heading to work? for most of your commute everything is fine. we know it's active. look at the maps, green sensors everywhere. i've circled on the left what we'll talk about later on. there is an investigation that continues note for the roadways skyline is closed between 92 and quail court to the south. you'll use wood side to get over there and take the roadway north. more about the investigation and why it's there. the rest of the drive is moving smoothly. breaking news this morning health care workers in the united kingdom will be the first to get a vaccine after regulators approved the pfizer vaccine for emergency use. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez has a look at where we are in the process in the u.s. >> reporter: well, you go to sleep for just a few hours and look what happens overnight. the health care workers in the uk will be the first to get that

vaccine and they might start getting that vaccine as early as monday. the first batch of 800,000 pfizer vaccines will be first covering health care workers, staff and residents and people over the age of 80 in the uk. we know that folks over the age of 80 have the highest mortality rate. clinical trials show that the pfizer vaccine is 95% effective with mild side effects equivalent to what you might experience when you get a flu shot. this is one of the fastest vaccine approvals in history. regulators say that does not mean researchers skipped any safety steps. >> a rolling review can be used to complete the assessment of a promising medicine or a vaccine in a situation where time is of the essence. in the shortest time possible. but, and this is a very important point indeed, that doesn't mean that any corners

have been cut, none at all. >> reporter: on thursday here in the u.s. the fda will meet to consider emergency approval of that same pfizer vaccine along with the one by moderna requiring two doses. also vaccines by as tra zen ka and johnson & johnson could be game changers as they don't require any special refrigeration. stand by for news on that. we now know who is at the front of the line here in the u.s. the cdc made that decision. i'll tell you more coming up at 5:30. kris sanchez, "today in the bay." thanks so much, kris. all of this comes as the state reports another surge of new infections including more than 12,000 yesterday. california's overall total 1.2 million. more than 19,000 people have died.

dozens of south bay businesses are now facing fines for violating the covid-19 protocols over thanksgiving weekend. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live in san jose. talk about what kind of violations we're talking about for the businesses, bob? >> reporter: one of the top violations explain their capacity and social distancing protocols in these businesses and many of the county 181 stores and restaurants. many in the south bay like santana row behind me. there's a number of businesses at valley fair, oakridge mall, eastridge mall, each violation range from $250 to $4,000. many businesses told our own ian cull they fixed the problems within minutes. because of surging covid cases

they would be skipping the warnings that they handed out over the past eight months and finding them on site over the thanksgiving weekend. they were confused because the county approved their plan six months ago. and then over the weekend they were fined $5,000 without warning. shoppers we spoke with had mixed opinions. >> the fact of the matter is that i believe they should have had those signs to begin with. >> they're already taking precautions to stop the spread and the government knows about it, there's no point of finding them. >> reporter: san jose mayor samsam liccardo is apologizing. before thanksgiving the mayor warned the public not to gather. yesterday he issued this statement, it reads in part and i'm quoting here, i apologize for my decision to gather contrary to state rules by attending thishanksgiving meal

with my family. state guidelines specify we should only get together outdoors with a maximum of three households. reporting live in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> let's all follow the rules. thanks, bob. 5:04. a live look right now at capitol hill. this is congress inching closer to a deal. "today in the bay's" tracie potts is reporting from washington for thus morning where there's a growing urgency ahead of a major deadline. >> reporter: president-elect biden speaks to small businesses today pushing congress to act quickly on coronavirus relief. >> as we battle the covid-19 disease we have to make sure that business and workers have the tools, resources and guidance and the health and safety standards to be able to operate safely. >> it's essential that we move with urgency. >> reporter: urgency is building on capitol hill. >> because the needs of people

are desperate, desperate, desperate. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi and treasury secretary steven mnuchin are talking again. >> these small businesses can't wait two or three months. >> reporter: a $908 billion compromise. >> this is not a stimulus bill this is a relief measure, half that amount. >> reporter: republican leader mitch mcconnell said he's focusing on what president trump will support. >> i think the way you make a law for sure is you know you have a presidential signature. >> reporter: the federal reserve chair telling congress businesses need more than loans. >> what they need is fiscal policy, is a grant to get them through the last bit of the pandemic rather than borrowing more. >> reporter: talk of attaching covid relief to a funding bill due in just over a week. one of the president's closest

allies tells the associated press he saw no evidence of widespread election fraud, this amid reports president trump is considering a 2024 presidential election kickoff rally instead of attending inauguration. tracie potts, nbc news. developing now in san mateo county investigators are looking at possible foul play in the death of a man found along skyline boulevard and highway 92 in redwood city. they found the man's body along the side of the road. it may have been there for some time. as mike has been telling us skyline boulevard should be closed at least through noon as they investigate. new this morning a santa rosa man is recovering from burns after fire ripped through his home last night. the hope is on sebastopol road about two blocks from stony point road. firefighters arrived to find the man outside. sadly a small dog trapped inside didn't make it out. the cause is under

investigation. a big effort to help thousands of south bay families this holiday season gets under way today. sunnyvale community services planned to host a gift card and food distribution event and plans to give out target gift cards and food to 2,500 families, all clients of the organization. over the next month the first of three events it's holding, again, all drive-through due to the pandemic beginning at 8:00 in sunnyvale. and an easy way you can help. you can actually be a part of our holiday season giving by nourishing neighbors food drive. so the next time you're at safeway you can make a $10 donation. that money will go to local food banks to help hundreds if not thousands of people right here in the bay area. our drive goes through december 29th. so many great ways to give this holiday season. in giving we receive as well. maybe we need to give some coats and blankets for those that

really need it. these mornings have been pretty cold, kari. yes, they have been. yesterday was giving tuesday. we can continue that into wednesday as well. let's look at where we're starting this morning as we have seen a lot of spots dipping below freezing in parts of the north bay but the rest of the bay area starting out in the 30s and 40s. happening today if you're going to be heading out for a run this morning in the east bay let's check out clayton because we're starting out in the 30s. here you do need some extra layers. you're going to be feeling much better into the noon hour so maybe a lunch time jog will feel better for you. we'll talk about what's ahead in the forecast coming up. mike, what's going on right now for the commute? >> kari, a follow-up on what laura told you about the investigation and the reason why it'll probably be closed skyline between 92 and quail court, the ongoing investigation probably needs sun light to check for more investigation, following the investigation of a body

found there. use wood side and travel north on 35. just an option for you. that section will remain closed until further notice. the rest of the bay, those highways and freeways moving smoothly. a little slowing starts in the tri-valley. keep that in mind as you're looking at a little bit of different speeds for highway 84 through livermore. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. it is 5:10. another blow for many businesses struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic. straight ahead why black friday this year was a lot more fizzle than sizzle. plus, the queen of christmas is at it again. mariah carey spreading holiday cheer with more than just her music. the new product line just announced. hint, it might even be good enough for santa himself. we'll be right back to talk about it.

if you're heading out later on this morning and enjoying some sunshine we will see more clouds in the mix for today. if you're going out for a hike in the south bay, at least we are heading back to the mid-60s for highs after a very chilly start. a look at all of our microclimates and talk about the forecast ahead coming up in a few minutes. and, kari, i was very concerned because i took a look at our oakland camera and it was flooded with headlights going southbound past the coliseum. a live look shows you things

calmed down quite a bit. clearing just to the north. that work crew cleared between 29th and 23rd. we'll show you the commute as the sensors should recover over the next couple of minutes. back to you. thanks, mike. happening today sales force's ceo is expected to deliver the keynote address as part of the dream force event. this is video, of course, of last year's event. this year it's all virtual. it started more than three weeks ago. marc benioff as well as rhode island governor and the ceos of at&t and bentley motors. salesforce will donate $5 million to various causes including $2 million to help san francisco's small businesses. so often that big conference brings so many people to the economy of san francisco. it's nice they make that donation this year. those businesses just not getting it. 5:14 right now.

here we go, marcus. trending this morning the queen of christmas has a new sweet treat coming in just in time for the holidays. ♪ all i want for christmas is you ♪ >> oh, yes. you know who it is, mariah carey. she's getting into the cookie business, virtual dining concept. her flavors include chocolate chunk, lemon cooler and spice oatmeal raisin. they will launch on friday which is also national cookie day. >> every day around here is national cookie day. i've already been busy baking. >> oh, really? oh. >> oh. >> we drive by, laura, i bet you could throw it right in our window. >> can't wait. can you leave them on the porch. i'll come by and get some. >> if there's any left. >> okay.

it's time to get a look at that forecast. speaking of cookies, kari, nice warm cookies, maybe some hot chocolate or even milk to go with it. it's cold outside. i always like milk with my cookies. i love that. maybe warm milk? i don't know. we'll see some very chilly temperatures. we're just doing what we can to warm up here. we're starting out clear. remember yesterday morning when it was so foggy? well, now all of that has cleared out. and for the most part we haven't seen any fog except for some light patchy fog drifting around parts of the north bay where santa rosa visibility down to seven miles. not too bad. as we're starting out on this wednesday morning looking better now we will see a few more clouds in the mix today. but if you're heading out to the park and parts of the east bay let's check out pittsburg and our forecast heading out to the parkn between or after home

schooling we'll see the temperatures starting out very cold but much nicer for a walk around noon. up to 64 degrees in that area. we will see temperatures up to 64 in san jose. some upper 60s in parts of the north bay. if you plan on heading out to the beach today it looks nice. partly cloy udsks, half moon bay reaching into the upper 50s but a heads-up that we will still be watching out for the potential of some very large and dangerous breakers for today along the coastline especially for our west/northwest beaches. with that you never want to turn your back to the water and keep an eye on everyone around you. as we go through the forecast we're seeing these systems rolling in and that's giving us the high waves, even high winds for southern california. but here it's just dry and our

calm weather continues. you can see nothing but sunshine. that seven-day forecast up at the bottom of the screen. our reservoirs around the state continue to dip. we are still doing pretty good in terms of our historical average and the amount of capacity that we're seeing. the 20% to 30% range, so we are not doing good in the south bay with our extreme drought conditions continuing. we start out cool with highs reaching into the upper 60s. how is it looking for the commute? kari, it's looking really smooth as far as traffic goes. we take the map that's highway 35 that continues the closure and investigation over there because of the san mateo's sheriff's office is investigating a body found just south of highway 92.

meanwhile on the other side of the bay a smooth drive. a little build out of the altamont for 580 westbound and 84 heading through livermore, pleasanton to sunol. your typical pattern, no surprises for that. that's a great flow of traffic. over to contra costa county the rest of the approach to the bay bridge and the maze no problems there and the bay bridge toll plaza very light traffic flow. we do see more folks getting to work, so that's good news. folks getting to work so they can get home. scott, over to you. a very happy wednesday to you as well. the nasdaq is planning a major rule change that would force companies who want to be on the list, on the nasdaq, to put women and minorities on their boards of directors. the state of california already requires this for companies based in california. the stock market would have to get permission from the securities and exchange commission first. speaking of stocks they set new records and the s&p 500 hit

new highs. futures call for money to come off the table. in san francisco salesforce is buying the business communication company slack for nearly $28 billion. some trivia for you though it's not so trivial for the guy who just made billions, butterfield, the creator of slack, is the co-creator of the photo website flickr. he lived in a log cabin in canada without electricity as a young boy or running water. there are all kinds of things going on in washington right now including a bribery investigation, even death threats. i'll get to those as we talk politics. startling news out of the white house this morning. the president says he'll veto the national defense authorization act unless the rules are changed around twitter and facebook. the rule known as section 230. the president says he'll veto the defense bill unless congress also removes the legal protection for websites that give them immunity for what people post. he posted that to twitter last

night. the defense authorization act sets funding levels for the army, navy, air force and marines, a separate act actually funds those forces. section 230 protects companies like twitter. if you say something, for instance, you slander somebody on twitter, they can sue you but they cannot sue twitter. the president believes it also allows companies to krecensure posts. sephora says it will open inside kohl's locations. consumers spent less than they did last year. that's to be expected, of course, marcus and laura, and could be interpreted as good news for the health of consumers, maybe getting the tv for less isn't worth bringing coronavirus back to your family. according to the latest numbers from johns hopkins, 6,394 have

died since bckla friday. >> very tragic. i think so many people are just shopping online this year. >> thanks, scott. 5:21 for you that morning. next on "today in the bay," terrifying moments caught on camera. >> i was prepared for a few moments to die. >> a tiktok user comes face-to-face with an intruder. how she managed to survive and what she says she's planning to do now. but first our entire team always on social media. look at meteorologist kari hall and her sweet family getting into that holiday spirit dressed up ready for santa. they look great. all those smiles. to see more adorable pictures like this and get your latest weather update you can follow our own kari hall on social media. kari hall weather is where you'll find her and of course every morning here on "today in the bay." it's 5:22. ♪

we have the power to harness california's abundant solar and wind energy, but it's not available all day long. use less energy from 4 to 9 pm for a cleaner california.

terrifying moments for a maryland woman after coming face-to-face with a man trying to break into her home. it was all captured on camera. for a few minutes she was prepared to die. >> who are you? who are you? >> hannah says last month she was recording herself dancing on

tiktok in her apartment when a man walked in through a balcony door on the second floor. she immediately yelled, grabbed her phone and ran out of her apartment into the hallway. her phone captured the man standing in the doorway before backing away and eventually closing the door. she says she recognized the man trying to break in. >> this is the man that's out in his truck that watches me from my balcony, made advances at me. and in that moment i just knew that it wasn't going to be good. >> well, police arrested the suspect, angel rodriguez gomez, two days after the incident. she says she is trying to move. a live look for you at new york city's rockefeller center. this is where things are about to become a lot more festive. tonight they light up that holiday tree. as always nbc bay area will air for you and this year's tree is

a 75-foot-tall norway spruce with 50,000 multicolored l.e.d. lights. and while the public cannot attend both the event and music will go on. brett eldridge is part of the lineup, kelly clarkson, dolly parton and earth wind and fire. >> to have it this year is more important than ever. i'm so excited to be able to get up there and sing. >> all right. so christmas in rockefeller center airs tonight for you at 7:00 p.m. right here on nbc bay area. coming up next the top stories we're following today including breaking news on the covid vaccine front. the major steps the uk took overnight on pfizer's vaccine and what it means for u.s. approval. and butt out. san francisco going more smoke free than ever before. new restrictions for smokers that may have them rethinking where they live.

breaking right now, the race for a vaccine. the uk gives pfizer the go-ahead and the new cdc rule that may provide some relief for people traveling during the pandemic. plus, signs of life for muni. when san francisco's busiest transit system will finally get back on track after being shut down for months. and heads-up for anyone who loves the slopes. why the state says you might

have to say ski you later to your next tahoe dream trip unless you plan ahead. "today in the bay" continues right now. thanks so much for starting your day with us. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. let's check in with kari right now. she has a look at our midweek forecast. the same weather we've seen from the past two weeks, it starts out cold and warms up nicely. we have a mostly sunny sky in the forecast for today. we continue on with dry weather even into the weekend as well as early next week. we're seeing some freezing temperatures in parts of the north bay and throw in an extra layer or two. how is it looking for the morning commute, mike?

let's look at the map full screen over on the right side. your typical slowing for 84. the red blip there. on the other side, though, on the left side of the screen, we do have this slowing because of a closure for highway 35. you have to access it from the south. there's wood side taking you to the area. laura, back to you. the pfizer vaccine received approval from regulators in the uk and in about five days health care workers will be the first in the world to get vaccinated against coronavirus. and getting approval for that vaccination. kris? >> reporter: as early as monday the uk health care workers might

start rolling up their sleeves to get the first pfizer vaccinations and then on thursday the fda is going to consider whether to grant the same emergency approval for health care workers here. at this point what we know is the uk is going to get about 800,000 of those pfizer vaccines to first cover health care workers but also staff and residents of care homes and people over the age of 80. we know that people over 80 have that highest mortality rate. clinical trials show the pfizer vaccine is 95% effective and safe across all age groups in the trials. >> the safety of the vaccine is similar to other vaccines and most of the side effects are very mild and last for a day or so. >> reporter: the cdc will decide who gets priority once approved here. health care workers including folks in long-term facilities

and residents of those facilities as well. there are about 24 million of those health care workers and residents in the.s. u and the estimate is that we will get about 20 million doses. that should cover most of them is about half of what we need. health care workers with direct patient contact, therefore, will get top priority. speaking of the cdc, another change that could be helpful for folks who want to get back to work. they look like they're going to shorten that quarantine period from 14 days down to ten days knowing the infections seem to happen earlier on during that contagious point. folks should be able to get back sooner if they've been exposed to covid.

the vaccine here on thursday. kris sanchez, "today in the bay." the race for a vaccine on the minds of millions of americans right now. lester holt will sit down with the head of pfizer, moderna and johnson & johnson. don't miss an nbc news special report at 10:00 p.m. here on nbc bay area tomorrow night. another record day for california as infections explode across the state. this puts an additional 12,000 plus new cases just yesterday. take a look at this, bringing that number to more than 1.2 million confirmed cases. the positivity rate stands at 6.5%. that's up from 4.8% two weeks ago. take a look at the numbers when it comes to hospitalizations of patients steadily increasing. take a look at this. 86 patients in the hospital in santa clara hospital and just this past monday, 288 patients.

last check the beds are still available. look at the number of hospitalizations in san francisco where they have tripled this month in san francisco. take a look on the 3rd of november, 37, and then on the 29th, 91. well, marcus, a new southern california health order is getting pushback as cases skyrocketed there. beverly hills city council banning outdoor and indoor dining until december 20th. they are also demanding county supervisors change the order by banning outdoor dining only in areas that have high caseloads instead of grouping up everyone as a whole. still no real sign of letup yet for the baltimore ravens wide scale covid outbreak. a league source tells mike florio yet another player tested

positive yesterday and according to espn it's a rookie reserve player. despite a dozen recent positive cases and a game rescheduled three times since thanksgiving today's game is still a go. it airs at 12:30 following a special midday newscast. today marks four years since the deadliest fire in history. 36 people died as the flames ravaged the collective. jurors would not reach a verdict in the first manslaughter trial. they did acquit co-defendant max harris. amina is awaiting retrial. the city of oakland reached a settlement with 12 former tenants without admitting to fault. tenants who lost property and suffered emotional distress. san francisco's muni is about to get some light rail service back on track.

it will restart december 19th. and the line will return in january. time running out for smokers who live in san francisco apartment buildings. supervisors yesterday approved a ban on all indoor tobacco smoking in buildings with three units. it should become city law 30 days after the next week's second vote and a signature from mayor london breed. san francisco becomes the largest of several bay area cities with similar second-hand smoke bans. most of the new rules were already being followed but

includes no day or lift ticket and limits on the number of visitors and masks required. they are limited to pass holders or those with reservations. you have to book ahead and they were booked up for a couple of weeks. they're not really getting any snow up there, kari. >> no, it's been so low. at least it's been cold. we'll have to continue to watch out for that. very chilly and we're in the upper 30s right now. we may even dip down to 36 degrees around sunrise and slowly start to warm up. it'll take a while before we get there heading to the low to mid-60s for today with high temperatures up to the upper 60s in parts of the north bay and the south county.

we'll talk about what's ahead in a few mites. mike, how is it looking getting to work this morning? well, folks who are using the bay bridge to get to work, let's look at the toll plaza camera where everything does appear to be moving smoothly. light traffic flow through the end of the year. that's what we have the arrow shows a little slowing across the bay bridge over to the san francisco side. highway 37 there's a crash eastbound. no major injuries but slowing out of vallejo. the tri-valley, no surprises out of the altamont and we're sticking around with extra slowing just starting to clear through livermore and in towards sunol for west 84. the south bay fog is not an issue.

just south of 92. back to you. >> reporter: and as cases continue to rise in san francisco, could tighter restrictions be on the way for the city? and we take a closer look in a search for clarification in the santa clara quarantine rules. president trump is denying reports this morning that he is seeking pardons for his children. we'll look into that. and the monolith mystery continues. another steel beam popping up thousands of miles away. both cases investigators are pretty baffled, why they say this latest one might actually be a crime. in a land not so far away. people are saving hundreds

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visibility dropping in parts of marin county. watch out for that around novato as we've seen now half mile visibility there but mostly clear elsewhere. we'll talk about this and what's ahead in the rest of the forecast coming up in a few minutes. i can still see the closure for highway 35. i'll explain why that's going on. right now a live look at highway 101 shows you the volume starting to build a bit on the peninsula. this is palo alto. no problems right here. we're seeing more slowing over at the toll plaza. we'll take a look at that coming up. back to you.

days after santa clara county announced tighter restrictions, san francisco may be next. mayor london breed, well, she traveled outside of the county and dined with people outside of her bubble. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live for us this morning with more on that am cierra? >> reporter: yes, good morning. mayor london breed did announce that cases are on the way up but this comes among backlash that she did dine with folks outside of her bubble for part of a birthday party. this comes as a possibility of tighter restrictions. governor gavin newsom dined at the same restaurant with folks outside their bubble. as mayor breed reveals what restrictions in san francisco could look like, not specifically, but did mention the desire to shut down outdoor

dining saying that move is not completely off the table. >> many restaurants are, of course, naturally concerned as we see a spike and places like l.a. county close outdoor dining entirely. unfortunately, we can't rule it out. >> reporter: days after santa clara county announced they would enforce a quarantine for folks traveling more than 150 miles. nbc bay area news sought clarification in regards to the specifics of the decision including enforcement and does this move include essential workers. days after reaching out we have not heard back from the santa clara health department. we're not exactly sure who is included in the quarantine order but as the numbers continue to rise the next coming days, more

input in santa clara county. >> you just mentioned santa clara county, i know there's a lot of confusion surrounding the travel requirements for people traveling into santa clara county. it's confusing for a lot of people so help us out clearing that up. >> reporter: the confusion came in because if you drove to, say, tahoe with a little more than 150 miles, but if you fly to the same location it's a little under 140 miles. so at this point we're not exactly sure where we stand with that. >> and even after that, the best thing, if you can, stay home. thanks, cierra. >> the mayor of the biggest city is apologizing for breaking covid guidelines. mayor sam liccardo admits he spent thanksgiving with seven

other family members from five different households. before thanksgiving the mayor warned the public not to gather. the mayor's apology comes after the investigative unit first reported on the mayor's family get-together that appeared to break protocol. mayor liccardo says he did get together in his parents' backyard. they wore masks while they weren't eating. he says he knows that's not good enough and vowed to do better going forward. it's so hard when so many of us want to see family. 5:48 right now. "the new york times" says president trump is considering blanket pardons for his own family. >> scott mcgrew, i know a lot going on at the white house. marcus, we have been talking about the trump white house for going on almost four years now. i cannot recall the time there was so much news and some it have so stunning, the pardons, investigation into bribery for pardons, republicans are warning the president his claims of fraud could get somebody killed. and the president said he may

not sign the defense authorization act unless congress changes the rules for facebook and twitter. there's a lot we'll get to. we'll start with the pardons. "the new york times" reports president trump has talked to his advisers about blanket pardons for his children as well as son-in-law jared kushner and his lawyer rudy giuliani. president trump says that report is false. now we do know donald trump jr. was named in robert mueller's investigation. you recall the younger trump met. jared kushner failed to accurately disclose contacts with foreigners including russians on his security clearance forms, not once but several times, to the point where the intelligence agency said he shouldn't have top-secret clearance. but the president overrode them. as for the president himself, recall robert mueller said more than once prosecutors could not prosecute a sitting president. ken buck asked mueller twice,

could you charge the president after he leaves office? yes, mueller answered, twice. the president said so many times that mueller's report exonerated him that mueller actually had to come back with a special news conference to say, no, it didn't. as for the bribery investigation, the department of justice investigating a bribery for pardon scheme involving a person who made an offer of a political donation in exchange for a presidential pardon for somebody. the documents published by the doj are heavily redacted and do not name the individuals involved or president trump. christopher krebs was on the "today" show yesterday morning, a day after a member of president trump's legal team said krebs should be taken out and shot. krebs was fired from his post at homeland security after he said the 2020 election was the most secure in american history. krebs told the "today" show he may take legal action. republican officials in georgia who are in charge of the

election there say they're getting death threats after certifying the vote for joe biden. a trump supporter appealed to the president to put a stop to it. >> what you don't have the ability to do, you need to step up and stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it's not right. >> meanwhile president trump said on twitter he would veto the defense authorization act unless congress changed the rules for the internet companies, the rule known as 230, part of the communications decency act. we're going to talk about that as we talk about business coming up in a half an hour. like i said, there was a lot to get to. we're talking about it on twitter. follow me there. i'm @scottmcgrew. >> thank you. happening today for you an upscale san francisco hotel is bringing back its slice of bay area music history. the funky music city hotel brings the funk and then some to a photo exhibit within its

halls. so today it's reopening its gallery dedicated to san francisco music scenes. the hotel called the music hall of fame gallery although it's less about artifacts and tributes written by bay area writers including ben fong torres and includes a play list of featured bands just to set the mood. >> can you even go in it, though? we'll have to check. trending this morning, a new mystery spreading over social media. another monolith popped up. this time in romania. police say officers are investigating the case because the metal pillar was illegally installed at a protected archaeological site. many on social media are wondering if they could have other worldly connections. or just something slightly

entertaining and distracting while we look for anything else to do during this pandemic. >> i'll go with the latter. >> just saying. we need something different, oh, what is that? >> i know. we're not talking about that "p" word, pandemic. >> anything. >> covid. >> let's talk about something that we all enjoy every now and then, the weather. meteorologist kari hall, this afternoon, kari, we'll be able to shed the coats a bit. yes, it's going to be nice and sunny again today. you do need the layers for the start of the day and we are not seeing the dense fog in some parts of the bay area this morning. this is a live look outside in dublin. a lot of people are heading out to work. look at how cold it is. dropping back to the mid-30s and we're going to see it gradually warming up today. a few more clouds.

if you are going out to the parks today, maybe going for a walk or letting the kids run around and head to the playground, we're going to see temperatures trending mostly into the upper 50s at noon. it's going to take a while before it warms up, but we are going to see our highs reaching into the mid-60s for the middle of the day as we reach up to 67 degrees in morgan hill. also 67 in santa rosa. as we go through the forecast we are going to have some weather systems moving in closer. still no rain and continue with the dry weather. as we continue to watch our reservoir levels are still doing pretty well with some of our largest ones but our smaller reservoirs are really dropping to critically low levels. how is it looking for the commute, mike? kari, we do have one closure. the map to full, that closure of

skyline. highway 35 from 92 to quail court continues because of an investigation that started last night. the san mateo sheriff's office investigating why there was a body found on the side of the roadway there. that will probably continue through the daylight hours, possibly until noon. they need to complete an investigation through the scene. you'll access that from woodside. the bay bridge toll plaza does start to back up. a little build in the middle lanes. happening now for you oakland is the latest california cities to ban natural gas. councilmembers say oakland is the 40th city in the state to do so. san jose yesterday also widening its natural gas ban to include all new construction, not just low-rise buildings. there's so much more ahead on "today in the bay" this wednesday morning including nearly 200 south bay businesses facing fines for breaking covid

rules all at 6:00. up next, something a bit more joyful as 30 rock's christmas tree lighting is coming and, remember, you can watch it all live right here on nbc bay area tonight. a live look from rockefeller right now. a look at the big performers lending a helping hand. we'll be right back.

giving this year an easy way to help those in need through our nourishing neighbors food drive. the next time you're at the safeway store make a $10 donation or more and that money goes straight to local food banks. >> this is where things have become more festive. nbc bay area will air it for you. 50,000 multicolored l.e.d. lights and while the public cannot attend both the event and that music will go on. country singer brett eldridge will be a part of the lineup including dolly parton, kelly clarkson and earth, wind and fire. >> to have it this year i'm excited to be able to get up there and sing.

>> christmas in rockefeller center airs at 7:00 right here on nbc bay area. right now at 6:00 breaking news overnight. the united kingdom, the first nation to approve pfizer's covid-19 vaccine. up next how quickly the uk plans to get that vaccine to its frontline workers. what that means for us here in the u.s. our complete coverage of the surge and the race to a vaccine as the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now. good wednesday morning. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. mike always keeping an eye on the commute. we'll get to that in a bit. first the forecast for you. meteorologist kari hall, it looks like the sun is starting to come up just a bit. it is very cold across the bay area. a cold start and then some sunshine helping to warm