robbery. why police say it's a growing problem. and former illinois governor rod blagojevich no longer a free man. i've got the latest overnight developments coming up. and a live look outside. that is 880 right now. very, very slow there in oakland. the weather dark. it is murky. brace yourselves. be ready for traffic and trees down in the areas. it's kind of crazy. it's thursday, march 15th. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you and thanks so much for joining us. it is 5:00. >> we check in with meteorologist christine, to tell us about the water that eatheat is turning wintry. >> it was on pace to be the driest winter on record for many cities in the bay area but the final full week of winter will go down as a record breaking

storm trend. take a look at the numbers. almost 8 inches of rain in san rafael. orinda picked up over 6 inches. ben lomond, almost 6 inches there and everywhere you travel this morning, the highways are slick. even in san jose where we only picked up a little bit of rain. as we head throughout the day today, another storm system is on the way. another one on its heels potentially doubling these numbers. you can imagine the aftermath, mike already has an incident to slow you down. >> we've got a few, it's not uncommon after rains like this, but there are more rains coming, and we have a tree down blocking highway 13 in the southbound side. as a result of this accident involving another car as well, we have one death already. we have more investigation going on. it sounds like there's a lot more activity on this side, so southbound 13 has closed at park boulevard. christie smith is heading to the scene to bring us more news.

eastbound 580 is your alternate, it will take an hour and a half to two hours to clear up. i've got another incident in the sant to cruz mountains the southbound 17 around the summit. it's affecting both sides of 17, so this will affect the drive into and out of los gatos. i'll bring you more details this morning. it's 5:02 and we're following breaking news out of san jose where firefighters are on the scene of a three alarm house fire on underwood drive near san tomas expressway and williams road. bob redell reports that fire right now that the fire is under control, but a firefighter, bob, we're hearing was seriously injured. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. there's a lot of concern for this fellow firefighter, a man who was hurt fighting the fire here at this apartment complex. you can see it's down a ways from a four unit apartment complex on underwood drive. apparently what happened he was on top of the roof. they were trying to cut a hole in the roof to ventilate the

smoke and fire out of the attic at some point in that process he fell through the roof and his colleague tells me at one point he was fully engulfed in flames, he had his protective gear on, that's why he's only suffering a burn to his hand, they are saying it's not life threatening but serious nonetheless, every time a firefighter is burned. he's at the burn center at valley med. the fire is knocked down. they have a ladder truck out there. they've been trying to knock down any hot spots. it started a little bit before 4:00 this morning. they believe it was accidental. perhaps someone left a candle burning. it started in a downstairs unit and went up to the upstairs unit for a total of four units and it went to the attic and from there it took off. they were able to knock it down. it doesn't look like the structure is destroyed. severely damaged. all the residents got out okay. reporting live in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." wet roads may have played a

role in two overnight accidents, southbound 880 was closed after 11:00 after a three vehicle accident north of 98th avenue. several people were injured. the cause of that accident is still under investigation. the road was reopened about an hour later. and on the peninsula, an accident closed down part of highway 101 south of redwood shores parkway after midnight, three lanes were closed because of the two car collision. the road reopened about an hour later. an elderly woman is safe with a relative this morning after she was involved in a violent home invasion robbery. the attack happened tuesday morning at a house near thornhill drive and mountain boulevard. police say two men broke through the rear door and forced the 89-year-old resident into a bathroom before taking off with cash and jewelry. it is the latest in a string of home robberies and burglaries in the montclair and oakland hills neighborhoods. "the oakland tribune" reports that three or four are happening every day.

police do not think multiple people are involved in the robberies. a san francisco muni driver facing criminal charges in a fatal accident returning to court today. wallace loggens schedules for a pretrial conference. he's charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for killing a 23-year-old woman in a crosswalk last august. police say she was in the crosswalk legally. loggins has pleaded not guilty. his attorney says muni is to blame for putting an inexperienced driver on a new route. it's 5:05, the fbi is looking for an armed man responsible for a string of robberies across the state. the man robbed a bank in vacaville on monday, he got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. investigators think he's robbed banks in southern california and tried to rob a sacramento bank a few days ago. a pair of fast food robberies have police on the hunt, jack in the box in palo alto was hit on el camino real

and cambridge. he asked for cash and the cashier complied and the man took off with money. and in redwood city police looking for a man who robbed a pizza hut. this all happened around 10:00 tuesday night on wiffle avenue near winslow street, the man handed a note to a cash sheer a cashier and claimed he had a weapon. new this morning if you are illinois former governor rod blagojevich, today is not a day you've been looking forward to. within the last hour he turned himself in to begin serving his prison sentence. "today in the bay's" marley tevez is in the newsroom following the overnight developments. >> at 4:15 this morning blagojevich stepped out of his home in chicago to literally be hauled off to federal prison. no surprise he was met by plenty of reporters and photographers as he was driven away to

officially begin his 14-year prison term in colorado. the former governor was found guilty of corruption for trying to sell barack obama's senate seat after obama was elected president in 2008. to afghanistan now, defense secretary leon panetta met with president karzai today at the same time u.s. officials say the soldier accused of shooting and killing 16 afghan civilians was flown to a detention center in kuwait today. many locals are protesting the move saying the staff sergeant should be tried in their country. the deal is he will go on trial in the u.s. as long as it's transparent and open to the media as requested by president karzai. an update now to the deadly soccer game riot in egypt. this happened february 1st. egypt's top prosecutor has charged 75 people with murder and negligence in connection with the riot that killed at least 74 people. prosecutors say the charges were based on video and suspects'

confessions. they say, in fact, the suspects had planned the violence. nine police officers are among those charged. you know, you may recall, witnesses claim police at the stadium did nothing to stop all that violence. john? >> okay, marla, thank you very much. it is 5:07 right now. another school district is deciding to use drug-sniffing dogs on campuses. all all almedia county sheriffs will bring them to campuses this year, and the sheriff's office will be footing the bill for this. work crews are expected to be back at a home in san jose this morning removing mountains of debris. crews began hauling junk off the home on claremont avenue in east san jose on tuesday. it was declared a public nuisance by the santa clara county board of supervisors last month clearing the way for crews to go in and clear it out. workers told the "mercury news" they have still not made their

way to the backyard. meteorologist christine lorenz has had the doppler radar in full effect. what happens as we get ready for another couple of storms? >> two more storms and potentially twice as much rain as has dropped over the greater bay area. let's show you what's happening. dry for now. things start to change as we head throughout the morning. the coast will start to see the first showers by 8:00 a.m., some pretty thick fog anticipated and as a result we'll see the steady mist or drizzle. want to bring your attention to a couple areas to watch as we get more rain over the next couple of days. 17 had a mud slide yesterday with over 4 to 6 inches of rain in the past 48 hours. you really want to take it easy as you get through the glenwood area on 17 northbound, watch out for that area. travel very cautiously along 17 because they have been hit the hardest. the highest totals have been over the santa cruz mountains and the santa cruz mountains that shelter the city of san jose from the rain, that's why we just haven't had any, but that all changes.

as we head through friday, take a look at the south bay through 10:00 p.m., we'll time out the showers and let you know about the flooding potential but we could pick up 2 inches in san jose over the next 48 hours. let's check your drive with mike. >> the area you were talking about with the mud slides yesterday, this morning we have a tree down and it reportedly is affecting both highways of highway 17 across the freeway. we know one car has gotten into an accident and one has driven over the smaller branches over the shoulder there to get past the scene, again, this is affecting reportedly both directions of 17, so if you are heading south out of los gatos and down towards santa cruz, this will be a big issue for you. we'll get more details once the chp gets on the scene and the assignment reporters get on the scene as well. we've got the fire that bob talked about offof underwood drive, he tells me it's not affecting the major roadways but

he'll follow that and let us know. there was injuries to a firefighter there, so that's a concern. we've got the closure for highway 13, southbound side closed at park boulevard because of a free down there as well, reportedly fell onto a car. one person has died as a result of this accident. more activity, chain saws to remove the tree and, of course, the investigation by the coroner's office. we should get more details but eastbound 580 is your alternate away from the maze. meanwhile a live look at 880 shows you it's harder to see the lights because of the mist and fog in the area and that will be the case but we're watching the rain soaked hills. the bad weather is delaying the opening of a new south bay express lane, they will not open the fourth lane of highway 287 in milpitas until tuesday. when it does open, solo commuters will be able to drive through the lane provided they pay the toll through the fastrak account. the niners faithful coming out in droves. season tickets for next season

have already sold out. york thanked niners fans via twitter yesterday morning for supporting the team. the niners will play two more seasons at candlestick before the new stadium opens in santa clara in 2014. it's 5:11. the bay area city that soon be paying more for its water coming up. and investors try to keep the dow above the 13,000 mark. and a reporter is live at southbound 13, a tree has come down on a car. we understand one person has died alreco the investation continues. we'll have more in a live report. your home and auto policies and save. don't worry, tiny people. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com.

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following in the east bay where a free has fallen on a car. at least one person is dead. christie smith is live at the scene. what is the latest now? you're on 13? >> reporter: we're actually on the overpass to highway 13 and i'll go ahead to ask steve to pan out so you can see what it looks like out here this morning. when we first arrived, the tree that we're talking about that fell on a car was stretched entirely over the southbound lanes. when we got here, we heard chain saws right away. they've been working on that to get that tree out of the way. but here's what the chp is telling me that preliminarily they believe what happened that a car left the roadway on the southbound lane and a tree -- hit a tree and a treetoped over. again, this is preliminary information. there were two people trapped in the car, one pulled out. one fatal. one not responsive. this happened about 4:21 this morning. a multicar accident. they say that it was so loud that the 911 calls that they got

actually came from people in their homes that live along the freeway. they could hear a loud sound and then screaming coming from the direction of the accident scene. again, the chp is here. they've also called caltrans out and the coroner's office as well. we have not seen the coroner's van yet. i do see one, two, three what appear to be four cars out here right now and a number of firefighters walking around. and i also wanted to see if steve could follow me and pan around to the other side. again, these are the southbound lanes at park boulevard, so you can see if you're coming this way, the red lights basically direct you off the park boulevard, and it looks like it may be that way for quite some time as they continue their investigation. that's what we have from here, reporting live in oakland. i'm christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you for all the details there. tragic way to start the day. the thing is that the ground is so saturated the trees are

coming down and more stoms he s coming down and more stoms heto headed our way. >> we'll see a lot more of the same and we are looking toward x more mud slides and rock slides over 17. right now it is not raining so that's the good news, but you saw christie smith out there. those highways are nice and slick this morning, so you're still going to see a slower-than-usual drive. you want to give yourself plenty of time to navigate around the aftermath and debris on the highways, areas of puddling and ponding, and give yourself ample time to reach your destination safely. 57 in sunnyvale, 57 in san jose. warm for this time of the morning. and we're in the mid-50s just about everywhere with a deck of clouds overhead, it will be dismal and dreary for the first part of the day and then the rain moves in. we'll see the light spotty showers and the heaviest rain from the next system pushes through as we head through the night. friday a complete washout. spotty showers throughout the day. by 11:00 p.m. some of the moderate and heavy rain pushes into the north bay.

by friday we start to get very active and friday night into saturday that will be the most dangerous for driving around the bay area. 9:00 p.m. friday, heavy rain moving into oakland. we'll maybe pick up an additional 2 inches of rain in san jose and then we get that cold blast on saturday. take a look at this. snow on top of mt. hamilton. we could see snow over the 17 summit. snow levels potentially forced down to 1,000 feet. by 2:00 a.m. sunday, getting a little bit of a break but not out of the woods just yet. we'll see residual showers on sunday, and monday we clear out. holding on to the 50s. we are watching for the potential of a clear sky monday into tuesday, because we could see frost which is dangerous for agricultural interests, we want to stay ahead of the storms. the potential for a frost, not a deep freeze, but we could see the buds damaged because of the growth and bloom because of the mild winter. this will not go down as the driest winter on record because we'll make up over half of our

average rainfall in some cities in four days. let's check your drive. >> because of the rapid rainfall as you've been telling folks, we've got potential for problems. christy told us about the rain-soaked hillside and the tree down on highway 13. yesterday she told us about the rain soaked hillside and a tree down on 580 and later on in the day we heard about another one in the same area. watch the oakland hills, it is those that are getting the tree reports down. now, this will affect folks coming in from 24. they'll have to be redirected from park boulevard and park boulevard can take you eastbound to 580, your alternate out of the area. this will have more congestion coming out of the maze as more folks hear about the report and they'll avoid the area. i'm expecting an hour and a half to two hours to get it cleared up. they have to clear the tree as well as the coroner's report which will take time. 17 at the summit, a tree down there as well.

yesterday rock and mud slides and today a tree down affecting both directions south of the summit, so that will be an issue heading out of los gatos and down towards santa cruz or if you are waiting for someone to come over from santa cruz, like we are, our friend tim, hopefully he'll give us a report. and the fire on underwood is not affecting your commute on the freeways. we'll send it back to you with the golden gate bridge shot as you head in from the north bay. new meetings on the effort to pull greece out of debt could affect trading on wall street. for details on that and the rest of the news before the bell, we turn to jackie deangelis, live at cnbc headquarters. good morning, jackie. >> good morning. futures pointing to a higher open while stocks ended mix on wednesday. gold fell sharply by 2% that's something traders were watching. the dow closed up slightly by 16 points to its highest level since december 31, 2007. and it's a busy day for economic data as well.

we'll have jobless claims and ppi at 8:30 a.m. the empire state survey and the philadelphia fed survey, and the imf is set to discuss the financial package for greece. and the s.e.c. is cracking down on the trading of pre-ipo stocks after a yearlong investigation after it charged felix inve investments and eb financial. the filing says the fund managers raised over money by overcharging for such offerings as twitter and facebook. redwood city plans to raise water rates by 12% and sewer rates by 9% in may. that means people will pay about $5 more per month. the city's increased rates by 9% in each of the past two years. and it says it needs the money for repairs and upgrades. if approved, the new rates would go into effect july 1st.

it is 5:21 right now. coming up, a deal could mean more pro golf events in san francisco over the coming years. we'll have details next. once all the snow clears there will be a new way to get around lake tahoe. we'll explain. and different ways that you may be able to find anab ipad 2r 3, whatever it is, coming up tomorrow.

welcome back, everyone. it is 5:24 right now. changes in san francisco's contract with the pga tour could get the green light today. city leaders set to vote on the new deal which could bring more tournaments, more money and visibility to san francisco. potential revisions include at least two new tournaments to the city's harding park in coming years. the proposal includes the possibility of the president's cup returning to harding as soon as 2017. san francisco is also home to

this year's u.s. open. it will be played at the olympic club on june 11th through the 17th. nbc bay area will be your home for the final two rounds of this year's open. a new ferry service could be coming to northern california but not here in the bay area, lake tahoe will start experimenting with ferry service this summer. the goal is to reduce traffic and pollution and help the region's bid to win the 2022 winter olympics. if the ferry is success, more boats will be added. lake tahoe hosted the winter games once before in 1960. apple says it's planning to open its stores early tomorrow for folks who want the new ipad, scott mcgrew joins us and it means it will sell out faster. >> the apple faithful can get their ipad and still go to work later tomorrow morning. apple says it will have the new ipad at all of its stores though we don't know how many ipads per store. the new ipad, of course, faster than ipad ii and it has a better

screen. don't forget you'll be able to find the new ipad at verizon and at&t stores, you won't got the personal setups that apple offers at its flagship stores, but you can handle transferring your e-mail. it's our understanding that radioshack and best buy will have the same version. only three get products ahead of times, one of them is "new york times" reporter david pogue, he said the new ipad should have been called ipad 2-s, and he said it's technical improvements keep it at the forefront of desirability but take don't the ipad in any new directions. they point out that the apps that look great on the new retina display take up far more memory, and the old apps tend not to look much different at all. but we'll have full coverage tomorrow as the apple ipad goes on sale at 8:00 a.m. our time. >> what's interesting about the video is pogue's kids sitting on

the couch with him. >> until you find out who actually ended up with it. that happens in every family. who has the ipad. >> no, it's my turn with the ipad. look at the older breauother, t same all over the world. >> the reporter, take it easy, i have to do stories on that thing. watch it! >> as a mother, i would be mortified. still to come, we're following a pair of developing stories, a person trapped in a car under a tree and a fire in the south bay, live reports are coming up. the radar is dry right now, but a lot more rain is coming to the bay area, i'll time out the next systems when we return. and we're looking at 580 through oakland as one of your alternates because of o of the trees. we'll have more coming up.

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to help save others' lives. (woman) i'll never stop walking, not till we find a cure. with 3 days and 60 miles, you're making a bold statement. you're saying breast cancer is not going to win. (woman) and it has to end, but it starts with us. it is the most rewarding experience i have ever had in my entire life. we can do this. you can do this. we can all do this together. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime. good morning, i'm christie smith live in oakland where a tree has fallen across a section of highway 13 smashing one car. the accident now fatal.

we'll have details coming up in a live report. and i'm bob redell, we're live in south san jose where a firefighter has been badly burned while fighting an apartment fire. we'll take you here live coming up. plus, the attorney for the iraq war veteran injured during the occupy oakland protest says his client was targeted. the new information he is citing coming up next. a live look at golden gate bridge this morning, more storms headed our way. it's thursday march 15th, this is "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." and good thursday morning to you, thanks so much for joining us, so much going on already. it's 5:30, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm john kelly. let's get to christina loren who is here to fill us in on what is the happening out there, the public should be bracing. >> you should be ready for the next two systems on the way.

we've got some strong storms. first one's already passed, so we're done. but some cities pick upwards of 8 inches of new rain. we're talking about a dangerous setup. friday and saturday urban flooding is problem. we'll get 2 to 4 inches in the santa cruz mountains and mud slides are likely and we could see the coasts getting beaten. beach erosion and boating conditions. and right now the radar is dry but there's more on the way and we'll time it out on your doorstep. but let's see how the rain is impacting your drive with mike. >> thanks, christina. you are talking about friday into saturday, mud slides in the santa cruz mountains, a tree is down, rain-soaked hillsides is a bisq risk area. some folks reporting having to drive around the branches on the roadway, but we hear one lane of your southbound direction on 13 is closed. this is the tree down around summit road just to the south of

there. the other tree down this is in oakland, this is a bigger concern southbound highway 13 is completely closed at park boulevard. a deadly accident there. i'm going to tell you that your alternate is eastbound 580 to get around this. diverted off of the freeway at park boulevard. but christie smith is out there. i hear chp is estimating two hours until this will reopen. do you hear about the same or do you hear otherwise? >> reporter: that sounds about right. you know, this is a fatal accident. when we got here, we immediately heard chain saws. and i can tell you that right now they have the tree that fell over and smashed a car, that has basically been cut down. it's been moved out of the way. it was covering all of the southbound lanes when we arrived. just a couple of minutes ago they let four cars go by that were behind this accident, behind the tree that had fallen over around 4:21 this morning. the chp confirming one person dead as the tree landed on a car. again, on the southbound side,

two people apparently inside that car. one person when we got here was being taken away by ambulance. this is at park boulevard, and they tell me it was so loud that the 911 calls for this accident actually came from the homes that are along highway 13. that neighbors heard a loud crash and then screaming coming from the accident scene. i can tell you that caltrans is here. a number of firefighters. it looks like they just brought out a flatbed tow truck to try and perhaps remove that vehicle that's smashed there to the far left side. again, the coroner has been called, but we have not seen the coroner's van yet, so as you're saying, maybe two hours, that sounds about right to us. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the bay." meantime a spin-out leads to a major injury pileup in concord this morning. highway 4 on ramp to 242 was shut down for about an hour because of that crash. just afternoon 2:00 a car crashed in the area but then a

second car hit it, spun out, which led to a third car to crash as well. at least one person has major injuries. and we're following breaking nu news out of san jose where a three alarm house fire left a firefighter seriously injured, it broke out on underwood drive near san tomas expressway and williams road. bob redell is on the scene and he has the latest developments. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, john, the firefighter you mentioned is going to survive according to one of his colleagues a fire captain we spoke to not long ago. but his hand is badly burned and he's being treated at valley med burn center. this happened as he was trying to cut a hole to ventilate the apartment complex on underwood drive. >> when the fireman went up on the roof on the leader and the fireman fell into it and all we saw was his hand coming like this, trying to help me out, and i was, oh, my god, help him,

help him. and they got him out with another ladder and they got him off the roof. what i hear is he's okay, so thank god. >> reporter: the fire captain tells us he was fully engulfed in flames at one point and they say thank goodness he had all his protective gear on. his hand was burned most and that's why he's been taken to valley med for burn treatment. this fire started sometime before 4:00 this morning around 3:45 and the fire department believes it was accidental, perhaps someone had a candle burning and it went up from there. one unit on the ground floor is where it started and it went up to the second floor of the four unit apartment complex and as a result all four units are evacuated. you're looking at 17 people, 18 of them are kids. we understand right now they are waiting for the red cross to arrive. as you can see the fire is out. the fire department is trying to get into the attic space where a lot of the fire spread to make sure there's nothing in there that will start it up again.

rob bideredell. this morning parents, students and teachers will blow bubbles to tell california leaders they're at the verge of blowing it by giving out thousands of layoff notices to teachers. several bubble protests are planned today at mckinley school in san francisco, glen view elementary in oakland and lincoln elementary in burling game. today is the state mandated deadline for schools to issue notices for positions that may not be funded for the next school year but the cuts will not become permanent until after may 15th. in an effort to replenish funding for schools has prompted the governor to change his november ballot initiative. the budget is joining with the california association of teachers to support the so-called millionaire's tax and they'll support the effort to raise income taxes on high income earners for an additional two years. and the governor has agreed to reduce the tax sales increase. there are new claims

injuries suffered by an iraq war vet during a police raid on the occupy oakland encampments were no accident. scott olsen suffered a fractured skull in the october clash. you can see video of him being pulled from the scene with a big gash in his head. according to his attorney, olson was hit at close range with a beanbag not a tear gas canister as was originally thought there. olson suing the city and his attorney claims the new evidence indicates he was hit intentionally. more alleged victims are coming forward claiming they were arrested by a south bay nanny. campbell police say they've received numerous phone calls about johnnie walker. on tuesday walker was charged with 14 counts of lewd acts with children. he did not enter a plea to charges he molested more than five children. there's a lot to talk about in the nbc bay area weather center, let's go to christine loren to fill us in on all the details.

good morning? good morning. trying to keep up. we've got a lot more rain on the way. but let me show you the highlights. the impressive totals. unbelievable to think that san rafael almost picked up 8 inches of rain in the past 48 hours and we didn't even measure down here in san jose. it's just really, really bizarre. the microclimates really distinguishing themselves. as we head throughout the next couple of days the next two systems will certainly impact san jose so you are not out of the woods. we'll add an additional 2 to 4 inches to many cities and some cities could double these numbers heading through sunday. we've got a lot more on the way and the ground is saturated and not a lot of time to dry out. showers will be spotty today and light all across the board but we'll start to see the heavier rain develop as we head through 4:00 p.m. temperatures will climb in the 60s. we're starting out so mild this morning, easily hitting 60 degrees at 4:00 p.m. and at the coast you'll touch at 56 degrees at 4:00. let's talk about what's to come.

south bay mud slides, these are the areas of 17 you need to travel cautiously northbound. this is through the glenwood area, 9:00 a.m. yesterday we had a major mud slide and we got another 4 to 6 inches on the rain. also want to take it easy heading through the laurel area on 15. seven-day outlook shows more rain on the way. we'll let you how much in your city. we'll time out the next two storms and talk about snow on the foothills potentially as well. let's check your drive with mike. >> all right, like christina said, the next two storms we've got more rain coming and that's a big concern because over here highway 13 is closed because of a tree that came down, presumably rain-soaked hillsides playing a factor as the two did on 580 yesterday. this has caused a deadly accident southbound 13 at park boulevard, christie smith on scene getting more details but confirmed by chp it's a couple hours. they are looking after 7:00 for this to reopen. so your alternate is eastbound 580 and folks having to connect

between the two freeways but park boulevard will connect you out of your alternate that's where you are being routed off of your freeway. the slowdown for antioch, highway 4 slowing into the 20s coming past "l" street and clearing by loveridge. we had the earlier accident we told you about highway 4 that is cleared from 242 and a live look at the south bay where traffic was smoothly, but i'll give you an update on the tree down in the santa cruz motts come ikruc up. a baby girl has a much better chance of survival due to a liver transplant. with open arms, the bay area city welcoming in the pot clubs other cities have kicked out. a new and extremely graphic anti-smoking campaign about to kick off in washington. live details are next.

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welcome back, everyone. it is already an eye opening ad campaign and soon it will get more graphic, tracie potts live in washington, d.c., with a look at what some are calling the most hard hitting anti-smoking campaign ever put out. good morning, traci. >> reporter: hi, john, good morning, everyone. the government announces later today. you'll see the ads in print, on tv, you'll hear them on the radio. these are ads that designed to get smokers to think about quitting. the government saying that what they've done in the past is not going to be nearly as impactful as what you'll see here. it's called tips from former smokers, people who have arms and legs amputated. they'll show that. they'll talk about it as a result of their smoking addiction. the most graphic ever is the way it's been described. and it comes right after a surgeon general's report that focuses on youth. it found that 3 million high school students and 600,000

middle school students in this country are now smoking. and while those rates are going down, they're not going down as fast as they used to. california, a bit of a different story. the numbers, though, high are less than much of the rest of the country. 3.8 million adult smokers in california. but that's only 14% of the population. most other states are closer to 20%. teenagers in california, just about 7%, and while they would like to get those numbers down to zero, it is, again, a lot less than what we're seeing nationwide. the government says they're rolling out these ads to combat what's $1 million an hour being spent by tobacco companies to market their products, john? >> thank you very much. it is 5:44 right now. the republican presidential campaign moving off the mainland. puerto rico holds its primary on sunday with 20 delegates up for grabs. rick santorum arrived this morning telling residents he'll

push for statehood if they want it, his confidence was bolstered by surprise victories in alabama and mississippi. he's insisted he's not trying to push newt gingrich out of the race. >> i didn't ask newt gingrich to get into this race, i'm not going to ask him to get out of this race. >> in the meantime, mitt romney spent upwards of a million dollars for advertising in illinois. the primary happens tuesday. romney heads to puerto rico tomorrow. right now, let's take a look at a busy week ahead on the weather front. christina loren is here to tell us to brace for more rain coming. >> brace for more. impressive totals, over 8 inches of rain came down in metropolitan san rafael yesterday. it's not just the higher elevations that have been slammed. you can see right now, we still have some spotty showers rolling through the bay area. your highways are nice and slick. puddles, ponds out there, you want to travel cautiously and the activity ramps heading throughout the day. temperatures are mild. 57 degrees in sunny val, and 57 in san jose. a full deck of clouds overhead. it will be kind of dismal and

dreary for the first part of the day. overcast conditions. you might actually see a few breaks of sunshine in the south bay but they won't last long as we've got two more systems moving in very quickly. the first one arrives later tonight. that will bring heavy rain to the north bay by about 9:00 p.m. and then friday the third most potent storm going to last well into the weekend. that guy looks vicious. let's go ahead and take you through the forecast. by noon, starting to get more activity especially along the coastline. we stop the clock at 9:00 p.m. thursday. that's when the action really ramps up in the north bay. you are getting more of the moderate and heavy rainfall. stop the clock on friday. 5:00 p.m. going to pour all day long with the heaviest of the rain on the way overnight friday. starting at 11:00 p.m. downpours over san jose potentially producing one to two inches of rain and we need it in the south bay where we haven't had much. things start to change on saturday. cold air coupled with those showers. we're talking about precipitation in the form of snow all the way down to 1,000

feet. so we've got a really interesting forecast. things are going to get more dicey before they start to relax as we head through monday and tuesday. nice conditions in the future. temperatures back in the mid-60s by wednesday but we've got four rough days to get through especially in the cities that just got hammered yesterday, ben lomond, yeah, want to travel cautiously just about everywhere you head. mike has a series of incidents. >> we'll give you an update on the accident in oakland. southbound 13 is closed because of the tree down. they continue to work on the clearing. all the leaves, branches, this car is facing the wrong direction. we're just north of park boulevard. you see the flatbed tow truck there as the crews continue try to work on the investigation and clear the car after the deadly accident. a tree came down and as we widen out the shot, you see on the right-hand side, the caltrans vehicles and more tree. the tree came down on the right side of the roadway as the folks

were traveling down the freeway. the center divide is off to your left and you can see the headlights coming towards us the tree is in the opposite direction. a lot more cleanup to go on. we're looking at just after 7:00 to clear the roadway. a lighter volume keeps things moving smoothly. if you were going to use southbound 13, let's get back to the maps. that's eastbound 580 coming off of the maze and down through oakland where it joins back up with 13. park boulevard is also open as your connector, but that will be where you are rerouted by chp. now we have another tree down that's not through the livermore valley where the winds could be a factor. but 16 minutes for your drive there. smooth drive here. the other tree down is in the south bay. this area through san jose and the rest of your freeways all right, but watching for more reports of standing water that may come in as more folks hit the roadway. 17 is where the tree is affecting folks south of the summit road heading south of there. you've got the tree down across one of your southbound lanes, if you are heading out of los gatos and santa cruz, that will affect

you. the northbound side sounds like it's unaffected. they've cleared the branches from the roadway. 5:48 right now. a verdict will be announced this morning in the retrial of the man accused of killing tracy bebalitnicov, the verdict was thrown out over misconduct by the prosecution. the suspect admits to killing balitnicov, he faces a life sentence if found guilty. oakland all ready to cash in on pot clubs, ones that other cities have kicked out. the city all set to hand out new permits allowing four more pot clubs to set up shop including one in a vacant shop at 21st and broad way. neighborhood is mixed. >> i don't want to see the whole downtown solely based on cannabis. i want to see more coffee shops

and clothing stores. >> i tend to think of crime being associated more with illegal drug distribution, so i don't think there would be a problem with having one right here. >> the four existing pot clubs there in oakland generate more than $1.6 million for that city and at this point it's not clear you on the new dispensaries will be impacted by the recent federal crackdown on such operations. a 7-month-old vallejo girl has a new chance at life thanks to the generosity of another family. this video was taken hours after her daughter received a liver transplant. she was formed with a genetic malformation that caused her liver to fail. tuesday morning her parents received a phone call telling them a new liver was available. it came from a healthy 2-year-old child recently killed in an accident. wilson and her husband say they are grateful and look forward to meeting the family who saved

michaela's life. >> we wanted to thank them for the decision because even though they are suffering the tremendous loss, because of their decision, they saved our child. >> michaela's family is hoping to have her back home in vallejo next month. in the meantime they are planning a golf tournament and lua fund-raiser to help pay off a very expensive medical bill. we wish her well. >> absolutely do. beautiful to see that things are heading in the right direction right now. facebook is talking about possibly bailing out of menlo park. we'll explain coming up. a new choice for schools when it comes to what your kids are served for lunch. would you want them to eat that? >> what? >> details next. and we'll have a new way to take credit cards even atou yr own kids' lemon aid stand. your car does a lot for you. do something for it. show it some love. chevron with techron. care for your car.

good morning, everyone. schools will soon have a choice of which type of beef it wants to serve the students after a recent outcry. the usda will announce the new policy this morning over the meat additive literally called pink slime used in some schools, grocery stores and even restaurants. it's a filler that compressed several beef cuts sprayed with ammonia to kill the bacteria. the usda says schools can continue to receive the leaner meat including pink slime or more of a fattier bulk ground beef which is not treated. a big shake-up could bephore coming yahoo's board of directors. a hedge fund owns nearly 6% of yahoo! shares. so far yahoo! has refused to third point's demands. third point says if yahoo! does not comply it will ask other shareholders to elect the new board members.

yahoo! is still evaluating potential candidates. facebook is eyeing real estate across the bay for possible expansion just in case things don't pan out in menlo park. the silicon valley business journal said facebook is shopping for alternative sites including one in newark just across the dumbarton bridge from its current headquarters. facebook in negotiations with menlo park to build more office space across from the sun microsystems it now occupies. facebook execs say if they cannot get more space, the company may have to relocate. >> the? the feds are taking a look at who sells facebook shares and how much. a lot of people don't realize they can buy facebook shares now. >> it depends on who you know and how much money you have, but more. more investors are getting in on pre-ipo shares. the securities and exchange commission is concerned that investors are not getting enough information about companies the way they would if the stock was publicly traded and worse are

exposed to much higher fees. i'm not going to pretend this is exciting but cisco systems in san jose will buy a company called nds which deals with the transmission of cable tv, yawn, right? the price tag, short of $5 billion. and you remember square? it's that little plastic device you can add to your ipad or iphone, meaning anyone at a garage sale or a kids' lemonade stand can take credit cards, this morning, there it is, we hear paypal has figured out it's a major threat to its business. the ebay-owned company will unveil its own version of square. this is square. except it will be a blue triangle sometime later today. back to you. >> interesting. thank you, scott. it is 5:56 right now. still to come on "today in the bay," an update on the south bay fire that sent a firefighter to a burn center. we'll have a live report coming up. and scrcrews on the scene o deadly accident. a tree fell on top of a car. we'll take you there live.

and unfortunately i think we'll see more of the same with a lot more rain on the way to the bay area. in addition to the moisture, gusty winds and already wind battered trees. take it easy out there this morning. we'll tell you when the next system arrives and it is a potent one. and highway 24 moves smoothly right now, we could have a problem because of that deadly accident. and i'll have an update on the other tree downes across the saa cruz mountains coming up. [ female announcer ] pillsbury presents:

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[ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm john kelly. we start with breaking news, crews on the scene of a fatal accident on highway 13 in oakland. >> christie smith is live at the scene where traffic is being impacted as well. christie? >> reporte