pioneers. alt"--- as were in t midst of days of -and-off ra. this morning, some places haveg the activity contng a microclimate weather alert. we're in the midst of days of on and off rain. some places have gotten drenched as you see a sheet of green there. steady flow will stick right through the morning commute. just south of sonoma, rising waters washing over the streets. we'll take you to an overnight emergency where six people had to be rescued from their cars. plus, a travel ban fight that features more arguments today. the justice department is going to be dialing in from d.c. making the case the a three-judge panel in san francisco to rein state the ban. today in the bay starts now. good morning on your tuesday. thank you very much for joining us. i'm sam brock.

>> i'm laura garcia-cannon. this rain is coming down hard. >> it looks like it is not going anywhere any time soon. that will be the main problem as we go through the day. waves of heavy rain and brief breaks in between. we're not seeing a lot of that except for the south bay. in san francisco right now, or you're seeing the rain come down quite heavily. we have the stormranger, the red beam on the radar that gives us a very detailed view of what's happening. in the north bay, we see pockets of yellows and dark greens showing very intense rain. as we get a close look at san francisco, you see a steady downpour towards oakland, owe rain da and east where you see the pockets of the heavy rain there as well as discovery bay and hayward. but the rain kind of drops off as you go through fremont. and then just south of parts of the peninsula as you go around

palo alto. the rain is taking a break for now. we will continue to monitor all of this. mike is tracking the positions on the roadways. trees across the bay. we are talking about the rain. rain-soaked hill sides. mud slippage on the bay and on the coast. highway 1 is closed just north of devils slide because a tree has crossed the freeway, the state route. it cuts off folks from half moon pay and pacifica. pete suratos is heading out there. you will have to head to 280 for a look at the longer route. still soupy conditions at the bay bridge. rain coming down. you see it on the screen. back to you. well, this is not standard. new video to show you this morning, dangerous conditions in sonoma county, shellville,ing south of sonoma.

rescue crews had to save six people from three cars that got stuck in the rising waters. people were rescued luckily without any injuries. streets there completely covered in water. and it's still coming down. bob redell heading over to the scene. he will join us with a live report at 5:30. >> this is not just a north bay event or south bay event. there are real concern about flooding and slides. some folks in the oakland hills getting more nervous as the ground gets more and more saturated. a woman in montclair sees all of this rain as a mixed blessing. >> a huge amount of earth that keeps seeping through. on the one hand, i'm ready to see it stop. on the other hand, we've seen so much drought that i can't help but be glad. >> the alameda creek could hit flood stage. two cars have plunged in.

her body still has not been recovered.

>> each side has 30 minutes to argue their case. it may end up in the supreme court. there is no timetable when that may happen. >> the debate is spawning changes in policy. alameda meeting today to approve a legal fund to support tkoupblted immigrants. it sets aside $750,000 to fund legal aid for immigrants. a matching grant from the san francisco foundation is going to double the amount of money to be used for protecting and defending undocumented immigrants. today's hearing scheduled 9:30 this morning. happening now, a marathon session on the u.s. senate floor continues this morning. this is a live look inside the capitol. the democrats are trying to convince an additional republican senator to join them in opposing her.

right now the vote is flit 50/50. critics take the billionaire is unqualified to hold the position. the senate is expected to vote later today. who knows how many energy drinks to get through the night. a fight brewing over rent control in the silicon valley city. the next step pitting landlords against city attorneys. kari is tracking a microclimate weather alert. heavy rain moving in now. it will continue most of the day with pockets of heavy downpours. coming up at 4:41, we'll take a look at the wind forecast and what advisories are in effect. and a live look at oakland shows you the camera shaking. the glow from the lights. rain and wind is an issue. we're following another tree down in the east bay.

winds continue to be an issue. winds in the hills gusting to 50 miles per hour while the valleys will have gusts to 30 miles per hour. we'll continue to monitor this and a look at the full microclimate forecast coming up

in five minutes. and right now the rainy conditions are slippery conditions with 580 in dublin. camera trembles a bit. i'm talk building another tree down off highway 13 this time. it will be a rough commute out there. you might want to take mass transit. some are digging a little deeper in their pockets to use the bart parking lots. bart raised the cost of daily parking at west oakland, coliseum, hayward, and both concord stations. the cost is 50 cents higher. it also affects monthly parking costs. happening today, one of the hottest rental markets is in the midst of a fiery debate over rent control. we're talking about the legal battle going on right now in mountain view. last fall, voters approved a rent control. but that is yet to take effect after a judge filed in december

and put it on hold. landlords will square off against city attorneys who are now arguing to uphold that measure. coming up, valentine's day a week away. the bay area tops a national city as one of the best to swoon your sweetheart. a reasonable traffic flow. you see the camera shaking out there. we have wind and plenty of rain pretty much across the region. we'll get into that and some of the severe weather we have seen right after we get back.

quarter to 5:00 on your tuesday morning. we are in a microclimate weather alert. a lot of rain and wind. >> quarter to crazy right now. trees down. so much rain. >> yeah. mike is keeping an eye how the downed trees are affecting the roadways. definitely a lot of problems out there. this is what it looks like as you cross the san mateo bridge. this is what we were expecting this week. the potential of winds gusting to 50 miles per hour and times of heavy rain. street flooding will be possible. we'll be keeping an eye on the rising creeks and rivers. isolated six-inch rainfall totals, especially in the santa cruz mountains. we have had quite a bit of rain. our mobile doppler radar stormranger giving us a detailed view of the area.

it takes us now to the north bay. we see pockets of heavy rain. dark greens and yellows there. we're seeing the heaviest rain now moving just to the north of san francisco, crossing the golden gate bridge and the east bay as well. owe rain da getting in on heavy downpours, moving closer to concord. and hayward is pretty steady downpour creating rising water levels on the roadways. burlingame, heavy rain there passing off towards the east. it will be passing into the bay and over towards the east bay. down the peninsula we are seeing heavy rain through palo alto. just a few minutes ago it wasn't raining there. it is is moving in that direction. and the santa cruz mountains. right now not raining. it is is included in a flash

flood watch until 4:00. also a flash flood watch for all the north bay where we may have rising creeks and streams. the next round of heavy rain continues and gets heavier as we go through 7:30 this morning. and it moves from north to south. still at 10:30, we have heavy rain in the peninsula, south bay, and the tri-valley. and then it starts to become a little more scattered for this afternoon. so we do have several more hours of this rain that will be pouring at this pace. and then we'll catch a little bit of a break later tonight and into the start of the day tomorrow before the next storm system moves in. we still, once again, have two storm systems that have yet to pass through the bay area. looking at rainfall totals, additional rain, close to two inches in the santa cruz mountains. up to an inch and a half in napa. santa rosa, an inch and three-quarters. watching the russian river at guerneville, it will reach flood stage or just below at this point.

it is expected to peak tomorrow morning at 7:00. and the alameda creek, major issues there. it is expected to stay above flood stage this weekend. and san lorenzo river near felton, it will be rising and cresting at 4:00 this afternoon. i'll keep you updated on facebook and twitter. make sure you're following me. send me your weather reports. if you see something happening, i'll share it with everyone else. we are looking at the forecast for san francisco. temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s. all clearing out this weekend with sunshine. finally, we will catch a break on saturday. and another tree down, this one in oakland >> that's right, kari. not a major closure. but we are watching this thing pop on and off the reports. the rain into the sides of the roads. the trees are losing grip there. this is redwood road.

this should be cleared shortly. this is part of a tree if not an entire tree. a little slow. crews are on scene there. warren freeway off the 580. getting towards the maze, everything smooth until the wet bay bridge. on the peninsula, cut off between half moon bay and pacifica. this is north of devils slide off highway 1 there. you cannot cross there between linda mar and half moon bay. there may be gusty winds. at times through the night there were. we look at every camera. it shakes. light, easy drive. wet right here. no delays for the systems. but we do have higher parking fees for some of your east bay stations and the ferry system is not reporting any problem. back to you. >> let's hope it stays that way. thank you very much.

4:48. u.s. news and world report released best places to live in the u.s. a south bay city is in the top five. >> this should help our superiority complex. we turn now to landon dowdy. good morning, landon. >> reporter: good morning to you both. wall street will try to claw back monday's losses. futures are higher this morning. a drop in oil prices dragged on the energy sector. look today for the trade deficit and consumer credit. earnings from g.m. and disney. the dow falling 19 points to 20052. nasdaq down three. uber hired a former nasa veteran to spearhead plans for flying cars. the technology is being touted as a way to ease mammoth traffic jams. a future with vehicles that can

take off and land vertically. it will be decades before we see such cars flying overhead. u.s. news and world report is out with its annual list of the best places to live. austin, texas takes the top spot, bumping off denver, san hoe saw, washington, d.c., and fayetteville, arkansas round out the top five. san francisco is 15th. the list ranks the top 100 metro areas based on affordability, job prospects, and quality of life. sam and laura, back over to you. >> not bad. a couple in california made the list. >> we didn't given the affordability. we could have been number one. thank you very much, landon. a bold and historic move. we talk about affordability. this week free college for residents. that is crafted to help low income workers and to reinvigorate one of the community colleges. it would become the first of its

kind in the nation to offer that kind of service. the city wants to commit $5 million in fund to go start. at the same time, the school is hoping to lure back students who drifted away during a long fight over the school's accreditation. all right. i love this. we talked about best places to live. the best bay area cities. which tops the list for celebrating valentine's. >> perfect. it is right around the corner. wallethub released its top list of best cities. san francisco ended up topping the list. rounding out the other top five were scottsdale, arizona, orlando, florida, honolulu, and seattle. so no excuses for not getting flowers. >> you better get reservations, better yet. coming up, we investigate

wrongful convictions in san francisco and ask the d.a. by tenants have to defend their rights at their own expense. first happening right now, as kari has been talking about this morning, we are in the middle of a microclimate weather alert. our assignment desk right now is calling about reports of dangerous areas. mike has been talking about toppled trees. follow our twitter account for the very latest. send us your videos and pictures to i see @nbcbayarea.com. it is dangerous this morning. back with more news and weather in two minutes.

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m after more than two decades, los angeles police cracked a cold case and made multiple arrests in a deadly apartment complex fire. it killed 10 people, including seven children. well, this week lapd announced the arrest of three suspects in connection with the deadly fire. the suspects were tied to the notorious 18th street gang. the suspects were allegedly angry that the apartment manager ordered them to leave because they were e dealing drug. they don't say what the breakthrough evidence was. police say it hinged on witness testimony from people who were too afraid to cooperate back in 1993. >> the case was so horrific and had such an impact on anyone who touched it. but we never gave up. police are tracking down a fourth suspect who is believed to have left los angeles. widespread abuse by

landlords could be one of the reasons for the increase. investigative reporter explains how a broken system could allow owners to wrongfully evict tenants at an alarming rate. guys, good morning. because of the city's lack of oversight, the main way to fight an eviction is taking your landlord to court. but winning can still feel a lot like losing. elizabeth lee was left with $42,000 worth of legal bills after fighting back against her landlord who tried to evict her from her san francisco home of 27 years. martin eng tried kicking her out by saying he wanted to move in. it is called an owner move-in eviction, and it's legal. it appears to be widespread abuse of that eviction, which may be allowing landlords to kick out rent controlled tenants in order to have new people move

in at a much higher rent. a judge ruled her landlord's story of wanting to move in wasn't credible, saying the landlord engaged in fraud, intimidation and coercion. the land lord said i'm probably one of the best honest landlords in san francisco. how do they know if i'm going to move in or not? the san francisco board of supervisors now plans to hold a government hearing on the issue of owner move-in evictions and what lawmakers believe could be widespread abuse. guys, back to you. >> thank you very much. if you have a tip for your investigative unit, give us a call 888-996-tips. or accepted us an e-mail to theunit @nbcbayarea.com. the rain really coming down in parts. we are in a microclimate weather alert. kari tracking the storm. >> the rain is moving through the peninsula, toward oakland.

we'll take a closer look at the stormranger in two minutes. >> and a live look outside shows you "the soup"y conditions for the san mateo bridge. also wind advisories from time to time around the bay. we're watching out there. and a tree down. this one affecting a major, major commute for a lot of folks. this has essentially shut off the commute for folks in this sonoma county town. waters are rising there. six people caught up in the river on the road. they need to be rescued. more video of this damage you have to see. commute...

the latest wa ofain is moving through... and this is just the beginning. a wet, windy commute. this is just the beginning. we have team coverage to help you get out the door safely. cars stranded in rushing waters and people had to be rescued. this is new video just into our newsroom as flood start to mount across the bay area. >> we're not just talking about flooding. we're talking mudslide. today in the bay starts with a microclimate weather alert. good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. that video that you saw is from shellville. it looks like water in the middle of the road. >> there is concern because the rain is really coming down. >> you should never drive of the water where it rushes across the