[80's music] what? i was an 80's kid. it only gets better when you switch and save with geico. next at 5:00, a historic moment for california latinos. alex padilla has been tapped to fill kamala harris's senate seat. the local mayor who says she's disappointed by the choice, and a person just chosen to replace padilla as secretary of state. plus, tough times in marin. rising rent and a job loss threatens to take one woman's finances for a fall. and she is not alone. also tonight the new plea by health care providers. the state's dire surge now prompting new warnings about christmas celebrations and that new coronavirus strain spreading across the uk. new word on whether it could make it more difficult for us to reach so-called herd immunity.

you have to say yes. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> that's the moment california secretary of state alex padilla accepts the appointment from the governor to fill vice president-elect kamala harris' u.s. senate seat. it is a milestone. good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm ama daetz. thank you for joining us. vice president harris congratulated padilla saying alex and i have long served the people of california together, and i know he will continue fighting for our state as california's first latino senator. chris reyes and his journey to the united states senate. >> can you imagine what mom would be thinking now as i ask you if you want to be the next u.s. senator of the united states, the great state of california. >> are you serious? >> this is the official -- this is the ask, brother. >> reporter: and with that ask alex padilla becomes the first latino to represent california

in the senate. the secretary of state got visibly emotional as he made it official. >> i'm honored, man, and i'm humbled. because of them. i can't tell you how many pancakes my dad flipped or eggs he scrambled trying to provide for us for the many, many years of my mom cleaning houses doing the same thing. >> reporter: padilla is the son of mexican immigrants. his dad worked as a cook, his mom a house cleaner. his story resonates deeply. >> he's going to take those experiences to washington to make sure that we get more than $600 in terms of a relief check. he's going to make sure that when the vaccine is rolled out that it's rolled out with equity. >> reporter: with padilla taking kamala harris' seat when she assumes the vice presidency there will be no black women in the senate. mayor london breed expressed her disappointment at the pick. >> i think it is really challenging to put it in words

but it was definitely a surprise, and it's an unfortunate situation as we are trying to move this country forward and making sure that black lives truly matter and that african-americans have a seat at the table especially african-american women after what was done in this race on a national level. it is unfortunate. >> reporter: in a statement lee congratulated padilla saying, i believe he will be a powerful voice in the senate for those who continue to be denied our country's promise of equality. the latino community foundation said while they are celebrating padilla's appointment they will continue to work for greater diversity. >> i hope that we have greater conversations about what it is really going to take to make sure that the community of color have a seat at the table. we shouldn't be fighting over

crumbs like a united states senate seat. >> reporter: padilla will take harris' seat in the senate in january. governor newsom has named padilla's successor for secretary of state and made a litt history. shirley webber of san diego will be the next secretary of state responsible for overseeing elections. she would be only the fourth woman and the first black woman to ever hold the position in the history of the state. w weber was the author of two landmark pieces of legislation, requiring the state to research potential reparations for slavery. now to the latest on the coronavirus. the head of kaiser hospital says tonight that 16 of its california facilities have run out of icu capacity. health care providers say the surge, as everyone feared, really began with thanksgiving. >> you look at the timing and when we started seeing the increased surge, related to the

travel, related to the gathering. we understand why people have done it. but we are really making a clarion and desperate call to californians to not repeat what happened at thanksgiving. >> we're seeing and we're stressing here that our nurses, our physicians, our environmental services staff, all of our staff are maxed, tired. many are exhausted, frankly. >> those workers are at the heart of a stark video that health care leaders released today. >> this surge is beyond what anybody could have imagined. if people continue to gather for the upcoming holidays, we are going to cripple our hospital system. >> it's the number of beds filling up very quickly. >> they're talking about doubling up on the rooms, tripling up on the rooms. and i've never seen it like

this. it's getting out of control. >> medical leaders are asking everyone to wear masks. please celebrate the holidays outside and avoid nonessential travel. kaiser says if the hospital beds fill up it will not be able to keep up if the covid surge continues to rise. a deal between pfizer and the trump administration could provide the u.s. with millions of additional vaccine doses. "the new york times" reports the deal would give pfizer better access to manufacturing supplies and materials. right now a looming vaccine shortage could leave as many as 110 million americans uncovered in the first half of 2021. pfizer did ask for help in september but was put at a disadvantage as the administration focused on other companies. the deal could be finalized as soon as tomorrow. meanwhile that new strain of coronavirus spreading in england has researchers on both sides of the atlantic keeping a close eye on its behavior and possible effect, if any, on future vaccine rollouts. abc 7 news anchor kristen sze

has the story. >> reporter: concerned over a new fast spreading variant of the coronavirus in england has leading manufacturers moderna and pfizer working to ensure their vaccines will still be effective. while early evidence suggests the strain might be as much as 70% more transmissible, experts we spoke with are optimistic about the vaccine rollout. >> coronavirus vaccines are remarkable. the magnitude of immune response is better than with the flu vaccine. >> reporter: expert dr. blish says covid mutations are part of the normal viral pattern. >> certainly should we keep our eye on it, absolutely. also, this is not surprising in any way. viruses mutate this is what they do. it's part of their natural evolution. >> reporter: health experts in the uk says there's no evidence it has any selective advantage over vaccines which are just now being put into circulation. researcher krogan was part of an

international team able to photograph and analyze the covid virus earlier this year discovering spikes it uses to help spread through cells more effectively. he says at this point any concerns about a mutation's ability to affect vaccines would probably be focused on the future. >> one needs to keep in mind that there's a large amount of antibodies when you initially get the vaccine. and it looks like those mutations have no effect. when they start to decrease, the fear is those mutations then would result in more susceptibility when the antibody levels are lower. >> reporter: some experts believe future vaccines might have to be tweaked in the way flu vaccines are. if the virus were to develop a successful mutation, a process that might be quicker and less expensive for companies like moderna and pfizer which use a messenger rna platform. moderna announced plans to begin testing against the uk strain in the next few weeks but expects its vaccine to be effective. in san francisco, kristen sze, nbc news.

health officials say with the small percentage of blood samples sequenced for research it's possible the strain could be in the country undetected. stanford health care says it is making good on a promise to get frontline health care workers vaccinated. friday workers stage add protest claiming hospital administrators were receiving the initial doses before the frontline workers. stanford health care immediately admitted the mistake and today announce add plan to get everyone vaccinated. >> we are ready to vaccinate all of our tier one highest risk individuals. >> stanford said its remaining doctors, nurses, and other providers should get their shots by the end of january. we have some developing news out of washington. just a short time ago president trump announced in a video statement he will not be signing the coronavirus stimulus

package. he wants congress to amend it and send it back to him citing wasteful spending and not enough help for small businesses and demanding congress increase the $6,000 stimulus checks to $2,000 and $4,000 for couples. the financial fallout for the pandemic continues to grow and as reporter wayne freedman explains it's hitting some people in marin pretty hard. >> reporter: in marin city the problems keep piling higher. >> my kitchen. this is where we cook. >> reporter: lana worries every waking moment about losing this space. a single mother with two sons, furloughed from her job, four months behind in rent, who has received threatening notices from the landlord. >> they just don't understand that we're not able to pay rent sometimes. >> reporter: she's not the only person in trouble at the apartments and got tougher since the landlord raised their rents. >> they keep going up on the

rent. we're not going to have no money. >> nobody got back to us. >> reporter: it is a low-income project which means the nonprofit that owns them receives federal tax credits for leasing apartments to families in need. those rents are adjusted annually n. a statement today st. anton said to meet our underwriting and lender obligations we update the rents when they're released by the state of california. >> they're doing it because they can. >> reporter: she told abc 7 that most tenants here at all levels receive the rent increases. for lana, another $200. >> it's going to be almost $2,300. >> reporter: a month? >> a month. >> reporter: while the nonprofit has every right to raise rent tenants ask why in times like these? >> it's ridiculous. come on. >> it's the holidays. we have no presents for anyone. >> this is not right.

the increase is not right. >> reporter: what do they really want? the freedom in tough times to not worry about this roof over their heads. have you ever been more desperate in your life? >> no, not like that, no. >> reporter: in marin city wayne freedman, nbc 7 news. a lot more to come here. testing, of course, still a key weapon in the fight against the pandemic. the new sites open in santa clara county. and hot tamales. the down side and upside to running a restaurant during a holiday in the middle of a ♪ ♪ digital transformation has failed to take off. because it hasn't removed the endless mundane work we all hate. ♪ ♪ automation can solve that

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if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. learn more at cosentyx.com. santa clara county tops 600 deaths after 24 new deaths reported overnight. a new pop-up testing site

opening up across the county. julian glover is live at the newest pop-up site in milpitas extension to explain. >> reporter: these pop-up sites and this is the first time the college extension has hosted a pop-up site. they have enough tests to accommodate 500 people. santa clara county averaged more than 110,000 a week since the post-thanksgiving surge of covid cases. the county now reports 607 covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, more than any other bay area county. i spoke to the nurse running today's pop-up clinic and said the pop-up testing sites are crucial to making it easier for people to access a test. >> mobile sites, i think a lot of people in the community are thankful for because we're coming to them. if you're able to come to stations or testing sites near you, it could help us to not

overcrowd other places. however, our goal at the end of the day is to test as many as possible. >> reporter: we were also down in morgan hill this morning as another pop-up testing site opened at 9:30 at the council chambers building. a small number of people lined up before the doors even opened. the county has two pop-up sites running in areas that have been hot spots, hard hit for the virus. out in east san jose and the south county annex building in gilroy for the full list of sites, you can check the county's website sccgov.org. the sites do change on a rolling basis. reporting in milpitas, julian glover, abc 7 news. christmas tamales are a staple in many homes in the bay area. this year businesses say sales are down as gatherings are canceled. luz pena went to one. >> reporter: the hands that make

them, a labor of love. >> the family tradition. everyone has a story. >> reporter: for her and her siblings making them for the holidays is part of christmas. >> christmas isn't christmas without them. >> reporter: there is so much history here. eduardo's dad opened la tapata with his friend alberto who you can still find in the kitchen with his uniform on. when did you start doing this? >> we started in 1976. we started making tortillas, r carnitas. >> reporter: a lot has changed. 2020 has been one of the hardest years. typically more than 5,000 tamales during the holidays. this year they're inching up to 3,000.

we did see a drop in catering orders. >> reporter: this year they put a sign outside of their business and are also selling masa or corn flour for families to make tamales at home. >> good memories of watching my mom do it. she has a funny way of wrapping them. >> reporter: in the back kitchen this is their secret weapon. tell me about this machine. it's very special. >> it's special because my father had an idea how to maximize the tamales. i think they would be proud of us trying to keep going. >> reporter: luz pena, abc 7 news. what a great tradition. well, will it rain on christmas day? let's put the

sandhya, i know santa will bring me a banana seat bike with a monkey bar, spider handlebars.

now i can't ride it on christmas day? is that what i understand? yes, you heard correctly, dan. i believe you called me a scrooge, if i'm not mistaken. just hold off, okay. saturday afternoon can you take that bike out for a ride because you will get a breather in between storms. i want to show you a beautiful post sunset shot from our san jose camera right now. absolutely clear skies from this vantage point as we look to the south bay. 56 in santa rosa. it's getting chilly in novato. mid to upper 50s from fairfield to concord. 52 in livermore. it was a milder day today. most areas were in the upper 50s to low 60s. seeing a little bit of high cloudiness. 56 in san francisco. 57 in oakland. san jose, morgan hill mid-50s. and look at this spectacular shot of downtown san francisco from sutro tower. cold tomorrow morning with patchy frost. looking at increasing clouds on christmas eve, and storms arriving starting on christmas. we need the rain, and we'll be

getting it off and on right on through monday of next week. live doppler 7, no rain right now. i want to show you what happened, though. remember the fog we had, the thick fog. look at how nicely it cleared away this afternoon which allowed those temperatures to come up. tomorrow morning i think the fog is going to stay primarily towards the central valley. if we do see any it will be a couple of patches. it is going to be a cold start. low 30s to the low 40s. so if you have to go out the door in the morning, watch out for the frost and bundle up. it's going to be a typical winter chill. tomorrow afternoon upper 50s to low 60s. plenty of sun for your wednesday. the weather will be changing. light to moderate rain. rainfall anywhere from 0.2 to an inch or more in the wetter spots. let's look at a quick preview, friday morning it arrives in the north bay. snow in the mountains.

saturday morning a few showers and then you can get out for a little bit before the next storm comes in on sunday. that one is going to bring colder -- lower snow levels and a colder storm going into monday. rainfall totals for the first system anywhere from about a quarter of an inch in places like brentwood to over an inch in santa rosa. and this, as i mentioned, does turn to snow. winter storm watch for the sierra. carry chains if you're going to go. it will be difficult to travel 8 to 12 inches of snow expected and more for the highest peaks. the accuweather seven-day forecast. cold morning followed by sunshine for tomorrow. clouds thicken up. then we bring on the rain on christmas. a level one system friday going into saturday and another storm sunday into monday. i think this is the way i would explain it, dan and ama. it's rainfall all wrapped up in a nice present for both of you. >> okay. >> how does that sound? >> that's wonderful. it's just as good as that bicycle.

>> that i can't ride. >> that's it. >> thanks, sandhya. >> all right. well, making a list and checking it twice, seven ways to

coming up, the arrest in michaela garecht'srecht'srecht's modern cars it's even easier to roll back odometer. how to check out the real mileage all coming up at 6:00. finally here tonight seven good ideas, ama, to keep your young reader learning and entertained over the winter break. yes. education is part of building a better bay area. i went to my favorite reading resource with union school district. in just 60 seconds she offers up seven engaging activities. >> helping write the holiday cards to family and friends and maybe even crafting some because that's what everybody wants to receive are handmade gifts. another idea might be to write thank you notes for gifts that are received because that could guarantee that you might get

more in the future. another idea would be to have a family story time at night where a chapter book is read each night that everybody can enjoy. another idea is having a reader be in charge of reading the recipes that are being cooked or baked in the kitchen and be in charge of making sure that all goes well. creating shopping lists. keeping a daily journal of what is happening during your vacation, and that can be shared with the teachers. and another idea is to write a letter or an email to your teacher because, believe it or not, they're going to miss you. so that's something that would really make a teacher's day. >> number seven is my favorite because how sweet is that? that's great. if you didn't catch all the ideas, don't worry. we are putting this on our website. "world news tonight" is next.

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tonight, the news coming in late today, reports pfizer is now in talks with the u.s. government to provide tens of millions of additional doses of the vaccine. and that new variant of the virus. they're now testing for it here in new york. all of this as the nation now marks the deadliest year in american history. we're now seeing an average of more than 2,600 american lives lost every day. as concerns mount tonight over that new variant of covid. the testing in new york and the new steps from some airlines to test passengers for flights from the uk to the u.s. but tonight, dr. anthony fauci saying we must assume it's already here in the u.s., as he gets his own vaccine shot before the cameras. and that news tonight, pfizer reportedly nearing a deal with the trump administration for more doses and what we know so far. hospitals tonight under growing pressure.