bad reputation, has shut down for good. "today in the bay" continues right now. a very good morning to you, and thanks so much for joining us. we made it to friday! now just making it through. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. mike's going to have a look at our commute in just a bit but first, we want to start with meteorologist kari hall. kari, that rain is starting to come down in some parts. >> it's coming down in the peninsula for now and we'll see this becoming more widespread and heavier as we go throughout the rest of the day. we are going to track this system moving in, but it is dry in the south bay, as you get ready to head out the door. looking at now our live picture and headed to willow glen, we have a few more hours to get things done before that rain starts to come down at noon. it's 51 degrees, and starting to see that heavy rain arriving. we are taking a look at storm ranger with some showers approaching the peninsula. we'll take a closer look at this and also what's ahead coming up and mike, there's one new issue about crossing the bay. >> that's right from oakland into san francisco, the bay bridge toll plaza, two things.

the metering lights have turned on, but that was not the big issue i was talking about. it's a crash reported right near the toll plaza. we didn't see the crash before a few seconds up until 30 seconds ago. i saw cars moving out of this fourth lane, right about here, and so that's where the crash was reported. maybe they moved those cars, because they're not shifting lanes anymore. we'll track that. the lanes off to the left are much clearer and it's a lighter build, the metering lights turned on later, just about ten minutes ago. that's the issue there. richmond-san rafael bridge is completely open since last night. traffic flows smoothly and around the rest of the bay, because it is friday, we have a lighter volume of traffic earlier in the commute. things kick in later on, just mild slowing through hayward. back to you, marcus. >> thanks, mike. developing today, federal investigators are expected to be back on site of the devastating gas explosion in san francisco. sharon katsuda is live in san francisco to show us the progress in that area.

sharon? >> reporter: the bright lights are on and ntsb investigators arrived last night, they surveyed the area along parker and geary where a construction crew cut a natural gas pipeline wednesday. flames shot up in the air, many neighbors questioned why is took pg&e hours to turn off the gas to the area. the company had to turn off the right gas line carefully by hand. ntsb investigators will look into all those facts. >> we're looking to work hours to training personnel to what happened at the time of the explosion where the valves are. >> reporter: fortunately no one was injured. investigators say it too cotake

months or years to determine the exact cause of the explosion. the investigators are expected to hold a news conference later today. reporting live in san francisco, i'm sharon katsuda, "today in the bay." >> thanks for the latest there. 6:02. let's talk about what's happening today on capitol hill. the acting attorney general is expected to testify before congress. tracie potts is live in washington with what we can expect. good morning, tracie. >> expect to hear from matt whitaker on his oversight of the russia investigation. we weren't sure if he'd show up for the hearing but finally he and the committee worked things out over the subpoena late thursday. acting attorney general matt whitaker faces questions today from the house judiciary committee. that committee was preparing a subpoena in case whitaker didn't show or didn't answer. >> without the threat of a

subpoena i believe it would be difficult to hold mr. whitaker to the standard. >> reporter: the committee backed off after whitaker threatened to be a no show. he got the questions more than two weeks ago. he criticized the russia investigation before president trump wanted him to oversee. democrats want to ask was he asked or promised to impede special counsel robert mueller and why didn't whitaker recuse himself as an ethics officer recommended? the house intelligence committee is expanding its russia investigation to include the president's finances. mr. trump calls it presidential harassment. >> this would not be taking place if it were not about a duly elected president named donald trump sitting in that office. this is an incredible overreach. >> reporter: democrats expanding their reach with newfound authority and criticism that it's all just politics. now, new this morning, another committee may want to talk to

whitaker. the oversight committee says this morning on a completely separate issue, that he did not return nearly $10,000 he earned as a board member of a marketing company with that marketing company asking for the money back to help pay off some victims of an alleged fraud case, they've asked him a couple of times why and say that he hasn't responded. laura? >> i'm sure there's a paper trail of that, too. tracie potts, thanks so much. a follow-up for you, the case against a man accused of gunning down a newman police officer is now on hold. paulo mendoza appears in a stanislas superior court yesterday where a judge suspended his case in april. mendoza underwent a mental health evaluation. the defense attorney asked the judge to seal the findings. he is accused of gunning down ronil singh the day after christmas. the district attorney's office hasn't decided whether they will seek the death penalty in this case. >> 6:05. new this morning, alameda county water customer also

reportedly have to pay more for their water starting next month. "the east bay times" says the water distributed voted to increase bills by 8% over the next two years. the first bump takes effect in march. the added revenues will cover infrastructure costs and salary increases. the board also approved drought related emergency pricing if the need arises. continuing coverage now of converting an apartment building in palo alto into a hotel. this morning, we're learning the owner of the president hotel has officially submitted plans for the conversion. the conversion. the conversion. the conversion. that's according to palo alto online. the six-story building is on university avenue and it has 75 apartment units and the new owner of that building from chicago is hoping to convert the units into 100 guest rooms. tenants are fighting plans and the city has yet to give a final approval. well, this was once the go-to theater in san francisco, but last night, the amc on van ness showed its last picture. the theater opened in 1998 with 14 screens that could seat up to 3,000 people.

in recent years, it took a downturn. customers took to yelp to complain about closed concession stands, filthy and unkempt conditions and old seats. no word on what will replace the theater or the future of that building. >> 6:07. this weekend, dozens of people will be flocking to mayor island in vallejo for the san francisco bay flyway festival. the three-event starts today and runs through celebrate. this will celebrate the return of more than 1 million shore birds as well as hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese, which migrate for the winter. that event is free and will include dozens of activities that includes a bird expo and guided nature walks. >> big day for mayor island. it could be a rainy one, too, right, kari? >> it could be rainy. there will be some breaks in between, you'll be able to find an opportunity to get out there and view these birds. as we look at storm ranger, the rain is already starting to creep into the peninsula from pacifica to half moon bay and will be moving across 280 over

toward spots like san bruno and san mateo, also moving in to redwood city within the next 30 to 40 minutes, and we are now just seeing some of the showers along the coast that will continue to move in, and become more widespread, as this storm system approaches. as far as what we're expecting today, with this storm system, about a quarter to up to an inch of rain, the flood risk will be low, but the ground is already saturated. our wind speeds up to 25 miles per hour, with an isolated thunder risk. we may see snow levels dropping to about 3,500, so that's only our highest mountaintops around the bay area. as we head over to mike, you were saying there's a problem in the east bay. >> a possible problem, yes, we have reports of a disabled vehicle on 880, tough spot out of san leandro. we'll show you the entire map. the only green we see is for the speed sensors, the majority of the map but we may see the road weather index show damp roadways starting on the peninsula and moving across. right now this is what we're

talking about, south 880 at lewelling, reports of a disabled vehicle in the lane. a tough time but the slowing doesn't start until farther south in hayward and continuing in toward union city. typical spot and definitely a later start to the commute than we typically see. this is a smooth, easy drive right now at 6:08 on this friday, 6:09 now. palo alto, 101 moves smoothly. a little bit of rain moving in, watch 280 and 101, and lighter traffic but then the rain could complicate things. back to you. 6:09 right now. next and new this morning, you expect to see a bat on a baseball diamond but not a live bat on a basketball court. new video to our newsroom, and the excitement it caused in the stands. >> bats are my number one phobia. plus maybe a really bad place for a teen to take a late evening date. we'll take a look in business and tech. and later, an expensive apartment even for san francisco. the headline making price coming up for you at 6:25.

6:09 right now. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now it's 6:12. we are in a microclimate weather alert as a new storm approaches and as we check out our tahoe report, some of the snow showers will get going by this afternoon. so you do have a few more hours of some smooth travel, but bring the tire chains. we'll see heavy snow throughout the weekend and also additional

snow on the way, starting once again this afternoon, continuing through the weekend, possibly another two to three feet of snow. more on that and also bay area rain come up in less than five minutes. we're looking at 880 the nimitz, look at the cars. this actually isn't bad, close to the speed limit here, past the coliseum. we'll talk about the latest on tracking the disabled vehicle farther south and the build. good morning and a happy well deserved friday. markets fell thursday, after the president said it was unlikely he would meet with chinese president xi before the next set of tariffs take effect. that is bad news. wells fargo, which has had all kinds of trouble, had more trouble yesterday, as its computer networks went down again. twitter said it made a profit. in fact, it says several quarters in a row of profits, in that sense, twitter is doing well but trouble ahead. expenses are up and it's losing users when you measure them by

monthly use. down to 321 million from 326 million. the user issue really becomes apparent when you compare it to facebook. facebook has more than eight times the number of users as twitter. now, do credit both services for getting rid of fake users, though they still have a lot of work ahead of them. the san francisco business times says the game make er zyn plans to sell his headquarters south of the train station that could be worth $800 million for the company. apple says it will pay a bug bounty to the teenager who found the problem with facetime that allowed people to listen in on your phone without you knowing it. apple said it will also help with the young man's education. have you been to the new movie theater in san jose's valley fair mall yet? it is luxurious, heated seats, food servers, a bar, but really strict rules about kids. everybody, even a baby, pays an adult ticket, and after 7:00 p.m., no teenagers at all

without an adult accompanying them. that means high schoolers on a date not welcome. >> our theaters now we don't let anybody under 18 in, in the evening, past 7:00, unless they have an adult with them, the entire time. >> you are talking about two high school juniors out on a date don't come to your movie theet per theater. >> neither one is old enough to accompany the other. >> they can go but they have to go before -- >> the worst date ever. >> with the parents. >> they have to go in the afternoon. >> okay, fair point. either go at 4:00 or bring your mom, one of the two. now, a lot of people react badly to this, not a lot, some people on yelp, they find this out a little too late, but there is this idea that you know, you can go somewhere else. this is going to be a grownup movie watching experience. that's what they want. >> you know, some families, my parents were so formal that my

dad, my uncle used to have to accompany my aunt, my mom with my dad on a date. >> really? okay. that is very old school and obviously everything worked out just fine. >> it did, lovely, they fell in love. thanks a lot. new video here, you don't have to be a sports fan to know this one. bats are better suited for baseball, even then, the bats of course made of wood or metal. look at what happened here, though, flying kind in a crowded arena last night in indianapolis, and despite efforts to force a landing the bat evaded capture for quite some time, finding a place to hang out in the rafters. look at the camera man follow that action there. you know they're used to the action on the courts but a bat in the belfry there? finally it managed to, look, it even stopped the game. >> i wouldn't play. >> eventually it went into the rafters i think. i remember working in the newsroom and a bald in the newsroom and same thing like that, literally during a

newscast newscast it would come swooping down. >> batty. >> batty indeed. all right, so that weather out there, get ready to pull out those umbrellas. >> we are going to have more rain moving in, and it's going to be a soggy weekend, so plan accordingly. we are going to start to see some of the showers moving in, within the next few minutes around the peninsula. here is a live look outside in san francisco. you can see the clouds rolling by, and we're going to see more of that, headed into the next several days. our temperatures though are still very chilly, with some upper 30s in the tri-valley, as well as the south county, north bay now in the low 40s, and the seven-day forecast is already up at the bottom of the screen, as we get a look at storm ranger, tracking that rain that's starting to approach the coast. so here is a look at that red scan, we have the mobile doppler radar parked on san bruno mountain and the rain already moving into the peninsula, but we can see that the larger part of this storm system is still a ways away, so we'll see this

moving closer and that rain becoming more widespread. let's time it out. here we are at 1:00, we see a lot of reds and yellows here, all across the bay area, except for the north bay. we're going to see it starting out lighter there, and then spreading northward, going into the evening commute. so the evening commute is going to be very slow and sloppy, and by tonight, still raining at times. we will take a brief break for tomorrow morning. you may wake up, even see some sunshine, but if you are out there early, you're going to get ahead of this rain. we're going to see our afternoon really soggy with some waves of showers, and it's going to also be very cool by sunday. we'll start to see the snow levels dropping, and this time it looks like about 3,500 feet, so that is still mt. hamilton, some of our peaks in the north bay, but we won't see that widespread snow like we did at the lower elevations, and then by monday, we see a brief break, and then another storm moving in

monday night. most of us will get anywhere from about a half to even up to over an inch of rain in the santa cruz mountains, and along the coast. if you're trying to make plans to get to the sierra, light snow showers starting out, but by tonight, it becomes widespread and heavy, and also continuing all throughout the weekend, as we get more rain, and our temperatures only stay in the lower 50s. mike, you were starting out with what's happening at treasure island. >> a note for the tahoe run as well kari because you get it up there, look at kari's forecast for sunday because you got to get back, most cases it would be sunday. looking over here i-80 locally just fine but we have a new disabled vehicle reported right around the treasure island exit. it's over on your right lane, and i believe the exit is on the left side, so you should be all right, if you're using that exit, but stay to the middle lanes, everything does look like it's moving smoothly but just a word of caution. the backup is on at the bay bridge from oakland into san francisco of course but that's about it. the maze moves smoothly and to does the rest of the bay.

few spots with slowing maybe 880 through san leandro, and hayward southbound is the commute direction of course in the morning. nice drive across from 880 over toward 101, that's the tail lights across the san mateo bridge. a smooth drive. kari talked about the rain creeping in along the peninsula, so we track that but no major problems for speeds and over here through fremont, we have a smooth drive as well, and that flag is steady right there, so there's no wind at least right there. back to you. >> thank you, mike. coming up for you at 6:30, here on "today in the bay," observing black history month. we take a look back at the port chicago disaster. young black sail yors killed in massive explosion 75 years ago. >> hackers are attacking home buyers and stealing their downpayments. we investigate what's being done about it. >> chris chmura will have more on that story coming up. first "today in the bay's" kris sanchez finding something to keep her family busy during the rainy weekend. knitting. she wants to know what you'll be up to. follow kris or anybody on the

team on twitter. you're watching "today in the bay." now, imagine your down payt

vanishes. that )s exac welcome back, everyone. it 16:23 and imagine you're buying a house and the downpayment vanishing. >> that's what's happening to someone just about every day.

consumer investigator chris chmura and his team see a dangerous trend in home buying and they're having trouble getting the industry as a whole to take it seriously. >> good morning. we're tracking a scam that's clearly on the rise. thieves are spoofing agent's emails then tricking home buyers into sending millions of dollars in downpayments overseas, where they disappear. the bad guys keep getting away with it, and innocent families keep falling for it. we're asking the big names in real estate what they're doing to protect families, but we had to take a six-hour flight just to spark a discussion with insiders who are willing to speak out, people like nate baker, who is trying to stop the scam. should there be more discussions like this, out in the open? >> yeah, there needs to be a lot more conversation about this. i think people have the view oh, it won't happen to me. >> it is happening to people, like this man, who lost 300 grand. you'll hear from him tonight at 11:00. we'll also lay out how the big power brokers in home buying could try to combat the scam, and we'll tell you about a surprising turn of events when we simply ask the most influential groups to brainstorm.

if you know anyone who has fallen for this home buying scam, please tell us about it at nbcbayarea.com/responds, or call us, 888-996-tips. i'll see you again tonight at 11:00. >> all right, thanks. >> sounds good, chris. >> 6:25 right now. new for you this morning, we get a look inside one of san francisco's most expensive apartments. >> it may be the closest any of us get to it. it a four-bedroom full floor penthouse costing $41 million. it's located inside the new avery building, which is located downtown in trans bay district. the unit comes with floor-to-ceiling windows, beautiful marble kitchen counters, texture wood panels and oak wood flooring. several amenities are also included. i would imagine. >> we have $50 on it. who wants to go in with me? >> take you a long time to save. julian edelman is stopping by "ellen" today.

>> the new england patriots wide receiver opens up about what winning the title means to him and his family and also agrees, get this, to let ellen shave his head but in exchange for $10,000 donated to the boys and girls club of boston. >> are you nervous? >> not really. >> okay, good. >> kind of. are you? >> no. >> that could be tough right there. i'm atoctached to my facial hai even though it's not that much. ellen surprises edelman with a super bowl mvp trophy to take home. watch "ellen" at 4:00 and stay tuned for "nbc bay area news" at 5:00, followed by "nightly news with lester holt" at 5:30. >> i wonder if he doesn't shave it, like donate double or something like that. >> oh, no. it can always grow back. >> today at 4:00. a big story we're watching for you is the weather, kari is tracking the storm, the impact for your commute and weekend plans. plus the concern that some reservoirs may overflow. a traffic nightmare for people on thursday. this morning, a permanent fix

still not in place on the richmond-san rafael bridge. the work the crews still need to do. and at 6:45, the new developments ahead of the 2020 census. the new steps some bay area organizations are taking to make sure that people get counted. 6:27 right now. you're watching "today in the bay." live look at radar -- powey

storm ranger. we )re in a microclimate right now at 6:30, a live look at the radar powered by storm ranger and we are in a

microclimate weather alert. >> we're watching the rain, watching the radar. good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. nbc pay area has ibay area issu microclimate weather alert for us. >> "today in the bay's" meteorologist kari hall is tracking the system. >> if you're getting out early this morning you may be able to beat the rain and get to work before the showers come down. here is a look at storm ranger, our mobile doppler radar in the red scan as we have it parked on san bruno mountain, getting a look at where it's already headed in pacifica, and right there on 280, starting to get wet right now, with some light showers moving in, also in half moon bay and then moving down through portola valley. we are starting to see some showers moving in, but this is a fairly large system. although it's not strong as the ones we've seen previously, it is going to bring us several hours of rain, and we are starting out with some of the clouds that are nice, nice sunrise there. you can see in the background. the clouds starting to move in

to palo alto, and we'll see that rain moving in there by about 7:00 to 8:00. we'll get a look at that weekend forecast in a few minutes and mike, you're taking us back to richmond. >> i am, but kari, was that officially a red sky warning? >> yes, it is. >> there you go. warning, kari told me that one. over here, looking at no warning, actually great news for the richmond to san rafael bridge. the crowd here not because of a stoppage but because it's open. this is the crowd getting across 580. last night it opened up and we'll talk more about that, bob has a report. right now we have a smooth drive. a light drive because it's friday. the bay bridge. has your metering lights on but the back yum coming off of the berkeley curve. the rest of the bay shows a smooth flow of traffic. the rain is creeping in so you see little patches where the road weather index turns into damp roadways. 280, 101, we'll track it as well. back to you. >> the rain headed our way has a lot of people with their eyes on local reservoirs which earlier

this week they were teeming. kris sanchez joins us live with what to expect. i crossed that one the other day and boy, it's really high. >> reporter: yes, it is a really nice sight to see certainly for those of us who remember the drought years. of course this vasona reservoir is not one of the biggest reservoirs but one of the ones in the system that is at closest to its maximum capacity. here it is by daylight so you could see in case you weren't lucky enough to drive by like laura was. water going over the spillway, santa clara valley water district says is normal. the uvas reservoir the000 oaks campground was evacuated as a precaution. there was no flooding imminent, there was flooding to one of the bridges that is the access area. folks on the almaden reservoir were treated to it at near capacity and while some of the water districts' reservoirs are far below what they can hold,

they're as full as they can be because of earthquake safety concerns. i have brand new numbers for you this morning from the valley water district's ten is he serve voirs. they're at 53% of total capacity. vasona is at 97%. it sis one of the smallest reservoirs. uvas at 100% capacity. lexington is at 70%, the district's third largest. anderson by the way, which can hold the most water, is at 36%, but that's only because it cannot be filled up, because it is not seismically sound. with the rainfall that kari is forecasting, we expect the valley water district santa clara valley water district will release water from six of the ten reservoirs over the next couple of days, so it will be something kind of spectacular to see, but in the meantime, we haven't started getting the rain yet where we are here in los gatos, but we know it's coming, because kari's radar is ridiculously accurate and we certainly feel that every day.

in los gatos, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> thanks a lot, kris. in the meantime, you can keep that same radar that we're talking about in the palm of your hand. download our free nbc bay area app, and you will get those breaking weather alerts straight to your form. it literally tells you minutes before big rainfall is headed where you are. this morning, the richmond-san rafael bridge back open, that bridge shut down for hours because of falling chunks of concrete leading to this major backup as we see here wrapped around there. so cal trans is saying that there is still work to do, but there is a short term fix and it's done. "today in the bay's" bob redell live for us on the richmond side of that bridge with more on those repairs. bob? >> reporter: marcus, that short term fix, our large metal plates that were placed on the upper dock at the areas where the concrete had deteriorated. could you see behind me the friday morning commute is in full thrust here at the richmond-san rafael bridge as the plates are allowing the

bridge to be back open, and then cal trans, what they've done is issued an emergency order to get a crew out here over the weekend to do something more permanent to fix the bridge. chp showed us the area in question, where you could see the concrete detached from the upper deck, which is the westbound direction, and landed below onto the lower deck, which is the eastbound direction. the first chunks fell yesterday morning around 10:30, hit a mercedes car. that driver did not stop. they're okay, but they did call 911 to report major damage to their vehicle. then about 45 minutes later, concrete chunks the size of a football and golf ball dropped from the upper deck. chp eventually had to shut down the entire bridge in both directions. they escorted vehicles off the structure. then later in the afternoon, they were able to open up one lane in each direction but more concrete fell and the entire bridge was shut down. again, it wasn't until 7:30 last night they were able to get metal plates on the bridge and reopen the bridge entirely. nbc bay area's investigative

unit first reported that the richmond-san rafael bridge was problematic, back in 2015, when we found it on the list of bridges that engineers have issues with, even though it's not formally listed as a bridge, with structural deficiencies. the ratings system is close. cal trans has been working to rehabl tate the bridge working on the steel structure for the last two years or so. reporting live at the richmond-san rafael bridge toll plaza, in richmond, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> i'm sure a lot of people are hoping for that permanent fix to come soon >> just for their safety alone. thank you. 6:36 right now. new details in an infamous san francisco dog mauling case. a panel denied parole for a woman now serving 15 years to life. in 2001, marjorie knoller and her husband made national headlines when their dogs escaped their pacific heights apartment and killed their neighbor, 33-year-old diane whipple. knoller's husband was not home

at the time but served two years in prison for improper care of an attack dog. knoller received a harsher sentence because she did nothing to stop the attack. california commissioners yesterday denied her first shot at parole. san jose police officers are being honored by the department for taking guns off the street. >> last night the department held an awards ceremony in the south san jose substation. 30 officers were given pins credited with seizing 166 guns in 2018 alone. it's part of a larger crackdown on gun crimes in san jose. >> you see the impact that gun violence has on communities and i think it's just important, drives home the point that, as officers, we just need to say proactive. >> chief eddie garcia says most of those gun cases came from simple traffic stops or situations where a person was committing a lower level crime. just in this morning, oscar nominated actor albert finney has died, best known for his role as daddy warbucks right there in "annie."

he was also in erin brock viv and jason bourne series of move es. the actor passed away following a short illness. albert finney was 82 years old. boy, we've watched "annie" a few times. >> i didn't know that was him. i didn't. tut together. >> what a delight. 6:38. happening in weekend, a chance to learn about an important event in bay area black history. >> tomorrow, they'll mark the 75th anniversary of the trail surrounding the disaster at port chicago. in july of 1944, more than 300 people died in a massive explosion at the port near concord. many were young black sailors ordered to load and unload explosives with no training and inadequate equipment. that prompted 50 black sailors to refuse to go back to work. they became known as port chicago 50. well, while they were eventually convicted of mutiny, they also paved the way for social justice movements that followed. >> they were the precursor to the desegregation of the u.s. armed forces, and so at the time, it did not seem that their

work meant anything, but it was through their courage that we were able as a nation to finally see that the situation that happened at port chicago was a cause to begin to desegregate. >> port chicago story is another one of those threads of history that starts back in 1944, but continues into concerns of the future with black lives matter and colin kaepernick. >> the event starts at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow at the treasure island museum, and it's free. it will include a panel of speakers and clips from films covering the topic. >> my grandmother lived in port chicago during that time and oftentimes she would describe that explosion to us, mike. >> wow. >> horrifying time. >> i can't imagine having that anywhere around and finding out little by little. >> it's important for history. >> exactly and to sort things out, we talked about the ceremony over here, marcus, treasure island. port chicago is over here,

actually port chicago highway i talk about that, we always remember them, so that's good occasion to remember that up in this area but the ceremony is at treasure island. both areas moving smoothly right now because it's friday morning, with a light flow of traffic all around. we're looking over toward the bay bridge, where the metering lights are on. i do want to take our waze system, because we did have a crash reported around the berkeley curve. i can't see it with our cameras. traffic looks like it's moving smoothly but an unnamed wazer sent in this picture, so know that you can join our waze team, nbc bay area wazers at the bottom and that helps you share the information to or from our station. >> very cool. name or not. >> that's right. a cute little icon. >> that's all you need sometimes. so the icon we'll see this weekend, drip, drip, drip, drip. >> umbrellas. >> a lot of rain on the weather forecast, and we're starting out already starting to see some of the showers moving in. before you head out for work this morning, here is a look at storm ranger, where it is already raining on the peninsula, and much more of the

bay area is going to see that, and it's going to be a cool weekend, off and on showers. you may be able to get out there during a break saturday morning but appears the only break for the weekend. sunday soggy, highs reaching the upper 40s to lower 50s. if you are planning to celebrate the lunar new year at east ridge mall, a picture i took of my family last year out there, it is going to be raining. if you could get out there as soon as it opens, you may be able to enjoy it during the break and temperatures reaching the low 50s. it's going to be once again very cool out there. for the pebble beach pro-am on sunday, off and on showers, and it starts out only in the upper 40s. so it's going to be very chilly, and then the showers continuing, so we'll see if they'll still be out there, and looking at kirkwood, it is snowy and windy, if you are making plans to go to the sierra, get there by early afternoon. other than that, travel conditions are going to be very treacherous, and make sure you bring those tire chains, because

it's going to be snowing all throughout the weekend and you may have a tough time getting back on sunday. you may have to wait until monday, so plan accordingly there as well. looking at russian river valley, scattered showers continuing, with highs today only reaching 47 degrees, low 50s for the rest of the weekend, and if you do plan to go hiking it's not the best weather. we'll have soggy trails and off and on rain, some of the heaviest rain moving in tomorrow. we'll traalk more about that an what's going on today, coming up in about three minutes. >> thanks, kari. next and new this morning, allegations of discrimination. a chp officer who says his fellow officers would refuse to give him backup at crime scenes because he's gay. and at 6:50, the woman on a walk with a baby who went after a man who tried to rob her. a warning for all young moms. and at 6:55, not done just yet. the new life sears will officially get and what the move means for workers. a major hearing this morning

with the acting attorney general. we'll take you there live in a moment, and out to the big board, live as well, this is in new york city. dow continues to fall after a lousy day yesterday. you're watching "today in the bay."

good friday morning. it is 645. it's partly cloudy at the pleasant hill b.a.r.t. station. a cold start and rain gets here later on this morning and continues through the afternoon. we'll get a look at all the microclimates and what you can expect where you live, coming up in less than five minutes. a quick look at the san mateo bridge. traffic moves very well here. i saw a set of flashing lights on the westbound commute, the

tail lights side. i'm going to check this out and scan all the reports. we'll update you coming up. a live look in san francisco, at the site of that big gas explosion on wednesday. that's where a little later this morning federal investigators are expected to be back on site. investigators with the ntsb arrived last night in the neighborhood around geary and parker. this was in the richmond district. they survived, they actually surveyed that area i i should say where investigators believe a piker optic crew digging underground breached an underground gas line. five buildings were damaged and investigators plan to look at everything. >> what was going on in the pipeline control centers, we'll be looking at everything from work hours to training of personnel, to what happened at the time of the explosion, where the valves are. >> investigators are planning to hold a news conference later today. a former chp deputy from

vallejo suing the agency for 20 years of alleged discrimination and harassment. according to "usa today," jay brome alleges he would call for backup during investigations but his fellow officers would not respond. his lawsuit is one of several suits across the country. they all allege anti-gay workplace discrimination at law enforcement departments in recent years. san francisco is gearing up for the 2020 u.s. census as "the chronicle" reports, the city is worried an undercount would mean san francisco will lose out on billions of dollars in federal funding. now to stop that from happening, san francisco is planning to pay a number of non-profits to convince residents to take part in the census. it will be the first online census. it's raising concerns about those who have lack of online access. the first big face-off in congress since the democrats took power starts today. >> scott mcgrew, lawmaker also question matt whitaker. >> right under way with this. whitaker is the interim attorney general. the democrats want to know some of the conversation he's had

with the president about the mueller investigation. remember until we get a new ag, whitaker as the hearing just got started minutes ago. we are monitoring it and will bring you any breaking news about it. one way or the other -- >> he's an outstanding person. i would say if he did testify, he'd do very well. he's an outstanding person, a very, very fine man. >> he's testifying now. something to watch for. does whitaker today refuse to answer certain questions? he'd be right to refuse in certain cases, claiming executive privilege, because our government's branches of government are separate but equal. congress gets to ask questions of the executive, but the executive branch is allowed to keep some of its own secrets. left leaning democrats introduced a new plan they

called the "new green deal," an intense plan to battle climate change, but it was quickly dismissed by nancy pelosi, who said "the green dream or whatever they call it, nobody know what it is." john dingell has died of cancer. din gel holds the record as the longest serving member of u.s. congress in history, representing michigan for 59 years. he quit congress in 2015. dingell once said this about the unite the right rally in virginia. "i signed up to fight nazis 73 years ago, and i'll do it again if i have to. hatred, bigotry and fascism have no place in this country." dingell was 93 years old. as i mentioned, we are watching the whitaker situation and we will bring you any breaking news as it happens. in the meantime, you can follow me on twitter @scottmcgrew. >> 6:49. a philadelphia woman chases down a robber while watching her baby nephew. the 25-year-old who works as main inny was pushing a baby in

the stroller monday. as she was watching a man approached her from behind. he reached into the stroller and grabbed her purse. that's when she decided to chase after him. surveillance video you saw it there briefly showed the suspect pushing the woman off of him and fleeing the scene. >> it's one of those moments you don't really know what's happening. your brain thinks about it later. >> she was luckily not hurt, but the search is still on for that suspect. always got to be aware of your surroundings. >> yes. a tough situation there. >> wow. all right, as we're gearing up here for that rain, it's already started in some parts of the bay. >> it's starting in the peninsula right now. as you get ready to head out the door that's your reminder of it's going to be a wet day and make sure you have the rain gear you're prepared for it and also chilly. let's get a look at these temperatures as you get ready to head out the door. back into the upper 30s in the tri-valley and the south county. right now we're at 41 in santa rosa, and in ukiah, and in oakland. right now 43 degrees, it's a chilly start. we're starting to see the clouds rolling by as you get dressed. make sure you have a nice warm

coat, and maybe trading the leather boots for some rain boots. you'll need the rain gear today, as we start to see this rain becoming more widespread and we're tracking it on storm ranger, as we go throughout the day. if you have a smartphone and you have the nbc bay area app, you'll be able to look at storm ranger in the same tools that i'm using right now to track this rain. you'll be able to get alerts when that rain is approaching your lane. rain from pacifica toward san bruno and hillsborough and down the peninsula, as we see the rain filling in from san mateo toward half moon bay, down the woodside and also portola valley and moving through the los altos hills. we'll see more of these showers moving through once again, as this storm system moves in, but look at how much more we have to see of that storm work through the bay area before we're done with this, and we are looking at this one not a really strong storm. we're expecting about a quarter to one inch of rain. the flood risk is low, but we will have some gusty winds, and

isolated thunder risk and snow levels at about 3,500 feet, and it will start to become more widespread, going into early afternoon. we see a the lo of yellows and reds indicating heavier rain. that continuing through late tonight into early tomorrow and rainfall totals could reach over an inch as we check out the forecast, some chilly temperatures throughout the weekend, off and on rain, a little bit of a break and then more rain for the middle of next week. mike, now you have a crash near the been about ay bridgeeay bri? >> we found the photo sent in by our wazers. ben our camera operator saw flashing lights, great job, ben, and great job for folks getting around it. the east shore and berkeley curve are moving better. a lighter volume of traffic. as the rain comes in, it will complicate the commute. so far we're looking good. later in the commute is when the friday commute kicks in as well

so expect more slowing and again, we see more of that green highlighting, the road weather index says wetter roadways across 280, san mateo toward woodside as kari is talking about and you'll find the damp roadways. coming into the south bay soon, and the south bay is just starting to build. the san mateo bridge where kari showed somery dh radar activity moves slowly westbound. i saw flashing lights moving toward the high-rise. no update from chp on any calls that came in. you see a slower drive here. you might want to consider the dumbarton and note if you're riding b.a.r.t., the new start time is 5:00 on monday. there will be buses and i've sent the auxiliary service schedule and maps on to my twitter account, facebook and covering that of course on monday. back to you. >> thank you very much. 6:53 right now. happening now in indonesia, a volcano is erupting forcing hundreds of residents to flee from the villages surrounding the slopes. we have new video in to our newsroom. you see it here. the hot lava runoffs cut through

rivers, blocked the road to two villages. authorities now have to deliver aid on boats. next here on "today in the bay" a quick look at the top stories, including reservoir watch. a live update on flood concerns, as that storm kari mentioned heads our way. plus curtain call. a local movie theater that has a bad reputation is shut down for good. we'll be back with more news in just two minutes. 6:54. you're watching "today in the bay." [ music playing ] ♪ here comes the sun

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here are the top stories on today welcome back to you on this friday morning. 6:56.

before you head out the door the stoppier i-s we're covering on "today in the bay." >> a new round of rain on the way. here is a look at our live doppler radar and a live look at vasona reservoir in los ga tows. it's getting close to capacity. the spillway already in use. a normal situation during the winter. there are similar stories at other south bay reservoirs, though experts are not worried about flooding at this point. right now, the richmond-san rafael bridge is back open, live look at the toll plaza there. it was shut down for hours yesterday because of falling chunks of concrete. cal trans says there's work to do but the short term fix is done. the transit agency has installed a large metal plate on the upper deck where that concrete has deteriorated. cal trans has also issued an emergency order to get a crew in this weekend to now make permanent repairs. >> happening today, sears gets a second chance a bankruptcy judge approved a last-minute deal to save the owner of sears and

kmart. under the proposal, the major remaining assets of sears will be sold to its chairman and largest shareholder eddie lampert. without the approval, sears would have almost certainly been liquidated. instead, about 425 stores and 45,000 jobs will be saved. >> it was once the go-to theater in san francisco. i remember going here, but last night on the amc on van ness showed its last picture. the theater opened in 1998 with 14 screens that could seat up to 3,000 people but in recent years it took a downturn. customers took to yelp to complain about closed concession stands, filthy and enkempt conditions and old seats. no word on what will replace the theater or the future of that building. this morning, the "today" show will remember baseball hall of famer frank robinson. he died yesterday and he broke the color barrier when he became the first black manager in major league baseball history. robinson grew up in oakland and later managed the giants. at 7:30, a look on his impact on

american sports and civic culture. >> all right, let's talk about weather and traffic together. that rain making its way already on the peninsula. >> it is starting to move in. we'll see it becoming more widespread and heavier as we go throughout the day. we'll be tracking it on storm ranger, and looking at our forecast, more showers off and on throughout the weekend, looking at also some chilly temperatures, and there may be a bit of a break tomorrow morning so that may be your one opportunity to get outside this weekend, in between those showers, and then there's a lot more on the way for the middle of next week. >> we have a check with the richmond-san rafael bridge there. >> we'll show you a different angle to remember we have westbound traffic coming toward us. the repairs were done yesterday. i was worried because kari talked about the rain coming in. they don't have to do repair work today. you were talking about this weekend's work as well so i'm concerned and of course we'll follow that in the newsroom. palo alto is moving smoothly. you see the clouds in the sky and kari talks about the peninsula rain the first to be seen. we'll track that.

>> get the umbrellas ready. we'll be back in a half hour with a local news update and every half hour as well. >> it's friday, enjoy it and thanks so much for starting your morning here with us. >> fri-yay! good morning. primed for battle. amazon's ceo jeff bezos takes on the nation's most notorious tabloid accusing the "national enquirer" of blackmail and extortion and threatening to go public with his intimate and private pictures. why bezos went public rst and what was "the enquirer" trying to hide? in the hot seat, the acting attorney general set for a grilling on capitol hill today after days of intense back and forth over whether he would even show up. this morning why did he say the mueller investigation was about to wrap up? honoring an icon, john dingell, the longest serving member of congress in u.s.