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 18th.

this is "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> and a very good thursday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm sam brock. let's kick things off with a look at our realtime doppler radar. the green activity not as pronounced as it's been in the bay area. a quiet period before yet another round of rain moves in. we're talking the fourth storm this week. >> that's right. we're kind of getting used to the pattern of rain all the time, christina. >> it's almost unbelievable how much we've accumulated. it's historic. we've taken the record back as far as we can just to find a december that was as active as this. and here in san jose we're on our way to potentially breaking an all-time record for this month. we're not going to tally up too

much for rainfall totals today. but tonight we will get the heavy stuff. foam sfo could be problematic. can you see at that point we're getting some pretty generous downpours across the greater bay area in addition to the heavy rainfall on the way, another round of gusty wind as well. we could see more trees go down. i'm going to time out the wind for you coming up in my next report. we'll talk about what's to come. a little bit of a dry break that will last over five days before that storm track comes back for the first week of january. we've got a lot to go over. i'll send it back to you, sam and laura. >> alive look at the drive across the golden gate bridge this morning. the road as little slick. mike inouye tracking the conditions out there. >> people who were flooded out of their homes are returning home, trying to get their lives back to normal.

>> kris, the community is really coming together there to give people the help that they need. >> it was a very difficult picture to see people taking their children out of the mobile homes, some of the fathers, kids on their shoulders, carrying them on their arms. when the principal realized many of those children were students, she mobilized her school commute. the baerga family was forced out of their family. while many kids are counting the day until christmas, the baerga children were counting the days until they could get back home. >> i had nightmares. >> reporter: the red cross put them up in a hotel because the

mother is fighting breast cancer, the father is on dialysis. their home was flooded as well. many people lost the food because they had no power and many lost what they had underneath their mobile homes as well. the school principal was hoping for donations of about $500 or so, but quickly it went to $20,000. so now families will get gift cards for safeway so they can get food and to target so they can get through the holidays and also get cash so they can get their lives back together. a nice story of communities coming together above and beyond the floodwaters that forced those families out. >> it's what we need to do, help our neighbors. >> amazing with their

generosity. >> three rallies in three different bay area cities. whether you're taking part or not, there's a got chance your day will be affected. bob redell is live in san jose where people will be marching this afternoon. >> reporter: demonstrators will be calling for justice for wa they say is police misconduct. in san jose it lab group of activists organized by the coalition for justice department and accountability who 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 a controversial tweets he's allegedly posted in which he allegedly threatened civil right protesters. the department has already denounced those posts. this protest march starts at 4:00 this afternoon. down the street from here outside the santa clara district attorney's office to pressure

the d.a. to charge two san jose state police officers in the killing of antonio lopez guzman, who officers say came after them with a saw. and the alameda defender's off will be rallying at the courthouse in oakland and at noon in san francisco they'll be doing the same outside that city's hall of justice. both rallies will protest recent grand jury decisions in new york and ferguson, missouri not to indict white officers accused of killing unarmed black men. they'll use slogans like "black lives matter" and "hands up, don't shoot", slogans we've heard not only in the bay area protests but in other ones throughout the country. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you very much, bob. >> it's been an active time right now in the bay area period. not just the protests on the ground. in our skies as well. we'll give you a live look at

san jose, which surprisingly is not getting any rain water. >> it's christmas in the park where a lot of families like to head over. we're going to have our last weekend before christmas. >> it's been so rainy, you can't get out there and ice skate, it's just not safe to do so. today you're going to get a chance to do so. get on out there to union square. after all, ice skating is so much fun if you can stay upright. we do have a little bit of shower activity right now but not a lot. as we head throughout the day today, it will be mostly dry. mibs of sun and cloud coming your way, a little bit of pesky shower activity. the rain will increase when we get to around midnight tonight. the wind speeds are pretty significant. whenever up get into the double digits, 1 here at san jose, elsewhere single digits but do watch out as you cross our east-to-west bridges as the wind

direction is coming from the south, pushing to the north. let me put you in motion and take you into the 3:00al hour tonight. this is my concern. as you know, the ground is saturated, we've been hammered with heavy rain. now a round of gusty wind moving in. overnight tonight, we could see more trees go down. tune in tomorrow morning. but we are expecting another round of storm reports. could see another rock slide. as we head through the weekend, though, we're going to get as and chance to dry out, we'll get a prolonged period of dry weather that lasts well into your christmas day, though i'm always bulls eyeing what's to come next. it does look like the first week of january will be action packed full of rainfall. so enjoy this dry weather as long as it lasts. let's find out what mike's working with out there. good morning. you feeling good about the holidays just yet? >> i'm feeling great about the

holidays. the things developing, that's your issue. first of all, we see mist and drizzle on the lens. christina told us it's not completely clear. the full toll plaza, look at the other shot from emeryville. we do have slowing once again, second time this morning folks are slowing toward treasure island where there is a crash reported right around the treasure island on-ramp. certainly a crew will be distracting as you get over there. we're showing you the lower drive up the incline from the bay bridge toll plaza. overall it's a lighter volume of traffic but this could complicate things now. there you go with slowing out of richmond, westbound 80 all the way through berkeley. concord showing slowing through highway 84, slowing through the tri-valley, typical pattern for livermore. same for hayward. no drama for the south bay.

the dumbarton bridge, we still have reports from the earlier crash. there was "a discussion" going on there and so folks weren't waking up very friendly in the morning and a crash won't do anything to help that out. >> hmm. >> you're so polite, mike. >> talk it out. hug it out. no, don't do that. >> off the team and under investigation. why the 49ers wasted no time whatsoever cutting defensive lineman ray mcdonald amid accusations of now a second sexual assault. >> plus we'll take a look at the early days of that sony hack. what led up to being a debacle over "the interview." closed captioning provided by mancini sleep world triple bonus mattress sale.

welcome back now. good thursday morning to you. taking a look at the state of

california where we've had some major success. in terms of rainfall accumulation this month, as you can see, right now looking pretty good for travel up and down the state. but everything changes. we've got another storm system slated to slam the bay area. we'll tell you when for where you live in just moments. >> it's a success. that's a euphemism for a lot of rain. over here some of that on the windshield and on the lens, including a crash as well on the bay bridge. >> and here is a look at today's top stories. the belmont redwood shore school district has collected close to $20,000 to help the families of students who lost belongings in last week's flooding. elena's family lost all their food, blankets and some electronics. the money was able to help that family. >> union police say they need your help finding a man who was

shooting video of women inside the women's rest room in a local walmart. he ran off before police arrived. >> and michael peavy had been president of the puc for 12 years. governor brown has yet to name his successor. >> the future of now former 49er ray mcdonald is once again in the hands of the santa clara county district attorney. the 49ers released him after he's under investigation for an alleged sexual assault. a woman went to a local hospital claiming he sexually assaulted her earlier this week. at this point he is not under arrest and no charges have been filed. >> they would take her dna and

compare it to dna samples at the mcdonald home. so that is a critical part of this case if they have to establish that a physical encounter occurred. >> 49ers general manager says while the organization believes in due process, he says mcdonald has displayed a pattern of poor judgment. in august san jose police arrested mcdonald after his fiancee accused him of domestic violence. no charges were filed in that case. the prospect of another lengthy investigation involving mcdonald was likely a factor in the team's decision to let him go. >> laura, as you have heard, sony cancelled the movie "the interview" all together now. this has really unraveled. this all started with a brief mention of a hack at sony a couple weeks ago. >> it was late november, we mentioned sony employees had gone to work to see their computer screens displaying a curious message from an

organization called the guardians of peace. now, our immediate assumption was it was an angry sony employee who did it and looking back on it, the hackers didn't mention the movie "the interv w interview", the media didn't make the association right away. it wasn't until far later the so-called guardians of the peace started talking about the seth rogan movie. that said, sources within the u.s. government tell nbc's pete williams they do have proof north korea was behind this attack. however it started, it did end with threats of terrorism on american soil. if that threat was made by a foreign government, that's more than hacking. that's in the area of an act of war. it's no longer about a movie. the u.s. government says action will be taken, though it's not clear what. >> wall street is getting ready to extend yesterday's rally,

stronging considering it might raise interest rates but not yet. we have a very dovish fed. so half celebration we're hearing about interest rates hike and half celebration they're not coming soon. >> and russia president vladimir putin wrapped up a tell conference that lasted more than three hours. he promised russia's recession would last no more than two years and said russia was a bear and the u.s. was trying to chain it done and take out its teeth. the latest round of sanctions is on president obama's desk and he may sign it today. mr. putin was also asked by a ukrainian journalist about how many russian soldiers were in ukraine, how many were killed and what he said to their parents. he didn't answer the question but it was astounding the frankness of that question.

all in all there were 1,259 journalists at that press conference. >> he just ignored that one? >> he ignored it but that somebody had the guts to ask it at all is the sign of a very different russia than you and i grew up with. >> yeah. better keep your eye on that reporter. thanks a lot. >> we're going to take a look at what is going on outside right now, the bay bridge at 6:18 on your thursday morning. you wonder, christina, you're not getting bored now, are you? this brief lull, you're surging ahead and now to some down time. >> have you seen the radar? it just looks boring. >> it's actually put a damper on the holiday season around the bay area, no pun intended with that one. but i can tell you today is your day to get outdoors. if you are somebody who works outdoors, i had a guy deliver me a very large and heavy package last night in the pouring rain.

and my heart -- yeah, it was a brand new chair for my husband. he needs it. and i can tell you right now, you're going to have a good day. if you work outdoors today, it's a good day for you. we do have rain returning by tomorrow. so keep that in mind. we really tip our hats to those of how put it in overdrive to get those packages out. here in the silicon valley, we like to order on amazon. your package is likely to arrive on time if they're traveling through the air today. you want to watch out, though. if you're trying to get to the pacific northwest, check ahead, rain in portland and seattle. we'll see some pretty good looking thunderstorms develop in houston and new orleans and trying to get to the northeast could be a lot tougher. this year all we're working with for the holidays, gusty wind in new york city and washington. like i said, no flight delays this morning, even out of sfo but i'm watching these cloud and seeing them start to lower. i think we will see flight delays as we head out the next couple hours.

you get the volume going and the cloud sticking right here. right now, light activity as we head throughout the afternoon. pesky showers but not that steady, heavy rainfall that has been putting a real damper on the evening commute. tonight not going to be that bad. but by 2:00 a.m., our next round of heavy stuff comes through. we take you through 4:00 a.m. tomorrow and tracking that raich rainfall. all of this is heading over to tahoe, potentially producing another 1 to 2 feet of pressure powder up there above 7,000 feet. we'll talk about that coming up. trying to get over there could be difficult. we'll let up know the most active time frame and a gust of wind coming to the bay area. i want to make sure you're aware of that near the high elevations and near the coast. >> christina, did you say 1 to 2 feet possible again? >> i did. >> all right, we're measuring in feet again. that's good news for the sierra.

over here we're looking for the glow of the lights, and moisture in the air. let's look at your tri-valley. we do have that build now kicking in. we talked about a lighter volume of traffic for the next couple of weeks but we have slowing 680 through pleasanton and sonoma. we have people tending to take off a little earlier from the friday before all the way through christmas and new year's. northbound 101 shows a little build. the crash over at the dumbarton bridge has cleared to the shoulder. sound like chp must have gotten on scene and got i don't know cooler heads and got them to move over to the side. we have a crash at the bay bridge as well. we have a slower drive developing at the span itself approaching the tower. as you approach treasure island

itself, we have a clear drive. looks like whatever is going on at the treasure island on-ramp is affecting only the on-ramp itself and not the freeway. we have mist and drizzle and that might have slowed folks done as well. >> speckles on that camera. thanks very much, mike. >> 6:22. still ahead, beaten and robbed. police on the peninsula searching for four masked men who made off with $18,000 in cash. >> and a live look outside been that is from san bruno. we are ever so close to the weekend. and then of course your christmas holiday next week. we're tracking all the latest storm developments. traffic right now is a little bit lighter. we'll have updates on the news in your community right after this break.

two gunmen forced an employee into the check cashing booth into the market and made him take money out of those

registers. the robber got away before police could arrive. >> new research released this morning back previous studies that show there could be a link between air pollution and autism in newborns. the harvard study shows women in their third trimesters of pregnancy exposed to air pollutants nearly double their risk of giving birth to a baby with autism. the higher the exposure, the higher the risk. health experts say linking the toxins to what's in the last trimester sheds light on the development of founding what leads to autism. >> the opening bell just minutes away. we'll be breaking down the numbers with scott mcgrew. >> plus, ready to do business with cuba. not everyone is happy about the historic policy change. we will have a live report from washington next. >> a lot to be thankful for right now in the bay area. however, as we give you a picture of the bay bridge, lots

of cars out there showing maybe a bit of question getting into the city this morning. it is 6:26 on your thursday and we'll be right back after this with more news, weather and traffic.

agreeing to let bygones be bygones. what this historic change with cuba means to you. >> glowing lights over here from our coliseum camera. we have that as one warning, as well as northbound toward the bay bridge or southbound toward the san mateo bridge.

>> looks like investors are fairly happy about the fed. the fed said it was thinking about raising interest rates. so are we happy that it mentioned the interest rates? or are we happy they're not doing it yet? the answer is probably both. >> perhaps a puzzle this morning, but scott kind of giving us the lay of the land there, this as we take a live look at the nasdaq. and we'll give officer peek outside as well on your thursday morning. getting ready to get dressed for the day, the holiday very soon on the horizon. it's thursday, december 18th. you are watching "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> a good thursday morning to you. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. americans are waking up this morning with a president ready to do business with cuba for the first time in 50 years. but not everyone is happy about it. tracie potts is live on capitol

hill this morning with more on what comes next. >> reporter: hey, laura. step one, the state department has to take another look at the list of countries that we consider terrorist countries and take cuba off that list. and then congress has got to deal with the trade embargo. yes, the president wants to open up our doors to cuba and vice versus versa. it will make it easier to open up banking to shift money between the two countries. but trade and the trade embargo, that's got to be dealt with when congress comes back. we're already hearing rumblings on capitol hill that conservatives are not happy about it. some have been public about it already. president obama and raul castro sealed the deal in a 45-minute conversation after a year and a half of secret negotiations involving the pope and a

prisoner exchange that sent three cubans back who were convicted of spying here in the united states. one american spy convicted in cuba sent back here after 20 years in prison, along with another american state department contractor, who arrived just yesterday. laura? >> wow, so interesting the players involved as well, the pope. thank you very much, tracie. >> and a local connection as well. congresswoman barbara lee who serves the east bay just returned from cuba. she's been working to improve relations with that country for decades now. >> years. this year especially with regard to alan gross but it's been very difficult since i've been going down since '77. i've seen the ups and downs through many, many administrations. >> oakland airport was one of the first airports in the country to have direct flights between cuba and the united states. >> it's 6:22. trial to check our forecast. let's take a peek outside this morning overlooking san jose.

we'll check that traffic this morning with mike. and what about our forecast? a little break in the pattern of rain, christina? >> little bit of a break, little bit of a break. i can tell you it's coming back for the first week of january. that's where i start to get concerned. e i like to look 15 days out. i can tell you we're not going to close that storm window up. we have rain chances into january, which is typically our rainiest month in the bay area. 51 in the south bay, 53 in san francisco to kick off your day. i call these pesky showers. you can really dodge them if you move fast enough, just put a newspaper over your head, if you still read the newspaper. 7:00 p.m. is whether it starts to pick up. we stop the clock at 3:00 a.m. and that's when it starts to get busy, especially up in the north bay.

watch this. 7:00 a.m., just as mike and i are getting ready to kick off that rush hour drive and help up get out that door, this rain is going to be coming in. so you do want to make sure you check in with us tomorrow. then we get a break. watch what happens. all this rain on its way to tahoe. here's the deal. you're going to find safe conditions if you get up there today but tomorrow the snow level is falling to 5,000 feet by 9:00 a.m. and we're going to keep that snowfall going until the first part of saturday, maybe 1 to 2 feet of fresh powder. whenever you're headed up there with conditions like this, you want to make sure you got those chains ready to go. >> absolutely. you never know, the conditions are not exactly what you think. they're what christina thinks, so check with her as well. over to the bay bridge, the flashing lights, don't be alarld. there's an oversized load there. they have flashing lights as they make their way across the

bridge. so we'll track that as it makes its way across. look at the maps and we see a smooth drive right now. the backup for 580 coming off of 24. a smoother drive for the east shore and we're watching the span. we had two earlier crashes. they have both cleared without any major effect to your morning commute. an easier drive but slowing off the upper shore freeway. the wide view showing you concord and walnut creek. the rest of your bay moves very nicely as well. we have typical slowing for hayward. the tri-valley has a build as well. we'll talk about the san mateo bridge. i mentioned folks heading south from the coliseum toward 92. they'll be met with a lot more traffic and the sign lit up on the right side. it talks about the high winds across the bridge. it will be a factor, especially

the high rise. can you clearly see it but you might get moved across either right or left. as christina says, this bridge goes either to west. the north bay, with that build a glow for the light, slippery road. that is an issue still. watch the peninsula. 101 around milbury, we had flooding for the last week. a large puddle will probably develop if we get any sorts of rain there again likely. >> learning those patterns as well. >> we're both struggling trying to read that sign. >> not happening. >> bionic mike. >> that's his new nickname right now. the markets have been trying to claw their way back after the last couple of weeks. >> let's check in with scott mcgrew. >> the dow is adding 1% but we've got a long way to go. lending club out of san francisco is near an all-time

high this morning, about a week after its ipo. and then the president of the united states is set to sign a new document that would bring new sanctions against russia. it is on his desk this morning. here you see him releasing some sanctions against cuba yesterday. so we'll see if it works against russia and ukraine. back to you. >> thanks a lot. >> 6:37 right now. still ahead, a suspected drunk driver running into a crowd of people getting out of a christmas celebration. tragic news. we'll have the latest on that investigation.

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new details this morning. southern california police say a woman was driving drunk when she sped through a red light, plowing into a group of people in a crosswalk. she then slammed head on into another car. three people were killed, including two elderly women. as many as nine others were injured and all of this happened outside of a church in rodondo beach as people were leaving a christmas service. the driver was arrested on suspicion of dui. >> boston bombing suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev will make his first appearance in federal court in months. his trial starts next month. >> and closer to home attorneys for suspended state senator leland ye will be back in court

for another procedural hearing. ye and 27 others face a series of charges, including racketeering and corruption. >> a south bay summer camp counselor who pleaded not guilty to inappropriately touching children could find out today when he will stand trial. 20-year-old nicholas lermier was arrested last year. he's accused of sexual assaulting four girls when he worked as a teacher as aide at a ymca children's center. >> there's a lot going on this morning. a bay area plea for racial justice nationwide. how rallies planned for today throughout the area will impact you, whether you plan on taking part in them or not. >> plus an outpouring of support. a community comes together to raise nearly $20,000 for those affected by recent flooding on the peninsula. >> and a live look outside right now. no flooding to speak of.

drivers right now and people in the area getting a bit of a brief break but the rain will return on a beautiful shot there as the sun getting ready to come up on your thursday morning. we'll be right back with 15 minutes of nonstop news, traffic and weather after this break. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

>> announcer: now 15 minutes of continuous news, weather and traffic on "today in the bay." >> three large rallies are planned in three major bay areas, cities that could impact your daily commute. bob redell joins us live from san jose. the rallies are in response to what many are calling racial injustice. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sam. you'll be seeing them in san francisco, oakland and here in san jose throughout the day. there will be rallies and/or protesters demanding justice for

what they see as police misconduct. we're at san jose police headquarters where a group of activists organized by the coalition for justice and accountability, including the naacp, will be marching here to present a petition to demand officer phillip white be fired. the department has already placed him on administrative leave for controversial tweets he posed, in which he allegedly threatened civil rights protesters. the police department has denounced those posts. the protest march starts at 4:00 this afternoon outside the santa clara district attorney's off to pressure two police officers in the killing of antonio guzman who they say came after them with a saw. >> and at noon their counterparts bay in san francisco will be doing the same outside the city hall in

justice, both rallies protesting the decisions not to indict white officers for killing unarmed black men. >> the national dialogue on this topic continues. thank you very much, bob. >> it's 6:46 right now. the dialogue across the bay area recently has been all about the rain and all the storms coming our way. taking a live look outside looking out at san bruno mountains this morning. another break in the rain but more is coming? >> but it is the talk around the water cooler. you can enjoy that sip because we have more rain on the way. >> hey. >> feel comfortable, sam. i know sam's excited about the holidays. i know laura is, she's got three little triplets. they're going to wake up on christmas morning and it's going to be nice and clear. that goes for your family as well if you are trying to get

out of town. we have good news across the nation. i told you this was probably going to be the case and as of now, here's the proof. san francisco, 66-minute flight delays due to low ceilings but r where else, we're looking real good. do count on a little bit of fog this morning. that's going to be the story at least through about 9:00, 10:00. make sure you bring your winter gear as well. take a look at this. you are in the single digits in minneapolis, chicago 24 degrees, that's a shout out for you, scott mcgrew, and 33 degrees in nashville. so if you're trying to get out of town, make sure you bring that winter gear. i bet your relatives would much rather come on down to the bay area. now, we do have some rain on the way for today and tonight. but as we get into your holiday week, we're looking mostly clear, just about every single

day we'll stay nice and dry. we're headed toward the 60s, 61 in the south bay and 61 y 1 deg in beautiful wine country. union square has carollers performing each day for free through the 31st. it's really cool, it's festive and just spectacular. if you haven't seen that tree in person, it's worth making the trip to the city. as we head throughout the day today staying mostly dry and then that rain comes in by tonight into tomorrow morning. do keep that in mind. at this point tomorrow morning, we'll likely have some heavy downpours on the radar. i hope you enjoy your mostly dry drive to work. let's find out what you are working with, though. let's go to mike inouye. >> we like to show you this cam from from time to time just to get an idea of the volume over here. let's look at palo alto, 101.

a good volume of traffic northbound, kicking in a lot of headlights for the northbound side. i'm thinking this might be the last good commute we see, by good i mean sizable. the peninsula side moves smoothly, san mateo westbound is your direction. we have a crash at winston blocking your car pool lane and it looks like a new incident might be adding to the slowdown at 238 or just off the castro valley y. toward the bay bridge we have a new crash west 24 just out of the caldecott tunnel. the oakland side moves slowly. the east shore freeway, no drama but the build continues out of richmond down to hercules. back to you.

>> people whose homes were flooded from the rain are now returning home, trying to get their lives back to normal. >> kris sanchez joins us from belmont. the good news is the community really coming together to help them monetarily with that. >> reporter: even before the floodwater receded, there was a flood of generosity and of kindness that was brewing and it is going to benefit this community here. let's introduce you to one of the families who had to spend night after night in a shelter because their home was flooded out. the baerga family is one of 11 families with children that had to spend five nights in a red cross shelter after the mobile home park was socked with feet of rain water. while many children are counting the days until christmas, the baerga children were just counting the days until they could go back home. >> it was really, really hard. it was at night so when i slept, i was still worried. i had nightmares.

>> now, many of the children forced out of the belmont mobile home park and into shelters were classmates at nesbitt elementary school. when their principal found out what happened, she mobilized the school community asking for donations. >> we were up to $4,000 and by the next morning it was $8,000 and now we sit at close to -- a little over $19,000. >> because of the school district's fund-raiser and the elementary school -- the nesbitt families will get gift cards to place the food they lost and other necessities and they'll get a bulk of the donations in cash so they cannot only get through the holidays but get their homes in order. some people donated online through go fund me. can you do that. the principal nesbitt elementary school said some of the donations came in in much smaller amounts and they were students bringing in their

allowances and even their tooth fairy money because they wanted to help their classmates. >> what a wonderful example of the spirit of giving. thank you, kris. with more rain headed our way tonight, make sure you're prepared. you can download our bay area app for your smartphone. you'll see the very latest radar and live weather alerts. >> the city wants to know what residents think about developing the area around the coliseum. they've developed the community to a workshop to offer their comments. they have come up with some ideas to turn the area around o.co into a sports entertainment park. >> the 49ers released ray mcdonald yesterday after

learning he is now under investigation for an alleged sexual assault. tours tell nbc bay area a woman went to a local hospital claiming that mcdonald sexually assaulted her at his home this week. investigators then searched the house but at this point mcdonald is not under arrest, nor have any charges been filed. former prosecutor steven clark says physical evidence here is key. >> they would also take her dna and then compare it to dna samples at the mcdonald home. so that is a critical part of this case if they have to establish that a physical encounter occurred. >> the 49ers general manager says that while the organization believes in due process, he says mcdonald has displayed a pattern of poor judgment. san francisco police in august arrested him after his fiancee accused him of domestic violence. the process of another lengthy investigation involving mcdonald was likely a factor in the

team's decision to let him go. >> making matters more complicated for the 49ers, jim harbaugh may have a foot out the door. his alma mater, university of michigan, has offered him a job already, the deal amounts to $8 million a year. it would be the highest in college football. he's reportedly considering it but previous said he wants to stay in the nfl and has been rumored as a possible candidate for the raiders. >> public utilities commissioner michael peavy will hold his last hearing today. he's now under investigation by the u.s. attorney for questionable meetings with tom pg&e executives. governor brown has yet to name peavy's replacement. >> it is the latest. sony has cancelled the interviews, no video on demand, no nothing. >> now the united states government says it is ready to take action. >> that's what someone in the

administration is telling nbc's pete williams. there is proof north korea was behind the hack and ultimate threats of violence. the u.s. government said it is exploring a range of options. remember, this is not just about a seth rogan movie anymore but a foreign power threatening terror on american soil. vladimir putin just held a three-hour-long press conference with more than 1,000 reporters. obviously the falling ruble was a major topic. one of the biggest currency collapses in the modern era causing table inflation. putin blames the west. right now it takes 61 rubles to get you one american dollar. and sam and laura, i heard a russian boy asks his dad for 10 rubles? 50 rubles, his dad asked, what do you need is 100 rubles for? >> you would think it's amazing the reporters could give putin the questions.

>> tough, tough questions. it's a different time from our childhood. >> a final check of the day's top stories. union city police need your help finding man who shot video women inside the women's rest room at a local walmart. officers say this man was hiding inside of a bathroom stall before he was finally discovered. he ran off before police could get to walmart. >> menlo park police need your help finding a man they say beat up a store cashier before taking off with $18,000 in cash on tuesday. four armed masked men stormed into the market on willow road demanding money from the cash register. >> and retailers are rolling out deals to lure in the last-minute holiday shoppers. you know who you are as we hit the final weekend before christmas. did we mention that? amazon is offering same-day delivery on christmas eve in several cities including the bay

area as long as you get your order in. the deadline for that is 10:00 a.m. why do we encourage people to do this? >> gets easier and easier every year. >> sure does. >> until 10:00 a.m. >> and a clear weekend for people to get out and hit the mall. >> hit the mall for one day only without having to dodge showers. this just came into our newsroom. i love being able to bring this to you. 23% of the state came out of exceptional drought with the inclusion of the entire bay area, and that's right, sam, you covered this. you reality checked it. drought, they said it couldn't be done. so far -- you're really digging out. we got a long way to go. we still want you to conserve but this is some success. >> you said something eye popping yesterday, which was in san jose we had not seen this rain in a century, 746% average -- >> we usually get an inch.

so far we've had 7.5 inches. >> it's not fun to mess with mother nature. >> we're hoping for rain. looking out for the roadways. it's a reality check. looking at your northbound 101, the realism here is your commute. we do have some slowing. the slowing at 101 is gradual. the build from the evergreen area past the airport, same thing for 85, 287. we should see a good commute building by 8:00 in the south bay. we're seeing that on 680 southbound but nothing as dramatic as a typical area. look at dublin, very nice at the interchange. hayward approaching wynton should be clearing shortly and north off the castro valley y causing slowing toward san

leandro. and we have a crash at the caldecott tunnel. a car was facing the wrong way after the crash. >> good to know. >> is there any question at all that the holidays generally bring out the absolute best in people? thousands of low-income families in the south bay getting a much-needed boost just in time for the holiday. >> sacred heat community services plans to pass out 3,300 boxes of food today and tomorrow. and the giving doesn't end there. next week sacred heart will pass out more than 17,000 toys and books to south bay children. each child will get two books, two toys and one book and food to feed the family. it really makes for a great holiday for everyone. also, we can't forget that the rest of the year people are hungry, too. >> yes. and kris sanchez reporting from

the belmont commute, they're really giving money to families displaced due to the flooding. >> have to watch out for our neighbors, right? we're all in it together. thanks for joining us this morning as well. we'll be back at 7:25 with a live local news update. >> have a great day. inteligencia de estados unidos we're live in washington and havana. in court this morning, the