bob redell live on macarthur boulevard. >> you claim that you spoke to the man inside that car and actually knows what happened. >> and what's remarkable is that passenger who was left in that spot of the car, the front section, was able to walk away from the crash. he did go to the hospital to be checked out and then he came back to the scene about an hour and a half ago and that's when we spoke with him off camera. he came back to the scene because he wanted to make it clear to police that his friend, the 21-year-old driver was not under the influence when they experienced this horrible crash arn around 11:00 this night. they tell us his friend wassing it from his friend's family home to his house. the driver taking the passenger back home when i mentioned around 11:00 last night they lost control of the car here at mack ar maacarthur and maybell. it split down the middle. most of the impact appears to be on the driver side with the

passenger side remaining in tact. unfortunately, the driver was not wearing a seat. he was ejected, died at which scene, but the passenger was wearing a seat belt and he survived and the front part of the car. now, you'll notice that the back part of the car was in one location and the front part a good 50 yards away. police believe that it was actually the momentum of the crash that split the two, but the fact that the front part of the car had engine and some gasoline so it actually kept driving a little bit of the way from the back part of the car and that's why you ended up with the two pieces so far apart. the passenger did say that his friend just lost control of the car. that he was going around 60 miles an hour, which is above the speed limit for this section of roadway. but, again, he reiterated that he was not distracted that time and was not under the influence. when i asked him why does he think he survived. he said, god and his seat belt. now, this section of macarthur is still shut down between high

and maybell, but you saw the wreck ee eer behind me, it shou reoep on r reopen in the next 30 minutes. >> very scary scene, bob. thank you very much. bob mentioned it's on side streets near 580. is it having an impact on the morning amucommute? >> it will have an impact on getting there. getting down towards high street and bob's video, i think, showed you just off of the freeway and base of the on and off ramp and it's not closed. as the wrecker arrives, we should see macarthur clear and high street is open to and from 580. getting there, you might have to take masterson which is one block over. meanwhile, the freeways through oakland are fine. clear all morning. bay bridge toll plaza and we'll zoom out this shot and we don't see any problems for visibility. we're look at fog and low clouds yesterday. today a very clear view. a slight build for the

tri-valley. 680 through pleasanton the latest to slow and hayward for the build towards union city. right in the middle, there's the san mateo bridge. let's take a look at that. flat section moves well and getting more company and over there you can see the high rise from time to time. yesterday the clouds crept into the shot and fog, as i said, was an issue. karia much clearer view today, but what do you see in our near future? >> not as much fog as yesterday but getting ready for more changes before we head into the weekend. a live look at all our microclima microclimates. 46 in the north bay and 42 degrees in the east bay and we'll be up to the low 60s today, even some upper 60s for the south bay. little bit more sunshine, again, today. but, once again, that next storm system is knocking on the door. so, i'll detail that, what to expect as that moves in. that's coming up in a few minutes. sam and laura. >> very much. a dangerous and potentially deadly virus could be here in the bay area.

a woman in walnut creek is now under going tests for the zika virus. "today in the bay" chris san is here. kris, this virvirus is concernig for pregnant women. now it is spreading. >> cases coming out of brazil for some time but we did talk with that mom to be in the bay area. while she is not ready to go public, she has an agonizing week and a half ahead because that's how long the tests take to show if she has the zika virus. if it is, it is a virus she could pass on to her unborn baby. the woman went to a walnut creek hospital after travel to bora bora over the holidays, according to scientific magazine. in red are all the countries around the world with active zika cases. the cdc is warning pregnant women to avoid travel to puerto rico and 13 central and south american countries and that includes brazil where the mosquito-born illness is an

epidemic. some pregnant women the symptoms are very mild, but for their babies the infection can cause microcepha microcephaly, which is often deadly. >> in women that are pregnant, it affects the development of the baby's head and brain. the skull is small. the brain can't grow to a normal size. >> how some pregnant women may even know that they are infected, but others will have symptoms, including high fever, headache, joint and muscle ache. the woman is now being monitored while her test results develop. if she does have the zika virus, hers will be the first case in california. there are moms with zika in hawaii, texas, illinois and florida. sam and laura? >> thank you very much. 6:05. happening today, governor brown laying out his vision for california's future with the annual state of the state address. this will be brown's sixth such

speech, at least since resuming the role of governor in his second go around. many believe it will focus on the state's expanding revenues, as long as some of the persistent problems california faces including the ongoing drought. brown will deliver his address at 10:00 this morning that state capital. also happening today use of force policies within the embattled san francisco police department. that's what two commissioners will start doing tonight. stephanie chuang live from our san francisco newsroom. this comes six weeks after police shot and killed mario woods. that ignited a firestorm within the community. >> it did, sam. so much anger. so many protests that it moved mayor ed lee to ask for a review of department policies, with use of force and official recommendations are exz pec s s be out in a number of weeks. recommendations from the police commission. you look no further than last night's police commission meeting. the large group of protesters met for the first time by a large group of police officers.

anywhere from 75 to 100 of them there to support their police chief amides for his firing and to support the five officers involved in the woods shooting back in december. >> i'm black. but you quo i have, i have another family. i have a family in blue, too. i go and i protect. i protect them, i protect the citizens. >> only a couple of officers were able to speak before they left gettinged out by the crowd there. by the way, the five police officers in the woods shooting are back on the job. modified duty, desk duty. the first modified hearing to ask the public for recommendations is slated for 6:00 tonight at the third baptist church on mccallister street. the board of supervisors rules committee is also taking this on and asked representative from the police department to talk about alternative use of force. we're told that the escalation technique is really a big focus here. live in our san francisco

newsroom, stephanie chuang, "today in the bay." it is 6:07. the family of a boy shot and killed by a sonoma county deputy in a headline grabbing case will be allow take their wrongful death suit to trial. sought and killed 13-year-old andy lopez a little more than two years ago in santa rosa. lopez was holding a replica ak-47. briefly suspended, but returned to puafter the d.a. declined to file criminal charges against him. a federal judge ruled against the count the deputy who argued the case be dismissed because jailhouse feared for his life. the trial is expected to begin in april. the search is on for an alleged arsonist for multiple arsonists, perhaps, after the santa cruz county sheriff department found six cars torched and destroyed. show you that video in a second. of course, that's andy lopez, again. when they responded to a dumpster fire yesterday, they saw a car engulfed in flames.

they responded to another nearby fire shortly afterwards, where they found five more cars burning. they were able to minimize the damage on four additional cars. no word yet on the cause of the fires, but deputies believe the two incidents are linked. it's 6:09. at first light crews will resume their search for a missing surfer in the north bay. last night cue crews scoured the area. pictures of the rescue operation from the national park service. here's what happened. two other people found the surfer unconscious in the waters near the shore. one started giving the surfer cpr, but that's when a big wave hit them and the victim was pulled back out into the water. just south of pacifica a man was found dead 150 feet down a cliff. rescuers discovered his body at gray whale cove yesterday afternoon after a hiker noticed it from above. not clear if the man fell down the cliff, but investigators do not suspect foul play at this point. happening right now, have

you been tracking what's going on in the east coast? specifically the washington, d.c., area? millions of people on the east coast bracing for a major, potentially life-threatening winter storm. they are stocking up on emergency supplies to prepare for the weekend's blizzard. they're also anticipating blocked roads, power outages and canceled flights. the storm is predicted to bring heavy snow, as much as two feet or more across about 14 different states. >> so, as they prepare for that, we prepare for more rain headed to the bay area. but a dry one this morning, kari. >> it is dry for now. we continue on with the mild temperatures. enjoy it while it lasts. we do have this storm system moving in. tell how widespread those clouds are. it will last for at least several hours throughout the day tomorrow and in through the start of the day on saturday. right now our temperatures 50 degrees at the peninsula and 56 degrees in the north bay. as we drop in to get closer look, it's in the low 50s

heading out. nice and mild and, once again, dry. we'll need the umbrellas as we head into tomorrow. i'll detail that and what we're expecting as far as the storm impact. that's coming up in less than ten minutes. let's see what's happening on the roads now with mike. >> enjoy our commute right now while we can before it gets to a wetter commute tomorrow morning. we're looking over towards dublin and a clear view, low clouds and fog yesterday. but, today, we see an easy view of a pretty easy drive. look at your map. we do have slowing, of course, for 580 out of the altamont and building up around and south 680 through sunol. typical pattern for a thursday. hayward down towards union city, the build and now the mateo folks starting to move over towards the peninsula. no drama there. the south bay no drama. slight build for 101 and 87, 280 and 85 follow over the next half hour and jump from the south bay to the north and southbound 101 has a build here, as well. little slowing out of novato and

approaching lincoln avenue for the southbound commute. back to you. christmas is over, but hoverboard concerns remain. those fires related to hoverboards becoming such a large problem, the federal government is making a unique request for anyone who owns one. speaking of putting out fires. we'll show you. we have graphs. you have to stick around for that.

a follow up now. a house in the north bay this week marked the 40th hoverboard related fire in the country. eight of them in california. this according to the u.s. consumer product safety commission. the santa rosa home caught fire on tuesday. carpenter family was able to make it out safely, but the smoke was too much for bella and boo, the family dogs. by examining burn patterns on the floor, firefighters say it appears the was a hoverboard that was charging inside of a bedroom. >> just going to go off. you never know when. >> just last month, the hoverboard burst into flames damaging a home in brentwood. >> now the problem with hoverboards is so big, the cpsc is actually making a very unusual recommendation. >> and maybe a bit bizarre. >> scott mcgrew the safety agency says don't use a hoverboard without also buying a fire exuisher. >> i can't think of a time when

we heard such a bizarre and sobering announcement. the head of the cpsc said wednesday it recommends you have that fire extinguisher nearby but particularly when charging it and it goes without saying. do not charge your hoverboard and leave the house or go to sleep. now, the cpsc is also strongly hinted in a statement that it may ban the toys of the future saying all options are open. another warning, the government reminds you electronic devices should display the underwriter laboratory seal, the ul. but the government says ul has never approved any hoverboard, not once. if you see a seal, it's likely a fake. the presence of a ul mark, they say, is at best misleading may even be a sign of a counterfeit product. the government says when it comes to hoverboards, the seal of approval that tells you it won't explode is fake. the dow fell by 500 points on wednesday before recovering a bit. all in all, the index moved up

and down 1,100 points. got about halfway down the ladder to the so-called circuit breakers where traders are slow or halted to avoid panic. now these wild swings may seem strange, but, really, we've forgotten they do happen from time to time. if you charted out an index, really, any index, you'll find a pattern. mostly up, but with suddips, totally normal. recently, though, otowards the end of 2015, we had kind of a steady climb, sort of forgot about these dips. the futures do look better this morning and i'll join you right after the open on the market and i'll give you an update. >> like you said, we're already in a correction and now we risk throwing it to a bear market if it tops 20%. thank you, scott. from the markets to outouter space. a new planet lurking in our solar system. cal tech researchers are calling it planet nine for now. if it does actually exist, they say it has a mass ten times that of earth and takes up to 20,000

years to orbit the sun. the discovery ten years after pluto was declassified as a planet. scientists are still gathering more information on planet nine. all the planets are aligning now. right? for about the next month. >> yeah. >> i'm checking that out. >> we're going to have a lot of clouds, but i think you'll have several days to try to see all of those planets out there lined up with the naked eye. that will be exciting. as we take a live look now, you don't need a telescope to see that it's not raining and, as you head out as we go into the next couple of days, we are going to see that rain returning and it will come with several concerns. let's take a look at the impacts we're expecting with this next storm system. we have king tides and the possibility of street and streams rising as that rain continues to pour. and then we'll also have a gust wind. we may have gusts over 40 miles per hour in some of the higher rain. if you're going to the sierra, heads up. most likely where we're

expecting one to two feet of snow and this is a pretty large storm system. so, we stay dry today and high temperatures reaching into the mid to upper 60s. so, just like that yesterday, it felt like spring, it was nice and comfort, enjoy it. as we go into the futurecast. this shows how the radar could look and when we see the lights shades of green, that's light rain. here in the north bay by 7:30 tonight. and then we see it spreading farther to the south. the rain tonight and into the day tomorrow will be very scattered and mostly light, but we do see it becoming more intense as we go into friday night and early saturday with some off and on rain for at least 24 hours. we have the potential, once again, of some flooding and it starts to wrap up for the sierra heading into saturday night. the rain forecast gives us the potential of at least an inch of rain for many spots across the bay area. and it may be even higher up to 1.25 in a few spots. so, that along with the high

winds will create some large waves off shore. and that combined with the king tides, high tides will be at about 10:00 in the morning. as we go into the sierra, the squall valley alpine meadows reports. it is warm today. look at 51 degrees for the high. but it does get cooler and that snow begins to move in for friday and saturday. the expected snowfall, once again, in some spots. over a foot, maybe even two feet for some of the summit. kirkwood looking at about 19 inches of snow between now and sunday morning. we'll have another look at the forecast coming up. let's check in now with mike to see how the roads are moving. >> quick note about tomorrow's rain. you mentioned that the peak might happen at 10:00 and friday commute ends a little earlier than the rest weekend. we might see a little break for the north bay closures where we expect to see some king tides affecting your off ramp. marin county area. over here in oakland, no problems for the on or off ramps and a nice, easy view and easy

drive for the nimitz north of the coliseum. same thing towards the bay bridge where the bay bridge metering lights are on. 580 off of 24 and same thing for a little slowing from richmond to the westbound 80. an easy drive here. little slowing off the vallejo area and ouls southbound 880 past the san mateo bridge. typical pattern but an easy drive right now. no delays over on the peninsula and the commute still making its way over to that side of the bay. we don't see any slowing for 87 and the late build right now considering it is a thursday. we'll look at 101 right in that spot. the cars joining on for the commute. the rebuild this week and looking here towards the end of the month, more folks hit the roadways and a light traffic flow through the winter holidays and now everything starting to come back. palo alto doesn't have any problems but 101 right by university. >> thank you, mike. coming up, 49ers introduced a new head coach. what chip kelly is saying about

the future of the storeied franchise, as well as the future of colin kaepernick. stay on top by setting the home screen on your smart phone to weather on the nbc bay area app. click on the top left corner of your screen and click on the button that says set your start screen. all you have to do is collect weather and click done. that will give you exactly what you need to know when you need to know it. that's how you're staying informed on the nbc bay area app. a new era begins for niners fans

- who hope new head coach chip kelly's innovative approach on a new era begins for niners fans who hope chip kelly's

approach on offense will help. kelly says he's looking at the bigger picture, one that is also including late-season starter. >> obviously, kap is an incredibly talented football player and you need to have a good quarterback to win. but i was also impressed in the film that i wauchd in terms of how blaine played this year, also. i think statistics will bear out that you need two quarterbacks in the season with the injury rate that quarterbacks have. i think both of those players made this an attractive situation. >> kelly won't tip his hand on which quarterback he might prefer or whether he plans to draft another quarterback. history in the nfl, buffalo bills promoted catherine smith to take over as quality control coach. the first woman to coach full-time in the league. smith's promotion after a six-week coaching internship during training camp. meantime, a baby seal recovering this morning after it was found to be a little

dehydrated and also malnourished. someone spotted the mammal flopping around in the bushes near business on the east side of hayward. no one knows, really, how it managed to cross 880, but crews from the marine mammal center came out to rescue the little pup to nurse it back to health. he had been rescued and treated at the center before back in november. a wild ride on wall street. we'll break down the early numbers coming up with scott mcgrew. a snowboarder survived an avalanche. all caught on camera. but this viral video that may be the evidence landing that man in serious legal trouble. an update to breaking news. a horrific crash killing a driver in oakland. what a man who claim be was inside that mangled car. what he says happened moments before the driver lost control. and a live look outside right now at the golden gate bridge. temperatures this morning about 50 degrees or so in san francisco and dry for now. but that's going to change this

eveni evening. more on your forecast and the market after this. got a tip for nbc bay area investigative unit? call 1-888-996-tips or e-mail theunit@nbcbayarea.com. nbc bay area, we investigate.

it's about time the taco...came out of its shell. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. that sound. like nails on a chalkboard. but listen to this: (family talking) that's a different kind of sound. the sound of the weekend. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop.

this morning as we watched the oechenipening bell on new y stock exchange. they're smiling now. let's hope we're all smiling by the end of the day. a lot of people closely watching the 401(k)s. the markets have been hammered down more than 10% in recent weeks. here's to hoping that our founding fathers might be able to kick things up a little bit. we'll be tracking that a little bit this morning. good morning on this thursday, i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. scott mcgrew tracking those numbers you in just a second. let's get to the forecast with kari. felt like a spring-like day in the bay area yesterday. >> ahead of the next storm system we enjoy some mild temperatures. it's all dry as you head and we are seeing some spots with patchy fog, but not as widespread as yesterday morning at this time. today's forecast brings it up to 60 degrees in the north bay. 62 in san francisco and the east bay. check out the south bay, 67 degrees.

one last warm and dry day before the rain begins to pour tomorrow. i'll detail that coming up. let's check in now with mike to see how the roads are moving. >> we're seeing a pleasant, easy drive around the bay. a blast of traffic kick in just north of 680. we'll show you the map. 101 a tough couple mornings and just a little slowing in usual spots. saw unusual flooding and that has just cleared up. so, better new track that closely. the rest of you bay shows a typical pattern for the tri-valley and same thing for 880. both south heading down towards fremont. the bay bridge metering lights are on and then a live look at oakland at the limit as far as the speed sensors go. you see that volume of traffic building up. and 880 through oakland and 580 moves well and surface streets a dramatic scene and hand it to

you guys. >> very dramatic. thank you. an update to breaking news a car cut in half. one person dead after this horrific crash on oakland surface streets. looking at this video, it's hard to believe the passenger inside that car survived. "today in the bay" bob redell joins us live. bob, crews just towed the wreckage away in the last couple of minutes. >> and, sam, they just reopened a part of macarthur here and high street. this is the section of roadway that leads you to 580 westbound. but as you can see, they still have the other section of macarthur shut down while the fire department finishes cleaning up the scene. i want to show you some video shot within the past 10 to 15 minutes. this is of the car you were speaking of that is being towed away. if you cannot tell, it was the silver coupe that was split in half during an impact with a tree around 11:00 last night. that just gives you a sense of

how violent that crash was. and as it was split, the impact appears to have been taken mostly on the driver's side and it it was the driver who died. he was ejected and did not have his seat belt on. died on the sidewalk and the passenger, his friend, is the one who survived and we spoke with him. he did come back to the scene here a couple of hours ago. he came back to tell the police on the scene that his friend was not under the influence of drug or alcohol at this time. that his friend just lost control of the car. that's what he tells us and that his friend speeding at 60 miles an hour. when i asked the passenger how did you survive this? he credited and the fact that he was wearing his seat belt. it was around 11:00 that they hit a tree off of mack arth arhere at maybell. this was around 11:00 last night as the driver was taking his friend home. the driver is a 21-year-old man. the passenger appeared to be around the same age. what was remarkable the passenger, even though he did go to the hospital to be checked

out, when he arrived back here, he did not have visible injuries and nothing to indicate that he had been in this horrific car crash. he credits god and his seat belt for surviving. oakland police have not confirmed whether or not driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol but they believe he had been speeding. reporting live in oakland, bob redell, "today in the bay." developing right now, watching wall street. where it could go. another down day for the markets. scott mcgrew is here now. how is it looking so far? >> we're moving the right direction anyway laura. the dow industrials up about 60 points and let's take you out live to the big board here, a little less than 0.5%. now, you had such a terrible day yesterday. any sort of green up arrow worth it. we'll continue to watch it early going since we're not going to have a repeat of yesterday. back to you. >> some positive early signs, you're right, sam. take it from here. >> sorry about that. this morning the chp now ruling

out drugs and alcohol as possible causes of that deadly bus crash that shut down northbound 101 in san jose all day on tuesday. now, this mangled bus is sitting at a cal trans yard in san martin. the bus towed there from gilroy as federal investigators dig deeper into what happened. they aring at several factors which include mechanical issues and highway design. a camera was recovered from inside the bus and the driver told officers already he was tire while he was behind the wheel of the bus. we're also learning more about the second victim of that crash. maria ortiz from salinas who was thrown from the bus. we're told tease was returning home from tijuana where she was visiting her sons when that tragedy unfolded. >> i wish he would have been a little more responsible. if he would have told someone he was tired and he felt like he couldn't do the drive, he shouldn't have done the drive. >> so heartbreaking.

51-year-old olavara of san francisco also died in that crash. a vigil for the two college students now believed to be lost at sea. 150 families and friends gathered on the cliff near santa cruz. that's where the two students were last seen. 19-year-old from palo alto and 19-year-old of san jose were at the beach monday when the two were swept out by huge waves. >> i'm devastated. he was the light of our family. he made our house happy. >> the coast guard called off that search earlier this week because of dangerous conditions. some of the relatives believe the coast guard didn't do enough, but others say, they should not put more lives in jeopardy. well, in santa rosa two elderly women in the hospital after getting hit by a driver that police say were under the

influence. it happened while the women were walking on the sidewalks yesterday afternoon. police say the driver 72-year-old gale gray was likely under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication at the time. but gray says she was distracted by her small dog that was sitting on her lap and mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake. >> such a tragedy. we don't know exactly what happened with why she plowed them over. there is a lot of accusations that maybe the dog got under her feet. >> one woman is expected to survive. the other has life-threatening injuries. gray is now under arrest. happening later today, a push for change, a wave of pushes for change. this now following an uproar at a san francisco police commission meeting last night. change in policy specifically as it pertains to use of force could be in store. "today in the bay" stephanie xrrx chuang joining us from the

newsroom. this all stems from the shooting and killing of mario woods last month. >> the anger from some in the community has not weakened. you have two police commissioners trying to figure out what changes must be made to the use of force policies. and that should be done by february. now, the challenge here may be to try to get responses without all of the anger at past meetings and protests. the division was clear between protesters and police at last night's commission meeting where 75 to 100 officers showed up to talk to boos by the crowd. police commission had to intervene several times and threaten to shut down thing. >> please give everybody two minutes. we are better than this. >> iinal personally take offens calls that racism or played a part in this officer-involved shooting. >> he was just one of koppel offic couple officers who were able to speak before they let. the officers are back on the job on modified duty, not on patrol.

focusing on de-escalation tactics and the first of several public hearings set for tonight at the third baptist church on ma mcallister. also taking this on with the 10:00 a.m. hearing this morning on alternative use of force tactics and also hear a report from someone from the police department. live in our san francisco newsroom, stephanie chuang, "today in the bay." all caught on camera. an avalanche nearly crushing a snowboarder. but now this viral video may land the guy in even bigger trouble. it was shot at a sugar bowl resort showing him on a steep run when the avalanche hit. his friend was also record oing at the time and caught it from another angle. the ski resort says his actions put himself and others in danger. sugar bowl is now asking the

county share toof geriff to get also caught on radar, signs of another storm. but that's not until this evening. up until then, kari, looking pretty good. >> today's temperatures nice and comfortable and reaching into the mid to upper 60s for the south bay. in the peninsula to 65 degrees in palo alto. embarcadero up to 65 degrees today and high of 64 and 66 in antioch and san ramon 6 degrees. the rain does move in tont and continues throughout the day tomorrow. c combine the high winds and concerns of flooding and not only that but the streets and the creeks may have rising water levels. that a concern, as well. we'll talk about all of that and what to expect as we head into the weekend and that's coming up in seven minutes and let's check in with mike to see how the roads are moving. >> right here is fremont south 880 and just off and right in front of our live camera and

couple sets of headlights and maybe someone helped out someone who had car difficulties. and no slowing past the scene and didn't show up on chp. no problems, again, on our maps. look at the speed sensors from the top of our screen and slowing around dakota and dubarton bridge and the build for the northbound route and 87 and 85 and as we talked about 20 minutes ago looking for any slowing and now show up. the tri-valley same pattern for west 580 and south 680. no incidents there. castro valley and hayward into union city and also an easy drive. a slight build over towards the san mateo bridge tolla. no problems on the peninsula side and traffic built up for san mateo. and north of there, an easy flow of traffic into san francisco and the east shore free way shows heading towards berkeley and the north bay a smooth drive out of ovato into san rafael.

we'll give you a quick look at palo alto. northbound shows a nice, smooth drive. little build for the volume and southbound a little slowing where you lose that lane right after university. not a fictional murder mystery, real life. new information this morning about a former russian spy poisoned to death. why the investigation is turning to vladimir putin.

just in to our newsroom, a

house fire rescue involving more than a dozen pets. it happened early this morning in sacramento. crews rescued 14 dogs, several cats and a couple of parrots. the homeowner says she got up to make some toast when the fire reportedly started near a washer and dryer. no one was hurt. new this morning, a new layer of international intrigue to a story that already sounded like a movie, a lot like a movie with russian president vladimir putin involved in the latest plot twist. you may remember the story the death of a former russian spy a decade ago. he was give an fatal dose of poison in his tea. three weeks later he died of radio active poisoning. today a judge determined that putin himself probably signed off on that murder having the formerant killed. alexander l itv inenko was critical of putin and fled to putin in 2000. robberies on the rise in the

east bay and security cameras don't seem to be thwarting criminals. pleasanton police release surveillance video of a man walking into the apple store at the stone ridge mall last thursday. employees say the robbers got away with ten phones and customers say they can see why apple stores are an easy target. >> they really play to the fact that it's an open and inviting area and full of distraction where people can really get in and out really quickly. >> police released four different videos of grab and go thefts at that apple store since october. hoping the public can help identify the suspects. other stores in walnut creek have reportedly been targeted, as well. have you ever razzed your fans on facebook over their sports teams. about to get a lot easier. >> just in time for the playoffs. >> facebook launch a new section facebook sports stadium where you see a screen dedicated to

your specific team. cardin cardinals/panthers, whatever. you ski a score at the top and update automatically with the big plays as they happen so that you can comment on them and we'll show you which of your friends are also on that page. facebook says sports is such a social event just natural to do it that way. the markets aren't tumbling down. they're doing okay this morning in the positive, barely. and colonel williamsburg on the nasdaq this morning. i don't think that'stually ben fra franklin. they already say hoverboards are dangerous and now the head of the cpsc have a fire extinguisher available at all times. it will ban hoverboards in the future saying all options remain on the table for the cpsc. just so we do not miss the point here, the person in charge of the agency in charge of making sure things are safe says don't

own a hoverboard unless you have a fire extinguisher. i think it's time to not own a hoverboard. >> pretty big warning there. >> the only thing we want to catch fire right now is the markets. not the hoverboard. >> the financial guru, laura garcia. she's taking questions this morning. >> buy low, sell high. no, i have a problem with that. >> crazy market principle. >> let's move on to weather. those are numbers we want to hear about. yes, today dry. yesterday felt like spring and we'll have more of the same today, but tomorrow we're back to our el nino winter with some rain rolling through the bay area, once again. and as we take a live look at our cameras, little bit of light in the sky and partly cloudy skies. we will start to see the clouds rolling in throughout the day and we don't have the patchy, dense fog that we had yesterday at this time. as we take a look at this big storm system as it approaches,

it will bring in several hours of rain and most of it light and scattered but getting heavier as we head into late friday night and early saturday morning. so, the impacts of this storm with king tides, we may have some coastal flooding and the streams will need to be closely watched as this rain continues to pour. we will have gusty winds and may have some of those gusts up to 45 miles per hour in some of the higher terrain and in the sierra looking at one to two feet of snow. of course, those chain controls. the way things pan out we start to see some light shades of green showing light rain moving into the north bay late tonight and then it continues to spread to the south, but it will be very hit and miss between tonight and into the day tomorrow. but all day we will have a chance of rain at some point and then it gets heavier early saturday morning as this upper level low feature kind of moves through and that increases the winds, as well. and then we see things clearing

out by sunday morning for the sierra. the rain forecast brings us at least a potential of up to an inch of rain. maybe even a little bit higher in spots. and, of course, the ground is already soggy, so we will have some street floodings and things will be slow to drain. also with the strong winds, we could have some large waves and, once again, the king tides will create that potential of some flooding in some of the low-lying spots and roadways. and high tide will be at about 9:46 in the morning tomorrow. and then again on saturday right around the same time shortly therefore with those waves up tew bout 6 1/2 feet. a look at the weekend forecast. friday and saturday, wet. sunday dry. temperatures all about the same in the upper 50s to around 60 degrees in the south bay. let's check in now with mike to see how the roads are moving. >> kari, so far we've seen the building build over the last few minutes on san mateo bridge westbound. a lot of slowing making its way to the high rise. not yet reaching 101 and now

have that secondary backup forming over there on the dumbarton bridge. both of those spans slow for the morning commute. so far typical patterns out of hayward and 680 down towards pleasanton. no surprise this morning. easy drive for the conditions dry. tomorrow morning as kari is talk about, expect a lighter commute. over here, some slowing towards the walnut creek interchange and up at the top of the screen there, the east shore freeway confused with the build steady slow from richmond to berkeley. the north bay, take a look at san rafael. the volume still building up here. southbound the curves even though it shows green on our maps, we'll see the reason for the speeds to dip down to 50 miles per hour at times. look back at your maps and showing you anywhere south through san mateo bridge and peninsula at palo alto. still, a nice easy drive northbound route through san jose and 85 up towards saratoga.

>> thank you very much, mike. 6:51. an update to breaking news we have been following in the east bay. a horrific crash splits car in two. what a man that was a passenger in the car is telling us about the driver. inside the nbc bay area app on your smartphone. touch the radaron the weather page and zero in on your own neighborhood to see if it's raining. that gives you right what you need to know right when you need to know it

. at 6:55 an update to breaking news. at least one person is dead and another hurt after a horrific car crash on the streets of oakland. >> you have to see it. the pictures. "today in the bay" bob redell in the laurel district. bob, that car cut in half. they towed it away within the past 30 minutes or so. >> correct, sam and laura, which means macarthur is now reopened while workers clean up the debris from this accident. as you look down there to the right of the truck, that's the tree that the car hit. after you see video this horrific accident remarkable that anyone survived. it was a silver coupe and split that car in two diagonally. the 21-year-old driver was ejected and killed and his passenger also a young man not only survived, but he was able

to return to the scene this morning to try to let police know that his friend was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash. the passenger told us off camera that it was around 11:00 and his friend was giving him a ride home. they were driving around 60 miles an hour when he lost control of the car here on macarthur and the car crashed into that tree smiting the car in two. the back part of the car ended up right here at the point of impact while the front part with the passenger and engine drove for 50 more yards. they do not know if alcohol or drugs were involved in spite of what the passenger said. when we asked the passenger how he survived, the young man told me he credited his seat belt and god. reporting live here in oakland, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you, bob. the bay area may have its very first case of a very dangerous zika virus. >> "today in the bay" kris sanchez live in our newsroom and this virus spreads very quickly, especially concerning for

pregnant women. >> we talked with a mom to be who is being tested for that. she's not ready to go public yet, but we do know that she has an agonizing week and a half ahead because that is how long the tests take to show whether she has zika virus. if she does, it is a virus that she could pass on to her unborn baby. in an article in "american scientific magazine" she says we are balls of worry right now although we are trying to stay positive, love each other through and stay on top of the research." the woman went to a walnut creek hospital monday after travel to bora bora over the holidays. according to "scientific" magazine. in red are the countries with the active zika cases. the cdc is warning pregnant women in the u.s. to avoid travel to puerto rico and 13 central and south american countries and that includes brazil where it is an epic with

1.3 million cases in the last year. for some pregnant women, the symptoms are mild. for their babies the infection can cause microcephaly, which is often deadly. >> in women that are pregnant, it affects the development of the baby's head and the brain. and the skull is small, the brain can't grow to a normal size. >> some pregnant women might not even know they are infected, but others might have symptoms including high fever, headache, joint and muscle aches and rash and pinkeyes. it cannot be transmitted person to person but transmitted via mosquitos. the woman is being monitored while the test results develop. if she does have the zika virus, hers would be the first confirmed case in california, though there are also moms with zika in hawaii, texas, illinois and in florida. it's growing. >> it is. very concerning. thank you very much, kris. 6:58 right now and right now crews are resuming their search for a missing surfer in the north bay. last night rescue crews scoured

the area around rodeo beach. we have pictures of the rescue operation from the national park service. here's what happened. two other people found a surfer unconscious and one started giving the surfer cpr and that's when a big wave hit them and the victim was pulled out back into the water. the weather now and you probably snuck away those rain jackets for a whole 24 hours. what do you know. >> you have to get it out tomorrow today another dry day and mild temperatures to start. we're heading into the low to mid-0s for this afternoon with a mix of sun and clouds. >> all right. not as many people out there today. >> it's calmer. tuesday a tough one. the rain and the big build. we have seen traffic as far as the volume starting to come back, again. san jose flowing to 101 and typical pattern throughout northbound routes through silicon valley and san mateo bridge westbound on 92. look at that, visibility is good here, too. move on to the next camera and move up towards the richmond bridge coming over from richmond

to san rafael. a good commute for 580, as well. >> sounds good, that's what's happening "today in the bay." back in 25 minutes. live look of the bay bridge. hope you have a great day. good morning. snow. the nation's capital gets ready for what could be one of its worst storms ever. commuters stuck for hours. even the president as motorcade delayed. how will they deal with the two feet that may be coming? the dow down this morning after plunging again, at one point lost more than 550 points. we'll be live at the stock exchange. an