full forecast. meanwhile, the bay bridge toll plaza, no puddles there. i checked before the cars filled it in. metering lights are on and we have more closures going on to talk about in freemont coming up. a live look outside. today is monday, march 3rd. and this is "today in the bay." good monday morning to you. >> we continue to follow breaking news in freemont and it is heart billion breaking news. a head-on crash early this morning left a 4-year-old girl fighting for her life. the little girl's mother was the one driving the car. police say she caused the crash. right now freemont police have osgood road blocked off between auto mall parkway and blacow road. bob redell just spoke to police. >> reporter: good morning.

freemont police are blaming the mother for this crash, a 33-year-old woman from freemont who they believe was drinking at the time of this horrible head-on collision. can you see right behind me, though they're getting ready to clear the scene. we're just a little bit north of durham and auto mall. the car seat is there. the daughter was strapped in to the car seat according to police, but unfortunately the car seat itself was not attached to the car. it was a free-moving object with her attached and as a result she is in critical condition and she is still fighting for her life. police tell us that she has life threatening injuries. they thought that was the case with the mom initially but she has been upgraded. she's still hurt, she's critical but she is stable. she's no longer in that life threatening danger zone. again, as i mentioned, they do believe the mom had been drinking. this happened around 12:15 this

morning. she was coming down osgood with the daughter in the back seat when she crossed the center line and collided head-on with another car that was heading in the opposite direction. the driver of that car, a 30-year-old man, also from freemont. he admitted to police he'd also had a few drinks. he was treated and released for his injuries, minor injuries to his legs, then he was cited and released for misdemeanor dui. they are still saying that the mother, they believe, is the person who caused this accident and they are investigating had her for driving under the influence. of course, causing these horrible injuries to her daughter who again is fighting for her own life. as far as the traffic goes, this road is still shut down behind me. it is a short section of osgood, north of auto mall durham. they hope to have it reopened around 7:00 this morning, about an hour, just in the middle of the morning commute. you see a wrecker is already out here removing one of the cars and we suspect there will be another one on the way to remove the mother and daughter's car.

live in freemont, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks, bob. just an awful story. new developments happening in ukraine as more russian soldiers march west, leaders in washington are now preparing a very tough response to what secretary of state john kerry calls a russian invasion. he plans to travel to ukraine tomorrow to meet with the country's new government. he says world leaders are prepared to isolate russia but that may be a consequence that russian president vladimir putin is ready for. >> he's made a cost/benefit analysis. he's weighed the costs of doing what he do and he's reviewed the benefits of it. clearly he has concluded the benefits far outweigh the costs. we need to endeavor to change that calculus. >> he does not care and in many ways his action is directly for that purpose, to show swagger in the world. >> now some of those costs president obama warned about last week could include boycotting the g-8 meetings in sochi, freezing assets and banning visas. the country's economy is already taking a hit.

in fact, today markets have dropped about 10%. its currency fell to the lowest point ever against the u.s. dollar. the turmoil in ukraine is being felt right here in the bay area. this afternoon one man will set out on a cross-country journey hoping to spread awareness of the situation in ukraine. "today in the bay's" christie smith joins us live in san francisco which will be the starting point of a pretty epic road trip. >> reporter: good morning, peggy. that's right. >> his trip will begin at justin herman plaza, then head to santa monica, eventually new york city. he'll hand out cards and answer questions to people who show up here before he sets off on his cross-country journey in a custom porsche to raise awareness and generate support for his troubled homeland. he is 43 years old. he's a cirque de soleil performer. he says he watched news

conference with clashes between police and protesters as it turned violent. he realized just lending his support was not enough. he set up a website about it called the help ukraine project and names this his mission. >> i detided to take this time, two weeks that we are off, and we going to new york. i'd love to make a cross-country road trip raise awareness of what happened in ukraine right now, raise fund to help financially to the families that lost their parents, their children that lost their parents and basically to help victims' families. >> reporter: now again the trip starts this afternoon here in san francisco, then he goes to southern california, then all the way across the country to new york and washington, d.c. on the way he plans to meet with local media and talk about the situation in ukraine. also asking peel to sign the national flag of ukraine that he hopes eventually is displayed there. reporting live in san francisco,

christie smith, "today in the bay." >> very cool endeavor. thanks so. much. in about 30 minutes we'll take you live to washington, d.c. with more on how the obama administration is handling the political crisis. be sure to stick with nbc bay area for the latest developments on the crisis in ukraine. we'll have more online all day at nbcbayarea.com. this morning investigators are trying to figure out why a girl, hit and killed by a freight train, was on the tracks in the first place. police say the train struck and killed the girl as it was traveling through martinez. it happened around 5:00 last nig night. police say this train struck and killed the girl as it was traveling through martinez. it happened around 5:00 last night between old orchard and howe roads. one witness says she might have been trying to grab her phone that had somehow fallen on to the tracks. detectives say this 48-year-old, eric edwards, approached a woman in her car with his pants down on saturday night. victim immediately called police. within a few minutes officers were there on the scene and arrested edwards. happening right now, the

federal government shutdown because of yet another snowstorm pounding washington and many mid-atlantic states, both the house and the senate canceled votes scheduled for today. d.c. could see up to ten inches of snow. parts of the delmarva peninsula could pick up a foot or more. ice and wind causing power outages in the mississippi valley as well. in colorado, at least one person died in a 100-car pile-up on i-25. some people living in the nation's capital say spring simply cannot come soon enough. >> this is unusual for d.c. obviously. and i love the snow but i have to admit, even i am getting a little tired. >> i shoveled all of this. every five feet of it. and i'm tired and it is in march. >> school in many states canceled today. more than 2,000 flights canceled already this morning. i know at least in the case of virginia, they have run out of school days -- snow days. >> that's the situation across a lot of the area. something we certainly do not have to contend with around

here, look at that. just beautiful. >> just spectacular to start. yeah, we sound like broken records at this point. usually when washington shuts down, it is a big deal but it's happened so many times over the past four weeks in particular that, yeah, it is getting to be a common scenario. we have another storm system headed our way that also will hit them on the east coast as we head through the end of the week. san francisco is at 52 degrees. 53 degrees. grab the umbrella, showers moving in throughout the afternoon. your sunday forecast we have several opportunities to accumulate that much needed rain as we continue throughout this week. cloudy start, few north bay showers before 11:00 a.m. widespread rainfall starts up at about 11:00 a.m. we'll see on and off showers continuing until tonight when we get that steadier, heavier rainfall just in time for the evening commute.

showers are going to move from north to south. stop the clock. at 4:00 p.m. is when it starts to get a little bit on the dangerous side if you're traveling on our local roadways in san jose with heavier moisture coming in. 6:00 p.m. we get that yellow and orange into the north bay, maybe accumulating an inch and a half of rain up here. more like a half of an inch up here. that's a decent total. we still need it. >> that is a decent total. getting many decent totals pretty quickly now. this is a decent back-up at the bay bridge toll plaza. not uncommon for a monday at this time. look at that beautiful sunrise happening. sky lit up behind those street lights. the metering lights are on. that's why he we have this big back-up. approach to the bay bridge, not a problem. north shore times, speeds moving smoothly. 580 toward the maze, green for the most part. yellow here, down to 60 miles per hour. not a major concern, just more cars hitting the road.

just starting at the maze area. this is the tri-valley with speeds coming newspaper upper 50s as you approach the dublin interchange. orange through liver momore its. osgood road just north of auto mall parkway, you'll use freemont, a more major roadway. no problem as far as the connecter. durham and auto mall itself are open between 680 and 880. smooth look for 101. pretty much the same for 280 up into the peninsula in the city. foster city approach, san mateo bridge getting more company over the last 20 minutes. no problems off the high rise approaching 101 and foster city boulevard. still ahead, an olympic athlete now on trial for murder. why there is a delay in oscar pistorius' murder trial.

> we're taking a live look at washington this morning and the snowstorm there. the house and senate shut down. in fact the snowstorm hitting all over the mid-atlantic states. we'll have full coverage coming up. [ sports announcer ] here's another one, alyson dudek. hales corners, wisconsin. nice pass by alyson dudek. can she hang on to that spot? and she does! [ male announcer ] with the u-verse wireless receiver, your tv goes where you take it, allowing inspiration to follow. ♪ [ dad ] looks pretty good, right? [ girl ] yeah. [ male announcer ] switch to u-verse and add a wireless receiver today.

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welcome back now. more good news on a monday morning. you want to grab that umbrella. we have rain in the forecast for today. not great news when it comes to getting outdoors. however, as you know, we are still in the heart of a drought and we could take every drought that we accumulate. i'll time out this system, tell you how much we are expecting. you might just be impressed.

that's coming up in moments. most impressive. over here, this is 880 through freemont. nothing unusual. that's a smooth drive but we still have the closure after the major injury crash. we'll give you the update for the freemont street as well as your bay bridge back-up coming up. here are today's top stories. a 4-year-old girl in critical condition this morning after an overnight crash in freemont. police say her mother who's also hurt may have been driving drunk when she crossed the center line on osgood road, slammed into another car. osgood near auto mall parkway. expected to be shut down for at least another 45 minutes. secretary of state john kerry will travel to ukraine tomorrow to meet with the country's new government. he says that world leaders are prepared to isolate russia, in part by boycotting g-8 meetings in sochi, freezing assets and also banning visas. the first witness to testify in the murder trial surrounding olimp yab os are scar pistorius says she heard blood curtling

screams, then gun shouts the night pistorius killed his girlfriend. this morning pistorius pleaded not guilty to that shooting. today the palo alto city council is debating on whether to provide the 49ers security at their new home. santa clara has already reached out to several cities to ask for help with security. facebook says it is willing to pick up the tab for security near its menlo park headquarters. the social networking giant is offering $200,000 a year for a full-time police officer who would work out of this, the city's bell haven substation. the officer would patrol the facebook campus and work with schools and businesses to create public safety plans and conduct emergency drills. the menlo park city council will consider the offer tomorrow. if approved, the position would likely be fill by an existing

officer an a new officer would then be hired later for the department. disney is cutting funding to the boy scouts because of its policy on gay troop leaders. disney does not provide direct funding to the scouts but it does donate any money that disney employees earn when they volunteer somewhere else. boy scouts lifted a ban on gay youth last year but they still have a ban on gay adult leaders. that ban caused gay scout leader, some leaders who have been there for years, to lose their positions. some parents say the funding cuts will affect the ability's organization to support children. governor jerry brown says legalizing marijuana is not a good brown. the governor made the comments on nbc's "meet the press" yesterday. california was the first state to legalize pot for medical use. but when host david gregory asked the governor in california should follow in the footsteps of colorado and washington, which both legalized recreational pot, brown did not mince words. >> world's pretty dangerous, very competitive.

i think we need to stay alert if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together. >> a recent poll found 58% of americans support legalizing pot for recreational use by adults. those who support it say they are confident eventually it will be legal in california regardless of what governor brown says. the people of southern california neighborhood of azuza cleaning up this morning after heavy rains triggered mudslides. >> this is what some people found when they came home after being ordered to leave their homes last week. one man returned to a thick pile of mud, so high it was impossible to use his sliding glass door. evacuation orders for issued late last week because of the approaching storm. january's colby fire burned up the hillside vegetation so that makes the risk of mudslides so much greater. in santa cruz, west cliff drive is back open this morning after a large sinkhole opened up alongside the road next to the ocean. public works employees say the street next to the hole is

stable. the sinkhole, bigger than a large car, we're told it is so deep it reaches the ocean below. people who live in the area say they've seen this sinkhole before. it opened up about ten years ago and it was filled in. turned out nobody was hurt when waves broke through the windows of this santa barbara restaurant over the weekend. repair crews hope to have the moby dick restaurant open today. one of the diners just happened to be rolling looking at the big waves. ouch. right outside the window. water comes through. again, nobody hurt. >> there she blows. right? that's pretty amazing. it really is. it is scary almost. if you work there, you're always a little on guard when there is a high-surf advisory. good news is those waves are definitely not as big and threatening out there. we had had high rup current risks all wee weekend long. things are starting to become

more relaxed at this point. right now temperatures are mostly in the 50s. you can see from the california radar we're still getting that much needed rainfall. right now in the bay area, just up in sonoma county, overall looking pretty good. getting a really pretty sunrise. areas to the south of the golden gate bridge, looking okay. this is like a picture someone painted this behind me. beautiful purples and pinks coming in this morning. gorgeous sunrise. everything changes when it comes to your sunrise time. as of this sunday, we're not going to have as much daylight at this hour as we've been getting. unfortunately, we've got to spring forward on sunday. san francisco is still pretty dark. plenty of clouds overhead. heading through this afternoon, bring that umbrella with you with showers really ramping up as we head throughout second half of the day. let's get right in to it. tell you what we expect for new

showers, help you plan around what we have coming in. on and off showers start by 11:00 a.m. they'll move from north to south expecting richest totals up in the north bay, as per usual. rain picks up during the evening commute. it will be slick out there. keep that in mind. also expect some wind as well. a lot of people are going to be caught off guard by this shower activity. let your friends know if they take a bike to work, typically probably not the best idea for today. showers continue for tuesday. a little bit of a break for the first part of wednesday, hitting the 70s in the south bay on wednesday. then more rain returns wednesday night into thursday. little bit of a break over the weekend and a warming trend as well but we still need this rain so it is a good thing that it keeps on coming in. mike, i like to say rain is a good thang. over here, the bay is benefiting from a little bit break in the rain. we like this monday morning commute to ease in a little bit because a lot of us don't like the monday morning commute. the drive from the peninsula

over here to the south bay, not a major problem. your second starting from north 101 from 680 up to 880. that one will stick for the morning. 280 and 80 also showing increased volume. easy build. here's south 85, there are no crews in the area. i'll let you know if it is a problem. so far i consider it just a blip. over here closure, osgood road continues the closure. bob redell is there talking about the major crash there. a 4-year-old girl, life threatening injuries after a crash overnight. the iconic parking lot of frye's, that's auto mall and durham. auto mall itself is open but if you want auto mall from blacow, use freemont. 580 typical. not a big deal through dublin. typical slowing through the 50s there. castro valley "y," little

slowing toward hayward. san mateo, dumbarton bridges, a smooth flow of traffic as well. a live look at the san mateo bridge from the hayward size of the toll plaza moving westbound. we're going to end with our live shot of the bay bridge toll plaza where all lanes are back up because metering lights are on. back to you. time right now, 6:22. still ahead on "today in the bay," there were plenty of winners at last night's oscars. what are the moments people are really talking about this morning? we'll go over those coming up. it was a great show. >> yes, it was. let's take a live look at san jose. here comes the sun. it is 6:22. we'll be back in just a minute.

no umbrellas needed for hollywood's biggest night. the 86th academy awards. >> the rainy weather cleared out just in time for the stars to hit the he red carpet. they looked great. >> "12 years a slave." >> the historical drama took home the night's top prize, best motion picture. it is the first time a film from black director has won the award. matthew mcconaughey won for best club." while cate blanchett took home that statue for her performance in "blue jasmine." >> sit down, you're too old to be standing. sandra, i can watch that performance to the end of time.

and i sort of felt like i had. >> san today was like thanks, i think. the most disappointed crew of the night the cast and crew of "american hustle." they walked away empty-handed. the film tied with "gravity" for most nominations. ten. clooud including best picture. a real pizza delivery guy helping out host ellen degeneres and handing out slices to the hungry star-steaded crowd. degeneres asked the crowd who was hungry, and who wanted some pizza. soon the host went backstage to meet the delivery guy, led him right out there to the audience. brad pitt there having a slice. then she passed around a hat saying, come on, somebody's got to pay for this pizza. this was a selfie that was recorded for the record books. what a picture. degeneres tweeted out this photo of herself alongside hollywood royalty including jennifer lawrence, meryl streep, kevin spacey and bradley cooper. in fact, she said if only

bradley's arms were longer, they could have gotten more people in the picture. selfie earned more than a million retweets. twitter says it is the most retweeted message -- ever. let's go back to the grammys a couple of months ago. the hat made famous by pharrell. >> the hat was auctioned off on ebay for $44,100. the buyer -- fast food restaurant arby's. the money will go to pharrell's charity. after he sported that hat in january, many compared it to the one made famous by arby's. new fears in russia. latest on what's happened overnight in ukraine. police, how the u.s. is now dealing with this huge political crisis. [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits.

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morning in ukraine as russia asserts more force. the u.s. gets ready to send its top diplomat to that country. plus, more rain on the way. meteorologists christina loren will let us know when to bust out those umbrellas once again. a live look at the opening bell on the nasdaq. global markets very concerned about ukraine. today is monday, march 3rd, and this is today in the bay. good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. >> i'm peggy bunker in for laura this morning. an update now to breaking news. a busy stretch of road in the east bay still closed down while police investigate a possible dui crash that badly hurt a little 4-year-old girl. live look here at osgood road near auto mall parkway in freemont. investigators say a woman, a mother, was driving along osgood road with her 4-year-old daughter when the mom crashed into another car head-on. the girl is in critical condition. her mother is also hurt.

both drivers in the incident are suspected of driving under the influence. officials say the road will probably remain closed for another 30 minutes. an update to the developing story in ukraine. pro-russian forces have taken over a ferry terminal in the eastern most tip of crimea intensifying fears that back-up is on the way. this all comes as secretary of state john kerry gets ready to head to ukraine tomorrow. "today in the bay's" tracy pots is live on capitol hill with more on how the u.s. is dealing with this political crisis. good morning. >> reporter: hey, peggy and scott -- those puck turs you just saw are a concern because that's not the southern region where we've seen the pro-russian demonstrations. this is a completely straight area in the eastern part of ukraine. that sentiment seems to be spreading, at least visually and that is a big concern as the u.s. tries to figure out if it

has enough -- can wield enough power economically to get russia out of ukraine. the united states, along with its allies, have been talking about whether economic sanctions would be strong enough, and so as secretary kerry heads into the region later today for meetings tomorrow with that new government, they're talking about things like boycotting the g-8 summit in sochi, russia this morning. pressure being put on the kremlin to back off this situation. russia officially said they are not sending in troops but we have certainly seen russian-speaking armed forces in uniform driving russian vehicles in and around many of the areas of southern crimea. the situation is account u.s. actually bring enough economic pressure to bring down tempers in this situation as opposed to escalating. >> thank you.

let's have more details on the crisis in ukraine. this all started november 21st when president viktor yanukov h yanukovych's government announced it was abandoning an agreement to strengthen ties with the european union. the first big protest came ten days later when 300,000 people converged on kiev's independence square. jump ahead to january 22nd, the first protest deaths are reported. a month later after a truce is announced, violence resumes. more than 80 people killed in a matter of days. and the next day under a european mediated plan, protest leaders and yanukovych agree to form a new government and hold an early election. yanukovych then flees kiev to russia after protesters take control of the capital. a week later ukraine says russian troops took over a coast guard base and two airports on the crimea peninsula. >> the story of the crimean peninsula is really long and complicated. it is on the southern part of

ukraine located on the black sea. out of its 2 million residents, about 60% speak russian. that is the highest concentration of russian speakers in ukraine. crimea has not always been part of ukraine. in 1783 russia annexed crimea. then in 1921 the peninsula became part of the soviet union. 33 years later, russia transferred the region to ukraine and what was reported as a gesture of good will. in 1991 the soviet union collapses. six years later ukraine and russia sign a treaty allowing russia to keep its fleet along the southern part of the crimean peninsula. >> strategically critical. it is their only warm water port. stick with nbc bay area for the latest development on the crisis. we have more online at nbcbayarea.com as well where you can sign up for breaking news and e-mail alerts. happening today, president obama will push israel's prime minister to move forward on peace talks with the palestinians. benjamin netanyahu will be at the white house for a critical

juncture in those talks today. later this month president obama plans to meet with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. this morning, dozens of college students in the south bay will ditch the classroom and board buses for sacramento. students from both san jose city and evergreen valley college headed to the state capital. they want community colleges to offer students four-year degrees. the trip is part of the annual march in march event where thousands of students from across the state head to the capital to call for more support for public education. if you are headed to the beach, they own a popular bay area seashore is closed off this morning all to protect baby seals. point reyes will be closed until june. it does include a popular kayaking spot. the national park service says that the closures are to protect harbor seals who rest in the area to give birth to their pups.

>> sounds wonderful. how is the wonderful for pupping? we'll check with christina. >> i don't know what they prefer. but hey, it is going to be nice out there because we do need this rainfall very badly. as we head throughout the next couple of days, we're going to keep it in the forecast. in fact all the way through thursday we have some pretty decent rainfall on the way. right now everything that we are picking up is very light on the radar. everything will intensify. throughout the day today, temperatures in the low 50s, headed towards the mix 60s in the south bay. 65 degrees, comfortable conditions in the east bay. 62 in san francisco. 61 degrees in the north bay. we expect the highest totals in the north bay out of the totals that come through today. cloudy start, few north bay showers before 11:00 a.m. by 11:00 a.m., on and off activity ramps up. heading throughout the evening hours, especially 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., talking about heavy periods of steady rainfall as we head throughout the entire bay area. it could be kind of a rough ride home from work.

want to show you your microclimate differences this week. we'll see some substantial temperature differences between san jose and san francisco. 70 degrees on wednesday in san jose versus 65 degrees, that's our dry day. then the rain returns late wednesday night, into thursday. i want to give you kind of a preview of what we expect as we head through this sunday. i can't tell you enough. daylight savings time, this is the bad one where we lose an hour of sleep. we are also going to lose this beautiful sunshine at this hour. we'll have to wait until 7:30 a.m. for that sun to rise. however, it is going to stay up until 7:10 p.m. on sunday. we'll remind you. after all, us early risers are the ones who pay the most when this time change happens. let's talk to mike about your morning drive. good morning. an update for freemont. this is 880, smooth drive, nothing unexpected for the freeway. taking you to the map, 880 just north of mission boulevard. the yellow off of the left side of the screen means we've been dipping a bit because of the volume. zooming in to this area, o good

road we just learned from bob, they just cleared all the crews. peggy told you about the crash, the reason why it was closed. better news. freemont boulevard and osgood open now between blacow and auto mall parkway. there may be more police activity, bob is heading up there right now. we have a slower drive for northbound direction for 101 and 87 throughout san jose. typical pattern throughout this portion of the bay. tri-valley, typical pattern as well. 580 starting to slow more toward the dublin interchange. we'll give you a live look outside, emeryville, berkeley, typical build toward the berkeley curve. final look across the senate bridge with no problems across 92. it is now 6:38. still ahead, the blade runner's murder trial gets under way. the double amputee olympic athlete accused of murdering his girlfriend. why her mother says she wants to be in court.

taking a live look outside. you can see here over san francisco, blue skies peeking through those clouds there. looks like it is shaping up to be a great monday. we'll be right back.

the navy is trying to figure out what caused a pilot to crash his fighter jet during a training exercise in western nevada. it took rescue crews several hours to reach the site of the crash because of a snowstorm and of course the mountainous terrain. happened on saturday at a navy range training complex east of naval air station fallon. the pilot who was killed, his maim has not be name has not been released. new this morning -- blood curtling screams one woman told a south african courtroom is what she heard the morning olympian oscar pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. this morning pistorius pleaded not guilty to the shooting. he says he thought steenkamp was an intruder breaking into the home when he shot her through his bathroom door. prosecutors believe the shooting was intentional. steenkamp's mother said she went to court today to "really look pistorius in the eyes." the trial was delayed about 90 minutes because of an issue with

an interpreter. an update on breaking news -- a 4-year-old girl fight forge her life. police investigate alcohol playing a role if that crash. ♪ it takes two to make a thing go right ♪

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an update now to breaking you news. a busy stretch of road in the east bay opened just minutes ago after an overnight crash that badly hurt a little 4-year-old girl. this happened at osgood road near auto mall parkway in freemont. a woman was driving along with her 4-year-old when the mother crashed into another car head-on. the little girl is in critical condition. her mother was also hurt and is suspected of driving under the influence. the other driver suffered minor injuries and received a misdemeanor citation also for driving while intoxicated.

another snowstorm keeping an icy hold on much of the country this morning. washington, d.c. almost white-out conditions, can barely see the capitol there. the federal government is closed because of the weather. the d.c. area is expecting up to ten inches of snow today. boy, this storm is stretching across the mid-atlantic all the way up to the east coast. officials are warning people to stay off the roads. take a look here at colorado on i-25. one of those major arteries right into downtown denver. this was a fatal accident here. a huge 100-car pile-up there. some people living in the nation's capital say spring can't get here soon enough. >> this is unusual for d.c. obviously. and i love this snow but i have to admit even i am getting a little tired. >> i shoveled all of this, every five feet of it. and i'm tired. and it's in march. >> school is canceled in many states. so far more than 2,000 flights have been canceled nationwide. well, two our microclimate forecast as we give you a live look in san jose and the sun coming up. christina loren joins us. we'll have it a lot easier than

pretty much anywhere else in the country. >> we are, definitely. but we have our own snow to talk about. you know? we have some snow to show you, too, at 6:46 this morning. it is in tahoe where we really want to add to that snowpack. taking a live look at that sunrise starts making an appearance up in north star where they accumulated over 2 1/2 feet of snowfall over the past six days. we have more on the way as we speak. they're getting a little bit of light activity right now. we're going to see that ramp up as we head throughout tonight. that means showers are on the way for your monday in the bay area. what a pretty picture though. that's what we want to see. that's what we've been missing. your live radar tells the story. just a very scattered light showers this morning. pesky showers, i like to call them. you have to grab that umbrella and carry it with you until about lunch time but have it handy today with showers coming in pretty quickly. temperatures mostly in the 50s. you see all that cloud cover increasing as those showers start to get closer and closer to the golden gate bridge.

they're going to arrive here as we head through about lunch time. let me show you on the future cast. it really depends on what you live. it really depends what microclimate you are working with in the bay area. you can see some of that moderate rainfall coming in to marin county at that point. also san francisco getting some of the dark green, heavier moisture for your lunch break. all of that activity present in the south bay by about 4:00 p.m. then between 4:00 and 7:00 we are talking about periods of heaven rainfall right in the heart of your evening commute. we're going to keep that chance of rain going all night long. as we head through tomorrow, more rain on the way thursday morning, thursday night and into friday. you'll notice on the seven-day forecast, we'll keep those chances going and we need that rain so let's keep those totals going as well. see how fast you are driving this morning. speed limits? or under? >> you're going to strive for the speed limit. there are spots, christina, we'll call them out. right now the peninsula moving

pretty smoothly. south bay is the one that's seeing real changes over the last ten minutes. we talk about 101 and 87 both showing that build. yellow turning to orange, speeds coming down closer to 50 moneil per hour. expect for slowing towards saratoga. lot of issues for freemont. earlier closure at osgood for that major injury crash, that 4-year-old girl still with serious injuries but the roadway itself has opened just north of auto mall. a second crash involving a pedestrian. freemont police are heading over to the scene. so is bob redell. he was just south of there washington boulevard, not far from olive. we'll let you know how it affects traffic to and from osgood and heading over toward freemont boulevard. that's a serious connection there. meanwhile the connection from 680 and 580 toward sunol is

slowing due to the volume of traffic. nothing much, smooth drive over the bay. metering lights are on. east shore freeway predictable. palo alto, nothing exciting. that's good news. back to you. mike, thank you much. new developments in the crisis in ukraine. in geneva today, russia's foreign minister rejected accusations his country's acting aggressively toward ukraine. sergey lavrov said the west is putting its own geopolitical calculations ahead of the fate of the people in the former soviet republic. under threats, the u.s. will impose economic sanctions. russian markets fell about 10% today. the country's currency hit its lowest level against the dollar ever. secretary john kerry will travel to ukraine tomorrow to discuss

possible asset freezing and trade penalties against russia. today british officials say the uk was considering similar punishments. >> we have already expressed our very serious concerns about the situation. the situation has not improved. we are of course working with all our member states who have promised firm response to those developments. >> earlier this morning, pro-russian volunteers joined the ranks of russian troops to help them form a line around the ukrainian military base in crimea. in just a few hours from now, one bay area man will embark on a pretty unusual journey in hopes of bringing attention to the situation in ukraine. "today in the bay's" christie smith joins us live from san francisco now on the details for this man's endeavor. it involves a lot of driving. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. victor certainly knows how to bring attention to what he's doing. he's a performer with cirque de soleil in places like san jose and new york but he says he's

taking two weeks off to try and bring attention to the situation in ukraine, starting at 12:30 this afternoon here at justin herman plaz in san francisco. that's where he kicks off his had cross-country journey in a custom wrapped porsche decked out in the colors and symbols of his homeland, ukraine. he says he wants ttched the demonstrations escalate on tv and unravel into chaos. he wants to raise money for people whose family members were killed there. starting with something called help ukraine project. it's online. it's to again rate discussion and deliver support, he says, from americans to ukrainians. >> i would like to raise the support and show support of american people throughout this country written on ukrainian flag with pen writing of all american people throughout the country and deliver this flag on the main square in kiev. >> reporter: he also says he's very concerned about his own family and friends there. he'll start off in san francisco

at 12:30. then head to southern california, and then make stops along the way, all the way to d.c. and new york, meeting with media along the way. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> pretty remarkable. thank you. our coverage on the crisis in ukraine continues. in less than five minutes on the "today" show. we also have more online at nbcbayarea.com. indeed, markets all over the world uneasy about the conflict in the crimea. right now dow industrials down 130 points. nasdaq down 30. german markets fell hard, as did markets in asia. gold prices are up, grain prices are up, too. ukraine is one of the largest agricultural economies in europe. silicon valley watching. lots of inexpensive but good talent in kiev. several high-tech companies outsource a lot to the ukraine. well, we are following more breaking news in freemont this morning. police there on the scene of a deadly crash involving a car and a pedestrian. this comes after another serious crash early this morning just

down the street. "today in the bay's" bob redell arrived on this new scene. bob, what's going on there? >> reporter: well, good morning, scott. based on the way we're seeing pd treat the driver involved in this fatal pedestrian accident, it does appear that this was just a horrible accident. i say this because police have not handcuffed this driver. he is cooperating. the gentleman was driving that corvette over there, that plaque car with the flashing red and when -- within the past hour driving down washington here near olive, he collided with a pedestrian who's a good maybe 30 feet back, middle of the roadway where you can see behind this suv where investigators are setting up a tripod presumably to take more pictures of the scene. but again we haven't gotten an oinitial word yet from pd but it appears this was just a horrible fatal accident where the driver of this corvette accidentally hit a person who was in the middle of the road. as far as what the circumstances are, whether this person was trying to cross the street, whether the driver didn't see him or what the speed was, that

part we have not heard from police on. but as far as traffic is concerned, this is an area you have businesses, you are trying to get to and from work. washington boulevard is shut down here at olive. then all the way back to driscoll and osgood. it is a major impact if you're trying to get to and from your business here in freemont this morning. again, fatal pedestrian accident involving the driver of that corvette over there. that driver, as i mentioned, apoors to be cooperating with police. live here in freemont, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> very rough day in freemont. this morning investigators are trying to figure out why a girl hit and killed by a freight train was on the tracks in the first place. police say the train struck and killed the girl as it traveled through martinez. this happened about 5:00 last night on the tracks near old orchard and howe roads. witnesses say she might have been trying to grab her cell phone on the tracks when she was hit. police aren't releasing her name or age at this time. a warning has been issued to santa clara university students, be aware of your surroundings. this comes in response to three

attacks on or near campus over the weekend. police say two students were robbed at gunpoint. one on campus, another near campus, early saturday morning. police say the suspects tried to rob another victim but that person saw the gun, managed to get away. this morning police say they have very little to go on. they want to talk to anybody who may have seen or heard anything. as for a campus alert, plus are urging students to walk in pairs, and if they see something, to report it immediately. 6:56 right now. palo alto police want to know if a man arrested for exposing himself is linked to any other crimes in their city. detectives say 48-year-old eric edwards approaching a woman in her car with his pants down on saturday night. victim called police and within moments officers were there on scene and arrested edwards. the san jose police officer who wrote fake tickets is expected to find out his fate today. 41-year-old -- 51-year-old, rather, george chavez pleaded no contest last month to four felony charges. prosecutors say chavez wrote

tickets against two men who were involved in a lawsuit against him in 2008. he signed the tickets using a fellow officer's name. chavez faces up to five years in state prison. the palo alto city council is meeting today to review an agreement that would allow its officers to work at rely stadium. the agreement, if approved, would allow off-duty officers to provide security at the new 49ers' home. santa clara would pay officers $55 an hour. but the hours worked in santa clara would not count toward the hours worked in palo alto. they've reached out to several cities asking for help with security. facebook says it is willing to pick up the tab for security near its menlo park headquarters. the social networking giants offering $200,000 a year for a full-time police officer. he'd work out of this, the city's bell haven substation. that officer would patrol the facebook campus and work with schools and businesses to create a public safety plan and conduct

emergency drills. the menlo park city council will consider this offer tomorrow. if approved, the position would likely be filled by an existing officer and then the city would hire a new officer later. one last check here of your forecast for the day, meteorologist christina lore be is here with that. >> hey, thank you, peggy and scott. good monday morning to you. mondays can be tough. whether is on your side, at least for the time being. we do have more rain on the way as of this afternoon so grab that umbrella and make sure the kids are ready if you're taking them off to school today. we're headed towards the 60s. showers starting up across the bay area by lunch time. let's check your drive. >> christina, showers are starting up. the road is relatively dry right now but zooming in to freemont, we've had a couple of big problems. osgood has reopened because of the earlier major injury crash just norpt of youth of auto mal. bob redell reported a pedestrian was hit also in the last couple

of hours closing you down and cutting off this connecter. use auto mall as your connecter between 680 and 880. 6:58. one final check of the today's top stories for you. busy morning for freemont police. right now at the scene of a deadly crash near washington and freemont boulevard. police say a driver hit and killed a person who was in the road. this happened just about an hour ago. the driver is at the scene and is cooperating with police. meanwhile, osgood road near auto mall parkway just re-opened within the hour. this is is just blocks away. closed overnight. authorities investigating a head-on crash that left a 4-year-old girl fighting for her life. police say the girl's mother who was also hurt may have been driving drunk at the time of the crash. the first witness to testify in the murder trial surrounding olympian oscar pistorius says she heard a blood curtling scream the night that pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend. pistorius pleaded not guilty and he says he thought reeva steenkamp was an intruder when he shot her through his bathroom

door. we'll continue to update you throughout the day. we're back at 7:25. we'll have a local news update. >> join us for nbc bay area news at 11:00 al. have a wonderful monday. we live you with pictures of washington, d.c. good morning. in like a lion, a massive storm leaves up to a foot of snow in its wake as it moves into the east. this morning, thousands of flight cancellations, a dangerous commute and growing frustration from this winter that will not end. brink of disaster, russian troops tight their grip on a key territory in ukraine overnight as president obama ponders his next move and prepares to send secretary of state john kerry to the region. not guilty. in a "today" exclusive kerry kennedy opens up live about her drugged driving acquittal, the kennedy name, the impact and what's next for her.