your umbrella for today but there is more rain on the way. maybe you haven't had a chance to get any of that celebration planned yet. you'll get a chance to get outdoor before the rain develops heavily. >> we'll talk about the road conditions and how they're affecting your commute coming up. >> let's take a peek outside on this beautiful bay morning, it's december 18th. christmas a week away now. this is "today in the bay." >> and a very good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm sam brock. we have a little bit of a break in the action right now but more rain assuredly is on the way. let's get your microclimate forecast from meteorologist

christina loren. >> historic rainfall for the month of december. we kick off winter officially on the 21st and i got to tell you right now, january and february typically our wettest months here in the bay area. we're going to get by with a mostly dry day this week, more sunshine than any other day this week and looking pretty dry into the weekend, into your christmas day before we get hammered for the first week of january. we have a lot to go over in your full forecast. i like to move you ahead not just the next through three days, i like to move you ahead weeks if possible. first, though, here's mike and your morning drive. >> christinchristina, i'm just o get folks through their morning commute. the water a couple seconds ago had water on the lens and on the roadway. here's lane five. a report of the crash at the bay

bridge toll plaza. we'll track that. we didn't see any slowing on the approach either. we're watching the vicinity of the toll plaza area. the rest of the bay moves very sloot smoothly because a lighter volume of traffic will probably continue from now through the end of the year. whipple avenue and union city, there was a car that spun out across the offramp. >> how about an uplifting story. bay area flood victims are returning home, trying to get their lives back to normal and back on track. kris sanchez joins us from belmont where the local community is stepping out to help out those affected by the storms. >> reporter: good morning. you could say the folks that live here at the mobile park had two different floods. there was the one that forced them out of the home because of the high water and then there was the flood of help of

kindness from their community to help them get back ton their feet. this family was socked with feet of rain water. their children and many of the others were classmates at nesbitt. so when the principal found out, she asked the community for help and she was surprised at how much they helped. >> when you're the principal of the school, you love the school, you love the community, you love the people, you're like the mom. >> the families will get safeway and target gift card but the bulk of the help will come in the form of cash so they can not only get through the holidays but get back what was lost.

many of them lost everything in the refrigerators. one of the families also had to be put in a hotel because the husband is on dialysis, the wife is fighting breast cancer. so a really vulnerable community that is very touched by the generosity of the folks around them. in belmont, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much, kris. >> large rallies planned across the bay area in response to what many are calling racial injustice, it all stems from the death of unarmed men at the hands of police and the resulting grand jury decisions not to charge those officers. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning, laura. three major cities in the bay area will be home to either rallies and/or marches where demonstrators will be demanding justice for what they see as

police misconduct. in san jose a group of activists organized by the coalition for justice and accountability that includes the naacp will march to san jose police headquarters to present a petition to demand that officer phillip white be fired. the department has already placed him on administrative leave for controversial tweets he allegedly posted in which he allegedly threatened civil rights protesters. the police department has already denounced those posts. the protest march starts this afternoon outside the santa clara district. they will and make there way here to the p.d. headquarters. at 8:00, the alameda public

defenders office and then the hall of justice. they will protest using slogans like "hands up, don't shoot," "black lives matter." those are slogans we've seen in recent demonstrations in the bay area and throughout the country. >> reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> big day for those protesters. thanks so much, bob. >> union city police need your help finding a man they say shot video of women inside of a woman's rest room at a local walmart. they say he was hiding inside a bathroom stall for about ten minutes before being discovered. he ran off before the police could get there, described as white, 6'4", has curly salt and

pepper hair. >> a woman accused of running a pill mill is scheduled to be in court today. prosecutors say she prescribed large quantities of prescription drugs without reviewing medical histories. >> investigators are looking into claims that former 49ers way rey mcdonald sexually assaulted a woman inside his san jose home. the woman apparently reported the assault earlier in the week. they have not arrested him or charged him with a crime. following the news, though, the 49ers immediately released mcdonald from the team. last august he was arrested after using --

>> hopefully your heating systems have not been working overtime. it's been a little bit rainy -- >> a little bit. >> a little bit cool. christina, how are you doing this morning? ♪ chestnuts roasting that would make you feel a little bit warmer, right? take a look around. it looked like a desert around here for the past three years. now we're experiencing what we know and love, what we're accustomed to in the bay area. that's the green hillsides. they're just so lovely. this morning getting a little

break from the heavy rainfall. but we are going to see it return sooner than later. by about 1:00 a.m. the heavy stuff moves through from the next storm system. we'll see a nice mix of sun and clouds for today. overcast conditions near the bay and the coast. as we head throughout tomorrow, unfortunately at this time we're going to be tracking another round of rain. this system is going to pack rain with it as well. after that, though, want to put this on your back burner. prolonged break ahead. we'll see a nice stretch of five to six days of dry weather before that storm track comes back to the bay area and temperatures will gradually warm as well. we'll be in the 50s and 60s for today, 59 for the east shore and 60 degrees in san francisco. so stick around and i'll time out that next system for you in terms of wind and rain in my next report. but if you got to get out there right now, we got to work, too. here's mike to help up get there on time. >> good morning. part of my work is getting you

to work. i'm watching this pattern, one, two, three, four five. there it is, lane five. looks like it might be closed as far as those cash lanes go. the rest of the lanes are okay, they're just backing um on the cash approach. that's one incident at the bay bridge. the second incident is at treasure island, just past there and we had a crash which just cleared the lane. again, a lighter volume of traffic. this should recover quickly if everything is as clear as the chp report indicates. we'll track this closely. the map shows you the slowing on the span itself over toward san francisco. that should clear up and we'll see no problem out of the maze. there's the north bay, moving toward the east bay and south bay with no major issues but we have a wind advisory. we'll check the san mateo bridge

coming up. >> you may soon be getting a high end shopping complex similar to santana row.

the mountain view voice said a company is close to buying the san and toeio shopping center. that's the one that currently has a walmart. that deal is supposed to be done by the end of the year. once the purchase goes through, the developer is expected to start redeveloping the 33-ache are site into a "modern shopping center." >> bring in a lot of money there. sony has cancelled the release of "the interview." it won't play in movie theaters, it won't be available on video demand. scott mcgrew, they say they are evidence that the threat was by north korea. >> that starts to raise the question of how the u.s. will respond. threatening terror on the american soil, that's an act of war, right? meantime, the administration tells nbc's pete williams the government does have prove proof

north korea was behind the attack and this will not go unanswered, but there are complications here. this involves hollywood but sony is actually a japanese company and japan is in delicate negotiations to try to get several kidnapped citizens out of north korea. >> vladimir putin just wrapped up a marathon press conference, more than three hours long. he addressed the falling ruble. he blames the west. and he says the recession gripping russia will last two years and no more. meanwhile, our biggest problem seems to be that oil is super cheap and our economy is growing so fast the fed has to do something about it. for a quick check of the markets, let's turn to landon doughty. >> scott, good morning. wall street looks to build on wednesday's big rally. futures are looking at a sharply higher open. energy stocks bounce back and investors are also reacting to the fed, which sent a strong

signal they might start raising interest rates in the middle of next year, as long as the economy keeps improving. the dow jumping 288 points to 17356, the nad dak 96 to 4644. >> landon said they sent a strong signal they might. a lot of people think the fed needs to be more aggressive about raising interest rate the. they point to alan greenspan who was way after the fact criticized for not raising rates faster during the boom of the the 90s. the situation was very different in those days, or at least it appeared to be. but protecting jelen -- janet yellen, inflation seems to be a

nonissue. >> but gas prices -- >> that himself a lot to do about it. >> vladimir putin thinks he can predict the end of the recession. on if it was that assy as, say, the weather? >> we don't even have a prediction of how the stock market operates. our technology is really being enhanced in what you can do in predicting these storm systems. i'm really, really happy with the technology we've had here at nbc bay area. i've been equipped with some of the best tools in the game and i know how to use them. this morning we have light activity, nothing heavy coming down. all the heavy stuff will hold off until tonight but we do have another round of wind and rain set to hit the bay area around midnight. you might find a little bit of drizzle out there but we're not going to have any active cells.

we have wind out there keeping the fog from settling in but the wind will intensify as the next storm system comes through. moving forward in time, we'll stop that clock for you at 3:00 a.m. we're starting at those warmer colors. as the rain starts to come in, so does the wind. so we could see more downed trees. this will be the windiest time frame from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. 40 mile-per-hour wind gusts possible as we head through tonight. now, let me time out the rain for you. stop that clock at 1:00. it's coming in. it continues until about 3:00. then by 8:00 a.m., systems start to take the heavy rain with it into southern california. we won't be done quite yet. we'll have another wave come through by about noon tomorrow and then things will start to improve. we'll dry out as we get to your upcoming weekend. we'll is have more on your

forecast coming up in just moments. taking a sneak peek at tahoe. >> we're looking at the bach. whatever was going on in lane number five, one of your cash lanes, looks like it has cleared up now. but the build is on now. the bay bridge shows you across that span, recovery westbound. traffic moves much more smoothly toward treasure island. the glow to the lights indicates the low clouds and some mist across the area. you will still have slick roadways across the bay. you'll see the speed recovering westbound in toward san francisco. there's the north bay and even highway four out of antioch. pittsburgh, bay point, concord just fine. big view of the bay, you're looking at the tri-valley with a subtle build for westbound coming out of the altamont pass,

dumbarton bridge moves smoothly. the san mateo bridge, there's a wind advisory that chp issued, they're not a weather service but they drove across earlier tonight. we do see a steady camera shot and easy flow of traffic. no drama but wind will start to build. south bay 101, glow of the lights, mist in the air and red roadway as well. >> mike, thank you very much. we now have a better idea of what's going to happen to san francisco's flower mart. these images were just released by the reality company that now owns the property. the developer plans to build an office center on the site but will put a new flower mart there. city leaders are vowing to put this issue to the voters. >> and starting today

restaurants, food trucks and any other food-related businesses are banned from using plastic bags. earlier this year the city required department stores and pharmacies to stop using them. many other businesses in walnut creek have stopped utilitiesing plastic bags and instead offer paper bags at 10 cents apiece. >> no more bag, no more colbert, at least not in this format. tonight he signs off from his signature" colbert report." he's prepares for his next gig as host of "the late show" on cbs. he'll take over for letterman. be interesting to see will he keep his -- >> persona? i don't think so. that's what i've heard. >> linked-in is allowing your connection to endorse your skill but how would you like an endorsement from an a-list celebrity, too? >> actor liam neeson is giving away a video endorsement for

your linked in account. neeson says enter the contest and if you win, he'll endorse your particular set of skills. find out how you can enter the contest on linked-in. >> the country that's adding soccer to it's required curriculum. we'll explain coming up next. >> closed captioning provided by man seeny's sleep world triple bonus sale.

you're watching "today in the bay." >> welcome back, everyone. it is 5:24. giants are close to signing pitcher sergio romo to a two-year deal. provided he passes his physical team, he'll stay with the team. he'd be the first of the free agents to return. the giants reportedly offering him $15 million to two years. >> which is not chump change.

>> to the field. the required curriculum in china. >> the country's president is an avid soccer fan. he felt embarrassed when his country failed to qualify for the world cup. last month he announced soccer would become a mandatory part of the national curriculum at schools. in 2016, soccer will be an option on the university entrance exam. >> it's great but you better some good coaches teaching them the right techniques. >> how do you test someone for their soccer abilities as a way. i don't know what history you have in your background. >> the chance of them looking out some amazing players looking very good. the chance of us seeing rain today, not that good. you might be happy about that. we have about a 10% to 20% shot as we head throughout this afternoon. basically you don't need to

bring your umbrella with you. that's your forecast for this thursday. next thursday, christmas day looking good. 59 degrees at 6 a.m. we might have a little drizzle, breezy and a little on the cool side. overall no heavy rain for you on christmas day. a gift for you, mike. >> no heavy rain for you! not a lot of heavy traffic for you but we do see at least a little slowing for you. there are some people who want that. i don't know. we're expecting a lighter flow as we see here and the rest of the bay, but we will have that commute kicking in a little later. the sharks playing tonight. we'll call that out. that's about the only thing of note for the south bay. moving up the peninsula, no problems. we still have areas where you might see some flooding. 101 has been a problem this

week. back to you. >> thanks so much. it's 5:26 right now. for the first time in 50 years, the u.s. is ready to do business with cuba. we're live in washington with what comes next. >> the state ult getting ready to say good-bye to one of its most controversial presidents ever.

a community coming together. what students at one community peninsula school are doing to help out. >> and get ready. today more vitamin d than any other day this week. the sun will come out for a brief period of time. we have more rain on the way. heavy at times by tomorrow morning and then a nice prolonged break from the rain ahead before we see that storm window open up for the first week of january. it's going to stay active around here and i have all the details in just moments. >> and even though it's not raining, we still have

rain-slicked roadways as the traffic starts to build. we'll talk about the bay bridge and a couple of other areas on your commute. >> as christina said, you get a bit of a break but don't get too comfortable because there is more rain on the way. it's thursday, december 18 and you are watching "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> a very good thursday morning to you. almost there at the end of your week. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> almost the start of vacation. let's take a live look outside over the night in san jose. no rain right now. looks nice. clean everything off. let's go to meteorologist christina loren. >> the cloud are going to open up, the sky will be nice and blue later on today but i can

tell you we do have heavy rain lurking. it's out there in the pacific ocean, slowly tracking towards the bay area. we're not expecting it, though, to really pick um until we hit tonight. you with see here on the futurecast, i take you into the day and stop the clock at 4:00. it starts to get dark by about 4:30. you'll have all day long to get outdoors without that heavy rainfall. about 1:00 in the morning, we start to see the rain return and in the morning, we'll be likely tracking heavy downpours and wind as well. if you're trying to get out the door right now, here's mike to help you out. >> we're showing you the bay bridge right now,al early morning crash past treasure island. that has recovered. you'll notice the mist in the air. it will affect your transitions on and off of the freeway as well. look at this big view of the bay, pretty smooth drives, no

real flooding. san mateo bridge overnight, they said they lit up the sign because they felt like there were gusts of wind and christina talks about wind coming in later on in your commute. so far no problems across the bay. back to you. >> people forced from their homes after last week's powerful storms are now allowed back. kris sanchez joins us live in belmont where victims are getting support from the community. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. the folks are waking um in their own beds this morning and not only were they forced out by floodwaters but they were flooded this time with generosity and compassion from their community members. one of the families, the berega family, is one of 11 families forced into a shelter when those floodwaters hit. they were in that shelt are for five days. and when the children -- they go to school at nesbitt elementary school. many of their classmates also live here as well. when the principal of nesbitt

found out, she knew her school community would help but even she was surprised when the donations quickly went from $500 to nearly 20,000. >> when you're the principal of a school, you run a school but you also love a school, you love the teachers, you love the parents, you love the community, you love the children and you're like the mom. >> when they tell you if you need help, you just tell us. sometimes that would make you feel so good in your heart. >> the red cross put the bereg as up at a hotel because her mother is fighting cancer. the families are now going to get safeway and target gift cards. but the bulk of what they get will be in cash so they cannot

only make it through the holidays but try to get their homes back to normal as well. the waters were knee deep and sometimes higher, so clearly there was a lot of damage there and it will go some way in helping them get back to normal. >> that's exactly what they need this time of year. thanks, kris. >> happening today, three large rallies are planned in three major bay area cities that could impact your daily commute. the subject not a mystery here. "today in the bay" live in san jose. good morning, bob redell. >> reporter: they'll be here and there will be marches and/or rallies where demonstrators will be calling for what they call justice for perceived police misconduct, something that they see. in san jose, a group of activists organized for the coalition for justice and

accountability will march to san jose police headquarters will present a petition to demand officer phillip white be fired. the department has already placed him on admin leave for tweets he posted in which he threatened civil rights protesters. the protest march starts at 4:00 this afternoon outsight the santa clara district attorney's office to pressure the d.a. to charge two san jose police officers in the february killing of antonio lopez guzman, who officers say came after him with a saw. the al media public defender's office will be rallying in oakland and at noon they'll do the same outside the city's hall of justice. reporting live here outside p.d.

headquarters in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much, bob. >> it is 5:35 right now. public utilities commissioner michael peavy will hold his last hearing today. he has been president for 12 years. he's being investigated for failing to proper regulate pg&e leading to an investigation into an explosion that killed 12 people. >> the oakland city has invited residents and business owners to a workshop to talk about a plan and offer up their comments. oakland has already come up with some ideas, some brain storming here about turning the area around o.co and oral call arena into a world class entertainment

district. >> mayor ed lee is expected to meet with the media to talk about the city's plans to host the olympics. the u.s. olympic committee is expected to decide next month which of the four finalists will be submitted to the international olympic committee. the other cities include los angeles, boston and washington d.c. >> the whole beat l.a. slogan applies here as well. >> always. >> it appears jim harbaugh has one foot out the door. his al ma matter, the wolverines, have already offered him a job. the deal amounts to $8 million per year. it would make him the highest paid coach in college football. harbaugh is reportedly considering it but he's previously said he wants to stay in the nfl and he's rumored as a possible candidate for christina's raiders.

>> well, going across the bay, you don't need as heavy a coat as you would in michigan. >> that is definitely the case. christina, try to temper expectations, even if harbaugh is inked for deal. >> i hope he breaks through to the other side. i would love to see him here. we have wind out there this morning. if you're traveling from san francisco down to san jose, you're running against the wind on 280 and 101 this morning. you really want to take it easy out there. mike and i are both tracking this for you. golden gate bridge, no problem. the san mateo bridge, this wind is coming at you from the north, it's the east to west bridges that i'm concerned about when it comes to the wind this morning. and it slick out there, keep that in mind as well. we have a lull from the heavy rainfall this evening. we're getting some drizzle but that's about all. snap some pictures, could see

some rainbows out there as well. temperatures will be on the cool side. you'll need your jacket but i think today is the one day you can actually ditch your umbrella for this week. a lot of the activity is verga, which is precipitation that dissipates before it hits the surface. because we have a dry surface, things are going to be able to evaporate. but then the rain comes in by 1:00 a.m. then the heavy stuff intensifies even more so as we meet back here for "today in the bay" starting at 4:30, that's when we kick off the show. we're going to have some heavy downpours. might be trying to get out of town for the holidays. we'll let you know what could slow you down if you're trying to get out of the bay area. i don't know why you would want to leave. but heading over to the east coast, every wants to know what the weather will be like. >> i'll give them a hint, though. the weather will be east. over here looking east, westbound for 92, a smooth

drive. as christina was talking abouts the winds come across the bridge. you see a little moving from side to side there. there's sma yof and the dumbarton bridge east to west. that's wa we're talking about, the winds coming this direction. an earlier crash may still be just off the shoulder. overall we have a very light volume of traffic right now and a slower, easier build. nonetheless northbound 101 show as little slowing towards san jose and a little bit coming out of the maze and at the cash lanes at the toll itself. >> thanks, mike. >> less than 24 hours after a major deal announced between the u.s. and cuba, cuban president raul castro joins twitter. >> and the boston marathon bombing suspect appears in court

today. >> and you are inching closer to the weekend. we'll be back with you for 15 minutes of nonstop news, traffic and weather directly following this break.

you're watching "today in the bay." >> for the first time in 350 years we are waking up in a country that is ready to do business with cuba and restore relations. president obama announcing a huge policy change less than 24 hours ago but not everybody is happy about it. tracie potts joins us live on capitol hill with what comes next and that could involve congressional involvement. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sam. they're going to have to get involved when they come back after break to lift the trade baerga. this started with the exchange of prisoners. we saw alan gross coming back home to the united states yesterday. another american u.s. spy has been kept in cuba for 20 years was released as well and three

cubans were sent back. we saw video of them arriving back in havana. so the exchange has happened. the state department is now going to review and see if they can take cuba off the list of terrorist states. we're told that's likely to happen. that could open up things like banking and travel, but not necessarily trade. that's something that congress put in place and they will have to lift that trade embargo. conservatives say castro is not someone we should be doing business with and say they're going to fight tooth and nail to make sure that doesn't happen. >> you saw senator marco rubio. he's one of the most outspoken critics of what's happening now. thank you very much. appreciate your report, tracie. congresswoman barbara lee just returned from cuba. she's been working to improve relations with that country for decades. >> it's been very difficult.

i've been going down since '77. i've seen ups and downs through many, many administrations. >> oakland airport one of the first airports in the country to have direct flights between cuba and the united states. an interesting piece of history there, laura. >> very much so. the accused boston bomber heads back to court this morning. a final pretrial will be held for dzhokhar tsarnaev. his trial is scheduled to start next month. >> new details just in folgd a deadly crash in southern california. we just learned two more people have died. an alleged drunk driver plowed into a group of people leaving a christmas service in rodondo beach last night. three people were killed, including two elderly women. nine others were hurt. after hitting them in in a

crosswalk, the driver then crashed into another car. >> that's truly, truly horrible news. >> tragic. >> it's 5:45. we have a lot going on, the holidays, the weekend to look forward to and more rain, christina. >> more rain. but we need it. usually when we get this kind of rain, people are like "rain, rain, go away," but not today! not for the rest of the season likely. we have had so much success this month, i think people are probably scratching their heads wondering what is january and february going to provide weatherwise to the bay area. you know what i mean? we're just getting this thing going. typically our most active months are january and february. that's when we receive the most rainfall here in san jose specifically. if you're trying to get out of town, good news, we have no major delays at any major airport. across the nation, you do want to pack that coat if you're

headed across the east. it is chilly and conditions will remain cool as we head throughout the next week. 7 degrees in minneapolis, 33 in nashville, 28 in cincinnati, new york is at 31 and 38 degrees in rowley. we're waking up closer to 55 degrees here in san francisco. we could see low ceilings develop as we head to the next couple hours. if you tried to fly out of sfo before, you know the drill. anything crops up, we'll let you know. the radar is the driest it's been at this hour all week long. temperatures as we head throughout the day today, they'll stick in the 60s. 61 in the south bay, 60 in the north bay and 60 in san francisco. bring that jacket with you. i think you can get by without your umbrella for most of the day. heavy stuff as we head throughout tonight and tomorrow morning, not a great time to leave it. especially headed down south because this weather will be

traveling with you. by about 9:00, the heavy stuff comes through, that's a good opportunity for you to try to get out of town. if you're trying to get to tahoe, there are warnings. you want to make sure you have your chains ready to go. one of the best ski seasons we've had in years. we'll talk about that coming up. a little wind coming up this morning. >> little bit, we have to talk about that as long as a little bit of traffic. now we'll look at this spot just north of 680. we'll see how it translates to your speed sensors. the south bay, that typical segment, northbound 101. we'll see some more slowing start to build for 280 and 87, as well as 85, a pretty typical pattern but lighter than the normal volume and that will start to clear earlier as well. a smooth drive for the peninsula. right there the the dumbarton

bridge toll plaza. there will be at least a distraction,if not one lane blocked for the next couple of minutes. southbound 680 with a slight build, speeds coming into the 55 mile-per-hour mark. and the same out of pleasanton. lighter, slower build for your commute. down the east shore, fremont shows a little build. all lanes here are backed up at the bay bridge. i did move that camera around and i didn't see any metering lights. we'll track that they maybe turned on the next 30 seconds. back to you guys. >> busy out there. busy in hollywood. the u.s. says north korea is behind the hacking attack on sony pictures and at least one official is calling for a response now from the white house. the official says the hacking attack came from outside north korea but was ordered by the north korean government the attack of receipts ent threats of violence by the hackers has forced sony pictures

to cancel the christmas day release of the movie called "the interview." hackers are angry about its premise. cnbc says the picture will never be released in theaters and will not even be seen on demand. and according to the web site "the rap," they've stopped production on a new steve carell film called pyongyang. now, not every theater is bending to the threat. one dallas theater says since sony has pulled "the interview," it will run "team america, world police" in its place. that's a 2004 puppet comedy that featured former north korean

dictator kim jong-il. >> menlo park need your help finding a robber. four masked men stormed into this market, demanded money from the cash register. the cashier could not get the drawer open so they punched him several times into the face. they forced another employee into the check cashing booth into the market and made him take money out of those religion sters. the robbers got away before police could get there. >> attorneys for suspended stay senator leland ye will be back in court. today lawyers will ask a judge to split up the cases so ye can be tried separately.

>> today the south bay teacher's aide accused of abusing several girls could finally find out when he is going to stand trial. 20-year-old nicholas lermier was arrested last year. he's due back in court today. he's accused of abusing girls wild he worked at this ymca child care center. >> well, uber is trying to get off the naughty list with a toy drive. >> you collect toys at your office, sam and instead of choosing uber, x or black car, you choose sleigh. it will pop up only today and uber will pick up your toy and take it to toys for tots.

they ask it be a non-violent toy in nature. this will work in east bay but not in san francisco. >> sprint is getting a lump of goal from the government. they are suing sprint for extra charges on customers' bills. the federal trade commission is also accusing other cell phone companies of the same thing and came to a settlement with at&t. so some in washington don't like the consumer financial protection bureau. they point out it's an example of confusion as to who is in charge of all this. >> and the "des moines register" says iowa has banned the test driving of tesla. you can still drive a tesla. the iowa state patrol won't pull you offer for that but it's cracking down on bringing cars into the state for people to try. tesla doesn't use car dealers because it violates many stay laws, including iowa's. so the company has been bringing in cars to minnesota for

customers to try out. you still have to go back to minneapolis to buy them but they say no, no, that's against the law, too. >> if you're going to shell out $70, $80,000, you probably want to take a spin first. >> retailers rolling out deals to lower in those last-minute holiday shoppers as we hit the final weekend before christmas. amazon is offering same-day delivery on christmas eve in several cities including the bay area, as long as you get your order in by 10:00 a.m. target is keeping most stores open from midnig midnight. >> that is the problem, we are all, most of us, asked to do this and i'll tell you what, hopefully no one is facing too many weather challenges, christina, because if they are, it could make it difficult to get the last-minute gifts. >> but it's never that hard to get to the walgreens or cvs and

they have some very choice gifts. both of you will be receiving those this year. 52 in san francisco as we head throughout this afternoon, we're talking about a mix of sun and cloud. finally a nice dry break. it's not going to last long. more rain returns to the forecast. heavy at times along with another round of gusty wind. as of tonight, i'm going to time it out for where you live. more snow headed toward tahoe. the snow level will fall to 5,000 feet. you want to keep that in mind. tonight into saturday, we could accumulate an additional 1 to 2 feet of powder above 7,000 feet. just unbelievable conditions up there, mike. >> for the skiing but not so great for the driving. so bring those chains. here the metering lights are on. so is the water drying out on the lens here, a situation for bay area roads. nothing dramatic as far as the build of traffic over here. we have the low clouds and mist drifting around that might

impede your drive. we just show a little slowing heading over to the bay bridge. slowing north 101 through san jose typical about this time and we're looking at the dumbarton bridge. as far as that crash there, i was wrong, it's still blocked in the middle lane over there. back to you. >> it's 5:56. less than 20 hours after a deal between cuba and the u.s. is announced, cuba's president is believed to have joined twitter. an account claiming to belong to raul castro sent out its first tweet this morning. the account already has more than 1,000 followers, followed by president obama and secretary of state kerry and the pope but the account has not been verified. open today my official twitter account connecting all american people, thanks and welcome. there's a different one that has nearly -- what was it i looked up, nearly 200,000 followers.

that was set up previously. so i don't know. >> that's a bit confusing. have to look into that. >> coming up, new yorkers who want to own pet rabbits will have to leave city limits if they want to really buy one. >> last night the city council voted to ban bunnies from being sold in pet stores. rabbits who get free or set free, well, they multi-fly like rabbits. the council said the bunny population is getting out of control. >> they like to scurry, too. you don't know what a rabbit is going to do. >> coming up, the bay area elementary school showing the true spirit this holiday season. >> plus the bay area public defenders calling for peaceful rallies today.

bay area plea for justice nationwide.

how today's rallies will impact you whether you want them to or not. plus -- >> six hours we were up to $4,000. by the next morning it was $8,000. >> an outpouring of support. a community comes together to help those affected by recent flooding on the peninsula. >> and we will see some light, pesky showers but mostly dry for today. a little sunshine coming your way as well. more rain and gusty wind on the way for friday. then we'll enter into a prolonged period of dry weather before we get slammed for the first week of january. we'll continue to th rainy pattern, we'll tell you for how long. >> we have some pesky drizzle. a new crash across the span coming into san francisco coming up. >> nothing annoying about this, the live picture from the san bruno mountaintops. the bay area in the bay morning light. it will be light soon enough. it is thursday december the