in one hour, live tv coverage as lawmakers on both sides try to sway the american people. we've got live team coverage. no more dumping, the new strategy coming across the east bay to xat a problem that plagues the entire bay area. and kaepernick comeback? a surprise announcement about the former 49er this morning. "today in the bay" continues right now. good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us, now on this wednesday morning. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. we'll have a look at the commute coming up with mike in a bit. first the forecast for you. meteorologist kari hall is tracking that. >> some changes in the forecast, we'll talk about getting you out the door this morning. it's foggy, driving across the golden gate bridge, while most of the rest of the bay area is seeing some much better visibility right now. so we are going to start out with the fog there, in mountain view, we are going to see our temperatures in the low 50s this

morning, and then going into the upper 60s by early this afternoon. you notice yesterday we have the high clouds moving in, we're going to see the same thing again today and our temperatures matching yesterday's as well. we'll talk about what's ahead coming up in six minutes and mike is getting you out on the roads with the look at the commute. >> kari i have a traffic alert which just developed. aaron in our control room is watching the monitors and showed the flashing lights. we can see approaching san francisco on that upper deck getting toward the city so shy of the fremont/fulsome exit. they did not make it there. the vehicles involved in a crash are still in your middle lanes, that say problem coming off of the treasure island tunnel and getting into the tunnel, shows some slowing down, mid span so that's a problem and likely going to cause the metering lights to be slow as well on the oakland side. we have a build nor westbound 80 getting into san francisco. other routes throughout your commute looking great. maybe the san mateo bridge or richmond bridge, try those this

morning if those are your options. back to you. >> thanks, mike. it's a big day on capitol hill. in a few hours the nation will get a firsthand look at the impeachment process. >> the house intelligence committee begins highly anticipated public hearings, where we find jay gray this morning, with a closer look at what we can expect. jay? >> hey there, laura, marcus, good morning. today marks a big shift in this historic process. it's also a big test. does the public care, are they interested and do they have the intensity that lawmakers have shown over the last couple of months when it comes to impeachment? just hours the impeachment investigation goals public. >> i think it's very important to tell the story to tens of millions of americans who have not yet heard from the witnesses themselves. >> reporter: the first two witnesses are bill taylor, america's top diplomat in ukraine, and george kent, the senior state department official in charge of policy involving

ukraine. president trump continues to label the process a hoax and witch hunt. >> going absolutely nowhere. don't worry about it. >> reporter: overnight, democrats and republicans huddled behind closed doors working through last-minute strategies, questions and talking points. gop leaders challenging the process. >> they don't have the right to stop us from speaking, even though they changed the rules to deny us the right, even though they changed the rules to deny us the right to have witnesses. >> reporter: democrats confident in what the public hearings will reveal. >> there's more evidence to prove that the president attempted to bribe or extort ukraine than there is evidence to support the idea the sun will come up in the east tomorrow, period. >> reporter: as the sun comes up this morning over capitol hill, the impeachment inquiry enters a new and both sides agree critical stage. the public hearings continue friday and we learned last

night, laura, there will be at least three more public sessions, probably more but we know of three for certain, those coming tuesday, wednesday and thursday of next week. >> a lot to take in there. is it only lawmakers asking the questions during the public inquiry? >> you know, no. there will be lawyers on both sides, both republican and democratic staff lawyers who will be there. they've been doing some of the private deposition work behind the scenes and they'll ask questions. adam schiff, the chairman of the committee, says he will likely yield most if not all of his time to the lawyers, so you'll hear from the lawyers than the lawmaker, important to how the public judges all of this, because if it gets bogged down in legalese and some of the language is tough to understand, that many fear could turn off the public >> that's right, they want to know something relatable. thanks so much, jay gray, live from washington. watch today's entire hearing at

7:00 a.m. on "today in the bay." coverage will preempt the "today" show and remember every morning scott mcgrew has analysis of all the news out of washington, depending only when you wake up, you can see him at 5:45 or watch a new report at 6:45. follow him on twitter and facebook. happening today, vice president mike pence arriving in california for a jam-packed visit. first he'll visit santa ana, then head to monterey. then he travels to the south bay tonight with a planned stop tomorrow at nasa ames research center in mountain view. that's where he'll tour the facility and speak to workers before heading back to washington. one man's trash is turning out more and more to be everyone's problem, and later today, leaders in the east bay will announce a new program to fight illegal dumping. "today in the bay's" bob redell live for us in walnut creek, and bob, i know this is a big problem not just for the east bay, but really throughout the bay area. >> reporter: and unfortunately, some we've started to notice more and more over the past

three to five years, marcus, especially under and around our interstates, rural roads, and different spots throughout the city in the bay area. a few hours from now, the district attorneys for both contra costa county and alameda county along with other state and county leaders, they're going to announce a $750,000 pilot program funded by the state that will help law enforcement go after people who dump their trash illegally on the sides of roads and other places where they aren't supposed to. to give you an idea, talking about contra costa county, in 2017-2018, illegal dumping cost contra costa county $600,000 in cleanup costs. compare that to just $200,000 in increase, a $200,000 increase from the year before, gives you a sense of how much more dramatic the problems become. this is according to the think tank, a group that includes

representatives from the d.a.'s office, the sheriff's office and public works. take oakland as an example. in 2016, that city's public works department cleaned up around 29,000 piles of illegally dumped trash. that's double the number of pickups from five years before. and pickups are expensive. it cost public works here in coco county around $260 to pick up a cubic yard of illegal trash. if that person had just taken that same pile of garbage to the dump, it would have cost that person around $32. reporting live in walnut creek, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> hopefully that money makes a difference, because that is not a sight anyone wants to see. thanks, bob. 6:07 for you right now. thousands of university of california service and health care workers plan to walk off the job today. the union accuses uc of outsourcing jobs to pay lower wages. earlier this month, the uc spokesperson told "the mercury news" the union won't budge on

its wage demands. this will be a one-day strike. uc leaders say critical operations will not be affected, and no patient appointments are in jeopardy at its medical facilities. >> 6:07. a live look this morning at sfo, and that's where in a few hours the international terminal departures hall will be named after ed lee. lee was san francisco's first asian-american mayor. he served from 2011 until his death from a heart attack in 2017. current mayor london breed is expected to attend today's dedication ceremony. she took over for lee, following his death and recently won re-election. a new chance at a restart, for former 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick. after walking away from the 49ers after the 2016 season, kaep will get a chance to show nfl teams if he still has what it takes. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez joins us live at levi's stadium this morning. i guess his heart has never been far from the game, kris. >> reporter: yes. somebody asked why now? it's been three years since

colin kaepernick was in a 49ers jersey at levi's stadium. it seems like the nfl's announcement he was going to have a private workout for teams came as a bit of a surprise for his own team as well. in a tweet he writes "i am and just getting word from my representatives that the nfl league office reached out to them about a workout in atlanta on saturday. i've been in shape and ready for this for three years. can't wait to see the head coaches and gms on saturday." the nfl set up saturday's private workout in atlanta and invited all teams to show up to watch the 32-year-old quarterback run through a workout, also answer some questions. while kaepernick says he's ready, he's been working out five days a week for the last three years, that really is not a lot of notice for the coaches and the general managers, most of whom have sunday games to be ready for. at this point, it is not clear which of the 32 teams are going

to attend this private workout. here is some back story. kaepernick opted out of his contract with the niners at the the end of the 2016 season, hasn't played since. he was criticized and praised for taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice. in 2017 he sued the league for colluding to keep him from playing again and earlier this year he and the nfl settled out of court. we don't know if this workout is part of the settlement. several teams asked about kaepernick's availability. the nfl is responding to that. he did lead the niners to the super bowl back in 2013. i am asking what you think about this on twitter, on facebook and instagram. let me know what you think. so far it seems like people are feeling pretty positively about the fact he's getting another chance. in santa clara, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much. losing her audio there, sorry about that. 6:10. update on the upcoming 49ers telecast in two weeks, taking on

the green bay packers at home. the became is prime time on nbc bay area, air on sunday night football on november 24th, starting a little after 5:00 p.m. right before thanksgiving. >> i know, certainly hoping for football weather then, until then we'll deal with the football weather we have now. >> right we've seen football weather everywhere else except for the bay area. look at how cold it is. marcus you were telling us your mom is really cold, it's 21 degrees in memphis now. >> ooh. >> tell her to hop on a flight and come to the bay area, seeing some much warmer temperatures here, and we're seeing highs that are going to be warmer than a lot of other spots across the country. actually our morning temperatures right now at 52 degrees, as you head out the door we still have one more warm day before we get a cooldown in the forecast. we're in the mid-70s in the tri-valley today, while santa rosa will reach 75. heading over to mike, you still have that traffic alert on the bay bridge. >> that's right, on the span, which is a problem for folks

coming over across westbound 80. we can see it from our camera in the city, flashing lights, more crews arriving, department of transportation on scene, so chp your middle lanes are blocked by a crash getting in to san francisco past the treasure island yerba buena island tunnel causing the metering lights to slow and built off the maze. everywhere else is okay. your options are the san mateo bridge, the richmond to san rafael bridge or b.a.r.t. has no delays underneath that jam-up. the south bay the east bay and peninsula, you're okay. back to you. >> thanks, mike. 6:12 right now. next a local story that's got everybody talking. >> one bay area driver taking couch surfing to a whole new level. a fast level, too, right there. we'll have more on this video and where this unique car sighting was. i thought something cool happened on the dow and i was going to tell you about it but that's not a couch on a highway. i thought i got nothing. just tune in when "today in the bay" continues. >> come on, you try to up that. you got a commercial break.

it is 6:15, the south bay with a live look and temperatures in santa teresa in the low 50s. this is the way we started all week long and we're going to see more of the same weather we had yesterday as the sun kind of tries to make it through those high clouds moving in. we're still going to have above normal temperatures today, about you it drops tomorrow.

i'll have more on that and the outlook for the next two weeks, coming up in less than five minutes. and we're looking at still that very slow drive, right now from mid span across that bay bridge, into san francisco, i see fewer lights over there at the crash scene, approaching the city but i see a lot more lights stacking up aapproaching the treasure island tunnel. we'll talk about that and the rest of your commute coming up. and good morning, very happy wednesday to you. here is something you don't see very often. the dow ended right where it began, like a coin flip that ends up on its edge. doesn't mean anything. but it is unusual. tesla says it will build a car factory in germany. san francisco's 89 bio sank a bit in its first day of full trading. "san francisco business times" counted it up, 34th bay area ipo this year, tying last year's number. all eyes on the impeachment

hearing of course today. president trump spoke to the new york economic club on wednesday, told people who know a lot about the economy that the government had predicted a lousy economy ahead before he was elected. >> in 2016, the department of labor predicted that americans would continue dropping out of the workforce in record numbers. they predicted and projected a decade of sluggish growth, and they expected unemployment over 5% and really 6, 7 and in some cases 8% for years to come. >> mmm, that led us back into the records. the department of labor's bureau of labor statistics does make ten-year predictions, but it sounded strange an economist would make such a wide guess from five to eight. we found the actual numbers, the president was correct about one thing, people predicted to come out of the labor force because

america is growing older, and people are retiring. the six, seven and even as high as 8% figure was nowhere to be in the data. fed chairman jerome powell will speak to congress today in a hearing that no one will watch. i'd be surprised if the members of congress are going to watch, because of course today is the first day of public impeachment hearings. powell testifies at 9:00 a.m. our time. the impeachment hearings start at 7:00 a.m. our time. and of course we will have live special coverage on nbc right here on nbc bay area and about 6:45 i'll walk you through what to look for. >> sounds good. you've heard of couch surfing, right? take a look at this. this happened as a driver was driving doing a double take now, last night near hillsborough. video taken this last night, a car shaped like a couch driving on southbound interstate 280. we did a little digging and found out it belongs to a mechanic named ed china. he's a former host of a british tv series called "wheeler dealers." looks like it's going pretty smooth. no lumps in that couch.

>> i know. >> are they sure that the right couch driver that they got? maybe it's a different, you know -- so many couches you see out there, that could be anybody driving that couch. >> couch surfing. it has the english plate on it, too. it was going smooth. >> with the lamp and everything. >> there you go. >> smooth sailing. way to go, ed. smooth sailing into the week, too, with this weather. >> it's been nice especially for the afternoon hours but we started out cool again, and some fog that you'll have to drive through in san francisco. none of that as we take a live look outside in palo alto, as we get started today, we have some low 50s. now just like yesterday, we have these high clouds overhead, and the sun is trying to break through that and give us a little bit of some warmth as we go into the rest of the day. we go from 51 degrees at 7:00 to about 69 degrees at 1:00. still a nice day ahead, as you're about to wake up the kids and get them ready for school in concord, expect it to be cool on the way to school, still need

that jacket as you're walking to school, with temperatures in the low 50s, as they head out for lunch and recess, it will be the upper 60s and as you go back to pick them up, it will be partly to mostly cloudy, and still nice and warm, if you want to go to the park, it will be in the mid-70s. we'll see some low 70s for san jose. oakland today reaches up to 68 degrees and some mid-70s for the north bay. san francisco still breezy and foggy to start with a high of 63 degrees today. as we look out the next couple of weeks, we're like okay, what's going on here? we still have this high pressure that's kept us dry, and the climate prediction center still says that we're going to be below average with our rainfall, but it looks like thing could change for southern california and parts of the desert southwest, and we're still going to have above normal temperatures. we've seen that all month long, well above average temperaturs s may likely continue for the next couple of weeks. high pressure is moving off to the east allows for very brief

cold front to drop in for the next couple of days, we'll have some cooler air. going into the weekend, there's still quite a few storm systems moving across the pacific northwest but blocked by high pressure once again. we'll be warming up, staying dry and going into the end of next week the low moves into southern california, that may bring them some rain but looks like it misses us here in the bay area, so hopefully things change between now and then. otherwise we're still looking at some dry temperatures, and dry conditions and our highs reaching into the mid-70s. mike, you have that traffic alert on the bay bridge. >> that's right, it continues. i showed folks just before the break, i showed you the backup on the curve coming toward treasure island. now much less pronounced than before. you see flashing lights on the span itself. the middle lanes approaching san francisco, you can really tell from our sensors westbound just jammed up, just shy of where they make landfall over there, and the metering lights typically slowing down, we see more backup on 580, the berkeley

curve and northbound 880. you can use the richmond to san rafael bridge as an alternate coming from berkeley and take that over and take the golden gate bridge across. as you travel south of there, showing the san mateo as one option and nothing else other than the bay bridge has any real problem. here is the san mateo bridge picking up the volume, and we may get more traffic again as folks avoid the bay bridge or you can use the b.a.r.t. system, there are no delays. 50 trains, not all under the bay bridge but quite a few that travel the trans bay route. back to you. >> thanks, mike. 6:22, coming up next, costly impact perhaps on your morning drive. the tolling construction on the bay area freeway these days, it's going to cost $3 to drive just one mile. >> hold off to spending that money. in two minutes we'll talk about where you have to go and dig a little bit deeper if you want to get to work quicker. but first, "nbc bay area responds." >> a neighborhood business agrees to let residents use its parking lot, but they all end up getting towed.

i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. "nbc bay area responds," next. ok, network inspection. -ok.

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6:25, i want to you listen up. you could soon pay top dollar to drive down highway 101. the new toll lanes on the peninsula could cost up to $3 a mile depending on traffic. workers are building the lanes right now. they'll go from 22 miles an highway 101 from south bay to

highway 380 in san bruno. the hope is they'll help ease congestion, they're expected to have this finished in 2022. and nbc bay area responds to a san jose woman with an unusual parking problem. >> she says a business reneged on his agreement to let a group of neighbors park at its lot. consumer investigator chris chmura and his team stepped in to help. >> good morning. martha bell lives in this mobile home park. roadwork over the summer meant they needed to find someplace else to park their cars, so she and her neighbors asked the manager of this target across the street if they could park their cars in the parking lot overnight for a few days. she says the manager agreed. but the first night they were parked there, everyone's cars got towed. gone. martha says the target manager says there was a miscommunication with the tow company and agreed to cover the tow bills but she says that

didn't happen so she turned to us. we asked target what happened. it investigated and a few weeks later, it told us "we apologize for any confusion caused by this situation. additionally, we have reimbursed the towing fees for those who were impacted." martha says that came to $1,880 for everyone. we're glad target stepped up and covered those expensive towing fees. got a consumer complaint? call us any time, 888-996-tips or visit nbcbayarea.com/responds. >> thanks, chris. still ahead, a new man in charge, here is the new face of the san francisco giants. coming up we'll talk about how soon you can hear from him. >> got to get him a new jersey there. a shocking fight caught on camera. i have to warn you, this video is disturbing. >> ow! >> we froze it because it is very graphic, but up next, what the woman who filmed it all says started it all and we've got

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right now, 6:30. facing backlash. pg&e under the microscope this morning following last month's outages. the new questions emerging from safety and where pg&e should go from here. some of your kids' classrooms will be missing teachers. how that could impact schools

plans to respond. plus -- >> oh -- my -- god. >> oh my god is right. the reunion the world has been waiting for, maybe. at 6:50, the plan to possibly bring our favorite friends back together, and it really might happen this time. "today in the bay" continues right now. >> really, really happened this time. >> so many great memories from that show. good morning to you and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. right now we head over to meteorologist kari hall with a look at the forecast for today. looking good. >> looks good. the sunrise of the day as we start out on this wednesday, looking from our sutro tower camera over san francisco. very nice but we've seen some low clouds and fog rolling across the bay. right now we are starting out with clear visibility in the south bay, and that's a live look outside in san jose. our temperatures start out in the low 50s, and head into the

70s today. still those high clouds moving through, giving us some filtered sunshine, and we'll talk about the weekend forecast, that's coming up in about eight minutes. mike, you still have that big delay for the bay bridge. >> right, that's the only big delay we have, but it is a critical one. we have a little bit of low cloud cover, creeping in here but you see how jammed up westbound 80 is getting across from the bay bridge toll plaza. we have the bigger backup coming out of the maze down the east shore freeway to the berkeley curve and off the nimitz. the disabled vehicle after the crash blocks one lane, one more was cleared in the last five minutes and you're jammed up because that is a middle lane that is blocked. the traffic alert continues for the bay bridge westbound. san mateo bridge picks up the volume, so does the bridge from richmond into san rafael. consider using b.a.r.t. the trains are not delayed to getting underneath all of that jam, getting into the city via westbound 80. laura? >> thanks so much, mike. taking a live look at capitol hill this morning, already getting busy, less than half an hour the impeachment inquiry in to president trump hits the public stage.

this will be the first public hearing in the investigation and whether he held up military funding for ukraine. two witnesses are expected to testify, and this is supposed to be the first of three days of public hearings. the two witnesses being called today are bill taylor, america's top diplomat in ukraine and george kent, a senior state department member. experts say when it comes to most of the testimony you probably should not expect a whole lot of fireworks. president trump meanwhile is calling the whole process a farce. >> the parade of patriots. we're going to see a bunch of people get in front of the cameras this week who are not trying to dazzle, razzle-dazzle anyone, they're just going to explain how the government does its business under normal circumstances. >> democrats in washington would rather pursue outrages hoaxes and delusional witch hunts, which are going absolutely nowhere. don't worry about it. >> nbc bay area plans to carry

the hearings when they get under way which is slated to begin around 7:00 a.m. we'll see what to expect in his "checks & balances" segment. the cpuc is looking into it all for pg&e. pete suratos is live for news san francisco with the latest. the shutoffs caused a lot of people to get angry. >> reporter: a source of controversy for pg&e and california's public utilities commission holding a meeting behind me a little bit later this morning, calling on an investigation into the latest round of shutoffs that took place in october. going into the details on exactly what the cpuc will likely see when it comes to a potential investigation in to pg&e, now they want to see if the utility company prioritized public safety when it came to this latest round of shutoffs back in october. the shutoffs affected millions of customers after pg&e shut off power due to what they called wildfire safety.

as this takes place this morning, you got state senator scott weiner calling to restructure pg&e from investor-owned into a public utility. now he plans to introduce a bill early next year, so at this point, guys, not much detail on that bill, since it's still in the preliminary stages, and now you also have governor gavin newsom who wants pg&e to do more financially for its role in folks losing their homes during the north bay wildfires in 2017. the utility company filed for bankruptcy because of all the lawsuits. a bankruptcy hearing was set for today but postponed to next week. the cpuc meeting will take place behind me at 10:00 p.m. reporting live, pete suratos for "today in the bay." >> a lot of people watching for that, pete, thank you. look at the next story, police in antioch looking for a driver who plowed his car into a man, during an argument, and someone caught the whole thing on video. now i need to warn you here, it is disturbing but we'll show you because the driver could face

some serious charges and you could help catch them. people we later spoke to, they were filming it. they say it was some kind of fight between two men and escalated quickly. both had already gotten back into their cars when this happened. >> ow! >> actually a guy and a female tussling inside of the car and i told my boyfriend to check it out to make sure everything was okay. the guy said they stole marijuana with him and he was trying to get it back. >> quite shocking, they just rammed right into him. the couple we spoke to say the man suffered a cracked shin and also a possible fractured hip. police need to locate that driver could face serious charges including assault with a deadly weapon. a few hours from now teachers in the north bay go on strike. worn 100 west sonoma county high school teachers are walking off the job.

both sides have been locked in a bitter contract dispute. the three schools affected are analy, el molino and laguna. the district says classes will go on today. contra costa county is the late toast ban the sale of all vaping related products. supervisors yesterday unanimously approved that ban. it includes ecigarettes, flavored tobacco, menthol cigarettes and marijuana vape. contra costa county joins san francisco and san mateo counties in banning the sales. santa clara county is now on the verge of approving a similar ban. giants fans your future has arrived. later today the team will introduce a new general manager, gabe kapler. he spent the last two seasons managing the phillies. philadelphia fired him last month, but he replaces bruce bochy, who a long time ago came over to the giants after the san diego padres allowed him to explore other options. the rest is history. >> hoping for a good season, next season in the ring is. >> we love the history but looking forward to the future as well. good stuff.

looking toward the present for our commute mostly green. typical pattern for the south bay and the east bay building up. i was concerned the san mateo bridge is used as an alternate to the bay bridge because of this big jam but the traffic alert has been canceled, all lanes open in the last three minutes, just past treasure island. we should see good recovery but you back up into 580, presenting one problem. more traffic building down through berkeley and of course typical pattern. look at our waze system. our partners time us out at 20 to 30-minute delay across the bay bridge this person used our community in waze to help with roadside assistance, so that person is at least acknowledged by a couple other wazers. you can communicate with the whole community, nbc bay area wazers you have friends on the road. >> i didn't know you could do that. next time i get a flat tire giving you a call. >> maybe i'll show up. >> okay.

>> let's look into the weekend where hopefully no flat tires in sight. >> if you're standing outside you'll enjoy sunshine. mid-70s we'll have on saturday for the inland areas. the bay will reach up to about 70 degrees and 61 degrees along the coast. a little bit warmer on sunday so as we continue to warm up, it's getting farther and farther away from feeling like fall. how about some ice skating. that will put you in the mood for the holidays as more ice rinks around the bay area. in san francisco union square we'll see temperatures on saturday in the low 60s and at times sunshine. if you're going to the sierra, still no nature made snow. we'll see temperatures making it into the mid-50s and on sunday up to about 61 degrees with sunshine. nice to get outside in russian river valley this weekend especially with our temperatures warming up. we have upper 60s for highs on friday and reaching into the mid-70s by the end of the

weekend, and also a nice beach weekend with upper 60s and low 70s for saturday and on sunday. i'll talk about today and our temperature trend for the south bay coming up in three minutes. >> sounds great. 6:40 right now. next and new, a switch for stanford. the new update we're getting on a memorial for the woman who brock turner assaulted. first, one of our top stories for you this morning, a new strategy coming across the east bay, the problem that plagues the entire bay area. we'll talk about it coming up. out in washington, of course, today is the first day of the impeachment hearings. we might be surprised, republicans certainly were, as to what president trump has planned for today. we'll take a look at that when "today in the bay" continues.

right now at 6:43, let's head to los gatos and see how our day shapes up. we'll start out with mid-50s at 8:00 and still the sun peeking out today. not all clear as our temperatures warm up into the low 70s. going into the next couple of days we cool down and warm back up. we'll talk about the next two weeks in the forecast, in less than five minutes. >> kari, we continue to follow the effect after the traffic alert cleared. you see all the slowing across that bay bridge. we are looking at our waze community helping us out timing things out even though the purple route here is 20 miles longer out of richmond and over in toward the city.

we have a ten-minute, 20 minutes fast sore that will help you out. we'll show you what else is going on for your drive. and today is the first day of the public impeachment hearing, it's been a long, strange trip. good morning, everyone. less than four months ago, we were in the middle of the mueller investigation, looking into whether president trump tried to work with a foreign country to affect previous elections. four months later, we're in the middle of a different investigation looking into whether president trump tried to work with a foreign country to affect the next election. these are live pictures of the committee room this morning. first to testify today is president trump's top man in that country in ukraine, the acting u.s. ambassador to ukraine. bill taylor a west point grad who fought in vietnam and worked for the u.s. government for years. he's the one who starting

raising alarms in text messages. in behind closed door testimony taylor said "that was my clear understanding. security assistance money would not come until the president of ukraine committed to pursue the investigation." security assistance is military aid. the investigation is into vice president biden's son. this for that, quid pro quo. taylor will be followed by george kent later today, trump's top adviser on russia and the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine on friday. next week, a huge slate of witnesses, including top donor gordan sondland, the first to say that there was no quid pro quo, then changed his memory after so many people testified there was. that will be a big day. president trump has of course tweeted this is another witch hunt but he may not watch today, because he's welcoming the president of turkey to the white

house. erdogan is the guy who invaded syria last month and attacked our kurdish allies. during a previous visit to washington in 2017, president erdogan's body guards attacked protesters, americans on the streets of washington. leaders on both sides of the aisle are asking is today the right day to welcome recep erdogan. it's not the first time president trump's done something like this, even though his own supporters are saying it's bad optics. he did this after the firing of james comey for "that russian thing" the president's words, fired comey over "that russian thing." the first thing he did after the firing is meet with the russians. here is the president yesterday at the new york economics club. >> when i meet with the leaders of countries as they come in, kings and queens and prime

ministers and presidents, and dictators, i meet them all. anybody wants to come in, dictators, it's okay. come on in. whatever's good for the united states, we want to help our people. >> we just learned president trump will have a press conference in fact alongside erdogan today. you can watch the impeachment hearings by the way live starting right here on nbc bay area at 7:00 a.m. >> thanks, scott. new for you today, the return of an american soldier from solano county who will only now be buried after being killed in combat in 1950. army sergeant first class philip mendosa was reported missing during the korean war. last year north korea turned over 55 boxes containing the remains of american servicemembers after months of testing his remains were identified. his family will pick up his body later today at sfo. mendosa will be buried on friday in dixon, california. happening today, we're expected to learn more about a big effort aimed at fighting illegal dumping in alameda and

contra costa counties. the state is giving $750,000 to create a pilot program allowing law enforcement agencies to crack down on the practice. you may remember alameda county officials launched a similar program back in april to fight illegal dumping at 90th avenue and g street. now to an update amid public pressure, stanford university planning to install a plaque engraved with chanel miller's words, sexually assaulted by brock turner, a former stanford swimmer, on campus. he was sentenced back in 2016 to three months in jail. stanford leaders originally had rejected adding a quote from chanel on the plaque, because they thought it could be triggering for survivors of sexual violence. now after receiving public input they plan to move forward with the plaque at a memorial garden. 6:48. billionaire philanthropist joan and sandy wheel are donating $106 to launch a research initiative at three

west coast universities aimed as finding treatments for brain disorders. the colleges taking part include university of california san francisco, uc berkeley and the university of washington. very generous. >> 6:48. if you know the song, clap along with me. ♪ so no one told you life was gonna be this way ♪ [ claps ] there you have it. 15 years without "friends" a reunion may be coming but there is a sliver of hope for you this morning. one may be closer to reality. hopefully this isn't the one that got away. "the hollywood reporter" and "deadline" are both reporting there is a reunion in the works for hbo max. the classic series will call the streaming service home when it launches next year, but don't mark your calendars just yet. that reunion is only in the planning phase. >> kind of teasing people with it then, huh? >> is it definitely maybe, might? >> almost. >> we'll keep you posted. >> the one that makes you feel old. when you say 15 years ago.

>> long time ago. >> yes. >> they're aging pretty well. >> they are. let's get ready to head out the door this morning. we've seen some fog along the coast, and mostly clear conditions inland, but as we take a live look outside in walnut creek, we still have the smoke lingering in the air. we have these high clouds overhead and so we saw that yesterday. it continues today. the sun will peek out from behind the clouds, and the smoke, every now and then, as our temperatures start out in the lower 50s at 7:00. we go from 50 to 71 degrees by early this afternoon, and it's going to be a nice and warm day to get outside. as you're getting the kids up and ready for school, they still need that jacket this morning in san jose. we'll be at 51 degrees on the way to school, as they go out for recess, we'll be at about 65 degrees so they may want to put that jacket back on and as the day goes on, we'll see our temperatures making it into the upper 60s, eventually hitting 73

degrees. we're up to 76 today in concord, and in napa, and ukiah reaching 78 degrees while san francisco today stays in the low 60s. we'll still see the fog. we know it's been very warm and dry, and this is the outlook for the next couple of weeks, put out by the climate prediction center. it shows the bay area is still going to be well below average in terms of rain, but look at southern california, things may change there, as we start to see a couple of systems moving in, while we will have above normal temperatures, they may be cooling off, just to our south. here is the reason why. we've had high pressure blocking our chances of rain, and there's still some storm systems driven to the north but we will have a brief shot of some cooler air moving in the next couple of days, and going into next week, high pressure builds once again, causes our temperatures to warm up, but then by the end of next week, this low drops in, and

could kind of skip around the bay area but bring in some showers for parts of southern california, as well as cooler temperatures before it moves on. maybe with things so far out down to the berkeley curve, 46 minutes registering, slowing

through richmond past the racetrack, golden gate field and in toward berkeley and emeryville. coming up through oakland you're okay and north of there you're okay as well from the richmond to san rafael bridge. some folks may be using that as you see the east shore freeway jamming up. some folks choose toe use that over to the north bay if that's not their normal commute. some folks i look at the san mateo bridge we saw early slowing build up there, now out to about its normal, if folks choose to avoid the bay bridge which is open for all lanes. south bay shows you that build, typical san jose pushing up toward santa clara and the rest of silicon valley. saratoga slowing for highway 85 and the look at the san mateo bridge volume maintained after an early burst was seeing things sort themselves out across the flat section and we're happy to see the movement, not a lot of brake lights. b.a.r.t. there are no delays avoiding the bay bridge toll plaza. ac trance lit likely have delays across the bay bridge and perhaps across the san mateo bridge soon. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. 6:53. happening now, destructive

wildfires continue to burn across australia, many around sydney. at least 50 homes destroyed and 13 firefighters injured overnight working to put out the flames. in the meantime in italy, the city of venice dealing with historic flooding, the second highest water levels ever record there had. more than 85% of the city is submerged and one death is reported. next we have a quick look at the top stories including colin kaepernick is back in the headlines this morning. the former 49er may be closer to landing a job on an nfl roster than he has been in years. next we're going to talk about that big audition set up for him this weekend, and what he's saying about it. that's coming up for new two minut you in two minutes. you're watching "today in the bay." don't miss the grand opening

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6:57. welcome back. before you head out the door, here are the top stories we're covering on "today in the bay." a live look for you inside one of the chambers at the capitol in washington, d.c., getting ready for the first public hearing of the impeachment inquiry of president donald trump. today two witnesses will be questioned, bill taylor, the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine, and deputy assistant secretary george kent. they're expected to recount their closed door testimony, which democrats say describes a quid pro quo by president trump involving military aid to ukraine, in exchange for investigations into his political rivals. you will be able to watch

today's entire hearing starting this morning at 7:00 right here on nbc bay area, that special coverage will pretempt the "today" show. former 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick is said to audition for teams saturday. he can't wait to see the coaches and gms. he hasn't played professionally since 2016. he helped start a protest about social and racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem at games. an upcoming 49ers telecast, in two weeks the 49ers will take on the green bay packers aahome. the league flexed the game to prime time on nbc. watch sunday night football on november 24th, starting a little after 5:00 p.m. and a live look for you this morning at sfo, and that's where in a few hours the international term of departures hall will be named after ed lee.

san francisco's first asian-american mayor, he served from 2011 until his death from a heart attack in 2017. the current mayor london breed is expected to attend today's dedication ceremony. she took over for lee following his death and recently won re-election. >> a quick look at the forecast before we go today. >> another nice warm day but we'll have a cold front moving in later on this evening, that will cool things off for the next couple of days, but you can see that cooldown doesn't last that long, because we'll be right back in the mid-70s for the weekend, while san francisco will be dropping down into the upper 50s. >> all right, looks like the east shore freeway dragging this morning? >> that's right. rippled back from the bay bridge where the traffic alert has cleared now, but it's backed up in through berkeley and coming down out of the merge off of the richmond bridge from san rafael. that's a slower drive. we expect that pattern, but it's worse than it was, expected to be this morning because of the volume alone. lighter volume around the bay, so we have some more slowing in hayward, there's a new disabled vehicle. i'll be tracking that of course.

>> sounds good. that's what's happening "today in the bay." head to our website for updates on local stories. >> right now nbc news has a special report for the impeachment inquiry, starting right now. have a great morning. we'll see you back here for sure tomorrow morning starting at 4:30. this is an nbc news special report, the impeachment hearings. here's lester holt and savannah guthrie. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to the first public hearing on the impeachment of president donald trump today in washington with millions of americans watching. a key house committee will hear testimony on this question. did president trump abuse the powers of his office by pressuring a foreign country, ukraine, for his personal benefit to investigate a 2020 political rival, joe biden, and