now from abc7, live breaking news. >> i'm proud of the legislation. it's a first step. >> finally it's here. help is coming for millions of americans who are struggling financially during the pandemic. a stimulus agreement reached tonight includes unemployment benefits and rental assistance. with that we say good evening and thank you so much for joining us. i'm dion lim. top capitol hill negotiators sealed a deal on an almost $1 trillion relief package. it'll provide long overdue help to struggling businesses and people. >> we consider this a first step and that again more glooends. >> lawmakers reaching a deal on a stimulus package just hours before a potential government shutdown. >> our purpose has always been to crush the virus, to put money in the pockets of the american people, which we do in this

legislation. >> one hurdle, language proposed by republican senator pat toomey that would curtail the authority of the federal reserve. toomey arguing three pandemic related lending programs should end because they achieved their purpose. >> the purpose was to ensure that credit-worthy borrowers could access credit through the normal channels. they worked. they worked amazingly well, remarkably well within days, certainly weeks. markets were again functioning. credit was flowing. >> reporter: democratic leader chuck schumer saying the proposed language was so broad, would've tied the hands of the incoming biden administration. >> last night the log jam was broken. senator toomey accepted my compromise to remove the dangerous similar to language in his bill that was overly broad. >> ricardo ramirez says he's barely getting by and is now at risk of possibly losing

everything. >> it's about time for them to do somethng for the community. >> reporter: the roughly $900 billion relief package would include $300 in weekly federal unemployment benefits and $600 in direct payments for millions. president trump calling on congress to increase the amount of those stimulus checks, tweeting in all caps, get it done and give them more money in direct payments. speaker pelosi said more help will be on the way. that is once the biden/harris administration begins a month from now. to the latest on the new moderna, not covid-19 vaccine, on the move today. doses left two distribution centers in kentucky and in mississippi and are now headed to more than 3,800 sites across america, including here in the bay area. abc7 news reporter cornell bernard is on this developing story. we have learned that california is expecting to receive 672,000 doses of that moderna vaccine at least to start.

there is more. >> that's right, dion. and hospitals here in the bay area standing by ready to take delivery of their share of the moderna vaccine. th u.s. now has two vaccines to battle the pandemic that's killed more than 317,000 americans. distribution of moderna's covid-19 vaccine began early sunday morning just two days after receiving emergency authorization by the fda. mckesson the distributor prepared the vaccine and loaded it onto trucks under the eyes of law enforcement. >> we know it's 95% effective. as much as 100% effective at preventing severe disease. and this is the way we end the pandemic by getting 70 or 80% of the country vaccinated. >> we're expecting 3,100 doses of the moderna vaccine here tomorrow morning. >> reporter: marin county public health officer dr. matt willis says those doses come just in time. the county's first pfizer

vaccine allotment has already run out. >> our goal is to not store any. really we just want to get it into the arms of our hospital workers, our emts, our paramedics as quickly as we can. >> reporter: ucsf is also expecting its moderna vaccine doses any day. >> we'd be elated. we have two vaccines. >> reporter: when both vaccines are available to the general public, this health committee chair from the latino task force in san francisco hopes it comes with information and outreach to medically underserved communities. >> to make sure that they're answering all the questions that people have in culturally competent ways and understanding how to connect with folks to address any issue or concerns they have around the vaccine. >> reporter: dr. rutherford says the vaccine means hope for the future. >> as one of my colleagues said, there's light at the end of the tunnel, and for the first time it's not a train coming at you. >> now the target date has been late spring for the general public to get its coronavirus

vaccine. but president-elect joe biden's nominee for u.s. surgeon general says factoring in possible delays, it's more realistic to think it may be midsummer to early fall before that happens. in the newsroom, cornell barnard, abc7 news. >> many thanks. some other big covid-19 developments today. a federal advisory panel voted to put people 75 and older and essential workers next in line for virus shots. state health officials say there were more than 46,000 newly recorded cases saturday in california. that is nearly 3,000 more than the day before. the centers for disease control and prevention says postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from covid-19. and as california's intensive care units are reaching capacity, authorities are turning to alternative care sites. the sleep train arena in sacramento is one of the overflow facilities set up to take the pressure off the

hospital system. 60 staff are working around the clock, but governor gavin newsom says that's not enough. >> at the end of the day, the biggest challenge we face in this state is enough staffing to meet the needs as it relates to this surgeon general. >> the governor is appealing for staff to sign up with the state's health corps program if they are recently retired or have a particular expertise. the bay area saw its icu capacity go up ever so slightly today. it's now standing at 12.4%. yesterday it was 12.2. the greater sacramento region is back below 15%. it's at 11.6. northern california has the most availability at 24.2% and is the only region not under a stay-at-home order. san joaquin valley and southern california are still out of beds, but that doesn't mean people will not get care if they show up at the hospital. france is the very latest on a growing list of countries to ban travel to the uk amid

concerns about a new strain of covid-19. also on that list, ireland, germany, italy, austria, and the netherlands along with belgium. the bans are meant to prevent the new strain from being imported into continental europe. an e.u. meeting is set for tomorrow to discuss a more coordinated response. health officials say the new strain is possibly 70% more infectious. >> there is this new variation that is spreading much more rapidly in the uk. we think it's more infectious. we're not 100% sure. but all of the data so far says that it's not any more lethal and it's not likely to be any less sort of protective against the vaccine. >> uk prime minister boris johnson had ordered a new lockdown for parts of england including london. those restrictions are very similar to those under the stay-at-home order issued in california. we do want to take a live look right now at sfo where we are seeing fewer holiday

travelers due to the state lockdown. both san francisco and santa clara county require a ten-day quarantine for anyone arriving. nationally, the tsa reports that it screened more than a million people per day over the last two consecutive days. that is a first since the pandemic started. it is still less than half of the number of passengers screened during the same time last year. we are learning new details behind a shooting scare at the great mall in milpitas. moments of confusion and panic with the mall on lockdown last night for hours. what police say led to the gun fire. and check out something new in the east bay. it's being called a significant milestone that will help people better connect with their community. and i'm meteorologist drew tuma. the final weekend of fall was bright and mild. and as winter arrives tomorrow, we'll soon be tracking our next

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milpitas police say a shooting victim at the great mall last night shot himself. the chaos and confusion brought on by the shooting led to a massive police response. officers responded to reports of shots fired at the mall. a 22-year-old san francisco man was taken to the hospital. he will be okay. shoppers were ordered to shelter in place while officers searched the mall. they escorted people to safety in the great mall parking lot. >> i heard someone mentio that there was an active shooter. >> it happened so fast. i was just trying to get out the way and get to a safe place. >> officers completed a search of the mall at about 9:30 last night. emeryville is celebrating the installation of new bike and

pedestrian bridge. the structure was hoisted into place overnight in just four hours. new bridge will connect east and west emeryville near the bay street shopping area, which is now separated by railroad tracks. and this is what it'll look like once completed next summer. all together, the project cost about $22 million. one of the world's most respected vocal ensembles won't be silent this holiday season. ♪ up next, just what it took to make this virtual performance possible for the san francisco girls chorus. and i'm meteorologist drew tuma. as winter officially arrives tomorrow, we'll quickly track our next winter storm.

over the east bay they were giving away toys and turkeys today. abc7 news was at first covenant church in oakland with santa and mrs. clause for a drive-through this morning. the effort was put together by city team which says it had 400 families registered for help this holiday season. its goal was to get enough toys this year for more than 1,100 children. well, the show must go on even in the middle of a pandemic. ♪ they sound so good. the san francisco girls chorus put on a virtual holiday performance today all thanks to current and past members. usually they'd be performing live at the davies symphony hall but now this year. this year's show had an island flavor to it featuring music from the caribbean as well as the philippines. work started on this performance all the way back in september, and members recorded individual

videos for this elaborate production. >> we're talking about more than 400 videos that we put together in one piece. it's amazing to see that. it's very impressive. again, a way to gather the community. >> i myself am totally impressed. some of the performers as you see are as young as 4 years old. we just love it. shifting gears now getting to our weather situation. drew, another gorgeous day. >> it really was, dion. wrapping up fall this weekend, we had temperatures well into the 60s in a lot of spots. bright beautiful sunshine. but as winter arrives tomorrow morning, it may start to feel more like winter temperatures. we will be falling back into the 50s in a lot of spots. 58 currently in santa rosa and oakland. 56 in san jose. and 52 that current temperature in san ramon. tonight again very similar to last night. we'll see areas of dense fog developing in the north bay.

another dense fog advisory will go into effect in solano county from 2:00 a.m. until noon tomorrow again for visibility dropping in some spots to less than a quarter of a mile. so if you're going to be out traveling early tomorrow morning, use your low beams when you encounter those areas of dense fog. overnight tonight, chilly but very similar to last night with our temperatures. a lot of cities dropping into the 30s from the north bay to the inland east bay to the south bay. 37 in san jose. 44 the overnight low the city. much cooler in santa rosa down to 34. we'll hit the freezing mark likely in fairfield first thing tomorrow morning. winter does arrive very early tomorrow morning. the winter solstice is tomorrow monday december 21st. and exactly at 2:02 in the morning while many of us are sleeping tomorrow, the sun's rays will be directly over the tropic of capricorn. the winter solstice begins and

that will usher the first day of winter. it's looking bright and beautiful, a little bit cooler tomorrow by a couple of degrees that be we were today. we'll hit about 58 the city. 59 in concord. with this kind of quiet weather pattern and high pressure still in control, it is trapping some pollutants again near the surface. we do have a spare the air day in effect for monday. so poor air quality in the north bay, the inland east bay, the santa clara valleys. you will notice that haze in the atmosphere. but relief will be coming later this week as we welcome back a return of some rainfall. but tomorrow night the night sky is going to give us a great view of saturn and jupiter. these two planets, they do play a dance every 20 years in what's called the great conjunction. but what is very different this year is that saturday and jupiter will be the closest together they have been in

nearly 800 years. it's going to be really cool. it's nicknamed the christmas star this time of year. so after sunset tomorrow, look towards the southwest. you could even see in our night sky tonight. but tomorrow they will be the closest they have been in 800 years. very cool. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. pretty dry pattern until christmas day. that's when we track rain returning in the evening. it even looks like saturday into sunday we'll track another storm. so several days of wet weather as we start christmas day on friday. so it's good to see we'll have a couple of dry days and then rain returns over the holiday. >> before you go, chris and i were going to give you a hard time because you have this glimmer in your eye talking about these planetary movements. >> it's very cool. we haven't had too many communal experiences this year in 2020. so it's something kind of everyone can look at in the night sky tonight and tomorrow. let me know if you see that. >> it is historic. all right, drew, thanks.

let's kick it over to chris. always giving drew a hard time, aren't we? >> no. we might have to wait 800 years, he just mesmerized me. the san jose sharks will be training. it's not here. different game same story for the

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now abc7 sports with chris alvarez. >> the 49ers entered the day on te brink of elimination, a loss and a cardinals win later in the afternoon would eliminate san francisco from the playoffs.

the niners have lost five of their last six entering this one, two early turnovers lead to 14 dallas points. the ball gets out of nick mullens' hands. and aldon smith recovered. 14-0 cowboys with the niners respond, mullens finding jordan reed for the touch niners down seven. another drive capped by brandon. the rookie in the end zone 24-24 in the third now early in the fourth same score. mullens he can't do this. an interception right there. his sixth straight game with a pick that led to a dallas field goal. still down three. and mullens intercepted again. four niners' turnovers lead to 24 points. cowboys win 41-33. san francisco is out from the playoffs. >> well, i mean, yeah, we've dealt with a lot of crap this year. but i wouldn't say it's too much

to overcome. i think we would have overcome it without turnovers today. >> it sucks to lose. i hate losing. and we got to change something. you got to look at yourself first and foremost because you can't keep doing the same things over and over again and expect a different result. >> after the biggest win in program history, more news for san jose state football. they will play in the arizona bowl on new year's eve. it's an 11:00 a.m. kickoff in tucson. coach brennan got a well deserved hug after the team's return to campus. that is just such a great video. san jose state has been on the road for most of the month in hawaii. the undefeated spartans, 19th in the ap and moved up to 22nd in the college football playoff rankings. what a season and what a ride. >> just incredible, you know, it's just been a beautiful journey. it's been magical. it's been incredibly challenging. i couldn't be more proud of this

football team. i couldn't be more excited about what this team has done. we're going to enjoy this. >> this is why we play college football to be playing meaningful games at the ends of seasons. and so that means championships, that means ball games and maybe one day the college football playoffs. >> speaking of the college football playoff, the four teams announced, no surprise, antioch's harris. they will face number four notre dame in a relocated rose bowl that's now going to be played in dallas. clemson will face ohio state in the sugar bowl new year's day. the nhl 56 game regular season will begin january 13th. the sharks because of santa clara county's covid restrictions they're going to train in a

move over, tiger king. a sheriff's deputy near portland has his own big cat story. this is a doozie. the multnomah county sheriff's office recently got a call about a cheetah sighting. now a deputy responded, checked with a nearby zoo, no animals were missing. turns out it was a life-sized toy cheetah just perched on a tree. the deputy had some fun with the situation saying he used his ninja-like skills to sneak up on the beast. the sheriff's department even issued this warning to neighbors saying don't leave food and garbage outside, animals in the area are already stuffed. haha. i would be so embarrassed if i called the zoo thinking it was

real. well, that's it for abc7 news at 5:00, everybody, i'm dion lim. we'll see you back here right tonight, a new strain of the coronavirus triggering international travel restrictions, as a second covid-19 vaccine is officially on the move. that disturbing new headline overseas. the covid-19 virus appearing to be more infectious as several european nations ban travel in and out of the uk. and new york's governor tonight calling the federal government negligent for not taking similar action. at the same time, we are in mississippi as moderna's first lifesaving doses leave the distribution center. the trucks and planes waiting. u.s. marshals escorting the convoy. and tonight, the head of operation warp speed apologizing for a, quote, "miscommunication" that led to fewer pfizer shots for some. the other breaking covid-19 headline. the cdc recommending late today