>> reporter: $3 million in 20 hours. i'm bob redell in san francisco where the president will soon be starting his fund-raising swing through the city by the bay. that story coming up. the search for human remains over at a san joaquin ranch, we'll tell you what crews will be doing today. and a live look outside, a beautiful shot over san francisco. sure, your calendar says thursday, but christina loren reminds us we're hours away from friday. it's thursday, february 16th, "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." good morning to you. and thanks so much for joining us. 6:00 right now, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning, everyone, i'm john kelly.

and let's say good morning to christina loren who is here to remind us it's close to the weekend but it will be a great day. >> good morning to you. we've got a cold start but we'll see a gorgeous afternoon courtesy of these winds that are knocking our camera around poised over the bay bridge this morning, so make sure to give yourself plenty of time in your high profile vehicle as we head throughout the day today warming into the 70s. we'll tell you where. first we'll check your drive and get you out the front door with mike. the winds are there but not quite as strong as yesterday because the chopper was able to launch. looking at 880 as the headlights and taillights are moving smoothly along the nimitz, and a lot of these heading north towards the bay bridge toll plaza which is operating just fine right now getting you over from the oakland side of the bay bridge over to san francisco without any delays. but this weekend, remember, starting at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night, the bay bridge will be closed as far as the construction goes and we'll continue to give you updates and

we've got details from b.a.r.t. coming up. thank you. 6:01 right now. president obama arriving back in the bay area in a few hours, "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us with more about the president's campaign swing through san francisco. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning, laura, california is not expected to determine the results of this year's presidential election. it's not a swing state but candidates can't ignore us because they need cash to run their campaign. the richest state in the country is their trough. president obama expected to raise $8 million during his three-day swing up the west coast. $3 million alone during his 20-hour visit to san francisco today. now, after a fund-raiser this morning in los angeles, he will arrive at sfo just before 1:00 this afternoon. he'll attend an event at mark hopkins intercontinental a hotel, and then a private dinner at a home here in san francisco. both those events will cost almost $36,000 a plate. then he has a fund-raising rally tonight here at the nob hill

masonic center where we are at right now, tickets for that will start at $100 dollars. something you should be aware of the morning commute tomorrow could be affected by the president's visit. he's going to be expecting to leave sfo at 9:00 in the morning, assuming he stays overnight in san francisco, that means that his motorcade would be heading south on 101 during the morning rush. reporting live here atop nob hill, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> you can get the latest on the president's visit on nbcbayarea.com. we'll have coverage right here on nbc bay area as well. san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi's trial for domestic abuse charges start up next week. today prosecutors and defense attorneys getting ready for a pretrial meeting today. the cha charges stem from an alleged altercation on new year's eve. one final grisly task today for searchers in san joaquin

county where more than 1,000 bone fragments have been unearthed in a mass grave. today a camera will be lowered into the well where the remains were recovered for one last look. digging has completed at the site near the town of linden, the dumping ground identified by so-called speed freak killer wesley shermantine. in addition to bones, authorities found shoes, purses and jewelry in that well. the remains are being sent to the richmond crime lab for identification. a laid-off san francisco police officer being credited for snagging a trio of bank robbers. michael nasr spotted the men in hoodies running into a wells fargo bank in south san jose tuesday. he got suspicious and dialed 911. the information led to a s.w.a.t. standoff in salinas where the men were holed up. nasr left san jose police department just last year during some layoffs. homes right n

he's in the process of being reinstated. a manhunt continues in san francisco for a would-be kidnapper. police have released a composite sketch who they say grabbed an 8-year-old monday as she walked to school in the bay view district. the girl broke free and ran to school. the suspect is in his 30s and has spiked dreadlocks and a scar on his cheek. anyone with information should contact san francisco police. it is 6:05 right now. personal information about thousands of patients at several north bay hospitals has been accidentally posted on the internet. st. joseph health system said the records of more than 6,000 people ended up accessible on search engines all by mistake. it was mostly names and lab results. fortunately no social security numbers or financial data was released. restaurant and bar owners tell the "contra costa times" may sue walnut creek to protect their business. the city has rolled back alcohol

service for one downtown bar. they are afraid the city will shift the quitting time earlier. before we show you this, we want to warn you this is tough to watch. it will show a man crossing a street on the right-hand side there in tenderloin when he's run down by a shuttle bus like they didn't see him. the man was pinned under until firefighters were actually able to pull him free. police say the man did break a lot of bones, but somehow pretty amazingly his injuries not life threatening. they also say the driver did nothing wrong and will not face any charges. that's unusual. >> yeah, hard to watch there. this morning b.a.r.t. is making those plans to beef up service during a three-day closure to the bay bridge we've been telling you about. it's coming. "today in the bay's" christie smith is live in oakland where b.a.r.t. officials say they'll run trains for 24 hours a day. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. that's right, b.a.r.t. will be

offering 24-hour service, longer trains. they've done it before. but this time they're really getting the word out early. in fact, three people tied to b.a.r.t. just wrapped up a press conference here on the corner here in downtown oakland. now, the 24-hour service is going to be friday through sunday, then early monday they'll close overnight for their routine a minute nance. b.a.r.t. will stop at 14 of its 44 stations. coming from the city, though, keep in mind trains will only be running on the hour. last time b.a.r.t. ran overnight service was in 2009 and that was when bridge workers did some work there on the i-bars. this time, though, they think a lot of drivers are going to choose b.a.r.t. over road detours. >> we can with all the advanced notice about this and the tremendous disruption it's going to cause for automobile drivers, we think we're going to break some records. >> reporter: now, they're saying if by chance work on the bay

bridge oakland takes longer than expected, b.a.r.t. can adjust their hours and will be running longer trains on tuesday morning anyway. now, we asked them who picks up the tab for all the extra b.a.r.t. workers who are working these longer work hours, and they tell us that caltrans will be reimbursing them. reporting live in oakland, i'm christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much, christie. it is 6:08, we were talking about it yesterday, the wind was blowing and kind of cutting. let's check in with christina loren, is it warmer today? what's it feel like? pl much much warmer, and we'll see the 70s in some cities. but we've got the 30s out there so you need to bundle up your little ones taking them to school this morning. but make sure they dress in layers, because temperatures will rise into the 60s in many cities across the bay. but right now we're at 45 degrees in livermore, 45 in san jose. good morning to you in sunnyvale, 39 degrees there. we're entering into the coldest point of the morning.

but take a look at the jump between 8:00 a.m. and noon inland. a 20-degree jump. and then you'll be about 63 degrees as you make your way home from work. yeah, really comfortable day today. so, if you want to hit the san francisco marina, you can do so. it will be cool. grab a jacket. choppy on the bay with a little bit of a breeze that continues throughout the day. the higher elevations will see gusty winds, breezy right on the water, 57 degrees at noon. really comfortable and warm for this time of year. we do have rain back in the forecast after this brief warm-up concludes. we'll tell you when that comes into the mix. but first we want to check your drive with mike. how we looking out there? we'll take a look at the south bay and focussing on a few issues down here happening in the last few minutes. we'll zoom in to northbound 101 right behind the 70 sensors and we see the yellow chicklets, that means speed are heading into the 50s, from alum rock up to 880. it's early for the slowing, about half an hour early.

but we'll watch it sort itself out. southbound 880 around the alameda, we've got an accident reported in lanes moving to the shoulder. might be an injury involved there because an ambulance has been called. and the traffic rate might be going on over the next few minutes. expect slowing south of highway 87. around the alameda aoff-ramp, reports of blankets on the roadway and might have fallen off the back of someone's truck and they'll have to pick those up and that will slow on the southbound side of 880. let's get a live look at the san mateo bridge and a smooth drive across 92. this is another of your alternates, if you use b.a.r.t. under the water or the san mateo bridge over the water this weekend as the bay bridge closes in the westbound direction. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. 6:10 right now. still to come on "today in the bay," we've got bad news if you'd like your candy bars as big as possible. >> it hurts. >> why one company is slimming down its candy, coming up. also, 200 feet of snow crashing right down on a highway and some rail lines. we'll hall tetmi

good morning, welcome back, everyone. we've got new information out of thailand that could settle the blame game between israel and iran following a string of bombings across the globe. israel convinced that thailand is behind the attacks. >> it is the first confirmation by thailand officials that an iranian group is behind those explosions that rocked a neighborhood in bangkok earlier this week. the grenade blasts hurt five people including the suspected attacker who lost his legs in the explosion. now, this morning thailand's top cop said three iranians were planning to attack israeli diplomats when the explosives

accidentally went off. now, all along israel's prime minister has condemned iran while iran denies the accusations. we are learning new surprising details about the massive prison fire in honduras that killed more than 350 inmates. most of those inmates had never been charged, let alone convicted. many, in fact, were being held as suspected gang members. this is all according to the associated press which obtained an internal honduran government report. also new today, firefighters say they were held outside for 30 minutes by guards who feared there was a breakout. well, now to western austria where many roads and railways are closed after an onslaught of avalanches. one avalanche with a width of 200 feet fell onnen a expre on overnight, but the best news is everyone is okay. another good reason why we live in the bay area, laura and john?

>> and pretty nice temperatures coming to the bay area today. as we look at the embarcadero this morning, always a beautiful shot. close to the ferry building there. want to check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning to you. nice clear conditions out there this morning. good morning to you. we are so close to friday now and we're going to see some really nice weather as we finish up your workweek. temperatures this morning a little on the cool side because of that clear sky. no blanket of clouds to trap any sort of heat in. so, we are running on the cool side in places like sunnyvale, you're in 39 degrees there. 33 in gilroy and good morning to you in san jose where we're at 42 degrees. so, grab that jacket. mostly clear today, breezy and cold. later on we'll see plenty of sunshine and we do have a few showers ahead in your seven-day forecast, so keep that in mind. but what's happening out there, high pressure is now set up in the great basin that's pumping the winds from land to sea. they're drying up and warming up along the way. we'll see temperatures in the 60s and 70s today. then we get a few light showers

on saturday. doesn't look like enough rain, though, to postpone that construction on the bay bridge. they'll go through with that. they'll get a few showers but we'll see what happens if they'll have to delay any of that construction. we'll keep you updated on nbc bay area. 60s and 70s. 67 in los gatos. a little bit of rain heading through the weekend. but not much. don't cancel the outdoor plans. let's take a look at the south bay where we have a nice northbound route, north of san jose, but coming in through san jose we should point out a few other things last report. we had slowing northbound from 101 from alum rock to 880. and speeds are in the 60s a gre again. and right here this is southbound where we see some slowing for southbound 880 right around coleman there is the accident blocking two lanes so far. still have yet to clear the accident and also just south of there reports of some blankets across the roadway as you are getting off on the alameda

off-ramp. two things to watch out on the stretch if you are heading to the 280/880 interchange. no problems for the south bay. heading over to the lower peninsula, we had an issue with the ron ramp on marsh road, it's cleared. the construction crews are gone, 6:16 and a smooth drive. as you are driving past the facebook and the dumbarton bridge. we'll look at slowing over here just off the castro valley "y" where northbound 238. a disabled vehicle reported for the san mateo bridge somewhere along the flat section. i'm watching it. it sounds like it's right around the toll plaza and not predicting any slowing across the span itself but we'll continue to monitor the situation as well. a live look at oakland, 880 north of the coliseum, we see a smooth drive, a nice volume of traffic building up, but still into the 60s as these folks are traveling up toward the toll plaza with no metering lights up on the san mateo that we just showed you. another kennedy may soon represent massachusetts.

this morning joe kennedy iii the son of the former congressman and the grandson of the late robert f. kennedy will announce he's running for barney frank's seat. congressman frank is retiring this year when his term ends. the 31-year-old kennedy is a harvard law graduate and a prosecutor who says his time as a peace corps volunteer has helped him connect with the underprivileged. 6:18. the governor of michigan expected to endorse mitt romney today, but two new polls show romney's trailing rick santorum. romney hoping his deep michigan roots will help him win the state. his father was governor for more than 40 years -- actually more than 40 years ago and he won the michigan primary four years ago but having trouble this time because he opposes the auto bailout. >> the auto companies need to go through bankruptcy to shed their excess costs. there are several reports this morning that santorum's

campaign is requesting secret service protection. fox news says the request was made following a campaign stop in washington state where three occupy protesters were arrested. candidates must meet several qualifications to receive free protection from the secret service. and despite what you might have heard, santorum is not getting an endorsement from an '80s metal star. ♪ the frontman of megadeath, the man behind albums like "you a nighted eed united abomination" was leaked that he endorsed santorum, but he said his comments were misrepresented. he still likes santorum but he isn't ready to cast his vote just yet. to important news now, some of the most popular candy around is slimming down. time to keep it sexy. mars incorporated said it's dropping any candies with more

than 250 calories. it makes snickers, twix and m&ms, no more king-size snicker bars. it packs 540 calories but it tastes good. it will be gone by 2014. mars says it is improving the nutritional value of its food. guess maybe kind of that extra special sugar that is really good -- >> it's got dairy in it. >> i like that. carbohydrate. >> protein in the nuts. coming up, kids from the sociology from san jose state could bring chae to the city. and should electric car owners pay a tax because they don't use gasoline? land o'lakes spreadable butter with canola oil

is made with sweet cream, canola oil and salt. just three natural ingredients. what's in your spread ?

6:23 right now. students at san jose state are pushing the city to raise the minimum wage. the students are part of a sociology class at the university. they are launching a petition drive today to increase minimum wage from $8 to $10. the initiative is being reviewed by the city attorney's office. if it's approved, they need to collect 20,000 signatures to get it on the ballot. school is out at a bay area college shut down by state regulators for deceiving its students. "the oakland tribune" reporting the institute of medical education was closed following accusations of false accreditation and financial problems. the college which has campuses

in oakland and san jose offers programs in dental hygiene, nursing, and other medical fields. the school has three days to respond to this. regulators will be on campus today trying to answer students' questions. at cal occupy tents aren't going away, but they are moving. occupy cal protesters are now camping out at the steps of the doe memorial library. they decided to move the tents to the university's largest library to turn students' attention to library cuts. administrators saying camping isn't allowed and they are asking students to voluntarily leave. the san francisco assessors office uncovering a shocking fact about the way banks handled foreclosures in the city. scott, this is worse than anybody guessed. >> they figured they would take a look at few hundred homes sold after they were foreclosed upon to see if they were suspicious. the report says nearly all were suspicious, 99% had what was

called irregularities, 84% have what the city would say is one or more clear violations of the law. one of the most common problems, documenting who or what organization actually owned the home at the time of foreclosure. since the report california's real estate laws were designed to address a far simpler market. california's foreclosure process appears utterly broken. the house energy and commerce committee will talk about taking a big step politically, subpoenaing people in the investigation in fremont's solyndra. up until now the committee has only subpoenaed documents. the people testified voluntarily. i talked with committee members. while subpoena is not a sure thing, they say if they'll come they'll start with the office of management and budget which was the first to see solyndra's loan applications. and washington state is considering taxing electric car owners for not using gasoline as much as $100 a year.

it sounds kind of crazy, but when you stop and think about it, it might someday be necessary. the roads you drive on this morning on your way to work are maintained in large part through state gasoline taxes, but if everyone were to use the roads but nobody used gasoline, you'd have a major problem, a real pothole. back to you. >> i don't think you'll fit in one of those little cars. he's got legs up to here. >> i'd pay money to see that. i'm going to get a smartcar probably sometime next week, we'll park it out in the back and we'll do a john kelly can he fit in a smartcar segment. >> sign me up for yoga to fit in that thing. 6:26 right now. still to come, b.a.r.t. picking up the slack to get you across the bay this weekend. find out how late those trains are going to run since the bay bridge is closing. >> if we did the smartcar thing, you drive. president obama coming to the bay area for three fund-raisers today, we'll have the details coming up in a live

report. we've got gusty winds whipping across the bay area this morning. you see old glory blowing in the breeze here in san francisco. presidents' day weekend right around the corner. we've got showers in the forecast. we'll tell you when coming up. and the gusty winds will be an issue for the wind farms and other spots like crossing the bay. buveig g s sigalert for the south bay to tell you about as well. the latest coming up. al

good morning, i'm bob redell, we'll take you to san francisco where president obama will soon start a one-day rush for campaign cash. that story coming up. the san jose city council will talk about an ethical complaint against mayor chuck reed following an nbc bay area investigation. we'll have the details coming up. >> reporter: and the bay bridge closure is a go this holiday weekend. so, b.a.r.t. will be running 24 hours a day. i'm christie smith, details coming up. and a live look outside.

look at the sun coming up. beautiful sunrise across the bay this morning on thursday, february 16th. this is "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." you made it to thursday morning. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning, everyone. i'm john kelly. we say good morning and check back in with meteorologist christina loren, does it feel as good as it looks? >> oh, is it deceptive out there. good morning to you. the sun comes up clear as a bell, you look out your window, it looks nice, doesn't it? well, if you think 46 degrees is nice, it's not that nice out there just yet, but it will be. and speaking of which, you see old glory there blowing in the breeze. breezy to windy conditions throughout the day today, but that will warm us up to the 70s in some cities. will it hold up your presidents' day weekend plans, i'll let you know, and i'll help you plan

around it. let's get to mike. >> a warning, you'll find a lot of slowing, a sigalert has been called for the accident southbound 880. there was a traffic break from coleman down to the scene, that's part of the reason you see the slowing. but two lanes are blocked there. four-car accident and as many as three or four chp vehicles are there already. we so some slowing opposite your commute in other spots, 280, and 87, and 85 showing slips in the 50s. we've got slowing showing up in the east bay as well. president obama touching down in san francisco in just a few hours from right now on a fund-raising swing for his re-election campaign. "today in the bay's" bob redell joining us live with details on the visit and how it may disrupt your plans. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. yes, president obama will end his day at the nob hill masonic center. this is one of three fund-raisers he'll be cramming

into his short visit into san francisco. this is part of a greater three day swing through the west coast during which he's expected to raise $8 million for his re-election campaign. $3 million of it coming from donors in the bay area. the president arrived in los angeles yesterday for a fund-raiser. took place last night during which he warned democrats that this presidential campaign isn't going to be easier than the first one. he arrived at sfo just before 1:00 this afternoon. he'll attend an event at the mark hopkins intercontinental hotel and a private dinner at the san francisco home of robert ma mahler anderson, both of the events will cost about $36,000 a plate. the tickets for the fund-raiser rally at the masonic, those tickets start around $100. you mentioned how it could affect the commute, we're talking about tomorrow morning. tomorrow morning's flight out of sfo, supposed to leave at 9:00, assuming he stays here in san

francisco, you can do the math, his motorcade would be going down 101 during the morning commute, so for those of you trying to get to work up and down the peninsula, you might want to plan ahead. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> and for full coverage of the president's visit we suggest you stay with nbc bay area throughout the day, and you can get the latest on nbcbayarea.com. it is 6:33 right now. a final grisly task for searchers who have unearthed more than 1,000 human bones in a mass grave in san joaquin county. today they'll lower a camera into an abandoned well where the remains were discovered in recent days. they were led to the site by death-row inmate wesley shermantine, one half of the duo known as the speed freak killers. he says he and his partner lorne herzog used the site as a dumping ground for victims in the '80s and '90s. many are hoping the discovery will bring closure for their loved ones. >> there's nothing to go on. there are no leads, so there's

no case to move forward with, and so families are left just simply not knowing. >> besides the bones, authorities have found shoes, purses, and jewelry. the human remains will be sent to the richmond crime lab for identification. well, it looks like it's back to the negotiating table. pg&e and san bruno city leaders expected to continue talks this week about compensation in the wake of that deadly san bruno explosion. pg&e has set up a $70 million trust fund for the survivors of that tragedy. but san bruno's mayor wants additional compensation for the trauma suffered by his community. eight people were killed and 38 homes destroyed during the 2010 blast. 6:34 right now. the ball is in the city council's court after questions raised by an nbc bay area investigation into the pension. the city council will not address an ethics complaint filed by the unions against chuck reed for alleged misrepresentations of pension costs.

the elections commission voted yesterday to refer the complaint now to the city council. >> so, if anybody is going to look at it, it's got to be the council. i think the feeling was this is a significant issue, without making any judgments on the facts, it's a significant issue, and the council ought to have the opportunity to decide if they want to look into it or not. >> the city council must now decide if it wants to tackle the issue. you can watch our investigative report at nbcbayarea.com. 24 hours a day service, that is what the schedule b.a.r.t. is putting together to try to help keep the bay bridge upper deck closed this weekend, to try to help out with the transportation. "today in the bay's" christie smith live in oakland with more of b.a.r.t.'s services planned. good morning to you, christie. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. this certainly doesn't happen often, the last time was in 2009, but during the bay bridge closure as you said b.a.r.t. will be rolling trains 24 hours a day. and they're thinking because they're getting the word out early to commuters, they may actually break some ridership

records, and they're telling me on any given commute day, about 370,000 people ride b.a.r.t. what's happening is overnight friday through 6:00 in the morning on monday, b.a.r.t. will have longer trains rolling, again, 24 hours a day, stopping at 14 out of its 44 stations, four in san francisco, nine in the east bay and one on the peninsula. keep in mind, though, that if you're riding back from san francisco to the east bay, you'll need to make some plans and watch the schedule or you could end up waiting. >> we have trains every hour, and so i should add that if you are planning on using b.a.r.t. at 3:00 in the morning and you're coming from san francisco going to the east bay, the train leaves downtown san francisco about on the hour. >> reporter: now, they're also telling me that if work on the westbound direction of the bridge gets delayed for some reason, b.a.r.t. is ready to expand their service. in fact, they tell me that

they're going to be running longer trains on tuesday morning just in case. reporting live in san francisco, i'm christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much, christie. want to check the forecast now with meteorologist christina loren. >> one day away from getaway friday and a three-day weekend for many of you and the weather will hold up. we've got a few showers. a few showers to plan around right now. as you can see we've got a shake over the camera situated over the lovely golden gate bridge. it is clear and gour jrgeous, b high pressure has set up over the great basin. the same thing that provides the santa ana winds in los angeles. temperatures are on the cool side. 48 degrees in oakland. 38 in concord, and 50 degrees in san mateo. the microclimates kicking in this morning, cold throughout the interior valleys but pretty

mild at the coast. otherwise today we're going to see a really comfortable day. uniform conditions by about i'd say 4:00 p.m. today. mostly rear, breezy and cold. staying breezy. plentiful so plentiful sunshine. and look at this, by noon today, 60 inland as you make your way home from work. 63 degrees. so, the seven-day forecast in moments. first, mike has a couple things that could slow you down. that's right, definitely the traffic volume on the eastshore freeway 24 minutes from the toll plaza to the carquinez bridge, the volume builds and the metering lights are on. folks are backed up past the 880 overcrossing for most of those lanes. back out to the maps and we'll see how things are shaping up around the bay. in antioch the jam approaching summersville off of hillcrest, but pittsburg and bay point in the 50s. we'll watch for slowing heading down to concord as well. livermore the stretch out of the

altamont pass all the way down through livermore and the pleasanton area we're looking at a 22-minute drive into the 40s in general throughout the entire stretch and that's why you see the yellow. and a live look outside for 280 coming through san jose northbound approaching 880 there is building for the traffic here. but the update on the sigalert southbound 880 around the alameda, we're told it's another couple of hours and i'll tell you why in the next report. >> thank you very much, mike. still to come on "today in the bay," paul mccartney says he's growing up. find out why the 69-year-old says now is the time to stop smoking marijuana. and new this morning, lawmakers staying up late. they say they have a deal that could save you about $80 per month. we'll havell the details coming up in a live report from washington. ♪

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welcome back, everyone. time now is 6:42. u.s. lawmakers up nearly all night on capitol hill now say they've finally reached a deal to extend the payroll tax, unemployment insurance and medicare fix until the end of this year. nbc bay area's tracie potts live in washington, d.c., this morning where law makers are hoping for a vote by the end of the week. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: good morning, john. the extra 2% you got all of last year and the first of this year will not end at the end of the month if they didn't take

action, but they can't figure out how to pay for it. also, unemployment benefits which would have run out without some action here will continue, although after may, according to this deal, people who are in areas with high unemployment instead of getting a max 99 weeks would get 73. republicans had wanted to scale it back even further than that. and finally, john, the doc fix that you talked about, medicare doctors were looking at a 27% pay cut by the end of the month. that will not happen. now, the medicare and the unemployment benefits will be paid for assuming they get enough support to get this through a vote. negotiators say they have that. there's a technical issue on whether they can vote on friday because it hasn't been out there for three days to read like the law requires here on capitol hill. if they can get around that and they've done that in the past we could be looking at a vote tomorrow. john? >> thank you very much. 6:43 right now. we'll be back with 15 minutes of uninterrupted news including how

three states are getting closer to legalizing same-sex marriages and unions today. we'll take aoo thma markets and why you don't want to be like mike. "oh, that's nice." "thank you." now, that's progressive. call or click today.

welcome back, everyone, it is 6:46 right now. want to check in with mike because we're talking about what has now turned into a deadly accident on 880. >> we'll take folks to the south bay where we've been updating this. southbound 880 between coleman and the alameda exit itself. the off-ramp is closed at the alameda. perhaps some of the earlier reported debris may be actually involving this accident. we have a number of cars pulled to the shoulder and at least one or two lanes blocked. we have about a half dozen chp vehicles on scene and the coroner has also been called. i'm told about two hours until

this investigation will be cleared. that will be a problem as folks do head out of the area as they're going down into san jose. we also have some slowing northbound 101 coming through the area just north of 680 and the interchange. and as folks are heading this way and heading south we'll have a reroute. folks will hear about the accident and they'll start to scramble when they hear southbound 880 and not know what to do so 87 will probably also get slowing as well. this is the ripple effect we're talking about. we've already had earlier slowing for 101. and 87 showing a little bit heavier flow of traffic than typical at this time. 85 really bumping up the volume. those are not necessarily related to the accident. the accident itself will slow things for 101 and 87 through the area right in order of cono. and let's look outside to see how things are flowing through oakland northbound past the coliseum. slowing through fremont and past the coliseum without any problems. to the bay bridge toll plaza

where the metering lights are on and the backup to west grand avenue. southbound moves smoothly but the volume is picking up here, slofing around the san mateo. and a look at san rafael, smoth ride southbound but around lincoln avenue we are seeing traffic back up. i'll get out of your way. the southbound is with the taillights, so we've got a smooth drive past this scene, but speeds dipping to the 50s in novato. what's going on out there, christina? >> i have top of the line technology at my immediate disposal and good news, i can tell you when the showers arrive, the first round at least. as we head through this weekend. but take a look at the beautiful live look over alcatraz. gorgeous. you will notice it's a little choppy out on the bay this morning and that's because of the winds that have really picked up overnight. all right, let's get right to it. okay. high pressure firmly in control of your weather pattern driving the winds from land to sea, warming up along the way, that means we'll see plenty of upper 60s, low 60s even at the coast and a couple of 70s in the

warmer cities across the bay. and then we hit the showery pattern. it starts 11:00 p.m. friday. we stop the clock on your futurecast. you can see we've got a pretty fair amount of showers coming down that will continue through the first part of saturday morning by 2:00 a.m. getting light showers down through the south bay and we'll clear out for saturday morning. we've got another round late sunday into monday. but nonetheless, they're going to go through with that construction on the bay bridge even with the impending showers. 67 degrees for today in san jose. 65 in napa and 61 degrees for you in oakland. as we head through the next two days we keep on climbing. 68 degrees on friday. we'll drop off in temperatures saturday into sunday with more clouds around and we get a pretty good shot of showers sunday into presidents' day. same deal, though, those will clear out early. great news for those of you good consumers hitting all the sales. back to you guys. well, the current president, president obama, landing in san francisco in just a few hours on a fund-raising swing for his re-election campaign.

"today in the bay's" bob redell joins us hive wilive with more. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning, laura, the state of california isn't expected to determine the presidential race, of course, it's not a swing state, but candidates can't ignore us because they need cash to run their campaign and this being the richest state in the country, this becomes their trough. president obama expected to raise $8 million during his three-day swing up the west coast. $3 million during his 20-hour visit to san francisco. after a fund-raising trip this morning in los angeles, he arrives at sfo just before 1:00 this afternoon. he'll attend an event at the mark hopkins intercontinental hotel and then a private dinner at a san francisco home. both of those events will cost almost $36,000 a plate. then he has a fund-raising rally tonight here at the nob hill masonic center. tickets for that starting around

$100. the president's visit could affect your morning commute tomorrow morning. he's supposed to be leaving on air force one out of sfo around 9:00 in the morning. assuming he stays here in san francisco overnight, that means his motorcade will be heading down 101 sometime during the morning rush. just a heads up. reporting live atop nob hill, bob redell, "today in the bay." the president understands the power of silicon valley, so he's tapping in for a first of its kind campaign organizers. they'll open a special technology field office in san francisco. instead of workers using phones for cold calls, volunteers will work to develop a new campaign app. and spruce up the president's website. it's believed to be a first for a presidential campaign office. 6:51 right now. helping south bay families realize the american dream is a goal of a little-known housing program. the city of san jose has been buying up and fixing up foreclosed homes for resale. federal grant money's already

been used to give 20 abandoned homes new life. contractors are brought in to remodel and make repairs. >> how hard it is to pull money out of your pocket to fix your roof or to fix your furnace, and if you've just bought a home, you know, sometimes it's almost impossible to try to come up with the money to fix a roof. >> depending on your income, the city will give you 10% to 20% of the home's purchase price. san jose's housing department will have an open house on sunday. for more information about the program, head to our website, nbcbayarea.com. just in to the newsroom, information about the deadliest prison fire in a century. a top government official may have known that it was about to happen. >> the associated press is reporting an inmate at that honduran prison called the local governor moments before the fire broke out tuesday, saying he was going to set the place on fire. the governor said she then called fire officials but firefighters were actually

stopped from fighting these massive flames for about a half hour by guards who feared there was a breakout. also new today most of the inmates killed in the flames had never been charged, let alone convicted. more than 350 died. well, the bloodshed continues in syria. take a look at this latest amateur video out of homs. it shows a house collapsing reportedly after a rocket attack. hundreds of people in this city are believed to have been killed by security forces in the past two weeks alone. and just over three hours from now the man known as the underwear bomber will be sentenced in a detroit courtroom. umar farouk abdulmutallab faces a mandatory life sent epps. n he admits to working for al qaeda while attempting to bomb a flight from amsterdam on christmas day in 2009. he's sentenced 10:00 pacific

time. governor of new jersey is defending his decision to fly flags half-staff in honor of singer whitney houston. governor chris christie is taking heat from people who think the honor should be reserved for soldiers, first responders, and elected public servants not an alleged drug addict. christie said substance abuse does not erase the good things houston accomplished. a private funeral for houston will be held saturday in her hometown of newark. now, in new jersey and in maryland, bills that would allow gay marriage face key debates and votes today. in new jersey the state assembly taking up the marriage equality and religious exemption act which passed the state senate on monday. governor chris christie says he will veto that bill. in maryland the house of delegates will begin debate on the civil marriage protection act. this bill is sponsored by the governor, but at this point it's unclear if it will get enough votes to clear the full house. numbecolorado could be the

state to allow same-sex unions. the state senate has approved a bill that would give gay couples similar rights to married couples. the bill has to move to the republican-controlled house where an identical bill failed last year. lawmakers can only approve a civil union because of a voter-approved amendment. colorado's constitution banning same-sex marriage. >> it is 6:fi55 right now. "today" show coming up next. >> good morning, coming up on a thursday on "today," subpoenas have now been issued to doctors and pharmacists as the investigation in to how whitney houston died moves forward, we'll have that and talk to bill o'reilly about comments he made about the singer's death. and roommates about the virginia lacrosse player acted before he allegedly killed his girlfriend. we'll have the latest. is it okay for your doctor not to always tell you the truth? that's one of the hot topics

we'll discuss with today's professionals. those stories and we'll check out the high styles emerging from fashion week in new york city as we get started on a thursday morning, right here on "today." john and laura, back to you. >> thank you, matt. john lee has a message for the warriors, if you want to move across the bay, bring cash. the team owners are trying to decide whether to extend their current lease or move possibly to san francisco. at an economic forum, mayor lee said he would welcome the warriors as long as no public money is spent on a basketball arena. jeremy lin used to be with the warriors, he's with the knicks and his streak of scoring at least 20 points, well, it's over, but the knicks winning streak is not. they've won seven in a row and the palo alto native in the giving mood during last night's game against the kings, he finished with a season high 13 assists. lin-sanity lives on. it's the knicks seventh straight

win and after the game lin said last night's performance is what you should expect more from this season. he thinks shooting is way too much of what he's been doing. too much for a point guard. he likes dish out all the assists. warriors general manager larry riley at this point taking heat and criticism for releasing lin last year. yesterday he talked at length about why he made the decision. riley said, i can't sit here and tell you that i saw him as a star player. i saw him as a guy who if everything developed well would be a backup point guard in this league. we weren't chasing guards at the time. we needed a center, so we made a decision. if you say i was stupid to let him go, i have to stand up to that, but our need is still the same. 6:57 right now. paul mccartney says he's giving up marijuana. the 69-year-old toldle on "rolling stone" magazine said his sense of responsibility is kicking in for his 8-year-old daughter. ex-wife heather mills once said mccartney smoked marijuana as often as most people drink tea.

he's been arrested three times for possession, including a 1980 bust when half a pound of pot was found in his luggage. bulls, bears, and dogs. scott mcgrew joins us with a look at the markets this morning. >> good morning to you. the dow industrials are up 30 points after this pekingese helped open the new york stock exchange. yes, this one, right here, this one! oh, well. you know, i was going to make this joke about the dog ringing a bell, you know, be familiar because he won the show at the westminster dog show but apparently -- oh, there he is. does this dog ring a bell? there's my joke. there you go. a federal judge in chicago has thrown out a lawsuit brought by basketball great michael jordan who sued a local grocery store for running a commercial congratulating him for winning a spot in the basketball hall of fame. jordan says the ad used his name but he didn't get paid for it. which reminds me a bit of carl

sagan the famous astronomer, he took apple to court after apple named one of its projects sagan. it was going to be for internal purposes as a sign of respect, there's a funny punch line to the story that i can't say on television, but i invite you to look it up. >> ooh, that's a tease. >> thank you very much, scott. all right, it's 6:59 right now. let's check in with one final check on the weather with miss christina loren. >> good morning to you, yeah, a gorgeous sunrise setting up over the bay area. crystal clear, deceptive sun out there. it's cold. make sure you bring the jacket but something you can peel off by noon. up to 60 degrees inland. cooler by the water, and at 4:00 p.m., 63 comfortable degrees. above averages today and tomorrow. then the rain moves in as we head through the weekend we'll talk about that all day long. tomorrow we'll meet back here. let's find out what you're dealing with on the roads. a deadly out there, mike. >> the south bay really going to get stirred up by this, the deadly accident has southbound 880 with a