with an answer to the coldest of crimes. a babysitter f in court and asked to come up with an answer to the coldest of crimes. a babysitter facing a judge today charged with dropping and killing an infant at a local air force base. her explanation from jail about how the baby died. and many families in need of a gift. one of san francisco's most storeied traditions at the toy drive takes its final push into the christmas holiday. "today in the bay" starts right now. good morning and thank you for joining us on this christmas eve. i'm kara klamper. >> i'm sam brock. one more push of rain to greet us over the holidays. good tasee you, kari. yeah, we're drying out, again. >> getting ready for another round of rain and starting to

see that roll into parts of the bay area and the rain will be off and on throughout the morning and afternoon with at time some heavy downpours and even a wintry mix for the far north bay. a chilly day. only at 36 degrees with the rain coming down in the north bay and 50 degrees in the tri-valley. today's highs brings it up to the low 50s. gusty winds, off and on rains and bundle up and stay inside and wrap some presents. i'll show you the rest of the microclimate forecast coming up in a few minutes. it is 4:412 right now. a fairfield babysitter is due in court accused of killing a toddler. thompson died last week at the uc davis medical center after being found unresponsive. police arrested this woman, she violently shook the boy and then dropped him. she is a military wife and was babysitting for him in fairfield. yesterday in a jailhouse interview, she gave us her side

of the story she said she didn't do it. >> did the baby fall on to the floor under your care? as far as you know, the baby never fell? >> no. >> she claims the boy spit up blood and blacked out when she was driving him home last thurz but the autopsy shows the toddler suffered a severe brain injury. a possible break in a deadly hit and run in san francisco. police right now asking for help identifying an image they say may be the suspect's car. here's the image. taken from a surveillance camera. police say that a four-door black honda or nissan sedan struck early friday morning. near the 24th street b.a.rt station. well, the world's best basketball players are taking a stand against gun violence. >> that includes the warriors' own steph curry set to air during nba games starting

tomorrow. >> fans are in the holiday spirit and while thenba champions are making their winning moves on the court, some of the league's best known players are making a full-court press to end gun violence. >> i heard about a shooting involving a 3-year-old girl over the summer. >> reporter: stefan curry is one of the league's star making a personal appeal to stop the bloodshed on inner city streets. the anti-gun ad will appear during the league's christmas games. a time when families will be together watching professional athletes trying to put a slam dunk on the polarizing issue. >> if you look at the history of sports, it is a place where people who have nething else in common can have a discussion. >> reporter: the league's decision to take a stand on the issue even caught the attention of the president of the united states. he tweeted that sympathy for victims isn't enough. change requires all of us

speaking up warrior star green says gun violence is personal and a key issue for his sport. >> a lot of guys in the nba come from the inner city and a lot of guys struck by it and for an nba to take their stand and try to help make a difference, i think that's huge. >> i think the players carry a strong voice in the society that we live in. and gun violence is a very important issue and, obviously, it hits home to a lot of the people in this league. >> reporter: and it clearly hits home for fans, as well. >> young kids look at them every day. my son looks at them all the time. should speak up and say what they feel. one way or another. >> the psa was directed by spike lee and is getting so much support similar psas are likely to follow. officially christmas eve, as you mentioned a few minutes ago. the holiday rush already under way across the bay area.

from shopping malls to the airports crowds were out and about last night. a record 11 million californians are expected to drive at least 50 miles over the next ten days. chp says it's going to be doing maximum enforcement to ensure safety on the road. despite all the hussal and bustle, some folks kept the christmas spirit. >> i love the rush. a lot of people, long lines. but pretty good deals, i think. >> an extra special holiday seiz seiason for this couple. a marriage proposal right next to the huge christmas tree in san francisco's union square and we also caught a couple tears in there, too. >> that is adorable. i love love. i also love -- >> what's not to love? >> i also love it's christmas eve, but the roads were really slick this morning, kari, different than what we saw yesterday. >> try to get settled in where you wanted to go. as we take a look at some of those scattered showers we see them moving in from the north

and even a little bit of snow in the mix for the higher elevations. a closer look at what's happening here. we have more rain moving towards milpitas and also towards the east bay hills and then brentwood and discovery bay seeing some showers that are also around antioch and then in the north bay. we do have a little bit more of a coverage of that rain in the north bay with temperatures only in the upper 30s. wreer at 50 degrees in oakland and san jose at 45 degrees. more of those showers will be coming through as we go through the day, even getting heavier with the potential of some thunderstorms. we'll take a closer look at that and the very cold weekend that we're expecting. that's coming up in just a few minutes. >> we will stay tuned for that, kari, thanks. 4:36. coming up next a police squad car stolen right in front of a south bay officer. what the thief did then. and deputies in the central valley pulling over innocent drivers. why they want to do more of that next year. got a tip for nbc bay area

investigative unit. call 1- 88-996-tips. or e-mail theunit@nbcbayarea.com. nbc bay area, we investigate. a follow up now... ==vo==

milpitas police are looking for a man who stole an officer's a follow up now, milpitas police are looking for a man who stole an officer's patrol car. it happened on yesterday morning. investigators say an officer got out of his squad car to check out what he thought he was a

suspicious van. that's when a man slipped right into the van and drove away. police used gps equipment to track it down in neighboring san jose. officers found it abandoned. by then the thief was on to the next crime. he carjacked this suv from a woman. christmas came early for dozens of people in the central valley. got a nice surprise from sheriff deputies. >> instead of handing out fines for traffic violations, deputies spread cash as a means to spread some christmas cheer with an anonymous donation of $5,000. deputies knocked on doors and pulled over drivers. >> just a random act of kindness for the holiday season. >> you're welcome. >> the sheriff says it's an

opportunity to let the community see them in a different light. just in time for the holidays. they hope to continue and expand the program next year. people probably thought they were on a hidden camera show. >> or when you see a police officer, your heart just starts beating so quickly. why am i being stopped? >> yeah. it's not going to be a white christmas, but a wet one. coming up next, if you're trying to make travel plans, we'll let you know the best ways to get to the airport. what time, what the delays are like and make sure you get where you need to go on time. we'll check in with kari after this.

welcome back, it's 4:44 right now. kari hall is here to talk about the weather. we got a break yesterday. you told us we were getting one and this morning i already saw some slickness on the freeway. >> it is wet already. so, if you're going out for some last-minute shopping today, keep in mind that you need the umbrella and the rain boots and all the rain gear along with warm clothes as we take a live look out there now. you can see the camera is shaking around. a view from san bruno towards san francisco. a wet, windy day and at times the possibility of some thunderstorms popping up across parts of the bay area. getting a look at the big view. we do see that there are some showers and even some mountain snow farther to the north of us. and some scattered rain rolling well out ahead of that as we start to see a little bit more coverage in the north bay with the rainfall coming through. and it will continue as we go through the morning. also looking at the radar, some

showing up some wintry mix off farther east of us to the hills. rain moving through milpitas at this point and also parts of the delta and as we go towards the north bay. some scattered to light rain. this will be off and on at times getting heavier as we go through the morning and also watching out for those tides and that may cause some flooding on the coastal areas. scattered rain, once again, moving through all throughout the day. and some little bit more energy with this system, but not as much rain. so, once again, that could cause concern of some thunderstorms. as we go into tonight and into the day tomorrow, the rain wraps up here. but it will still be snowing in the sierra with very cold temperatures this weekend. we're expecting it in the mountains to drop down to about one or two degrees there. here in the bay area, a chance of freezing temperatures. the rain forecast brings us at least a quarter inch of rain and then maybe a 0.1 around napa and santa rosa. highs today in the low 50s.

it will be cool and well below average for this time of year. into the next few days, our temperatures really don't change. low 50s everywhere. for the sierra, once again, expecting a lot more snow with this system moving in. maybe up to two feet in some spots like in twin bridges. we could have a little bit of snow there or a lot of snow. but also the possibility of some snow around the bay area. now, we're looking at some of our mountain peaks and it looks like the computer models are not putting anything down until you look at mt. hamilton. that blah shows the possibility of light snow which could happen later on tonight and then wrapping up tomorrow. the weekend forecast will be cool. highs only in the low 50s. on saturday and sunday, only about 52 to 53 degrees. some spots up to 55. the morning temperatures, what everyone will be talking about. freezing is what we're expecting, especially in the valleys in san jose. 31 degrees and 34 on sunday and only in the upper 20s in napa

and walnut creek. also gilroy dropping down to 27 degrees. so, prepare for that now. i'll have a look at the forecast and also let you know if there are any travel delays coming up later. for now back to you, sam and kira. >> good thing a lot of people can be by the fire place today. off of work. others, a short work day and it's also a half day for the mark market. >> yeah, for that and the rest of your news before the bell, we turn to kate rogers. good morning, kate. >> hi, good morning, sam and kira. the markets will try to give investors an early present. futures have turned higher ahead of the opening bell. stocks posting a third straight day of gains wednesday thanks to the energy sector and oil prices had their biggest gain. unemployment and a short day of trading and the markets closed at 1:00 p.m. eastern and the dow rising 185 points yesterday to 17602. the nasdaq up 44 points to 5045.

live stream is warning customers its account database may have been hacked. the company is recommending they change their passwords. it doesn't show your credit card information, which is good news. lets clients such as spotify and nba broadcast live video content with camera and computer over the web. some retailers are telling customers that their holiday packages are being delayed by several days. "wall street journal" reports that eddy bauer and pacific sunwear is blaming fedex. a surge in volume from retailers and its network is performing like it should. sam and kira, back over to you. we're just three days into winter and the season already is off to a dangerous start for thousands of people across the country. >> calmer conditions here, but we've seen more than a dozen reported tornadoes sweeping across the deep south killing at least seven people. barry has the very latest.

>> a rare sight for taste. a massive funnel cloud near clarksdale, mississippi. >> it's like 10 to 15 houses totally gone. >> reporter: the south and midwest on edge and under the gun. >> tornado emergency continues for this cell that has been tracking through north mississippi this morning. >> reporter: roofs ripped from homes. the same system throwing cars off the roadway. numerous tornado watches and warnings in effect for ten states. >> we are looking still at that risk of tornado activity especially across parts of tennessee and mississippi. 72 million people that will still see the chance of some sort of severe weather overnight. >> reporter: in arkansas, soaking rains and high winds pushed a tree on to a house killing an 18-year-old woman. >> you only hear about these stories. you don't expect you to be in them. >> the storms brought heavy rain else where in the south.

making driving tough for truckers and weather added to the weight. >> been delayed two hours. >> reporter: as millions make their way home for the holidays. barry errant, nbc news. 4 it is 4:50 right now. if you're traveling this week, new changes coming to airport security and you might not like them. the tsa can now force some passengers to go through a body scanner. even if that person asks to opt out and get a full-body pat down, instead. the agency says the technology improves its ability to detect both metallic and nonmetallic objects that could pose a threat. objects that a pat down could miss. the change comes at a time of heightened concern over possible terror attacks. a southwest jet is out of service after making an emergency landing at oakland international airport yesterday. maybe you watched this play out on realtime on tv. problems with the landing gear forced pilots to abort that flight to chicago midway and

circle back to oakland, but not before spending hours in the central valley burning fuel. before that plane could land, it had to burn off tons of fuel for about four hours and pretty sense hour there's. some of the passengers on that flight were shaken up but southwest quickly rebooked them on to other flights. a 3-year-old girl is being hail adhero this morning for saving her pregnant mom's life. >> hello. >> my faum mommy fell down the stairs. >> and she has baby. >> you can hear little emma from england tell emergency dispatchers that her mother had fallen down the stairs. she was knocked unconscious and was seven months pregnant at the time and emma stayed calm and remained on the phone until paramedics arrived and while a little early, mom did give birth to a healthy baby boy. this happened last month but just yesterday emma was

recognized by the first responders who helped rescue her mother. happening right now, if you are looking to help bright on the holidays for kids in need, today is definitely your lucky day. lucky odual's holding the last-minute toy drive that is expected to kick off at 6:00 this morning. people can expect live music from carollers, as well as bob redell who will be there and a live report coming up in the 5:00 hour. well, it's 4:52 right now. coming up, it's been a san francisco institution for 52 years. why the lucky penny is closing and when you can get your last meal there, next.

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so, it's not a question of if, but when we get the rain today. >> kari hall is here to tell us all about that on this christmas

eve. >> chilly temperatures and very cold rain throughout the day. a look at the futurecast. by 9:00, a heavier wave oprain rolling through the peninsula and the east bay and the south bay and rainfall eventually reaching about a quarter of an inch through most of us. seeing the half moon bay area getting a quarter of an inch. redwood city also a quarter and 0.1 in oakland already by noon and we won't be done there. we'll see the waves of rain passing throughout the day with gusty winds and a few thunderstorms will be possible. i'll keep you up to date on that and another look at the forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you. as long as we're feeling charitable over the holidays, call it an early christmas present for stargazers. you're looking at radar images of it taken by nasa scientists in pasa dena. the christmas eve asteroid is going to pass the earth at a distance of 6.8 million miles. that's about 28 times the

distance between the earth and the moon. if you'd like to catch a glimpse of it, you'll need a telescope. good to know, from the sky to san francisco. one of the city's favorite late night diners will serve its last meal today. the lucky penny has been a san francisco institution since the '60s. been around a lot longer than the target and best buy across the street. the old diner, the old school diner, in fact, is known for its comfort food like pigs in a blanket and patty melts. place isn't fancy, put sure is famous among its customers. >> we started to come and then derek when he was born, he came and he loves their -- >> food? >> what kind of food? >> breakfast. >> it's a chance to see everything in san francisco everything we knew leave. >> reporter: the diner is being torn down to make room for brand-new luxury condos and you see a picture there. closes at 2:00 this afternoon.

>> you have fond memories of eating there. you were telling me before. >> i am estimating, if we get off at noon can i race to the city to have my last meal there. >> make sure you don't get a ticket from the police officer os. coming up next, a lot of people playing santa claus on christmas eve. one of san francisco's proudest traditions renewed, again, this year with the lefty o'dohl's toy drive. and using his considerable on-court clout to try and change laws. steph curry headlines an nba spot on reign ing in gun violence and grabbed the attention of a few more powerful politicians. criminal charges in the death of

a boy. what she says happened - in her own words. samvo nba star power comes together .. to fight the violence. what some local hoops heros are doing to pitch in. kiravo and christmas means more than just last-minute shopping. fight violence. what some local hoops heros are doing to pitch in. christmas means more than last-minute shopping. how your health can make a difference today, this christmas eve. "today in the bay" starts now. and a very good thursday morning. christmas eve. thank you for joining us, i'm sam brock. >> i'm kira klapper in for laura garcia-cannon. >> we're checking in with meteorologist kari hall. you said the rain is returning today. >> off and on throughout the

day, maybe even early tomorrow as we take a look at the radar, we do see the showers farther to the north, moving into the north bay and we already had a wave that passed through most of the bay area creating slippery conditions and wet roads. it's now 39 degrees in the north bay while the tri-valley is at 50 degrees and today's highs brings it up to 53 degrees in san francisco and the peninsula and the tri-valley 51. cool, wet and a few thunderstorms possible. i'll detail all of that coming up in just a few minutes. sam and kira. happening later today, a fairfield babysitter due in court. she's accused of killing a toddler. thor thompson died at the uc davis medical center after being found unresponsive. fairfield police this week arrested gina bailey. she violently shook the boy and then dropped him. she is a military wife and babysitting thor in fairfield. yesterday she gav u