in your pocket. and a dire warning, hospitals across the state are maxed out. they are struggling and not just with covid patients. anybody who ends up at the icu. a live report on the overload and what doctors want you to know. "today in the bay" continues right now. and a good monday morning to you. what a way to start the workweek. the team is here this morning. kris filling in for laura this morning. kris, be good to have you with us. and, of course -- >> happy to be here. >> we want to talk about that weather, too, meteorologist kari hall has been tracking that for us. kari, looking behind you looking nice today. we are starting out with dense fog in the east bay and the south bay. we'll see that for a little while into the late morning hours. we'll have issues with air quality as we are going to have the hazy conditions and we're watching out for the great conjunction later on tonight

where jupiter and saturn will appear close together. we'll talk more about that coming up in a few minutes. mike, how is it looking right now for your commute? overall the map looks fine. the top half is yellow. that's where the fog is located. low visibility stretching out in towards the tri-valley as well. we'll talk about that coming up. it's the traffic alert dominating half of the freeway eastbound 580 at coolidge. no slowing except for right at the scene. back to you, marcus. happening today for you president-elect joe biden is set to get his vaccine shot. it's not clear if he will receive the pfizer or moderna shot. experts say biden wants to build public trust in vaccinations. and now to a look at capitol hill. this is where more help is on

the way. those are the words of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. this is as congress agrees on a new $900 billion relief bill. that bill is considered the stopgap to help people hurting in an economy paralyzed by the pandemic. >> chris if a lopollone is live what happens next and so many regular americans are just waiting to hear this, chris. >> reporter: kris, marcus, good morning. that's right. after weeks of haggling it appears both houses of congress will vote today on the latest coronavirus relief package. if it passes president trump has already said that he will sign it into law meaning that money will start flowing pretty quickly to people and businesses hurt by this pandemic. >> the senate stands adjourned until noon tomorrow. >> reporter: negotiations went down to the wire. a new covid relief bill could become law.

>> a package of nearly $900 billion. it is packed to help struggling americans who have waited entirely too long. >> reporter: at $300 to unemployment checks, more loans to small businesses, and direct extra funds to distribute covid vaccines across the country. there is also help for people struggling to pay their rent as well. >> our purpose has always been to crush the virus, to put money in the pockets of the american people which we do in this legislation. >> reporter: the bill does not provide liability protection for lawsuits for businesses and universities or extra money to state and local governments, a key want for democrats. democrats see this as a bridge to more relief once joe biden becomes president. >> while this bill is far from perfect, nor is it the bill we

would pass if democrats had a majority in the senate, it is a strong shot in the arm to help american families weather the storm. >> reporter: both sides pointing fingers saying a deal could have been reached weeks ago. and you might recall there was a chance of a governmental shutdown but congress acted yesterday, both houses, passing a one-day extension, meaning lawmakers have just one day, today, to pass this coronavirus relief bill. other than passing another extension of this. live in washington, i'm chris pollone. >> hopefully they can get some things done in that one day. let's talk about the stimulus checks. who exactly will get those checks? >> reporter: the text of the bill is still being written before the vote.

we know from both sides it appears that the general rule of thumb will be if you got the $1,200 last time you will likely get the $600 this time. that means individuals making under $75,000, couples under $150. there are provisions for children, dependent children as well. but they say that it's a good rule of thumb if you got it last time you will likely get it this time and it could happen fairly quickly. the treasury has the information on file. so if this is signed into law today this could happen fairly quickly. >> there are so many new claims still even beyond folks who got it the first time. thank you so much, chris. we do have more details on the relief bill. it includes no dedicated money for state or local governments, which we were hoping for. but according to state analysts california will have a $26 billion windfall during the next fiscal year. the state will face a $17.5

billion budget gap by the year 2024. the current deal does give california until the end of next year before it loses any unspent money of federal relief. governor gavin newsom this morning is back in quarantine after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus. so far the governor and all of his staff members who came into contact with that infected person tested negative. all of them will be tested again over the coming days. we know that there is a lag between exposure and infection and state guidelines now call for a ten-day quarantine, we will see him working from home. this is the second time in a month the governor has been quarantined. last time was because his children were exposed. well, across the state there are hospitals on the verge of being overwhelmed. take a look at the numbers we have for you in this graph this morning. so the numbers of hospitalizations, this is since april here, take a look at all of this right here.

peaked at just over 8,000. "today in the bay's" bob redell is live for us in walnut creek. some of the hospitals right now, the state may have to ration care because of a result of all that's happening. >> reporter: that is a strong possibility. one health care system has discussed the possibility of rationing health care. not clear if that could happen up here at the hospitals we have in the bay area. take a look at the map. the availability of icu beds, only 8% remain here in contra costa county. fewer than 15% of icu beds

available. some hospitals in the san joaquin valley and southern california areas have already hit zero percent capacity. our sister station in los angeles has been told this last line of defense is being crushed by the recent surge in covid-19 cases. there are a lot of emergencies not related to covid, trauma, heart attacks and the like. so the surge of covid is competing with that and the surge could get worse after christmas which could force hospitals in southern california to ration health care. that would be withholding health care from one patient so another patient gets to live. >> we'll have an overflow of patients and will have the hard decision of who gets the ventilator, who we will disconnect because they don't have a chance to survive. >> reporter: hospitals have set up mobile units outside their hospital buildings to deal with

this surge. this is something we've seen in hospitals up here in the bay area as well. bob redell, "today in the bay." a really tough conversation. thank you, bob. a cdc advisory panel is issuing new guidance on who should get the vaccine next. that includes people 75 years and older who do not live in senior living facilities. frontline essential workers including firefighters, police and correctional officers are also on the list as are postal workers, public transit workers and food and agricultural workers. educators and daycare employees are on the list. being able to get our educators and educational staff back in school will be a critical component of the pandemic. the next group or group 1c which will include anyone over the age

of 65 and anyone over the age of 16 who has a pre-existing high risk condition. our website is a great resource for pandemic coverage you can find ongoing updates on vaccines and where you can get tested. oakland's interim chief is giving a glimpse at what funding may look like. "the chronicle" obtained t memo of cuts that may include ending foot patrols in some neighborhoods and police security. the scenario assumes that the department may sustain $22 million in cuts next summer. oakland is trying to close a huge budget shortfall. it's still not clear how much of that may be offset by the cuts to the police department. and a live look for you in walnut creek. it's a foggy and chilly start across the bay area this morning but things are clear at the golden gate bridge.

take a look at that. you know what, also some good news for you, rain might be returning. i don't know if you think that is good news but it is for the bay area just in time for christmas, kari. >> i think so. we'll see the rain coming in on friday just in time for christmas. we are dry and starting out with dense fog. you do have to deal with near zero visibility in some spots. check out novato and parts of the north bay into the delta as well as the central valley. we'll be monitoring for that. we'll talk about what's ahead in the forecast coming up. mike, how is it looking for the commute? kari, we still have a traffic alert although it's not showing any slowing on our sensors. i've circled it on the map, in the lower portion eastbound 588 and coolidge. the yellow highlighting there, the fog that kari has been talking about in the north bay stretching out over to highway 4 over to brentwood, discovery bay and reaching to the altamont

pass. 580. westbound 580 at grant line road. not necessarily because of the fog but may be complicated by lower visibility. >> thanks, mike. if you are a last-minute holiday shopper beware. next if you still haven't crossed everything off your list a little bit of time, offering delivery before christmas. a big strain on the stock market. take a look at the numbers coming up. i want to you take a look at your screen here. can you spot it? there's a new zoom call challenge stumping a lot of people. we'll tell you what you need to look for coming up after the break. in a land not so far away,

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right now at 5:14 a look at our air quality that will be an issue once we get our sky clearing it will be hazy today. no burning. most unhealthy in the north bay. we'll talk about the rain ahead in the forecast. that's coming up in a few minutes. still watching for updates. we get a look at 101 on the other side of the bay. it moves smoothly around most of

the bay. checking on the east bay alert coming up. well, good morning. a very happy monday to you as well. you might think the stock market is happy about the progress made in washington that chris pollone was telling us about, the coronavirus stimulus plan. and it is good news. but the stock market is more worried about the progress that coronavirus is making, particularly that new strain that has hit the uk so hard. out to the futures. the bets they put on the open looking for a big loss on the dow at 6:30 when the bell rings. over the weekend the prime minister announced new very severe shutdowns for london and several countries said they would start banning travelers from the uk. so you had scenes like this of people crowding train stations and airports before the deadline. british scientists say the new strain seems to spread faster but isn't any more or less deadly.

>> the new strain is more transmissible. it doesn't appear so far that it causes any worsening of the disease which is important. the vaccine should still work against it. >> france banned all cargo including trucks carrying freight from the port of dover on england's south coast. chris pollone was telling us about that stimulus checks for people who got it last time. basically at $99,000 cap out. additional money tacked on to unemployment checks as well. good news for restaurants. lawmakers tacked on a new rule that president trump had been pushing for, expanding to claim a business expense when eating out. some have dubbed it the three martini lunch tax break. there's no eating in restaurants

allowed here at least for now. tesla has added to the s&p 500 index today. a flood of buying on friday. new buyers pushed the price of shares up 6% for the weekend. tesla is the largest company ever added to the index for the first time. in fact, it's the sixth most valuable company in the united states. now various plans have rules that require them to add shares to companies on the s&p 500 on their funds so fund managers were forced to buy on friday. we may see it drop today in the stock because that whole buying spree is over. it tesla is up 731%, kris and marcus, in the last year. 731%. >> that is remarkable. are people who ordered cars are they still waiting as much? >> there is a slowdown as there's a production halt over

the christmas holidays at tesla. tesla has always been behind its orders and will continue to be so. i don't know that it will be any more of a significant delay than usual. >> that will drop that 700 plus increase. thank you, scott. all right, just four days to go until christmas. some good news for last-minute shoppers. online shopping and delivery is still possible, kind of. walmart offering free next day delivery until 2:00 this afternoon on select items. the last day for amazon prime deliveries is the 23rd. others you may have to pick up curbside, as i had to do with my sister's present. meghan markle has a detailed resume, of course. princess, actress and now this. music video star. take a look.

♪ christmas tree with all the trimmings ♪ >> so this is a video from the single "christmas spirit" by singer richard marks made back in 2012 when markle was still an actress on "suits." six years before she married prince harry. the video is full of star-studded appearances and more than 161,000 views for now. take a look at your screen. stop what you're doing and take a look at your screen. can you spot it this morning? well, it's a new puzzle asking something you've probably gotten used to by now, finding the mute button. they created the christmas zoom call challenge. record to the beat 30 seconds and right there the company is also suggesting making your virtual holiday gathering more exciting by making cocktails,

hosting a murder mystery party. and the mute button is allegedly in the lower right corner. >> when we had our virtual party, it was virtual. mike inouye was our host. marcus, you sang for us. it was kind of nice. >> we pretty much did everything they suggested. >> a great cooking demo. >> i did. i did do a cooking demo. interesting times but making the best of it, right? >> absolutely. it's 5:21. time to look at the forecast. starting out foggy, kari. yeah, we're taking a live look outside in walnut creek where we are seeing some low visibility. we've been dealing with what we call tule fog. that really dense fog that forms after the first big rain and now it's reducing our visibility quite a bit so we can barely see

there in the east bay as it rolls through some parts of the bay area. we start out our first day of winter and we are going to have the sunshine later today but, of course, with this being the shortest day of the year we are going to have some of the shortest amount of daylight. the first day of winter and how the sun is aligned with the tropics of capricorn. i guess we're not going to the graphics today. let's go to our seven-day forecast. it's up at the bottom of the screen. getting ready for some rain as we head to the end of the week. by friday you can see that we'll be up to 59 degrees. all right, there we go. now i'm running out of time. we are going to see still some rain in the forecast as we go into the end of the week. we're dry today. we're dry the next few days. we could see showers rolling through as the next system

passes into the bay area, some weekend rain and sierra snow. we are once again holding steady with our temperatures but rain holding off until santa brings it on christmas. now, mike, how is it looking for the commute? we caught a glimpse of flashing lights just before we cut off that live shot in walnut creek. out to the maps, a smooth drive for most of the bay. a new crash shows up in san leandro. more details in a couple of minutes. over to eastbound 580 this has been going on for hours. it's at coolidge. there may be major injuries. no backup and not even a backup. we're in the middle of december. back to you. >> reporter: she paid one price

inside the store but her credit card company charged her hundreds more. how can that happen? i'm chris chmura with nbc bay area responds next.

>> reporter: good morning. if you shop at macy's inside stores you can skip the register if you use mobile check-out. a month later she was charged more than the amount on her

receipt. she says she asked macy's to fix it but didn't get anywhere. it appears there was a conflict between regular prices and sale prices on lori's items. we asked macy's to take another look. the store agreed to refund her $195. macy's told us this issue has been resolved with the customer. lori wrote to us and told us this, i could not have done it without you. we couldn't have done it without lori doing two critical things we think everyone should do, one, save your receipts even if you snap photos of them and, two, check your credit card bill, go line by line, look to see if anyone has overcharged or double billed you. maybe we can help. head to nbcbayarea.com and choose the responds option in the main menu or call us 888-996-tips. next putting it all on the line. the growing number of law enforcement officers testing

positive for covid-19 and the push to get them vaccinated. plus, a boost to help make it in the bay. rent prices drop.

right now at 5:30, another dose of hope. the bay area hospital set to receive the new moderna vaccine and when those shots are expected to go into arms. plus, a new and more contagious covid strain in the uk and is raising concern here

in the u.s. the travel nightmare and the growing debate over stopping flights heading to america. "today in the bay" continues right now. and, first, a live look outside for you this morning where it is foggy and cool across the bay area. meteorologist kari hall is tracking when we can expect some of that rain to return this is in walnut creek this morning. but, looking at that there, well, that's how we're starting out our monday. we'll clear things up for you. i'm marcus washington. good morning to you. i'm kris sanchez. laura garcia has a little time off with the kiddos. boy, it's hard to see through the fog, kari. yes, especially in the east bay and north bay where we've been talking about this morning with the low visibility that we're seeing coming through the delta as well as the north bay. novato down to zero. be careful out there. dense fog advisory is up and it will clear out today. then we'll have some air quality issues. we'll talk about that in a few minutes. mike, what's going on right now

with the commute? kari, you talked about novato. we take it to mostly dominating the screen. like kari talks about highway 4 also an issue. out of the fog this traffic alert 580 at coolidge. two lanes are blocked. a new crash 880 just off 238 in san leandro and not presenting any slowing as well as the rest of the bay with light traffic. back to you, marcus. another vaccine set to make its rounds. bay area hospitals will soon have another line of defense as icu beds space dwindles. "today in the bay's" jackie ward is live for us in santa clara county at the health department. how many doses are we talking about this go-around? >> reporter: marcus, we're talking tens of thousands of doses making their way to the bay area right now and here in santa clara county they're

expecting to get a lot of those. in fact, most of the ones are on their way. they report that they expect to get more than 39,000 doses of moderna vaccine tomorrow. marin county expecting 3,100 doses today and the vaccine advisory group to seek input. we expect to learn more about doses headed to all nine bay area counties in the coming days. just like this time last week when pfizer's vaccine was being shipped, these shots are being monitored very closely. escorted by u.s. marshals, the first vials of the vaccine are on the way to nearly 4,000 locations nationwide. both companies at pfizer and moderna are actively developing a data set to answer that question. moderna, as you suggested, and the data they've presented have presented some early data suggesti tngt transmission in addition to severe infection are both averted with their vaccine.

>> reporter: like pfizer, moderna requires a second dose about a month after the first. it's recommended for those 18 years and older. pfizer is for those 16 and older. unlike pfizer's vaccine these files don't require storage in a deep freezer. so between moderna and pfizer nearly 8 million doses of the vaccine have been allocated. live in san jose, jackie ward, "today in the bay." the big numbers keep on coming so that news couldn't come at a better time, jackie. within the last 24 hours california confirms more than 46,000 new covid-19 cases bringing the overall total to more than 1.8 million. that's in addition to the 161 new deaths bringing the statewide total closer to 23,000 people, not cases. people. the bay area now has more than 220,000 confirmed infections and more than 2,200 people dead. the cdc is recommending that law enforcement officers be

among the next group of people getting that covid vaccine. at least 164 law enforcement officers have died of coronavirus nationwide since the start of the pandemic. according to the site officer down memorial page. now here in the bay area santa rosa detective mary lou was the first known casualty at the end of march when we were still learning what this was about. in july covid claimed the life of oscar rocha in august. san quentin correctional officer gilbert polanco and virgil thomas died because of covid complications. and happening today people in marin county now have a quicker and easier way to get tested. teaming up with curative for self-collected tests. the results have a higher clinical sensitivity than the nasal swab test. now anybody can take one of those oral tests but they must make an appointment online first. here is where you can get those

tests. on monday at the bolinas fire station and san geronimo valley community center. our website is a great resource for all of our pandemic coverage. you can find ongoing updates on vaccine, any travel restrictions that could be coming down the pike and also testing in case you feel like you might have been exposed. just head to nbcbayarea.com. we have a whole section there with everything that you need. 5:36 for you this morning. as struggling san jose renters try to make it in the bay, more of them are looking for other options. the apartment finder rent cafe says that more renters are looking to become homeowners instead of staying in those high-priced apartments. in san jose the average rent is just over $2,500. that's an 8% decrease from last year. that report says that rent is lower for higher end apartments meaning more renters there may

be trading apartment life for single family home during the pandemic. a live look outside across the bay area right now and the skies may look a little hazy today. a winter spare the air alert has been issued for today because of people burning wood in their fireplaces. several cities are already seeing some hazy conditions although it's hard to tell at this early hour. that alert bans burning wood and manufactured fire logs or any solid fuel indoors or outdoors. so make sure that you know that. kari, we just threw some candles in the fireplace so that we could pretend a little bit that there's a crackling fire. the yule log on tv is a good option. >> that is a great option. absolutely. we don't want to add any more of those pollutants to the air because we don't have a lot of wind to mix it out. we are starting out with some foggy conditions but then once we get the clearing skies today

that air quality will be unhealthy especially in the north bay as well as the east bay as well as the santa clara valley. so some of those low lying areas really get those pollutants trapped. we'll talk about the sunshine in the forecast and what's ahead as rain moves in by the end of the week. right now mike has an update on the commute. overall the commute looks great. in the east bay we have a couple of crashes i'm tracking. one of them tombly is a traffic alert. we will show you, also, another east bay factor, the tri-valley, far out to the altamont pass. we're looking at very low visibility this will affect folks traveling down to vasco from brentwood, discovery bay. low visibility but 580 does move smoothly once you get there. 580 over in oakland, at coolidge the crash blocking two right lanes. no problems getting to the bay bridge. back to you, cierra.

>> reporter: coming up, millions decide to go hit the air despite a pandemic. how many of those folks are coming through sfo. dr. birx in a little bit of hot water this morning. good news for the coronavirus relief. plus -- all right. you know what, clark griswold is back. next, the iconic scene from the christmas vacation movie that is just re-created. we'll take a look at it together.

right now at 5:41, in parts of the east bay and north bay visibility cut down to zero. that's our camera in walnut creek. and we are dealing with this dense fog this morning, but it will gradually clear out today. and we'll talk about a rare sight in the sky you'll be able to see tonight coming up in a few minutes. a lot of fog, low visibility and a major injury crash over in the east bay. that's going on while we look at the bay bridge toll plaza, overall that shows the volume of traffic we're seeing around most of the bay, much lighter than the rest of the month. this is mid-december. we'll talk about the view as it builds coming up. the president-elect will get the first coronavirus shot

today. >> scott mcgrew, do we know which one he's going to get? the fda just cleared the moderna vaccine. that's a really good question and, no, we have not seen any information on that. we do know pence got the pfizer vaccine because at the time that was the only vaccine available. all we really know is biden will get the shot today. we do expect it will be televised as the president-elect tries to show people it's safe and that they, too, should be inoculated. meantime, we have learned dr. deborah birx ignored her own advice and traveled to see her family over thanksgiving. she told us to be vigilant, to limit our holiday to our own household, but apparently she traveled from washington to delaware and visited her grandchildren from a different household. in fact, dr. birx appeared in an interview that weekend from delaware where she laments the fact that people are moving from state to state and warned if you did that, you should assume that you have picked up the virus.

>> you need to assume that you are infected and not go near your grandparents and aunts and others without a mask. we're really asking families to even mask indoors if they chose to gather during thanksgiving and others went across the country or even into the next state. the house and senate have agreed on a coronavirus bill. they haven't quite passed it yet. after months upon months of negotiating, at times refusing to negotiate, the high point $600 for those making less than $90 a year. more money added to the unemployment benefits. it's still 11 weeks. many lawmakers were pushing for 16 weeks. now the other important thing that the two sides of the capitol did other than the stimulus is they passed a 24-hour continuing resolution to keep the government open. we have less than 24 hours now. the clock is winding down.

voting to keep the government open for another day. we do expect a day all the way out until september. he was not sure russia was behind a massive hack attack on the u.s. government and said the media was making it out to be far worse than it really is. the truth is even the u.s. government doesn't know how widespread the hack is but experts are telling us they are making less of a deal out of it because it's one of the worst hacks in history. the prime suspects the russians may still have access to many u.s. government computers. president trump has sort of a history of trusting russians, even as his own advisers tell them they're the adversary. a few weeks ago he suggested a russian joint american policing system with the impenetrable cyber security force he called

them. >> i think we've come to recognize the president has a blind spot when it comes to russia. and the reality is the experts, the people who really understand how our systems work and how computers work and software, the thousands upon thousands at the cia and the nsa and the department of defense have determined this case from russia and it is an extraordinary invasion of our cyberspace. >> we are watching the bill as it passes through both sides of the capitol. we are tweeting about it. this week will be different than other holidays in the past. aaa says some 34 million plan to travel. our "today in the bay" cierra johnson is at sfo digging deeper into what we expect here in the bay area.

good morning. >> reporter: yes, good morning. good morning, kris and marcus. it's really lit up behind mean with the red and the green. we are still in the midst of a global pandemic. as you mentioned millions of folks still have plans to hit the skies with 80,000 of those individuals coming through this airport alone on just friday and saturday. those numbers coming out of sfo are lower than they typically are just days before christmas. they are still significant in the midst of a pandemic. the tsa estimates 1 million people total hit the skies. one of the busiest travel days of the season. fear that travel could continue and cause another surge like the one weep saw in the weeks after thanksgiving both here in the bay area and across the nation. while many are still deciding to travel across the pond, travel has been banned from the uk

because of a new strain of the virus that is proving to have a faster transmission rate. almost 70% faster. flights from the uk were banned and the netherlands said it will band flights until the end of the year so the question now should the u.s. take steps to begin restricting flights? take a listen. my sense is that we can consider it, but i don't know that it will make a big difference. these strains are popping up in multiple different places in the uk and denmark, in the philippines, and i suspect some strains like that may already be circulating in the united states. >> reporter: and it is important to note for those folks that are traveling, making that tough decision to travel in the midst of a pandemic, that there still is that travel ban here. a ten-day quarantine for folks from san francisco, for folks that live or work in the city. the only exception are those essential workers. a good number of cars coming in at sfo.

the number of cases that may be a result of this holiday. we're live at sfo, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> glad to see you are outside where there's more fresh air. the san jose sharks return to the ice after three weeks. at least some of the players already have been infected with covid-19. according to "the mercury news" general manager doug wilson said during the nine months the team was off, some team members were infected, not on the sharks watch but while they were playing with teams overseas. the sharks start training camp new year's eve in arizona. of course because of the south bako individual restrictions that are in place. they will play a 56-game regular season that starts on january 13th. steph curry and his family spending and spreading holiday cheer in the east bay.

the curry crew over the weekend held their eighth annual food give away, eat, learn, play christmas. ayesha curry says it helped out more than 1,000 families. >> so nice to see and the little one has gotten so big. actor chevy chase is back on screen, re-creating the scene from the national lampoon christmas vacation which is on loop here in our house. take a look. ♪ joy to the world another dud. >> chase and other actors who portray the griswold family came back for a commercial feature. the ford mustang. thankfully his wife, yes, still played by beverly deangelo flipped the switch and helped charge their new car.

because it's a commercial the griswold family are more interested in the new mustang than the holiday lights. a pretty nice mustang, though. >> i love it. >> vroom-vroom. >> that is always our biggest fear that they won't turn on. >> we saw the snow there, kari. we don't necessarily have the snow in the bay area. that's something we're clear of. but rain could be coming our way soon. yeah, that could be our gift on christmas. let's talk about the gift tonight. a rare sight in the sky. the great conjunction where saturn and jupiter will appear very close in the sky and that's something you'll be able to see shortly after sunset with the naked eye. you don't need a telescope or anything or any type of equipment. and so what's happening here is this rare sight that hasn't happened with them being this close and this bright in 800 years occurring at night, and so they are aligned in a way that where we are on earth, we look

towards jupiter and saturn, they look very close together that will be something cool you'll be able to see and they call it the christmas star because they think this is the way the planets were aligned when they were looking for the star of bethlehem as well as the first christmas. it does look like the sky will be clear for us tonight for that viewing. then as we head to the end of the week, a new storm system approaching and it's going to bring us some much-needed rain on christmas day into christmas night. and then into the weekend we could still see some of the showers moving through as well as some sierra snow. a new round of rain coming in on sunday. that's something we'll be watching by the end of the week. it's going to be dry this week and we're also dealing with issues with air quality, temperatures reaching into the upper 50s and low 60s. and then as we are awaiting santa's arrival, looks good in the weather department. we shouldn't see any issues there. and then, once again, that new storm comes in late on friday, off and on showers between

saturday and sunday. san francisco will have some cool weather this week. mostly in the upper 50s and low 60s here as well. mike, how is it looking in your department this morning? kari, your department affects my department. maybe we would need are yrudolp tonight was the night. a head-on crash involving a couple vehicles early. there's an investigation blocking your two right lanes. also northbound 880 a disabled vehicle. a car on either side. light traffic. thanks, mike.

people in hawaii, the latest volcano. at least eight. >> all right, kids, don't worry, santa will be safe from covid. he will be able to visit your house despite the pandemic. we'll show you why america's top infectious disease doctor gave the north pole the all clear. that is if you can get there. the problem with santa that he has been encountering when he was without his eight reindeer. you're watching "today in the bay." christmas comes early. it sounds amazing. when the croods come home. dun, dun, dun. give your family the ultimate gift. [ gibberish ]

and spread joy. [ shrieking ] [ howling ] laughter. [ giggling ] and friendship. you accessorize with a sloth? this is belt. [ gibberish ] mine's sash. -oh, la, la. go to watchcrocom.ods.

great day on the lake! it is. lunch is cookin'! and i saved a bunch of money on my boat insurance with geico. fellas, can it get any better than this? whoa! my old hairstyle grew back. so did mine. [80's music] what? i was an 80's kid. it only gets better when you switch and save with geico. the we have to find just nosomething else.it. good luck! what does that mean? we are doomed. [laughter] that's it. i figured it out!

we're going to give togetherness. that sounds dumb. we're going to take all those family moments and package them. hmm. [laughing] that works. after more than 70 years of service menlo park's fire station number four is getting a new look. the fire board approved a deal to build a new station there. it was originally built in 1949 and it will now go from one story to two stories and it's a project that will cost more than $15 million. the station will be demolished next month and construction shortly after that. now to a story where you

might say just leave it to the professionals, people. a paragliding santa claus got tangled up in power lines in rio linda over the weekend. he was delivering candy canes to children in the neighborhood when he got stuck. firefighters were able to rescue him and no one was injured, which really seems like a miracle. new warnings from the better business bureau, this is about scams involving fake vaccines and free testing kits. they involve robo calls, some pretend to offer door-to-door delivery, fake vaccines for as low as $80. >> probably the worst types of scams that i've seen, they are heartless and relentless. >> you've probably heard some advice before but don't answer your phone if you don't recognize that number. the fda is sending out warning letters to firms selling fraudulent products with claims to prevent, treat or even cure

coronavirus. and now to something good. dr. anthony fauci is facing the toughest question of his career. >> we know this is a tough one, kris. kids got a chance to ask the doctor about the vaccine and santa claus. take a listen. >> will santa still be able to visit me? >> i went there and i vaccinated santa claus myself. >> oh, a long trip there, dr. fauci. he didn't clarify which vaccine but he plans to head back to the north pole to give him his second shot in a few weeks to ensure it's fully effective. christmas is saved. 5:59 for you right now. coming up right here at 6:00, congress agreeing on covid relief. a $900 billion bill expected to pass in both chambers today. what many will get in their bank

accounts and what lawmakers are leaving out this time. plus, a moderna vaccine arrives as the cdc issues new guidelines for who should be next in line to get the shot. just ahead details on today's rollout and plans taking shape for the longer time. plus, fog popping up in parts of the bay area including right here in walnut creek. we're tracking how long it will stick around as the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now. and it is monday morning. we like to start off the workweek in a good way. thanks for joining us. i'm marcus washington. and i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia who is spending some time with the kids this holiday week. meteorologist kari hall, though, this is the first official day of winter, is it not? it is and we're starting out with something we do typically see for the start of winter. that tule fog, because it's been drifting into the et