and a good morning to you. right now at 4:30, it is christmas eve and a foggy day in walnut creek. take a look at this this morning as we start the day. the last hours before christmas day. and a good morning to you. i'm marcus washington. >> rudolph with your nose so bright. >> perfect time now to check in with meteorologist kari hall to see how it's looking in the sky. hi, kari. >> more clouds and low

visibility. cloud cover spreading across southern california and into the bay area and also looking at spotty sprinkles but we'll see the rain coming in tomorrow and that rain is still off the coast and another one moving in pie sunday night into monday morning. i'm tracking all of that, as well as the visibility and we'll talk about that in a couple minutes. mike, how is it looking for the commute sph. >> looking at a smooth drive, but that fog is a factor. walnut creek camera and on the map you see it all the way and denser over in the right corner and contra costa county and altamont pass 580 through there and north county and possibly creeping over to the carquinez and benicia bridges and how clear that view is and how light the traffic is which we expect much of the morning. back to you, marcus. >> thanks, mike. christmas just, well, less than 24 hours away.

live look for you at sfo this morning. this is where the airport seeing some activity but because of the pandemic travel has gone down drastically. holiday traffic has fallen 70% over in oakland and close to 90% in san jose. still health leaders warn that people should stay at home if possible. they know it's risky but they think it's risky to see family and friends. >> separated from my 5-year-old so i'm taking a risk to go see him. i'm healthy and i think i'll be okay. >> all the passengers we found are masked up. they have been told about the ten-day quarantine policies in san francisco and santa clara counties. plenty of people out and about despite the pandemic. last-minute christmas shopping. this is video from the great mall in milpitas. the parking lot was packed even though in-person christmas

parties are canceled, the shoppers must go on. delivery drivers today will especially feel the crunch and you may, too, if you are worried about your packages arriving on time. as pete reports, the pandemic is adding a new sense of urgency. >> holiday shipping has dramatically increased this year for a variety of reasons and it's why shipping companies are doing their best to accommodate a demand. it's another busy night in fremont at the on-track shipping facility. packages rolling out steady and the shipping volume is way up this holiday season compared to last year. >> we had to make adjustments for it and felt we were successful on a daily basis. >> reporter: adjustments that included adding more than 200 workers in just the past month. >> we almost doubled our staffing and currently we're still in the hiring process and we definitely plan on maintaining our staffing throughout the first quarter. >> reporter: on track along with ups, fedex and the postal service will need every

available worker to meet demand. a usps spokesperson tells me they have been slammed with record-setting volume especially with fedex and u. p.s. concentrasecentrating on dg vaccines. u.p.s. expects record breaking shipping volumes 22% increase compared to this time last year. all that has some people wondering if their packages will make it by friday and others sending out a last-minute package in fremont tonight otherwise. >> i expect to come in and stand in line and i was in and out. >> reporter: for some, they say the potential for shipping delay is even more reason to wrap up christmas shopping as early as possible. >> my christmas shopping was done by the end of november. i was finished. yes, totally finished. oakland leaders have approved painful and immediate

budget cuts to help close a budget deficit. council members agreed to cut $15 million from the police department and some will come from overtime pay and the fire department will temporarily close three stations saving about $5 million and the city will enact a $9 million hiring free. the cuts to first responders may impact safety and last through at least the end of june. oakland police are warning about a spike in violent crime involving middle school children. they say over the last few weeks officers have arrested carjacking suspects as young as 11 years old and more are still at large. melissa spoke to one oakland woman recently mugged by two young people that may be just 12 years old. >> they punched me. i fought back with them. >> reporter: it was an attack that lasted seconds. but in her mind, it felt like hours. she says she was mugged by two

people on monday afternoon near jack london square in oakland. >> they told me shut up. >> reporter: when the criminals managed to wrestle away her wallet and phone, iona says a get away driver picked up the two males and sped off. >> i thought they were maybe pra perhaps 15 to 18 years of age. >> reporter: you can imagine her disbelief when she said oakland police told her her attackers were likely 12 and 14 years old. >> these youth weretrivinge dri car and speeding on the highway. >> reporter: palo alto arrested three in oakland for mugging a woman and leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car. the driver was just 12 and arrested for battery and a number of crimes.

they would not say whether the victim in that crime was, but is still ongoing. >> specifically when we're being targeted at this moment. >> reporter: a spokesperson for oakland police say iona's attack is still under investigation and would not comment further. meantime, the three boys are in custody at the santa clara county juvenile hall. as for iona the bruises on her face and hands have healed, but the fear is still there. >> we all want to walk out our door and not be scared. we have every right to do that. melissa colorado. shift gears for san jose's recently retired police chief who did not stay retired for very long. chief eddie garcia will become the police chief in dallas, texas. he named yesterday. garcia spent 28 years at the san jose police department where he

moved up the ranks from patrolman to chief and retired a couple weeks ago. the department in dallas is three times the size. it may soon be more difficult to get to angel island. the blue and gold fleet ferry has filed a request with the utility commission to stop its service to angel island. the ferry operator said the route isn't profitable any more because of the pandemic. people can still get to angel island by ferry from tibron. >> we know half the people who visit angel island come aboard a ferry from san francisco. without ferry service from san francisco that will impact tens of thousands of people and their ability to get to the island. >> so far more than 250 people already have petitioned urging the puc not to cut that service. all right. well, new for you this morning, a new face seen at 49ers practice. josh rosen.

he will be wearing number 2 and will be the backup to cj opsaturday. the niners are taking on the arizona cardinals this weekend. jimmy g. also practicing this weekend and might come back for the final game of the season against the seattle seahawks. one of the most famous names is staying in the south bay. brent brennan agreed to a contract extension with san jose state. the terms of that agreement has not been made public yet. validation that the program is going in the right direction on and off the field. well, 4:39 for you this morning and the markets are open on christmas eve. we're going to check in with cnbc to find out how things aric looing this hour. plus, everyone wants a play station 5 for christmas, but turns out another leading contender for the hottest gift this season. we'll tell you what that is and can you even get it. you're watching "today in the bay." ♪

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the final minute. s&p managed to snap a three-day losing streak as the investors cashed in profits going into the end of the year and vetoed a sweeping defense bill. he's also calling for direct high payments to americans as part of the $900 billion stimulus pack age that was just passed by congress and the markets close early today 1:00 p.m. eastern time. not just the play station 5 that is in high demand this holiday season. gift cards are one of the hottest presents and shoppers who don't want to risk gifts not arriving in time for christmas are snapping up gift cards instead. purchases in the first week of december were two times the same time last year, that's according to tracking firm in market. sales jumped nearly 50% last weekend as deadlines for free shipping with guaranteed delivery by christmas expire but the boom may not help the holiday sales picture. retailers cannot record revenue from those gift cards until

they're redeemed. zoom had a record year with stock rising more than 500%. now the company issic looi iloo expand beyond e-mail chats and reports say zoom is already working on the e-mail product which will be web-based. zoom could start testing that early next year. many of zoom's competitors are video conferencing platforms bundled as broader apps. with your cnbc morning business report, i'm dominic chu. it is 4:44. dr. fauci is turning 80 today. how one bay area town is honoring the nation's top doctor on his special day. you're watching "today in the bay."

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ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. babe, are those the tots we ordered? ♪ everyone's feeling the late night vibe with my $4 sauced & loaded tots- with cheddar bacon or jalapeño ranch. 4:47 for you this morning and not only christmas eve, but, hello, america, dr. anthony fauci's birthday. >> if you can believe it, he's turning 80 and lafayette is giving him a unique gift. take a look. >> we know your birthday is approaching and it's on wikipedia so i believe it's public on the 24th. you'll be turning 80. congratulation. we would like to as just a very small town proclaim december 24th of 2020 dr. anthony fauci day. >> that's right.

december 24th is now officially dr. anthony fauci day in lafayette. he received the honor yesterday. fauci praised lafayette for following cdc guidelines and wear masks and stay at home and also talked about the hope that comes with the new vaccines and encouraged everyone to get their shots as soon as they can just like he did earlier this week. >> 80 years old. >> looking great. >> there are probably a few people who might still call it christmas eve even though it is fauci day, but we'll see. >> good point. >> take time to adjust. >> hey, happy fauci day. what are you talking about. >> well, we'll stick with christmas eve for now and get that forecast for meteorologist kari hall. >> and we have the delivery of those presents coming tonight. with santa already leaving the

north pole and making his travels around the world. let's talk about what the weather will be like when he gets here. starting out with a lot of clouds this morning and even light rain and especially farther to the south. we are going to see some of the spotty sprinkles possible and also dealing with some fog and low visibility through the central valley now making it into fairfield, as well as parts of the east bay. so, watch out for those patches of fog this morning and then as we go into today, it's mostly clear. going into tomorrow, that's when we're expecting our rain. it starts during the afternoon as we go into the north bay, here we are, we're starting to see some of the spotty light showers coming in and heavier rain holds off until tomorrow night for the afternoon and for the north bay, but some of the south bay areas may not see it until the evening. and then we'll see the off and on rounds of rain through tomorrow night into early saturday morning, but it does look like if you have outdoor plans on saturday, it's going to clear up. so, this rain is in and out of

here fairly quickly, but it's also going to bring lesser amounts of rain than what we were seeing from some of the first runs of the computer model. let me show you what it is putting down now. still for the north bay, anywhere from a half to just under a half inch of rain. look at the south bay. san jose barely measuring anything. trying to get up to a tenth of an inch of rain and up to a quarter inch of rain for oakland. but then we'll have another storm coming in late sunday into monday and this one could bring in some additional rainfall totals that could add up in all up to an inch and a half of rain for ukiah but about 0.3 for the south bay and half inch of rain for parts of the east bay as well as the peninsula. and it's also showing less snow for the sierra. even with a couple of storm systems coming by, it's showing close to a foot of snow for kingvale and less for areas like south lake tahoe. as we go through our forecast,

going to turn mostly cloudy at times the sun just peaking out and then the rain off and on and starting tomorrow for the north bay and another round from sunday into monday morning. i'll be tracking all of that. mike, what are you watching right now for the commute. >> watching the conditions out there, kari. this morning it is not the rain and it is that fog, once again. as we look at the map, chp issued a couple notes for drivers out there and all the way over towards the altamont pass. 580 will be a factor there as well as many places of other parts of alameda county and starts off with fog registering there and that could be a tougher drive for those leaving brentwood and byron and discovery bay and over towards the bay bridge and not a problem and look over towards the peninsula. the construction crews have cleared from the roadwork overnight for 101. that's great news here. we still do have some over in oakland. back to you, kari.

>> looks good, mike, thanks. we have much ahead, including, take a look at this graduating class from an online california college and would you believe every student you see here graduated without paying a dime in tuition. we'll tell you how they did it coming up next. happening now, the place where jesus is said to have been born manger square in bethlehem. festivstyes are mostly virtual. the newly appointed latin patriarch of jerusalem who recently recovered from the coronavirus will lead this year's reduced celebration. 4:52. we'll be right book.

welcome back, 4:54. covers stories about people doing good things for each other. >> a few ways people are helping one another. garvin thomas shows that. >> there are two stories i wanted to share with you today. one we talked about before, but the other one was born during the pandemic. the one we've shared before is working scholars. a program run by mountain views study.com. it started in 2017 with them offering a free online college education to anyone living or working in mountain view. >> congratulations. >> reporter: well that has now spread to six different california counties. their latest class just graduated last night. the biggiest one yet. 53 college graduates and no one paying tuition. >> it's a weight lifted off my

shoulders and just a little more confident. >> reporter: one of their graduates was mitch and he is a semi professional and tooking a job with working scholars in the inland empire in southern california. it is a city with one of the lowest percentage of college graduates in population. >> it is the real deal. >> reporter: mitch spent time biking around and he personally helped more than 100 people sign up to get a free college degree. >> just having that influence in somebody's life and potentially a future generation, it really means a lot. >> our other news story is the one that started during the pandemic. >> so, let's start off by making the meringue. >> reporter: with a lot of time on her hands presentation high school junior took a shot at baking macaroons. that's not easy, but travana got really good, really fast and word spread and orders started coming in. well, she also volunteered at

sunday friends a long-time south bay nonprofit that helps low-income families in many ways and she decided to donate all her sales to them hoping to raise $15,000 to buy 50 laptops to help remote learners and families that don't have a computer. her amazing creations have already raised close to $3,000 of her goal. >> i've never expected so many people to buy macaroons from me and support my job because i thought like the first time i started selling in ten minutes i was able to sell almost 50 boxes. >> if you're looking for more information about the macarooma, i'll put link on my facebook page. garvin thomas, nbc bay area. back to you. >> makes you proud to live in the bay area. >> absolutely. coming up next here on "today in the bay" what is the status of the stimulus relief bill. we'll check in with washington coming up for you. christmas comes early when the croods come home.

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sfx: dog bark ♪ a little taste of home is worth sharing. right now just shy of 5:00 a.m. on christmas eve, a live look in san francisco just beautiful with the embarcadero center tower illuminated and the salesforce tower lit up. it is a gorgeous and cold start to the day. let's get started "today in the bay" continues right now.

good thursday morning i'm kira klapper. >> i'm marcus washington. we'll get to mike with his commu commute but first we'll talk about christmas eve forecast. karis that coming up today? >> spotty sprinkles out of some of the clouds we're seeing right now but for the most part heavier rain holding off for tomorrow and we'll see the rain mostly during the afternoon for the north bay and evening hours for other yare yi areas south o north bay and another round of rain coming in by sunday and tracking all of this and talking about the timeline and how much rain you could expect. that's coming up in a few minutes. mike, how is it looking right now for the commute? >> kari, it's looking great. this week tends to have lighter traffic and i mean the week of christmas with folks changing their work schedules, and of course, the lighter commute during the pandemic and the shelter at home. the bay bridge toll plaza has no backup a t