help from the city. one hospital makes good on its promises to health care workers, and others stay current working conditions put them and their patients at risk. >> and a live look at highway 101 and the golden gate bridge. aaa predicting the heaviest travel will be in the bay area today. >> good morning on this wednesday, december 23rd. we'll get to all of that. first a look at our weather and lisa. >> good morning, everyone. we are chilly and typically cold in the north bay valleys. the fog is in the central valley. in downtown, 45 degrees. 32 in santa rosa. we have cold temperatures by the delta. mid 40s for our inland valleys. could be colder than that. looking at about 14 degrees colder in novato. that chilled sunshine on the way for a final day before we see more significant changes. through 9:00, it will remain cold. some 30s in the north 40s around the bay.

by noontime with sunshine, we're in the 50s everywhere. by 4:00, a few high clouds. temperatures from the low 50s in our east bay valleys to the upper 50s. it is going to be another nice day for the time being. we'll talk about when the rain arrives in time for christmas. this morning there's uncertainty for millions of americans desperate for help amid this pandemic. president trump now says he will not sign the covid relief bill that congress passed on monday night. jobina is live at the live desk with more. >> good morning. president trump called the relief bill a disgrace. he's asking congress to more than double the payments to americans. the bipartisan deal includes $600 checks per person. democrats called for more money but republicans pushed back on the higher amount. >> $600 is a joke. >> i'm asking congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000

or $4,000 for a couple. i'm asking congress to get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill. >> house speaker nancy pelosi responded to the president's criticism tweeting at last, the president has agreed to $2,000. democrats are ready to bring this to the floor this week by unanimous consent. let's do it. now president-elect joe biden says he wants to challenge congress to do more for struggling americans when he table takes office next month. we'll follow the story closely for you and bring you all the developments as they come in. today san francisco supervisor aaron peskin is expected to talk about the closure of far east cafe. it's one of two banquet halls and restaurants in the bay area that's been around for more than 100 years. it will close permanently next

week. the chinatown merchants association says city leaders needs to help these businesses with grants, loans or work to partner them with big companies. >> are we going to be like this typical suburbia with targets and big stores left? is that what we want? the fabric of our city is being torn apart right now. >> far east cafe is open for takeout until it closes for good on new year's eve. today the oakland city council will hear a report on spending cuts to close a $62 million short fall. the city is cutting $29 million in personnel, law enforcement and leadership. leadership staff will take ten unpaid days, deferring the upcoming 1% pay increase in january and annual salary increases. oakland is also cutting the police department budget by $15 million and its fire department

by $5 million. city officials hope relief funding from the federal government will further reduce the deficit. registered nurses will hold a virtual protest against ucsf after a staffing dispute. the nurses union claims ucsf applied for a state waiver to increase the work load of nurses. nurses say increasing the number of pains for each rn is unsafe and jeopardizes patients. we reached out to ucsf for a response. we'll bring it to you as soon as we get one. stanford health care says it is making good on a promise to get its front line workers the vaccinations they need. on friday a protest was staged claiming that hospital administrators were receiving the initial doses before the front line workers. yesterday stanford health care admitted it was a mistake and announced a man to get everyone vaccinated. >> we're ready to vaccinate all of our tier 1 highest risk individual individuals within the next week

or so. >> the remaining doctors, nurses and providers should get their shots by the end of january. pfizer and biontech have agreed to supply the u.s. more than 100 million more doses of covid-19 vaccine. that brings the total for americans to 200 million doses. the question now, who is going to get the vaccinations next? a state advisory committee will try to answer that during a public hearing today. vaccinations are under way for the 2.4 million californians in front line health care roles. they're in phase 1a. phase 1b could include teachers, firefighters, grocery store and restaurant employees along with other essential workers. a draft guideline found that nearly 12 million workers or two-thirds of the state work force are considered essential. your health and safety is the main focus for us at abc7 as we work to build a better bay area during the pandemic and it looks like many people are heeding warnings from health officials and staying home for the holiday season.

julian glover has the latest numbers from aaa. >> good morning. aaa predicting the majority of americans will heed warnings from health officials and stay home this season. they're forecasting 34 million americans will travel for this holiday. that still leaves about 84 million americans expected to travel this holiday week, between today and the 3rd of the new year. the majority of people, 96% of people will take road trips instead of cramming into airports. tsa cleared 950,000 passengers on monday. with fewer travelers, traffic volume and congestion during the holiday week is expected to be less than in years past. aaa predicts the busiest spot in the bay area will be northbound 101 at 5:00 p.m. this evening. santa clara county and san francisco still have the ten-day mandatory quarantine order in place to discourage holiday

travel. a bit of good news if you plan on packing into the car for this holiday travel season, gas prices are about 50 cents cheaper compared to this time last year. reporting live this morning, julian glover, abc7 news. coming up, the governor's pick to replace vice president-elect kamala harris. a look back at alex padilla's political career. and the pizza chain offering free pizza to teachers as a thank you for inspiring students during the pandemic. 45 degrees in san francisco. the freezing temperatures in some of our valleys. when we come back we'll look at some highs for the last sunny day we'll see for a

welcome to wednesday. we're looking at cold numbers in the north bay valleys. the east, it's cold in spots. mid 40s is better than we have been with clear conditions. checking out the north bay, it's freezing in santa rosa with 51 in pacifica. sunny skies today, turning partly cloudy later on in san francisco. upper 50s. enjoy it. clouds and rain arrive as soon as tomorrow. the clouds do any way. peninsula numbers from the upper 50s, clouds increasing late in the day. just a few high cloughds. mid 50s for you in pleasanton and dublin. in the south bay, san jose, morgan hill should be a little bit warmer than your 57 around cupertino and milpitas. nonetheless, a sunny day today, then changes tomorrow and then really feeling like winter as we get into christmas evening. jobina? >> thank you, lisa.

good morning, everybody. so we are going to check out a live picture outside of the bay bridge toll plaza. no metering lights. we didn't see them yesterday either. wonderfully clear if you need to head out the door. moving over to the south bay now, looking at san jose and 101 specifically. clear conditions down there as well. we had one minor crash a few minutes ago, but it's not causing an issue. so not addressing it this morning. just going to bring you an overall look at the map as i head out here. you can see we have a teeny patch of red making your way out of tracy. it looks like a lot of people are off for the holiday. still ahead, the woman tapped to become the california secretary of state now that alex padilla will become a senator. while many counties banned travel to and from countries of the uk because of a coronavirus mutation, one country is opening its borders. and

the we have to find just nosomething else.it. good luck! what does that mean? we are doomed. [laughter] that's it. i figured it out! we're going to give togetherness. that sounds dumb. we're going to take all those family moments and package them. hmm. [laughing] that works.

california's secretary of state alex padilla will have a new role. he was picked to replace president-elect kamala harris. he will be the first latino california senator. abc7 news anchor dan ashley has his story. >> a lot of work to do. i'm ready. >> reporter: 47-year-old alex padilla began his political career as a member of the l.a. city council. he's the son of working class parents who immigrated from mexico. >> can you imagine what mom would be thinking now as i ask you if you want to be the next great senator of the state of california. >> i'm honored, man, i'm humbled, because of them. >> reporter: one of padilla's biggest pushes was defending votes rights and election

security. abc7 news anchor liz kreutz spoke with him about those efforts during our "chasing california" series earlier this year. >> why do you think we're seeing a rise in people deciding to have no party preference? >> i think maybe it's a sign of the times. it is up to candidates and political parties to make their case to eligible voters why they should affiliate with them. >> reporter: latino organizations are applauding this historic appointment. >> he will take those experiences to washington to make sure we get more than 600 bucks in terms of a relief check. he'll make sure when the vaccine is rolled out, that it is rolled out with equity. >> that was dan ashley reporting. padilla will serve out the remainder of vice president-elect harris' term and will face a competitive statewide race to fill the seat in 2022. not everyone agrees with governor newsom's pick including san francisco mayor london breed. >> this is a real blow to the african-american community and african-american women and women in general. >> kamala harris became

california's first black senator when she was sworn in and leaving the position behind meaning there are no black women serving in the senate. governor newsom nominated assemblywoman dr. shirley weber to take padilla's position. she will be the first black woman in california to become secretary of state. the retired africana studies professor served for 40 years at san diego university before becoming an assembly member in 2012. she's known for a focus on education and racial justice. air travel from britain to france has resumed after a two-day ban. but travel between the uk and most european countries is still not allowed. more than 40 nations worldwide issued the travel ban before christmas after a new variant of covid-19 began to spread in and around london. every person traveling has to take a covid test before boarding their plan. for uk residents stuck

abroad and feeling homesick, one company is selling bottled air. this is real. relocation website mybaggage is selling what they call youauthec air from england, scotland, wales and northern ireland. it was inspired after research showed a link of smell linked to memories. it costs $33 a bottle. >> at least you know who's a fool. right? that can be tracked now. >> good point. i got my own air up here. lots of it. >> you sure do. how does it feel up there? >> san francisco is always one of the warmer locations around the bay area. i'm lucky i'm here rather than in the valleys of the north bay where it's at freezing. downtown, temperatures in the mid 40s. 32 in santa rosa. 39 in the san ramon valley, 34 by the delta. that's cold. but the low 40s in livermore,

not as cold as you could be. 47 in mountain view. want to bring in the storm impact scale, we expect a level 1 system for christmas. breezy winds. t two-tenths to an inch of rain. this system arrives midday friday. we'll see the rain increase throughout the evening hours into the overnight hours. it means snow in the sierra nevada with a winter storm advisory now that will turn to a warning as we get closer. saturday looks dry as well as the first part of sunday. second colder system could arrive sunday night. mount hamilton could see a dusting of snow. the first system brinking inbr two-tenths for the city. for san jose, not much. another one is on the way. 8 to 12 inches of snow with the winter storm watch in effect from friday morning to saturday morning. there's a look at what we can expect through saturday morning. 14 inches at donner pass. 59 today with sunshine. some clouds in the afternoon. 58 in fremont.

the accuweather 7-day forecast, today it's sunny and we'll see those mild temperatures. but the increasing clouds, southerly winds for your thursday. christmas eve getting cloudier at night. by friday, a level 1 system, it ends on saturday. colder system on sunday. that lingers into mound. kumasi? >> thank you. "good morning america" is coming up at 7:00 on abc7. rob marciano has a look at what's ahead. >> good morning kumasi. great to be with you on this wednesday from bethlehem, connecticut. lots coming up on "gma," including the breaking news overnight. president trump putting that 0 $900 billion relief package on hold demanding congress to increase those $600 checks to $2,000. what it means for millions of americans waiting for that critical aid with christmas two days away. also this morning, nearly 85 million people expected to travel for the holiday. with the pandemic raging across the country. and that nightmare before christmas storm if you will. i'll cover that part of the story. and a dose of hope.

we'll have the latest on pfizer reportedly working on a deal with the government giving access to millions more doses of the vaccine. this as fears grow over that new covid musician which could spread more quickly among children. dr. zha is breaking that down for us. "the bachelorette" is joining us this morning after the big finale last night. she and zac are engaged. we'll have all the details and juice on that story. that's coming up on "gma." see you soon.

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...is what we pay. not a cent more. because giving, ...and giving back, is what the holidays are all about. use the chevy employee discount for everyone to get a total value of over eight thousand four hundred dollars on this silverado. get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. good wednesday morning. san francisco temperatures, in the mid 40s. not too bad. 30s for morgan hill. 54 in half moon bay. upper level winds allowing for slightly warmer conditions in parts of the bay. look at that panel, not too warm there. 32 in santa rosa. 34 in novato and 46 in concord.

so we'll talk about another sunny day today when i see you later. then clouds increase for christmas eve and rain arrives for christmas day. and there's still more for the holiday weekend. reggie? >> all right. other parts of the u.s. might see snow, rain and some windstorms this week. starting today, the central plains and the midwest could see snowfall. rain is in the forecast from the great lakes south to the gulf coast. by christmas day, the northeast and mid-atlantic could see dustings of snow along with damaging rain and wind. the snowfall could reach as far south as atlanta. you know what happens when it reaches atlanta, they do a full freakout. that's not what is supposed to happen. beautiful time lapse video shows jupiter and saturn aligned in the night sky. look at this. how beautiful. the christmas star as it appeared monday night, which was the best night to see it. a spectacular view of that event

from just outside of santa rosa. saturn and jupiter appeared closer to each other than they've been for centuries. the great conjunction is any time two celestial objects line up in the sky. it happens with these planets every 20 years, but the last time they were this close was the year 1623. >> so beautiful. >> i love looking at this. san jose's stayed football team could find itself in trouble for playing a bowl game in arizona. the team won the conference championship over the weekend in las vegas and came back to the bay area. santa clara county's health order requires the spartans to quarantine for ten days. now the team is planning go to the arizona bowl in tucson before that time is up. san jose's state head coach says many of the players have not seen their families since july. >> the biggest thing was having

a schedule in place for them that gave them a chance to see their families. giving them a chance to go home and be with their people was the right thing to do. >> the bowl game is scheduled for next thursday, december 31st. it's the season of giving for the golden state warriors. the team provided this video taken over at thrive city by chase center. that's where the team gave out free groceries for families. there are enough items for a full holiday meal including the turkey. more than 1,000 teachers in the bay area can get a free meal today courtesy of mountain mike's pizza. 14 chains are offering a free small pizza to the first 100 educators to show up. if you're a teacher show up with your school i.d. or badge to get your pizza to go.

dozens of homes in a fremont neighborhood are keeping a five decade long tradition alive despite the pandemic. it's all for a good cause. more than 80 homes on five streets are decorated with unique plywood displays and lights. this year it's a drive-through event. visitors can donate online to support non-profits. >> i felt it was important to continue the tradition because it does so much good. it supports charities. it gets the neighbors an opportunity to know each other. it makes the children happy. it's family friendly. >> it's satisfying when we used to hear the people say i used to bring my kids, now i bring my grandkids. >> it is open until christmas day. this holiday season, check out our streaming you'll log on abc7news.com. you have the opportune to watch it with a cozy crackling sound or you can watch it with music. it's on our website wherever you stream or where you stream abc7

news. >> do you guys do that? >> i did do that recently. >> did you? >> i liked it. i was surprised. there's a psychological effect that happens when you hear that sound. >> okay. i'll give it a try. coming up next, the deal that tesla ceo elon musk says that apple turned down. in just an hour, san francisco will be opening a new covid test site, it is free. i'll have all the details coming up. and as we head to break, a live look outside at 6:27.

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and why president trump doesn't want to sign the new covid-19 relief package before it is reworked. and pfizer will supply more than 100 million doses of its new vaccine. >> and before we get to that, let's go to lisa. >> we have a cold start. we have some strong upper level winds on top of mount diablo. 50-mile-per-hour winds. because of that some of the mixed air allowing for a warmer start. the winds here are calm. we will have breezy offshore winds throughout the day, but no gusty winds to worry about later on. 45 in hayward. 40 in union city. look at the north bay. freezing temperatures there. 34 by the delta. 44 in los gatos. the throughout the day, plenty of sunshine to start out. noontime, upper 40s to mid 50s. we have a sunny day with a few clouds towards the end of the day. very little change from yesterday. enjoy it if you like the sunny

weather because today is the last day we'll see this because we have increasing clouds and a rainy weekend including christmas to kumasi? >> thank you. developing news this morning, a shocking announcement by the president on twitter overnight now putting the covid relief package in limbo. he's asking congress to rework the pandemic aid bill and increase the stimulus payments. abc news reporter faith abubey has more on the president's announcement. >> reporter: in a surprise four-minute twitter video, president trump demanding congress amend a two-in-one covid relief and government spending bill heading to his desk. the legislation crafted by senate republicans and trump's own top negotiators. >> i'm also asking congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill. >> reporter: trump was expected to sign the measure this week to avoid a government shutdown and give a much-needed lifeline to millions of americans expected

to lose part of their federal unemployment benefits the day after christmas. the president saying he wants more money in direct stimulus payments included in the bill. >> amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple. >> reporter: the demand quickly embraced by many democrats who for months sought to give more direct aid to struggling americans. house speaker nancy pelosi tweeting let's do it. and adam schiff telling cnn this. >> i have to think the republicans will not go anywhere near this. >> reporter: republicans indicated the price tag of the $900 billion covid relief package is too high. the bill includes $300 in weekly federal unemployment benefits and up to $600 in direct payments to most americans. but the long overdue aid now hanging in the balance while millions slide into a pandemic field of poverty. >> time to stop playing the freaking games with our lives. people are dying.

they're being evicted from their houses. they're losing everything. >> reporter: it's unclear whether president trump actually plans to veto the bill once it arrives on his desk. if he refuses to sign it, it would become law after ten days. if he vetoes it congress could override it. faith abubey, abc news, washington. no one group in san francisco has been hit harder than the latino community. this morning the city is stepping up efforts and reassigning people to test residents. amy hollyfield has more. >> good morning. this site is expected to open in about an hour. san francisco's mayor says it is important to make covid testing equitable and says putting a site here will better serve the latinex community and community workers.

the mayor wants us to remember our actions the next couple of weeks can also make a huge difference. >> i don't want to look someone in the eye and say to them their mom or dad died because we didn't have space in the hospitals for them. we couldn't give them a fighting chance. as you make your choices this holiday, think about that. think about what you can do to get us through the next few weeks. >> city officials say even though we're going through a huge surge in cases, progress is being made. two weeks ago covid cases were increasing 8% each day. today they're increasing 2% each day. an improvement here in san francisco. this test site will be open today and tomorrow from 7:30 to 4:00. it is free. no appointment is necessary. they are expecting to test about 700 people a day. reporting live in san francisco, amy hollyfield, abc7 news.

the axe full gospel church is also providing free covid-19 testing to people in east oakland. for the next several months testing will happen on tuesdays and saturdays from 9:00 to 4:00. there is no testing this saturday because of the holiday. it doesn't matter if you have insurance and you do not need to register. as surging covid-19 cases fill up hospitals across the country there's mounting concern about the lack of nurses and medical staff. >> i'm seeing people die alone. >> california health care leaders released this video warning of the current surge. the increase in cases and dwindling icu capacity are causing a nationwide shortage of nurses, which is affecting hospitals throughout the state. >> our nurses are handling it. they're okay. but i don't know if they can handle it for the long-term. >> the traveling nurses who often fill in the gaps have been grabbed all over the country by

different hospitals. now that california is going into its surges later than other states, a lot of the traveling nurses are already in contracts. >> nurses say the immediate solution is to stay home and not spread the virus. public health officials say the worst is still yet to come in california. with covid-19 infections statewide showing no signs of slowing, a critical meeting is happening today over vaccinations. jobina fortson is following that at the live desk. >> thank you. so a state advisory committee will try to answer the question that is at the top of many minds right now, which is who will be next in line for the covid-19 vaccine. it could be firefighters, police officers, or other essential workers that come into close contact with the public. the u.s. government brokered a deal with pfizer announced today to supply an additional 100 million doses of the vaccine to the u.s.

they are expected to be delivered by the end of july. that will not help the crisis we're seeing in california. now the epicenter of the nation's outbreak. hospitals in southern california are pushed to their breaking point. uc irvine is building a field hospital and a parking lot. >> what we saw after thanksgiving we're probably going to see worse after christmas. >> california is in a crisis mode in it's health systems. we're breaking records we do not want to break. >> the state could see 100,000 hospitalizations of covid-19 patients in december alone. this month has proven to be the deadliest month of the pandemic in california and across the country. despite the cdc urging americans to stay home throughout the holidays, the tsa is seeing an uptick here in checkpoint screenings. 4 million people were screened since friday. that's higher than the number they saw over thanksgiving. >> thank you. governor newsom has picked california secretary of state alex padilla to fill kamala harris's u.s. senate seat. padilla is the first latino to

represent california in the senate. he's the son of a coo a house cleaner from mexico. vice president harris offered her congratulations on twitter saying alex and i long served the people of california together and i know he will continue fighting for our state as california's first latino senator. assemblywoman shirley weber will fill padilla's position as secretary of state. she will be the first black secretary of state. "san francisco chronicle's" phil matier says the governor made a sound decision. >> it was a smart choice for the governor because the latinos represent a fast growing voter bloc in california. they represent about 20% of the electorate. saying yes to them scores points as well for governor newsom. >> he said the governor went the traditional route. instead of a surprise pick he chose a long-time friend and ally. today is attorney general william barr's last day on the job. barr announced earlier this month he would be leaving his post. this week he broke ranks twice

with the president by saying no special council would be needed to investigate election fraud claims and joe biden's son's foreign business dealings. barr will be replaced by acting attorney general jeffrey rosen. president-elect joe biden will take over the potus twitter account the day he takes office. it will come with a twist. twitter says he will not inherit the potus accounts 33 million followers. that's a change from 2017 when president trump got control of the account. anyone following the handle will be given the option to follow the biden administration's new count. the biden team is pushing back against this decision saying they shouldn't have to start from zero. travel will be down this christmas, but millions are still hitting the road across the u.s. still ahead, a look at peak travel times in the bay area. and you are looking live right now at the big board at the new york stock exchange. up right now about 185 points. another update on how the markets are doing next.

local inspiration in pixar's new movie "soul." the special little shop in the east bay. >> before we get to those stories, we'll check in with jobina for a look at traffic. >> thank you. good morning, everybody. so we are going to begin with a live look at walnut creek showing off 680. there is some traffic, but it's been looking great. the it's light and clear. no major issues to report. so that's walnut creek and now i want to move over to emeryville and show you 80. just so everyone is clear on the directions, the headlights are traveling westbound and those brake lights are going eastbound. if you're headed towards the maze and trying to make your way towards the bay bridge toll plaza, it is very light there. we have no metering lights on. we'll bring you an overall look at the map so you can see our sensors here. we're not looking at a lot of red which is great news for anyone that needs to head out the door. and our friend meteorologist

lisa arjen is already out the door. that sun looks good behind you. >> 7:22. good morning to you. it is a little chilly out here. doing fine in the mid 40s. that sun coming up. we gained six seconds of daylight today. good morning, everyone. as we look at the cool numbers in the north bay, it's freezing in santa rosa with 45 in hayward. 40 in san jose. concord checking in at 46. half moon bay at 54 degrees. strong upper level winds on top of mount diablo. this is rrl looking at tsan raf start here. rain arrives on christmas day. you can see light activity for the morning hours, the main event probably around dinnertime towards the evening hours. by saturday it ends, a colder system arriving later on sunday. that's that system there. snow for both of them, which is some good news. seven-day totals looking at an

inch in and a third in santa rosa, hopefully three quarters of an inch in san jose. 60 in san jose today. overnight tonight, we're talking 30s and 40s again. more high temperatures where you live brought to you by disney's "soul" streaming on christmas day. ♪ >> life is full of possibilities. you just need to know where to look. >> streaming this friday on disney plus is the movie critics are calling peak pixar. disney and pixar "soul" is visually glorious. and a joy to behold. "people" magazine says it is the best movie of the year. >> remember to enjoy every minute of i

. here's some of the latest covid-19 numbers. california reported nearly 32,000 cases yesterday.

that's down from 60,000 cases a week ago. the state is still setting records when it comes to hospitalizations. the number climbed close to 18,000 people, more than 3,700 of those people are in the icu. those are both single-day highs. let's look at the intensive care numbers. stayed wide it's below 2%. when you look at san joaquin valley and southern california, they're at zero percent. in the bay area there was a slight drop on monday to 13.5%. a vigil was held outside uber's headquarters in san francisco to remember uber drivers who died from covid-19. they parked along market street to draw attention to the deaths. a truck with an l.e.d. screen had the names of those who died from the virus. the group says it coincided with an international day of action to bring light to health and safety issues that app workers face.

your health and safety is a focus for us at abc7 as we work to building a better bay area. most people are heeding warnings from health officials and staying home over the holidays. abc7 news reporter julian glover is live with the details. >> the aaa prediction is 34 million fewer americans will travel this holiday period compared to this time last year. that leaves about 83 million americans who are expected to travel for the holiday. the majority of them, 96%, hitting the roads and not packing the airports. the tsa did clear 950,000 passengers on monday. the good news is with fewer travelers, traffic volume if you are hitting the roads are expected to be less than in years past. aaa predicts the busiest spot in the bay area will be northbound 101 at 5:00 p.m. this evening. keep that in mind if you will be hitting the roads in a matter of hours.

meanwhile, down in santa clara county and san francisco still have the ten-day mandatory quarantine order in place to discourage holiday travel. a bit of good news here, gas prices are down 50 cents compared to last year. but 34 million fewer americans will be traveling this holiday season hopefully to slow the spread of the coronavirus. reporting live this morning, julian glover, abc7 news. u.s. unemployment claims fell last week dropping slightly from a three-month high. last week's claims dropped to 803,000. economists told the "wall street journal" they expected that number to be at 888,000. the figure reflects new closures and restrictions that local governments are implementing to ease the surge of covid-19 cases. a live look now at the new york stock exchange as trading

gets under way. we're up about 155 points. one of the biggest bay area tech companies could have bought tesla. elon musk says he wanted to sell his company to apple three years ago during the darkest days of its model 3 rollout. he said tim cook refused to take the meeting. at the time musk says that tesla was worth about one-tenth of what it is now. musk's comments come amid reports that apple is working towards vehicle production in 2024. some people are worried that last-minute christmas gifts will not make it in time to arrive under the tree. what can you do to save your packages? one tip is go to the carrier's website and make sure you don't have signature required for deliveries. here's another tip -- >> if you are unsure whether your package will deliver on time you might need to be creative about how you deliver that gift. so you can wrap a smaller

version of the item you have coming to you or a picture of that item and still give somebody the opportunity to open that present without having the item in hand. >> the old picture of the item trick. i'm familiar. also she says with this much volume, tracking software can be off and may not be updating in realtime. having a backup plan might be your best bet. a new animated movie made here in the east bay makes its long-awaited debut on christmas. it turns out a small business is providing inspiration for pixar's movie "soul." soul is about a musician named joe, he's caught between following his dream of making music or keeping his stable job as a teacher. joe's mother is a tailor. so pixar animators reached out to advanced european tailoring in berkeley and spent hours with the husband and wife owners watching and drawing their every move. >> they observed how we work. what we do. they took details. it's a dying art. tailoring is a dying art.

>> they did a lot of visiting of real barbershops and real tailor shops including the one you mentioned so the animation and story artists could get a good idea of not just how it looks but how people move. >> "soul" is streaming on disney plus starting on friday. disney is the parent company of abc7. >> i wish i could see it now. >> i know. i talked to -- you just saw that clip. i talked to the director and writer of "soul." he has more interesting nuggets to come still later this week when we put that on our website. >> and on the app. >> and on the app. and on connected tv, lisa. >> options. >> yes. tons of options out there. for today we'll keep it pretty much the same-old with a rewind repeat performance. this is it. after today things are really changing. though we have some wind to talk about. that's going to allow for a breezy shot here from mount tam. it's shaking a bit, the camera.

stronger winds on top of mount diablo. 44 in san francisco. it's 50 in oakland. 36 in morgan hill. on the coast, 54 degrees. beautiful view of our exploratorium camera. nice and clear. we gain six seconds of daylight today. breezy in santa rosa, 36 in novato. 42 in livermore. 46 in concord. so the coldest numbers are in the north bay valleys. this is what i want to show you. look at mount diablo. north winds at 63 miles per hour. that's intense. elsewhere, we are looking at the north winds, we'll see some breezy winds in san pablo bay, carquinez straight, the golden gate gap there. otherwise, here where most of us live on the surface, it's a calm afternoon on the way, aside from the patchy frost, it's going to be a nice afternoon. increasing clouds tomorrow on christmas eve and then the storm arrives -- the first one on christmas day. we'll look at the timing right now. in fact, the light rain should

begin in the north bay throughout the midday hour. but not until later on in the day are we looking for it to pick up. as it does, it spreads south and the snow coming in friday night into saturday morning in the sierra nevada. it's not a big storm. just what you would expect for december. here's the second one arriving sunday night. another snowmaker, a colder one. we could see lower snow levels here. that means a colder morning on the backside of this system on monday. so, this is the first system, doesn't look like much. a third for san ramon. looking over a half inch in parts of napa and an inch in santa rosa. our winter storm watch looking at our snow, 8 to 12 inches through saturday morning. highs today from 59 at half moon bay. 60 in san jose. as well as napa at 60. we have increasing clouds christmas eve, level 1 system on friday. ends on saturday. next system on sunday. >> all right. thank you. actor kirk cameron is facing

criticism for hosting another large christmas gathering in southern california. about 100 people, few if any wearing masks showed up for a caroling event last night. this was outside of a mall in thousand oaks right next to a covid-19 testing site. this is at least the second caroling event hosted by the former "growing pains" actor turned evangelist. one of his earlier events was subject to criticism for contributing to the spread of coronavirus. tamales are a holiday tradition for many bay area families but this year it's going to change. sales are slumping with restaurants limited to takeout and delivery only. one shop in south san francisco tells abc7 news it would typically sell more than 5,000 tamales by this time of year. because of the pandemic the sales are down by 1,000. still for many making them is a labor of love. >> the family tradition, everybody has a story about how their mom, their dad, everybody would get together and make tamales before christmas.

>> health experts say the smaller order sales could mean families are adhering to public health guidelines and keeping gatherings smaller or not gathering at all this year. whether it's tamales or other takeout or delivery, there's a lot of options and you'll find a guide to local restaurants on our website, abc7news.com. new details on the crab season. it was supposed to start today but it's delayed again. this time for an entirely different reason. that's because fishermen and seafood processing companies cannot agree on a price. the two sides are about a dollar apart when it comes to the price per pound. the season normally starts in the middle of november. it got postponed three times because of migrating whales. friend, is this the last day i'll see you before christmas? the last morning? >> it is. you're not here tomorrow? >> i'm here tomorrow. are you here tomorrow? >> i'm here. >> whoo. >> oh. you just got me scared. look, so when i talked -- back

to "soul." when i talked to the co-writer and co-director of "soul" he put in a little thing about moisturizing and lotion in the movie. and that was part of making a more authentic black experience, which i thought was great. i thought it was really super to hear that was the first thing he contributed to the movie. he was like, wait, hold on. he watched the scene, he said no, no, we have to put some lotion in that. >> you will not be ashy. you will not. not in this movie. >> i loved hearing that. i thought that was so apropos for lotion nation. >> seriously. coming up next, the 7 things you need to know today. and abc7 has launched a new streaming app, wherever you are you can get our live newscasts, breaking news and more with our abc7 news app. it's on apple

it is 6:57, if you're just joining us, here's the 7 things to know this morning. number one, president trump says he will not sign the covid relief bill that congress passed monday night. he's asking congress to amend the bill and increase the $600 stimulus check to at least $2,000. number two, the federal

government has struck a deal to buy 100 million doses of the pfizer covid-19 vaccine bringing the total doses to be delivered to 200 million. today a california advisory committee will meet to discuss which essential workers to vaccinate next. number three, san francisco will open up a new pop-up testing site at 24th and mission. the city wants to serve the latinex community who are disproportionately hit by the pandemic. number four, alex padilla will be the next person to serve in the u.s. senate. governor newsom picked him to replace kamala harris' seat when she heads to the white house next month. number five, from chilly conditions to some chilled sunshine this afternoon. bright out there, upper 50s to near 60. a live look right now at the golden gate bridge. traffic is very light right now. heads up if you're headed out later today because aaa predicts the busiest spot in the bay area

will be northbound 101 at 5:00 tonight for holiday travel. number seven, disney unveiled the reimagining of a snow white ride at disneyland to celebrate its 83rd anniversary. the attraction has been updated with new music, l.e.d. lighting, laser projections and a new animation system and a new name. what was the old name, friend? >> it used to be snow white's scary adventures. >> oh, no. >> now it's snow white's enchanted wish. >> i like that. >> i liked it when it was scary. does anyone -- lisa, do you remember this? >> why? because i might be older than you? >> no. no. no. >> this was there as recently as the spring. >> okay. sorry, i jumped down your throat there. i thought you were going back 20 years or something. >> the evil queen used to be in the window above it.

she would push the curtain out and square kids. >> i do remember. good morning, america. breaking overnight, help on hold. president trump putting that massive $900 billion relief bill in limbo. >> send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a covid relief package. >> calling it a disgrace and demanding congress increase those $600 checks to $2,000. what this means for millions of americans waiting for that critical aid with christmas now just two days away. this as the president issues a slew of pardons with just four weeks left in office. holiday exodus. nearly 85 million people expected to travel with the pandemic raging across the country and that nightmare before christmas storm