we can get, right? >> it is wednesday. >> we're going to see a mix of sun and clouds and also have a chance of rain, as we go into the afternoon. could you see a few more clouds this morning, as you head out, looking live over san jose, headed over tdgl, in the upper 40s compared to the mid-30s, where we were yesterday, and we'll see those highs reaching 53 today, but we're still about ten degrees below normal. we'll talk about that rain moving in, in just a few minutes and mike, you're updating the crash at the nimitz. >> that's right, looking at southbound 880 coming out of hayward in toward union city. the bay bridge toll plaza metering lights are on but the san mateo bridge may get more crowded as folks try to bail out of the backup at whipple. i told you all lanes would clear, i was wrong. the slow lane is still blocked by an earlier crash and that has southbound 880 jamming up as you head down toward union landing, the shopping mall, you see the shops over here on the western d beyond and that's going to have folks choose the san mateo

bridge instead of headed down to the dumbarton bridge. we'll track that. overnight repair work on the richmond-san rafael bridge cleared this morning. we are okay there but alternate to highway 37 which is closed westbound, i know we'll talk more about that. i'll hand it back to you guys. >> thanks, mike. >> 6:01. san jose police are investigating a series of burglaries that took place overnight. >> the thieves targeted at least five businesses across the city's south side. we put together this map for you. all morning, officers are busy searching for the suspects and evidence. >> "today in the bay's" bob redell live at one of the businesses that was hit. bob, do police think these are related? >> reporter: laura and marcus, we do count five burglaries and we have reached out to police to ask them do you think these are related, still waiting to hear back. one, it took place within a three to four-hour time period and they took place close to each other. for example, we have this auto zone, auto shop here, the door

was broken into and another auto shop just across the way o'reil o'reilly's auto parts in that shopping center thawa tuesday night when someone hit up a different auto zonenute minutes they broke into this auto zone on almaden expressway and that o'reilly radio parts auto parts across the street an branham. around 2:00 this morning, there were a group of several men who had their faces covered, they broke into a vape shop called the abyss vapor lounge. just behind oak ridge mall. staff at a veterinary hospital next door, they interrupted the burglary, the men took off in a car and an hour later, a fifth location was hit, a liquor store at tully an you can see the police, the san jose police department had their guns drawn on a suspect. they found him inside. they deployed a sheriff's k9. you can hear the dog barking.

that sawing bit the man and helped police take him into custody. five burglaries in the eastern part of san jose, we're trying to find out from police if they think they are related. reporting live in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay" >> now we know why the suspect was sobbing there. thanks a lot, bob. 6:03. new signs of possible escalation in the nucar russia. russian leader vladimir putin tells russian lawmaker he will respond if the u.s. deploys nuclear missiles in europe in the wake of the white house decision to back out of a cold war era treaty with russia banning each nation from doing just that. putin says russia would target both the u.s. and the countries where its missiles were stationed. he also says he is not openly seeking a confrontation. new this morning, president trump is denying a report he tried to put an ally in charge of the justice department's case against his long time attorney michael cohen.

tracie potts is live in washington with more on that story. tracie? >> the president says absolute d. the "new york times" alleging that the president called up the justice department and tried to his long time attorney. according to the "new york times," president trump called up then acting attorney general matt whitaker and asked for a change. the paper reports mr. trump wanted to put an ally in charge of the case against his long-time attorney, michael cohen. the fbi was investigating hush money payments cohen made to women for mr. trump. >> reporter: did you ask acting attorney general matthew whitaker to change the leadership in the investigation of your former attorney michael cohen? >> there's a lot of fake news out there, no, i didn't. >> earlier this month whitaker told congress the president never pressured him to influence any case. >> at no time has the white house asked for, nor have i provided any promises or commitments. >> reporter: the man the

president reportedly wanted in charge, u.s. attorney jeffrey berman. "the times" reports whitaker said no, berman had already legal experts say if the president made that call, it could be considered obstruction of justice. >> was it asked in the form of a question, can we get the u.s. attorney to handle this, no, sir, he's recused or more of a direct order that was ignored? those facts make a difference. >> reporter: meantime, the former acting fbi director who ordered two investigations of mr. trump tells nbc he briefed congress. >> no one objected, not on legal grounds, not on constitutional grounds, and not based on the fact. around investigations involving the president. now, even if that switch had been made, the president insists he never asked about, but even so, it may not have helped him much. berman is the same u.s. attorney

now investigating president trump's inaugural committee. laura? >> right, it's interesting to connect all the dots there. 6:06. happening today, oakland school leaders planned a caravan to the state capitol to ask for more funding ahead of tomorrow's possible strike. the group of oakland unified administrators and principals will lobby state lawmakers to get more money and debt forgiveness. teachers vow to walk off the job tomorrow if a new contract deal is not reached. teachers have been working without a contract for more than a year now. the district is grappling with the ballooning budget deficit, and is now considering a new round of school closures. >> it 6:06. developing this morning, a bizarre and deadly accident now under investigation at orange county's john wayne airport. late last night, the airport says that a tire on a passenger boarding bridge exploded. this happened while two crew members were changing it. one worker died. that other worker was not seriously injured. osha investigators are expected

to be there this morning to determine exactly what happened. highway 37 in marin county is expected to fully reopen by noon today. crews have spent nearly a week trying to shore up a levee breach that sent floodwaters into the westbound lanes. a permanent fix is still in the works, according to "the marin independent journal" the cost of the repair is still unknown. transportation officials say they've already spent a half million dollars on fixing the highway. and repairs on the richmond-san rafael bridge have stopped for the morning commute, and crews are working to permanently fix that damage of the roadway. this started last night because cal trans wanted to wait until after last week's storm to start the fix. you may remember 12 days ago, chunks of that concrete fell from the upper deck. crews are replacing expansion joints near the failing concrete. traffic on the bottom deck is limited to one lane during those repairs. >> 6:07 and new this morning, a rare sight in the desert in southern california. this is snow at joshua tree national park.

this picture was posted on the park's instagram page. the caption reads "snow way! we may be in the desert but that doesn't mean we don't flake out on winter." kind of a cool sight there, kari. >> it is cool. i'd like to see it when there's not snow there, go hiking. >> it's beautiful. >> yes. here we are this morning, cool temperatures but not as cold as yesterday. mostly upper 40s, low 50s as you get ready to head out the door and we'll be tracking some rain today. we have a cold front that will bring us some spotty showers throughout late morning into early afternoon. we could see it in parts of the peninsula, as well as the south bay by 10:00 this morning, and it's going to very hit or miss. some very spotty showers today, and then it will be clearing out tonight, as soom of tme of the colder temperatures return to the bay area headed to tomorrow morning. make sure you're prepared for any types of weather today. we'll see it quickly changing throughout the day. we'll talk about what else is going on in our forecast, and

mike, you're tracking the changes through hayward. >> the changes in hayward, caused by a crash in union city, the ripple effect. most of the bay very nice, lighter than your typical wednesday vacation week for a lot of schools and of course the parents then, but south 880 is jammed up to whipple, where we have only your slow lane blocked but that's a tough place at a tough time so more folks are headed over toward the san mateo bridge. does it really show up on our sensors, our live camera seeing much more slowing on the flat section headed toward 101. 101 moves smoothly over there and the bay bridge coming down from the east shore freeway we've gotten to 25 minutes from highway 4 to the backup at the toll plaza. >> thanks, mike. nexight idea to eliminate america's national debt, is trending online, and might make you laugh. the entire state thousands of people say we should tell. speaking of debt, are you going into debt watching your friends on facebook, and then spending too much money to try to match them? we'll take a look in business and tech. and at 6:25, a close call

caught on camera. take a look at this, the dramatic footage showing a state trooper nearly run down by a drunk driver. you don't want to miss that video, coming up after the break. you're watching "today in the bay." (tim

good wednesday morning. right now at 6:12, it's a milder start to the day. we'll say that. but it is still cool across the bay area. here is a live look outside in fremont, checking out tesla. we will see a few more clouds developing throughout the morning with some peeks of sunshine.

only reaching the low 50s today, and then we could see some rain falling this afternoon. we'll talk about that, coming up in less than five minutes. >> a live look here the nimitz, oakland shows a good amount of traffic, but the headlights headed south are going to jam up if you head in toward union city. we'll talk about that crash we continue to follow and the ripple effect. good morning. very happy wednesday to you. tesla says it will eventually allow the leasing of model 3. right now you can only lease the model s and the model x. the reason that tesla's been reluctant until nowuse if you sell a car to somebody, you getll if you finance a lease, you get their money one month at a time, and tesla needs the money now. the big business story though this morning is the fed, will get the minutes, the notes from the federal open markets committee's most recent meeting today at 11:00 a.m. the reason we care is because the fed as a whole has indicated it is done raising rates for now.

but it has voting members and we're going to get a peek at their notes and know how many on the board feel that way, that they should keep interest rates low. google thought it was announcing good news when it says its nest security system would soon be able to act as a home assistant. you can talk to it. except consumers hadn't realized the nest security system had a microphone in it. google says the microphone wasn't supposed to be a secret, it's just nobody knew they had a microphone. a new study from the national bureau of economic research says facebook may make us spend more money because we want to have the same lifestyle as our they have on facebook. economists have always called keeping up with the joneses. it used to mean when a neighbor gets a new car, you get a new car, too. now you see pictures of friends on cruises or at restaurants and economists say that is causing you to spend more money. you're familiar with sand hill road in menlo park, that's

home to capital firms, so many startups from uber to pinterest to lyft. new york has wall street, hollywood has sunset strip and we have sand hill road. if you don't know what goes on in sand hill road and you're interested in why people would give $10 million checks to young startups that are totally unproven, i have a podcast for you, literally i have a podcast for you, it's a new one we're putting together called sand hill road, you'll find it on apple and google podcasts and give you an opportunity to take a list think we have a great de fun explaining this. i know it can kind of strange and -- >> we're used to it here. >> we're used to it here. why does this place matter so much? even if you just passed over it on 280, why is this the place? >> all right. sounds good. thanks, scott. 6:16 right now. happening now, thousands of people are actually signing a

petition they want to eliminate america's national debt. their big idea is to sell montana, the entire state of montana. they want to sell the state of montana to canada campaign for $1 trillion. the reasoning? "we have too much debt and montana is useless," that's their quote. at last check 10,000 people signed the change.org petition. of course this is not going to happen. some people in montana are taking offense, others are signing that petition. >> i was going to ask, i was wondering if anybody did sign that. >> my cousin lives in montana. i >> could soon be in a foreign country. >> find out how you feel. >> that visit will get a lot longer. all right. so the weather we're having here today, something to smile abou , i guess. >> it is feeling better. we start out with upper 40s, that's better than the 30s. here say live look outside in

san francisco, a few more clouds rolling by, and we're going to see another cold front dropping by, so that's just going to make sure that we keep this cold air. it's not going anywhere over the next few days. you could see that at the bottom of the screen as we check out the seven-day forecast, and look at where we are now, low 40s for the north bay, we were below loudee out ahead of that cold front actually acting as a blanket. we look at the difference from now to 24 hours ago, and livermore is now 18 degrees warmer than yesterday at this time, and san jose as well as concord 15 degrees warmer, so as you head out to the pleasant hill b.a.r.t. station, you could still need a coat, even though it is warmer out there, we're in the upper 40s, we're going to stay there until about 7:00 t a weather for the afternoon, it will feel a little bit better, based on the fact that we will have some times of sunshine, and then later on today, we'll see this system that's bringing only some spotty, light rain to

eureka, a start to approach the bay area, we'll track that on storm ranger throughout the day, and it doesn't look like we'll all get in on this rain, but where you do, you may have some brief, heavy downpours, shows at about 10:30 we could see that move through the peninsula, the south bay and into the afternoon, still some rain chances. we may have know on our peaks hamton but other a from the out later on tonight, mostly bringing trace amounts of rain. than that, no the highest amount on the computer model showslit snow sh sierra that have had lots of snow recently. this may make the road conditions a little bit more tricky going out throughout today as well as early tomorrow, but check out our snowpack. the statewide average is now at 146% of normal, and the central sierra doing the best at 154% of average. so that's really good news. we do have some more rain and snow in the forecast, but most of it will be light. we could be tracking some bigger systems in the forecast, some

storms coming in by early next week. i'll have more on that, but mike, you're tracking that continued problem through the east bay. >> i am, kari. overall, traffic is very light around the bay, except for this stretch. i was going to show you traffic jamming up, our speed sensors show a lot of congestion just past that industrial overpass, getting over toward whipple and dyer and in the backup for that while, we may have one or two others, industrial and tennison have reports ofsh commute continues to build out of san leandro, and past san mateo bridge. as we zoom out, we see that as the only real trouble spot aside from the closure of highway 37 continuing in novato. because of the jam into union city we have more traffic headed across the san mateo bridge, folks trying to get across the bay, they were going to go down to the dumbarton bridge perhaps, now they cross 92 so you'll have more slowing and company on the flat section. that may cause slowing for ac transit buses using that san mateo bridge and through that portion of the east bay but we

haven't heard about any major delays and b.a.r.t. is on time, if you're going to head across the bay bridge, maybe go under the bay bridge tunnel for you. a smooth drive at the bay bridge but we have already the left lanes starting with traffic. we had an earlier backup and may be a little bit of early relief. back to you >> thanks, mike. up next and new for you this hour, the california baseball star who just signed a record contract, the largest free agent deal in any sport in american history. plus, ariana grande saying thank you next to a music milestone. the record achieved only by the beatles, that she now has this morning. if you fgot your i.d., you don't have to cancel your flight or rush home to find it. the tsa says you can fly without an i.d. if you tell them about it at the security checkpoint, they can verify your identity a different way, and let you make your flight. if you have a consumer complaint, call us, 888-996-tips or online at

nbcbayarea.com/responds. new thi-

we are getting a first look at a new documentary >> look at a new documentary focused on allegations of sexual abuse by michael jackson. >> "leaving neverland" focuses on two men's experiences at the singer's famous ranch in los angeles. >> told me if they ever found out what we were doing, he and i would go to jail for the rest of our lives. >> jackson's family has

denounced the film, saying that both accusers testified under oath that the king of pop never did anything inappropriaan allegations. hbo plans to begin showing that film march 3rd. new video, check this out, las vegas, this is a close call for a nevada state trooper over the weekend. look atha tre, the suspected drunk driver barrels his car into the patrol car, rc of that car. t patrol car got the worst of that crash. the trooper injured his back trying to get out of the way of that but obviously it could have been a lot worse. new this remember, remember the six million-dollar man? baseball has a 300 million-dollar manny, manny machado signed the largest free agent contract ever in u.s. sports, $300 million over ten years to play for the san diego

padres. this ends months of speculation about where he might land. the padres were never considered even the front-runners but boy, what a contract achievement for pop star ariaa a grande that has only happened once before, talking about five decades ago. ♪ >> grande occupied the first three spots on this week's billboard hot 100, her new album "thank you, next" dropped last week and that song, "seven rings" and "break up with your girlfriend" are three, two and one. grande appeared on "the late late show." host james corden brought out a the beatles are the only other performers to accomplish the very same thing and that happened in over five weeks back in 1964. here are stories we're working on for you the next half hour. state lawmakers are working to stop sugary drinks, the five

wide-ranging proposals to make it harder to find smaller and expensive. also new, the dmv won firming i.c.e. has access to information that could result in deportations. the explanation and what it means for bay area families. yo hour, what five california men were thinking when they tried to drive through a river. you heard me right, look at the video. we've got much more of that story coming up in a bit. you're watching "today in the bay." good morning and thank you

for joining us. i )m laura garcia. and i )m marcus washington. a very good wednesday morning to you. thanks for joining us pum i . i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. meteorologist kari hall starts us out with the forecast. >> good morning, we have a blanket of clouds over the bay cair. a live look over san jose as you get ready to head out. not raining now but we will have a chance going throughout the day. campbell at 49 degrees at 10:00, going into the mid-50s, and then that is nowhere close to where we should be. should be warmer and we have another cold front moving in. we are going to have a chance of showers today. we'll track it on storm ranger, and talk about your chance of seeing some rain in just a few minutes. headed over to mike, you've been tracking your chance of getting in a traffic jam. >> and if you're going through hayward and union city your chances are good. we've had a series of crashes. everywhere else you have to look for traffic. why would you look for traffic unless you're me. southbound 880 a series of

crashes at industrial and tennison, look like they've cleared out of the roadway but they were in the backup formed by this crash, which is still blocking your slow lane south 8g more crowded there. we watch for 92 but no problems other than more cars and here the richmond to san rafael bridge an alternate to westbound 37 which is s closed into novato as it has been, at least for the morning commute. back to you. >> thanks so much, mooeike. the california dmv admits that immigration and customs has access to information that could get some people deported. kris sanchez joins us live in san jose with a look at what this is all about. kris? >> reporter: hi there, laura. this is the driver's license that's issued to an undocumented immigrant that is intended to allow people to drive legally and also get insurance, thereby making the roadways safer for everybody. that was the theory, when assembly bill 60 was passed, detention."13 citizenship or our sister nation nbc san diego talked with a man pulled over by

immigration and customs age and now knows that those i.c.e. officers had access to his driver's license information because that was the picture they used to identify him. now a deputy director for the dmv explained that the agency does not keep a separate database for a.b. 60 licenses and thus they are searchable, just like all the other dmv's records and accessible by outside agencies through the department of justice. she also adds the searchable information does not include immigration status. a spokesperson for i.c.e., immigration customs enforcement, told nbc san diego i.c.e. cannot access the dmv's database directly but wouldn't explain how they accessed the information indirectly saying it is "law enforcement sensitive." california lawmakers have been asking questions about this. now they're general to take

a look at how this information is being used, because they want to make sure that anybody who can get a driver's license gets a driver's license so they can be on the road without regard to their immigration status. in san jose, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> it will be concerning to a lot of folks. thanks, kris. 6:33 right now. next month's cal fresh benefits better known as food stamps will be handed out early on march 1st to make sure families don't run out of benefits and go hungry. this all began last month, when the federal government shutdown happened, officials handed out february benefits early. normal payments will resume in april. >> 6:33. new details for you, state lawmakers are making a new push to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks in california. pete suratos is live in walnut creek with their plans and new reaction overnight. pete. pete? >> reporter: good morning, marcus. state lawmakers introducing five bis this

issue but we're talking about more than a soda tax this time around. let's talk about the five bills, there's a lot to cover. that first bill calls for capping the size of sugary drinks in unsealed containers at 16 fluid ounces, applied for restaurants and grocery stores. the idea is potentially a way to deal with the supersize phenomenon of the average soda. the second bill calls for labeling the sugary drinks with health risk warnings, similar to what you'd see on tobacco products. a third bill wants to prohibit supermarkets, convenience stores and retail stores from placing the drinks near the checkout counter. some people call that impulse buying, so lawmakers claim soda companies pay prime money for that real estate for the placement of those products as you're checking out from a grocery store or any other examples. fourth bill would bar soda companies from offering promotional deals to lower the price of the drinks to customers, and the fifth and final bill would be a tax on the drinks, but that tax would be

used for programs to offset the health effects of drinking sugary drinks. here is what folks at this 7-eleven in walnut creek are buying sugary drinks are saying about these bills. >> me personally, i disagree with it. i see it more as like they're trying to bring in like a sin tax in a way, you know, they do it for tobacco and alcohol but sugar, sugar is in everything, and you know, i don't think they should be implementing that. >> i try to not have my kids drink soda, so that's the way it ought to be, and if it's unhealthy, then it should be expensive, you know what i mean? >> reporter: 11 similar bills have been introduced in the past decade, most of them failing but lawmakers say if isreek, pete suratos for "today in the bay." >> a lot of parents will be happy to reduce the consumption

new th it received accreditation for that school. classes are expected to start next summer. students who sign up for the first five classes will get their full tuition waived. the catholic church is responding to a crisis, after a growing number of priests are being accused of sexually abusing minors. last night, dozens of people came to the berkeley campus of santa clara university's jesuit school of theology to hear panelists talk about church reform. they say the scandals are affecting them deeply, and they want change. >> we're sad. we're angry. we're frustrated, but i think we're also hopeful, because a lot of voices are being raised now who really want to reform the church, seeking authentic >> reporter: on tuesday, the catholic diocese of oakland released a list of 45 men accused of sexual abuse. 20thhat list arelol priests.

we are following an uptick in car burglaries in the east bay. fremont police arrested 11 burglary suspects in eight days. they say there have been more than 300 reported break-ins since the start of 2019. investigators say many took place in shopping center parking lots. fremont pd say that they're stepping up patrols and working with property owners in an effort to bring the number of car burglaries down. not your average drive to work for this group of men in fresno county. they became stranded in the middle of the san joaquin river yesterday, when their suv became stuck in the rising water. swift water rescue crews got them to safety. authorities say that snow melt and recent heavy rains are making s roaays impassable. the suv is a total loss, but all five men are okay. t the san mateo the traffic bridge, this is getting much more crowded here. the reason, well, it's that time of t day when we see a lot more traffic headed westbound,

but also it's compounded by the fact thatre is that crash continuing to block the slow lane south 880 at whipple and in the back a couple of crashes near industrial, another one at tennison. those three all cleared to the shoulder but the one at whipple still backs things up. we may see more traffic on the san mateo bridge, the dumbarton bridge may shriright now. the bay bridge toll plaza metering lights are on, but it's lighter overall this week. a lot of vacations "on. >> a lot of kids have ski week, enjo ig having, for most of the bay area, at least? >> for most of the bay area we'll see more clouds moving in, and then some off and on showers in the forecast, as we head toward the same, cool, highs in the mid-50s. saturday will be a nice dry day but there will be a few more clouds rolling by but no major issues for all of your outdoor activities and by sunday, rain chances go right back up, some scattered showers in the forecast with highs reaching up

to about 54 degrees. are you going to the chinese new year parade this saturday? it will be nice and we'll see a mix of sun and clouds, highs reaching into the mid-50s and the time for the parade the start will only be at about 52 degrees and cooling down headed into the evening. lake shasta will be cool at times rainy and some snow showers by sunday and it's a weekend that may be a little bit tricky driving back to the bay area. half moon bay will also see rain chances going back up by sunday and saturday a mix of sun and clouds and seeing highs up to 55 degrees. that's a live look at yosemite. it is going to be a there, and it's going to be nice traveling for friday and saturday, but then sunday we'll see some of the rain and snow returning to that arrackg all o for you. we'll talk about what's going on today, that's cominut three minutes. >> thanks, kari. next and all new on "today in the bay," contra costa county ranks as one of the deadliest

places in the entire country for a specific type of death. the danger for drivers and pedestrians, plus the numbers to back it up. also, one of our top stories we're working on for this next half hour, a string of burglaries at five different stores in the south bay overnight. we don't know if they're all related, but many were in the same area. what police are telling us this morning. and all new in the past couple of hours, new getting on whether the santa rosa actor will face criminal charges. and bernie sanders sets a fund-raising record and he's only been at it 24 hours. speaking of funds, let's take you out to the big board in new york city. quiet day on the markets. dow industrials up just 12 points. you're watching "today in the bay." this is not a bed.

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(time check ( the time is 6:43 on this wednesday morning. more clouds and not as chilly. here is a live look outside over th wl see mostly cloudy skies ro high 63 degrees. we have to throw some rain in the mix today.t the nimitz in oakland. you see the flashing lights on the right? that's freeway service patr needs help. more flashing lights toward downtown oakland. no lanes reported blocked here and better news for hayward, they're clearing lanes there as well. >> thanks so much, kari and

mike. it is 6:44. new overnight a string of burglaries in the south bay, multiple auto shops targeted. coming up in a live report, the items taken. auto parts and o'reilly auto parts, the bug lears happened within an hour. police took a possible suspect in after a police dog bit him. a new report says contra costa county is among the deadliest places in the country when it comes to trains. were killed on local tracks from the report does not include suicide. six out of the top ten counties are in california, with los angeles county at the number one spot. new perspective today on the possible legal trouble facing santa rosa's jussie smollett if police find he orchestrated an attack on himself. >> the kind of charges you're

looking at here is basically obstruction, lying to authorities in illinois, that would typically be a misdemeanor but there's nothing typical about this case. >> nbc legal expert ari melber says things could be worse for smollett if authorities end up connecting a threatening letter he presented to authorities. police are still waiting to re-interview smollett in light of recent new evidence. you can watch the whole interview during the first hour of the "today" show following "today in the bay" at 7:00 a.m. a judge in los angeles says police departments must release all records of police shootings and misconduct, even if it happened before a new state law transparency took effect. police unions have gone to court to block the release of some records. the ruling won't take effect e contra h to give time for costa county denied a request to temporarily block the release of the records. the latest to file a lawsuit to stop the president's declaration of emergency. >> scott mcgrew, these lawsuits

are all filed in california. >> in california. good morning. no doubt because california, marcus, and san francisco in particular is home to the ninth circuit court, and the president feels the ninth circuit is super liberal and likely to rule against him. now the u.s. is actually split up into various appeals courts. so this is the ninth here. the reason they call it a circuit is because although ours is based in san francisco, the judges actually travel around to all the states, they make a circuit. the president says this is full of obama judges. it has judges from many different presidents by both parties. the "new york times" reports president trump tried to interfere with the investigation into his own personal attorney, michael cohen, and cohen's payoff with two women who claimed they had affairs with mr. trump. "the times" says trump asked his acting attorney general to replace the. earn in charge with the investigation is someone more sympathetic. the president denies that ever happened.

>> reporter: did you ask acting attorney general matthew whitaker to change the leadership in the investigation of your former attorney michael cohen? >> no, not at all. i don't know who gave you that. that's more fake news. there's a lot of fake news out there. no, i didn't. >> the president followed that up with a tweet labeling the "new york times" the enemy of the people. this is the first time in our history the president singled out a news agency with that label. the reason the most recent allegation is two-fold. first it smacks of obstruction of justice, that's a very serious crime. second, while the president has been accused of obstruction of justice before, in fact some say he admitted it in an interview with lester holt, this new allegation is very recent. trump allegedly made the request to whitaker, and whitaker only took charge after the midterms . vermont senator bernie sanders has been a candidate for president in the 2020 race for only 24 hours, and he's had a really good 24 hours raising nearly $6 million from a quarter

million small donor, compare that to some of the other top candidates. sanders with 6 million, kamala harris 1.5 million following her announcement. klobuchar needed two days to raise 1 million. we'll watch the president's reaction to the latest "new york times" accusation, follow us on twitter, follow me @scottmcgrew. >> 6:48 right now. for political junkies a 2020 presidential campaign is really exciting. for average people though, maybe it's too soon to even think about it. and for folks in states like iowa, they're just trying to live their lives. watch this new video g >> could you make it out there, could you hear it, a woman in an iowa restaurant scooting past new york s kirsten gillibrand saying i'm trying to get ranch dressing. she just wanted dressing.

the video started trending overnight. it has nearly 700,000 views. >> must be some good ranch dressing. >> hannah, the ranch girl is getting the place and we'll get you ranch this time. >> trending. >> maybe there's something going on with jimmy fallon perhaps. we'll see. >> and perhaps sponsorship with hidden valley or something. >> i'm a bleu cheese boy, by the way. >> lyave been, too. we're watching that today as you feel warmer temperatures getting ready to head out the door and another cold front will shake things up for us today. here is a look at right now as you get ready to step out the door, some upper at 40 in santa rosa, and 50 in oakland. gois you make your way out the to pleasant hill b.a.r.t. station, a few more clouds to start out the day, also acting as a blanket, keeping our temperatures warmer. upper 40s as you step out the

door and will only make it into the mid-50s today and some times of sunshine here and there. also breezy, that's a live look outside of the cool cloud cover that we're seeing over the south bay. you may see that out your window as you get dressed and you want to make sure you have the umbrella, just in case you get caught in one of these spotty showers and a coat to keep you warm. our temperatures this afternoon reach into the mid-50s once again. hier the upper 50s, but we're also going to see some rain chances, and we'll bee rai off the coast, and in parts of the north bay, but much of the rain is still well to the north of us, as themod ing. it does show that we will see some spotty rain for parts of the north bay, and themae even 11:00 this morning, but not all of us will,nd even into the afternoon to evening hours spotty showers, and then some clearing, breezy winds as this system moves through, just makes things really unsettled and you'll just have to be prepared for just

about anything today. clearing out by tonight. we could see anywhere from a trace to barely nothing, and then we are going to see those rain chances going down by tomorrow morning. so not a big deal today, and then some upper 50s for our highs, tomorrow for the inland areas and more clouds by saturday. on sunday, scattered rain back into the forecast. for san francisco, expect highs up to about 53 today. slightly warmer with sunshine for tomorrow. and mike, you have some welcome news for the east bay. >> i do, kari. that is where we had our toughest spot. overall the commute looks great, this morning the metering lights are on at the bdge,to throw tha. southboundotng major, a this crash south 880 at whipple crash north 85 at camden. finally cleared. we have a recovery, things were starting to build up, san leandro down past highway 92, in toward whipple but again, those crashes all four of them have cleared from the roadway, that's good news. more traffic west across that san mateo bridge but it is sorting it self out.

now, that will mean folks with headlights are moving better past the kocoliseum. the bay bridge toll plaza does show that lighter left approach that we typically see when it's a lighter flow around the bay and that's what we have since earlier this morning. over here on the peninsula side, an easy drive, palo alto northbound in from palo alto into san francisco, 101 and 280 no problems. back to you. >> thanks so much, mike. 6:52. happening now, china is going high tech to cra a thousa l il formation to celebrate the lantern festival. the drones create a dihineen characters of happy lantern festival. the festival marks the end of the chinese new year celebrations. next a quick look at top stories, including lobbying lawmakers, the big trip oakland teachers are taking in just a few hours before tomorrow. a new push to abolish the

speed limit along a stretch of california interstate. you're watching "today in the bay." welcome back.

before you head out the door, here are the top stories on today welcome back. before you head out the door, it is 6:56. here are the top stories on "today in the bay." >> happening today, oakland school leaders plan to caravan to the state capitol to ask for more funding ahead of tomorrow's possible strike. a group of oakland unified administrators and principals will lobby state lawmakers for more money and debt forgiveness. teachers vo y s vow to walk offb

tomorrow if a contract is not reached. teachers have been working on a contract for more than a year. it is considering a new round of school closures in the district. san jose immigrant rights groups fear i.c.e. agents may be tapping into dmv database to target undocumented drivers. the dmv confirms it has the data surrounding immigration status for all license holder. it allows them to drive legally and be insured, but the information is not supposed to be used as a bias for criminal or citizenship investigations. the dmv says that i.c.e. cannot directly access the dmv database, and that the matter of access is a law enforcement sensitive issue. state lawmakers are now looking into the controversy. 6:57, a live look right now, this is a walnut creek liquor store, where they're stocking up. state lawmakers putting sugary drinks under the microscope. they are planning to introduce

five new measures with the hopes of reducing consumption. they would cap the size of sugary drinks, label drinks with health risk as well as prohibiting drinks near the checkout counter. it also bars soda companies from promotional deals and tax sugary drinks to pay for health programs. people's opinions are>> sugar i. i don't think they should be implementing that. >> i try to not have my kids drink soda, that's the way it ought to be, if it's unhealthy it should be expensive. >> in the past, similar statewide efforts have failed but some cities, including san francisco and berkeley do have sugary drink restrictions. highway 37 in marin county is expected to fully reopen by noon today. crews have spent nearly a week trying to shore up a levee breach that sent floodwaters into the westbound lane. a permanent fix is still in the works, according to marin

independent journal. the cost of repair is unknown. transportation officials say they've already spent half a million dollars on fixing the highway. one southern southern california lawmaker believes he may have the answer to apparent decline of california's bullet train. how about zipping through the central valley at speeds of more than 100 hour in your car? an orange county state senator submitted a bill to add one lane in both directions of interstate 5 and highway 99. the additional lanes wouldn't have speed limits following germany's autobahn rules and cut pollution levels. i-5 a lot of people want to zip along harris ranch sometimes. for other reasons. >> a look at the weather for us today. last look? >> it is starting out milder as you get ready to step out the door. cloudy skies, don't forget the umbrella. there will be a few showers here and there, hit or miss rain with highs in the mid-50s. it all clears out tomorrow, and another chilly start to tomorrow morning. >> we'll bundle up for that. mike is tracking a few key

spots. >> the rest of the spots are pretty light. we're showing you san jose north 101 just starts to build approaching capital expressway. i've circled the area through hayward south from san leandro, recovery after the earlier crashes, plural, cleared as you get in toward fremont and the continued closure as marcus told us highway 37, fingers crossed for the noon opening. >> we'll be back at 7:25 with a live local news update. >> join us for "nbc bay area news" at 11:00. thanks for starting your morning here with us. have a good one. good morning, winter wallop, that massive storm sweeping across the country targeting every state east of the ppi tod along the busy i-95 corridor bracing for snow. the south facing heavy rain and serious flooding concerns. school closings and flight delays piling up. we are tracking it all. doubling down, overnight former fbi director andrew mccabe standing by his claim

that president trump could possibly be a russian asset. >> i think that's why we started our investigation. >> this morning, reactio and the new lawsuit