this democracy of ours, as americans, which is our democracy is stronger than any one man or woman, it is about the people. the people spoke. robin, i'll tell you, i don't understand the hesitation. the people are suffering. >> harris and roberts went on to talk about her and biden's plan to control the pandemic including a 100-day mask mandate. watch that full and exclusive interview at 7:00 on "gma" right here after abc7 mornings. reggie? >> thank you. amazon is out with an exclusive announcement on "gma" this morning on its shipping day cutoff for the holiday season. >> what are the cutoffs? december 23rd for one-day delivery. december 24th for same-day delivery. for prime members in select

city, two-hour grocery delivery. >> don't tell me that. because you'll have me pushing it until the last second. amazon announced the deadlines later than usual this year. executives say they wanted to see how demand was going during the pandemic and assess their capacity to keep up. amazon hired more drivers to help with deliveries up until the 24th. if you're still planning to ship, there are just nine days to go until christmas. get to it. the next time you use uber or order uber eats it will cost you more. uber started charging new fees on monday ranging from 30 cents to $2 depending on service and location. and starting today doordash is raising its service fee on deliveries and adjusting promotion plans such as the dash pass. the fee increase helps uber and doordash cover the cost of new benefits for its workers, that came with voters passing prop 22 last month. san francisco-based e-commerce platform wish expected to make its first public trade in the next couple

hours. wish rang the nasdaq opening bell a few moments ago. contacts logic set the price at 24 bucks, raising more than $1 billion. wish is the latest bay area tech company to go public joining doordash, airbnb and c3ai which went pup lablic last week. earlier this week affirm pushed back their ipo until the beginning of next year. looking at the new york stock exchange, it looks like we're slightly down as trading begins, down about 24 points. we're one step closer to front door deliveries of the future. walmart is going fully driverless starting next year as part of a program in arkansas. it is joining forces with the palo alto based tech startup gadic to start autonomous self-driving delivery trucks. the program may be used in 2021 along routes in louisiana. a daring golf ball rescue caught on camera in florida.

what? check this out. you can see a man snatching a ball that had somehow gotten stuck on the tail of an alligator. this happened at a golf course in cape coral. the alligator ends up splashing into the nearby water as the golfer removes the ball. the golfers say they have no idea how the ball got stuck on the gator obviously don't ever do that. because gator -- i mean -- >> i thought we had let go of the florida stories for a minute, but here they come. >> the gift that keeps on giving. >> they're back. >> how many times did you encounter an alligator? >> listen, i don't go -- you just -- just stay away. i never saw alligators running around. i always assumed if there were a body of water there was likely an alligator in there and i would not be -- i would go somewhere else. >> thank you. see? when you left, all sense left. that's what happened.

as evidenced every day here on abc7 mornings, mike. >> right. kumasi's clues to living safely in florida. >> right. >> i love it. that's awesome. all right. let's take a beautiful shot of the exploratorium. good morning. what time is it? about 6:52 on this so far dry wednesday with a gorgeous sunrise developing. we're going to end the day wet. so, during the daytime hours, we'll have scattered showers across the north bay. the rest of us will see increasing clouds. steady rain with embedded downpours tonight. mostly sunny heading through the weekend with above-average high temperatures. today we'll be coolest up in the north bay and along the coast. mid to upper 50s. the rest of us 60 to 62 degrees. we have that high surf advisory, big breakers at the northwest beaches, mavericks, up to 25 feet. could be taller at mavericks. make sure you're watching from the shore and not from the beaches. tonight look at that rain and mild temperatures. mid 40s to low 50s. the milder the temperature, the

more moisture it can hold. we'll have some good downpours tonight. so we'll have standing water during our earliest commute tomorrow morning. so if you're one of the first ones out the door, watch out. there will be ponding on the roadways, slow down, leave yourself plenty of space. don't want to hear about solo spinouts that we usually hear at the beginning of the commute after its rained all night. moving through the accuweather 7-day forecast, you can see temperatures by monday, which is the winter solstice, our shortest day of the year, about 9 hours and 32 minutes of sunshine. it will be 58 at the coast. low to mid 60s, about 3 to 8 degrees warmer than average. it gets cooler for the first full day on tuesday with increasing clouds. after tonight's rain, looks like it's going to be dry other than tule fog the next couple of mornings. let's get back to reggie for more news. >> now to one of the top stories at abc7news.com. the end of alex trebek's legendary tenure as host of "jeopardy!" is approaching. the final episodes trebek taped before his death will air the week of january 4th.

a series of trebek's ten best episodes will air the next two weeks leading into those final episodes in the new year. the show has not yet named a replacement. they'll have a series of guest hosts in trebek's absence. new at 6:00, we're hearing from daveed diggs about his role in pixar's new movie "soul." diggs it talking about it on "good morning america." the "hamilton star" and tony winner is bringing his musical magic to pixar and is responsible for our new favorite hanukkah song. >> i have to talk to you about this incredible rap song you wrote for hanukkah that some people say rivals adam sandler's classic. tell us about that. >> yeah. this is what we came up with. >> we will talk about "soul." this movie is about finding what makes you you and the joy of getting lost in the music. what are some songs on your play list? >> for me, my favorite band of

all time is parliament psychedelic. >> okay. he's also starring in disney's upcoming live action remake of "the little mermaid." he's playing sebastian. disney is the parent company of abc7. you can see more of his conversation with michael strahan on "gma" at 7:00. there's so much going on. i forgot about the little mermaid live action. >> that's coming up. it's all coming. can i say something about since i saw "soul" this week, the music. we mentioned the music. it's really good. it's very interesting because it's a jazz situation on earth, but once they go to the soul world, it becomes the people behind nine inch nails. so they do the music in soul world. it's very beautiful. >> i don't want you to talk about it anymore. i don't want any spoilers. >> no spoilers. >> do not share the link with me or jobina or mike. >> no spoilers. no link. i'm trying to stay at my job at abc7. i do not want the disney police

to come and get me. >> we want you to stay. okay. coming up ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ visit your volvo retailer for special offers during our holiday safely sales event. for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way

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it's 6:57. if you're just joining us, here's the 7 things to know this morning. number one, doses of the pfizer covid-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in marin county today. vaccinations will start tomorrow. this comes as the county health department reports icu capacity at zero%. sonoma county expected to receive its first pfizer shipment today. 4,800 doses will be delivered to three hospitals and the health department. number three, million doses of moderna's covid-19 vaccine could go out this weekend if the fda gives the green light at the panel vote tomorrow. number four, kamala harris spoke with robin roberts on "gma." she talks about making history and the challenges that the new administration will face day one. watch that full interview next at 7:00. our steadiest and heaviest rainfalls tonight while most of us are sleeping. a few scout showers are expected today in the north bay. this storm ranks a 1, light, on

our storm impact scale. number six, taking a live look right now at the bay bridge. it does appear to be slowish as we move into san francisco westbound. but i'm tracking the speeds now. it will take you ten minutes to make it across once you get through the metering lights. number seven, a heart-warming letter from a west virginia school district as they mark their first snow day of the year. the district will close down entirely to celebrate the snowfall. this is one thing they don't want to miss out on a tough year. they say families should build a snowman and enjoy some hot chocolate. >> that's incredibly generous. >> that is good. >> right. completely opposite of the new york city schools which are like, oh, you're going to school. doesn't matter how bad the weather is. you're at home and you're online. >> that's what i'm saying. i would say the same thing. sit down, log on. >> no. un-huh. y'all are really scroogy. what is going on?

>> it's time for play play after school. >> no. good morning, america. second dose of hope. the fda set to authorize moderna's vaccine as soon as tomorrow as the pfizer vaccine is distributed to hundreds of locations around the country. all this as hard-hit california hospitals are overrun with the virus. the state preparing for what might be its darkest day activating its mass fatality program. l.a. county, the home to more than 10 million people, has fewer than 100 icu beds left. dr. jha here with the latest. monster winter storm. 60 million americans on alert for the dangerous nor'easter taking aim. already wreaking havoc on highways, the possible blizzard set to slam the country from georgia to new england. some cities bracing for a blast of more than a foot of snow and how the massive storm is threatening to delay vac