presidential inauguration. kris sanchez is at the capitol and breaks down this moment in history. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now. >> good tuesday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm scott mcgrew. everyone, kari, waking up to high winds. be careful driving as well. >> yes, i'm pretty sure a lot of people had a hard time sleeping last night, hearing stuff flapping around outside, and the house shifting and stuff. all right, it's still really windy out there. this is a live look in san francisco. you can see that flag waving in the wind. we are going to have some still high winds through the next several hours and then a slightly cooler day, once the winds calm down we'll transition to some different weather for the weekend, and it could bring us some rain. so we'll talk more about that coming up. mike, what is it looking like? any problems for the morning commute? >> yes, kari, transit and the roadways, over my shoulder, we'll show you the map with the highlighted yellow there, where the winds are really strong,

judging by the traffic and weather information we have. in el cerrito a large branch blown down over the b.a.r.t. tracks so that will halt service. ac transit providing aid and trees and branches across your roadways. woodside highway 35 near highway 84 near alice's restaurant. laura, you have got much more about this type of stuff. >> mike, it shows how widespread this is. much of the bay area waking up to downed trees and power lines, even some wind-whipped fires overnight. we just checked with pg&e, who tell us there are power problems as well. the largest outage is in oakland affecting 6,500 customers. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live in the south bay with a look at some of the damage there. bob? >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. as far as the wildfires you mentioned, most of them have been small and as far as we know they are contained or under control in some fashion one way or the other. downtown los gatos a lot of gusty winds, a lot of sustained

winds. there is a high wind warning in effect for another hour for the bay area and advisory in effect until 6:00 tonight. there have been wind gusts reported from anywhere 54 miles an hour that was in san francisco overnight to 97 miles an hour, that was up in sonoma. this is video from just south where we're at right now, on blackroad from earlier this morning, where you could see a lot of debris on the roadway there, a lot of branches and whatnot blown down and this was highway 9 near highway 35 also in the santa cruz mountains where you see a large tree came down, the santa clara fire department using chainsaws to cut down that tree and remove it from out of the way. as far as the damage the house the sierra was hit in the north bay but as far as we know other places have been fine in terms of you had trees, downed debris but no damage to any structures. reporting live in los gatos, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much, bob.

what is handy is our nbc bay area app. sign up for weather alerts. check the forecast where you are on the go. track current conditions in your area before you head out the door. >> final preparations under way for a transfer of power unlike any in american history. a live look at the nation's capitol and washington mall as well. nearly 200,000 u.s. flags are lining the ground for all the americans unable to travel to d.c. because of the pandemic. right now more than 2,700 active duty troops are guarding the area. 7 focused on chemical and explosive detection. president trump is set to depart with the lowest approval rating ever for an outgoing president. 34% support the outgoing leader. this morning we've got live team coverage. "today in the bay's" tracie potts looking to president trump's plans for his final hours in office, but first our

kris sanchez live in d.c. feeling out the current mood there. kris, you arrived last night. what's it like there? >> reporter: we are about a half mile from the u.s. capitol where all that violence happened just about a week ago. we are outside the hard security perimeter just on the border of not vehicle zone so things are starting to get really kind of locked down out here. the security that we saw started before we even left the bay area. i want to show you what happened in phoenix as we were going through a second tsa screening at the gate before boarding that flight to d.c. that's never happened to me before, and on board my photographer robby and i counted about five secret service agents. we also saw heavy security from the time we left the airport. there are three times the number of national guard troops here than there have been for other inaugurations. some from the bay area but we have not spoken directly to any of them and we've seen a lot of other law enforcement agencies

as well. we saw border patrol out of san diego as well. "today in the bay's" tracie potts is continuing our coverage of what president trump is doing ahead of the inauguration and i had the pleasure of meeting tracie in person just a few moments ago. we're a little bit farther apart. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, kris, good morning. good morning, everyone. it was great to see you, and it's going to be a really exciting day in terms of winding down one administration and starting another. today there is a lot more anxiety in the air about what's about to happen. president trump may be announcing a lot of pardons today, and president-elect biden is going to be here in washington getting ready for tomorrow's festivities. tonight from the lincoln memorial, joe biden will deliver his final message as president-elect before his highly anticipated inaugural speech tomorrow.

>> it's a message of unity. it's a message of getting things done. that's what he'll be talking about january 20th. >> reporter: biden's team says he's start signing executive orders on day one, creating a path to citizenship, ending the national emergency at the border, rejoining the world health organization and the paris climate agreement, and reversing the ban on trans gender people in the military, a ten-day blitz of immediate actions to address the nation's most urgent needs. today five senate committees question biden's cabinet nominees, under a massive military presence at the capitol. >> this is three times the number of guardsmen we'd normally have. >> to all the people of this country, you will be in my heart forever. >> reporter: first lady melania trump sharing her final message to the nation. her husband hasn't been seen in a week. sources familiar tell nbc news president trump could announce dozens of pardons and

commutations as soon as today, while working on his impeachment defense and a red carpet sendoff. tomorrow, he becomes the first president in more than 150 years to skip inauguration, saying good-bye to a city and a nation lit with the glow of democracy. so president trump, the white house planning military sendoff for him tomorrow, and joint base andrews. there's a color guard, a military band, a 21-gun salute. he may actually make some comments, some remarks there before he boards air force one for the last time, headed out of town, before the inauguration gets under way. kris, back to you. >> reporter: all right, tracie. i know you've covered a number of inaugurations. you're the best person to say this is not like any of the ones we've seen before. thank you, tracie. see you in a bit. also we got an early look what the covid memorial is going

to look like later on today. scott, you mentioned it, there are beams of light that will shine up, represent the 56 states and the u.s. territories, and those flags represent the 200,000 people, americans who generally would travel here for this peaceful transfer of power and to see joe biden and kamala harris take that oath of office, but they cannot because of health and safety concerns. now the presidential inaugural committee is asking cities and towns across the country to join in with their own illuminations. levi stadium is among the bay area landmarks that are going to be lit up. exterior and interior lights as well as video boards will be gold from 5:30 to 11:00 tonight. that is of course bay area time, we're on d.c. time here, and i will say that the security arrivals continue to stream in. scott and laura? >> i would imagine. we know the regulations that we're under here in the bay area, sheltering at home, not being able to travel. what's it like in d.c. right

now? >> reporter: it is super serious. when we got our credentials for, from the secret service right here, these are all the covid restrictions that are in place. we are to wear masks any time that we cannot socially distance. we took the opportunity here because it's a little quiet but i do have my mask and been putting it on between live shots and we are required, once we get onto that riser that is going to get us a little bit closer to the inaugural events on wednesday, we are required to wear n-95 masks, not the cute ones but the serious ones the whole time that we're there so we are being very safe, hand sanitizer everywhere and you know, we are in the middle of a pandemic, just to add to all the weirdness that we're experiencing right now. >> kris sanchez -- >> no kidding. play it safe. >> kris sanchez, we'll be checking back with you over and over, so stand by. our coverage of the inauguration continues online, from the speeches to the planned nationwide parade, lots of things happening we're putting together an explainer for all the events.

head to nbcbayarea.com, click on "inauguration day explained" at the top of our home page. ahead of tomorrow's inauguration a president shall debate of sorts over travel restrictions. president trump is ending covid travel restrictions for air travelers from europe and brazil. the restrictions require a negative covid test for anyone flying into the u.s., and it would be lifted january 26th, but the incoming administration is already vowing to keep the restrictions in place. . a live look across the bay area, kari was saying recently we've issued a microclimate weather alert, strong winds rolling into the bay area, firefighters warning about increased wildfire risk, in fact they're seeing fires. let's get back to kari for another update. >> we've had high winds since early yesterday morning. we're in the peak of the high winds right now and gradually the winds will start to calm down today. i wanted to go through some of

those high wind gusts that we've had, in some of our upper elevations in the north bay in the hills just to the east of cloverdale, unbelievable, 97 97-mile-per-hour gust and we've seen high gusts where else elsewhere across the bay area. we'll talk about what's coming up in a few minutes. mike, what's going on for the commute? >> kari, as we show folks the map, the full screen i've circled in the south bay, a short-lived slowing. it already cleared up for 101 but the highlighted yellow there, that's what's sustained the winds, causing issues with debris blowing across roadways, across b.a.r.t. tracks in richmond as well. highway 9 this is what we are talking about. bob talked about the tree down. there was a small fire contained at about a half acre, better news but highway 9 may not be accessible, aside from the locals out there and then on the altamont pass a little slowing, typical spot. another call out affected there coming up. back to you. taking a stand ahead of inauguration day. next on "today in the bay," the

new ban facebook just rolled out aimed at reducing the threat of violence. plus, jumbo jackpots, the amazing amount of cash up for grabs in the powerball and mega millions drawings and a first when it comes to what's on the line. and honesty on the menu. the original way one restaurant owner is now describing dishes to customers, getting a lot of laughs this morning. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now at 6:14, we are still under a microclimate weather alert, as we check out our high temperatures for today. it won't be as warm as yesterday, but still feeling pretty spring-like for ts afternoon, and the winds will gradually start to calm down. we'll talk more about the winds and some rain in the forecast, coming up. and a live look from our fremont camera, lower left-hand corner, you see that flag perpendicular to the pole. the wind is a factor but not so much for these folks. much more for a little bit north of here and there's also a crash on the nimitz. we'll talk about that coming up. business and tech headlines this morning. experience tells me on a day like today and tomorrow with so much happening you won't see a lot of movement on wall street. there is some movement updates expected after goldman sachs turned in solid numbers. janet yellen testifies before the senate today.

the ceo of mypillow says major retailers are refusing to sell his products after he falsely claimed president trump won the election and falsely claimed that there was fraud. mike lindell says it's been dropped by bed, bath & beyond, kohl's and wayfair. dominion voting systems is threatening to sue lindell and he falsely claimed the company rigged that election. another sign of the times in response to inauguration day, facebook banning weapons related ads at least through friday. the suspended ads are for weapons accessories, things like hollisters, facebook already banned ads for actual weaponry, including guns and ammo. the social media giant is expanding on abundance of caution. political ads are also banned. hotels and rental properties in washington, d.c., would typically be sold out around a presidential inauguration. in 2009 and 2017, hotel

occupancy was 97% but this year of course is very different amid the pandemic and the wake of the capitol hill riot. hotels are open but they tell cnbc they've beefed up security measures. airbnb is blocking all reservations in d.c. this week. if you haven't gotten your tickets yet, get ready. after all $ 1.5 billion grabs is up for grabs in the next two days. we have two days to hit pause on lotto mania but tonight's mega millions jackpot will reach $850 million. tomorrow's powerball jackpot is up to $730 million. this is the first time both games have simultaneously had jackpots over $700 million. good luck. i love this story. trending this morning honesty on the menu. the owner of achinese restaurant in montreal is being extra truth envelope descriptions for his dishes. he as mitts the orange beef is "not that good."

in another meal description he says don't expect it to be so tasty. another dish, i'm not a huge fan of the version to be honest. on last description he writes "i didn't have the chance to try it. i spend more time eating in my own restaurant." which i love it. honesty is the best policy. at least he's getting some attention that way. >> and then he tells his -- >> it's probably not that bad. >> he tells his customers we sort of kind of enjoyed having you and we don't really care if you return. >> right. you just don't want the one like you're going to feel it tomorrow morning. >> yes, stay away from that one. >> stay away from that one, yes, that's just my little bit of advice. speaking of wind -- >> 6:18. oh, scott mcgrew! >> i can hear the laugh from the booth. that was a long way off. all right, that was my fart joke for this morning.

[ laughter ] >> let's complete -- high winds across the bay area and i know it was hard sleeping last night, because it was really roaring across the bay area. we still have several more hours to deal with these high winds. the high wind warning for all of these areas shaded in red that includes a lot of our elevations above 1,000 feet. that continues until 10:00 this morning. the valleys also getting some 45-mile-per-hour gusts. stopping at noon, you're wondering what is it going to be like for lunch time? it's still windy, even after that high wind warning expires, we could still have some pretty high wind gusts, 30, 35 miles per hour, even into this evening for the evening commute, and that is the reason why we have big concerns with the fire danger, because this is a prolonged wind event, unusually long compared to what we have elsewhere, other times throughout the year and we're still looking at some breezy conditions but it should be a little bit easier to sleep tonight.

it won't be as gusty. so this low that's producing those high winds are going to move away. we'll have another one moving in that will completely change our weather for the weekend, bringing in much cooler temperatures and also a slight chance of rain, but we'll have a better chance of rain with yet again another storm system coming in by the end of the weekend, from sunday into monday, we could see highs only in the 50s, with some off and on showers and this rain is much needed because our reservoir levels right now are down to about 12% for the uvas reservoir and 18% for the coyote reservoir. if you enjoyed the warm weather we had over the weekend, get ready for completely different weekend. we're going to have temperatures going from the upper 60s today to the upper 50s for the end of the week, even some lower 50s by monday, with some off and on showers, and we could have some freezing temperatures as well. headed over to you, mike, what is it looking like for the morning commute? kari, stick with me for a second.

talking about b.a.r.t., they still have reports of no train service between richmond and el cerrito because of large branch that fell onto the tracks. so ac transit is providing relief and you'll look to the b.a.r.t. page and to their tweets for more information on exactly what the directions are there. out to the altamont pass road, it may have been restored. there was smoke from a fire, the landfill. i'll say still use 580 instead if you can avoid altamont pass road. it's not a big deal on the 580. 880 through hayward, slower from an earlier crash at wynton. it's light traffic on the bridges but the winds could be a factor for you. back to you. >> you can see it. all right, mike, thanks. next on "today in the bay," "nbc bay area responds." >> companies are running background checks on employees and job applicants. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. we'll show you how to see your background check next. and our team is always on

social media. you'll hear from kris sanchez in a bit as she is covering the inauguration for us in d.c. she posted video last night right after she arrived in our nation's capital, calling the city eerily quiet. follow kris' full inauguration journey on facebook, twitter and instagram and of course right here on "today in the bay." 6:22.

when you apply for a job or a promotion, the boss might look at more than just your application, resume and interviewing skills. some companies do background checks. we want to show you how to see that background check. first, two things. one, they might not call it a background check. you might see it labeled an investigative consumer report and two, you must agree to a background check. the federal trade comission says the employer must tell you in a standalone document that they might use the information to make a decision related to your employment, and must ask for your written permission. nationally, the rules apply when the company hires a third party to do the background check. in california, you also have rights when the company itself looks into your past. here's where you get a chance to see your background check when you're rejected. the ftc says no matter your state if the employer thinks they might not hire, keep, or promote you because of something in the report, the employer must give you a copy. once you get it, look for errors. if you find any, let the company know.

california law gives background checkers 30 days to reinvestigate, then delete anything that's inaccurate, incomplete, or cannot be verified. over the weekend, the "today" show's al roker was one of many plaerns americans glued to their computer refreshing and refreshing to try to get a covid-19 vaccine appointment. it was hard to do but roker will get that vaccine live this morning on the "today" show. >> i'll be getting my first dose of the covid-19 vaccine. i'm over 65. new york state says i'm eligible. all weekend long i was logging in to the computer, finally got an appointment, and so this morning, live, i'll be getting my first dose. we'll talk all about it with a doctor live as i get that vaccine. >> you can watch it happen on the "today" show, just after "today in the bay." 6:26, next the top story we'r're follolowing todaday. windy statarts to thehe bayay a. some people w waking upp to dow

trees and power lines. powerful gusts, there are road hazards. we'll track it all on your morning commute. i'm kris sanchez live in washington, d.c., just about a half a mile from the u.s. capitol where that violence erupted last week. we got a closer look at what the national mall looks like, and what it might look like now that the regular folks can't be there. plus questions swirling around the moderna vaccine. a batch is deemed not good enough to give out in the bay area. what's the next step? we'll tell you. you're watching "today in the bay."

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right now 6:30 kris sanchez live in washington tc with a look on the ground at security measures ahead of tomorrow's presidential inauguration. strong winds hammering the bay area overnight. the damage adding up as firefighters work to stop flames fueled by the current wind conditions. the bay bridge take a look at that, cameras shaking all morning long. the impact it has on your commute. "today in the bay" continues right now. >> thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia >> i'm scott mcgrew in for marcus washington. we are issuing a microclimate weather alert. we have live team coverage. meteorologist kari hall i'll have her forecast in a minute. bob redell is live with a look

at the damage done. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, scott. sustained winds in the past few hours downtown los gatos, you can see the american flag there blowing to the left side there and as a result what we are talking about is a danger of wildfires. i know we're in january but the temperatures are warm, hasn't been much rain and with the winds a concern and there's a reason for it. this is from overnight in cupertino on cowell drive. a small fire on the side of the 280 ball on the calvert drive side. the fire department was able to put that out. last night in the hills above mill tee pass the fire spread to two acres before the fire department was able to put it out. several people were evacuated from their homes as a precaution. >> yeah, i think there's a fire at the end and we get to the door to get out and smell so

bad, the smoke, and it's really, really weird, you know, the smoke is really bad. >> reporter: this is video from the alameda county fire department last night of another small wildfire along altamont pass near livermore, one acre of mulch and debris smoldering or on fire. the firefighters were able to hand tell and again, this also we're talking about the high winds, we're under a wind warning at least for another half hour, a wind advisory until 6:00 tonight. coming up in about a half hour show you some of the trees and some of the damage that's been caused by the winds overnight. reporting live here in downtown los gatos, bob redell, "today in the bay." kari? >> thank you, bob. i was also checking the pg&e map, looking at the power outages that we have around los gatos as well. so a lot of people waking up without power, hearing those winds roaring. we're still in with these high winds for several more hours,

and it will be a touch cooler for today, but we're looking forward to some rain in the forecast. i wanted to show you quickly some of these top wind gusts. they've been unbelievable in some of our mountains, reaching over 90 miles per hour in parts of the north bay. let's go back to that map. we are going to see still some high wind gusts throughout the next several hours, even reaching 54 in san francisco. so we'll talk more about this coming up in a few minutes and what's ahead. mike, what's going on right now for the commute? kari, you and bob start in the south bay, so will i. the map shows you highway 9 just south of highway 35, there were wires down. it was a small fire in the area. the fire is contained but the tree and the wires down affect the local traffic there again through that portion of the south bay. the rest of the bay shows a smooth flow of traffic. i've circled slowing, one lane is blocked south 880 at wynton and another issue 580 through oakland, a live look at the bay

bridge shows you that flag, that wind is a concern. the traffic volume is not. back to you. >> thanks so much, mike. 6:33. the final countdown to inauguration day. this is president trump's last full day in the white house. >> physical barriers and armed personnel. >> very busy there. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is now in washington, she joins us live with a ground level look at what's going on. kris? >> reporter: hi there, scott and laura. a lot of us got to come to washington d.c. in high school to experience our government in action. this is nothing like what i saw when i was in tenth grade. all of the regular people have been replaced by military personnel. there's heavy military equipment. beyond that you can see fencing and guards just all around some of our national monuments and then just right on the regular streets as well, and this has been the case all around the city.

navigating here has been really rough. we've had to go through a lot of road blocks and whatnot. with our secret service credentials, we were able to get beyond that hard security perimeter to take a look. i want to show you, we had to go through that security, all of our equipment was sniffed by law enforcement k-9s, the gear put through an x-ray machine and beyond the checkpoint the climb-proof fencing. it's really fine gauge around the national mall and there are about 25,000 national guard troops i understand 27,000 at this point here to keep people back from the u.s. capitol, where that violent riot happened a week ago tomorrow. >> we're not taking any chances. this is three times the number of guardsmen we would normally have in support of the united states secret service. >> reporter: now there are some national guard troops that are either here or going to be here from the bay area. although i keep asking the ones that pass by, are you from california? are you from the bay area?

and one spoke specifically and said we're all the same. we are all one, so it's good to have that presence here. i know my parents feel a lot safer. i feel a lot more comfortable. i was feeling an hennive before we got here and i feel good about things. covid protocol in place so we're still wearing mask. i have it in my pocket, washing our hands, hand sanitizing and trying to keep social distance as much as we can. without the public here is a little bit easier. laura? >> yes, i would imagine. and such a reporter in you as well trying to ask hey, are you from the bay area, as well. have you found anyone there? i know you did find a familiar face to the "today in the bay" family. >> reporter: yes. i got to meet tracie potts in person. of course we've been hearing her reports from washington, d.c., seems like forever. her son has just gotten accepted to college, i remember back when she was pregnant, she was with us on "today in the bay" back then as well. thrilled to meet her. she's just at a different location, but covering the trump

part, the trump departure administration part of this story. so we're going to, once we're done here with you this morning, we have to get more credentials from the presidential inaugural committee and then we will get to reporting, because we are coming up live at 5:00 and 6:00 tonight as well. >> kris sanchez, having a big, long day. we appreciate your hard work out there. of course we'll have special inauguration day coverage from here in the bay area and washington all morning long tomorrow on "today in the bay." we do expect president trump to leave the white house while we are on air in the morning tomorrow, a special edition of the "today" show will air tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. nbc news will continue special programming at 9:00 tomorrow night. follow both on air and online. >> such a busy time in our nation's history. we're in this pandemic as well and covid cases in the united states have now surpassed 24 million.

more than 400,000 people have died. in the past two weeks an average of 3,200 people have died every day. in the meantime, california's the first state to top 3 million case, jumping from 2 million december 24th. more than 33,000 people have died. a follow-up on the batch of 330,000 moderna vaccines now pulled from distribution in the wake of allergic reactions. bay area counties have not reported any problems from the vaccines given from that same lot. the allergic reactions occurred in san diego. one oakland woman vaccinated last week says she made sure she was not receiving a dose from the lot now under investigation. >> i'm relieved. i was actually a little concerned this was going to somehow affect my next dose of the vaccine. >> only a handful of people had allergic reactions, but it was more than health experts expected. doses from that lot will not be

administered until the investigation is over. 6:38 now. north bay getting pounded overnight by strong winds. coming up next on "today in the bay," we'll have a live report on some of the damage that's been done especially to one home. just heartbreaking developments. a chile has been swept out to sea near half moon bay. we'll talk to crews about the search. plus the latest sign the toll of the pandemic is having on l.a. county. the new rules funeral homes are being forced to follow. up to the big board on wall street the dow industrials gaining half a percent, up 200 points. nbc bay area and telemundo 48 teaming up to make a positive impact through our community through project innovation, a grand challenged, project innovation, presents awards $315,000 in grants to local nonprofits. you can learn more about the

program and submit your application at nbcbayarea.com/projectinnovation you're watching "today in the bay." ♪♪ ♪ oh, this is how it starts ♪ ♪ ligightning strtrikes the h ♪ ♪ the d day has jusust begun ♪ ♪ brighteter than thehe sun ♪ ♪ o oh, we coululd be the s st♪

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right now at 6:42, we are still under a microclimate weather alert and temperatures near record highs today but definitely not as warm as yesterday as we reach into the upper 60s. we'll talk about the high winds and the possibility of rain in the forecast coming up in a few minutes.

>> and the changes at the bay bridge. the wind did indeed impact the traffic. they've slowed down the flow onto the bridge to keep traffic moving smoothly, gusty winds and the flags and the backup now, more alert or traffic and transit coming up. we urge you to stay away from the ocean. the coast guard looking for a boy who was swept out to sea. the 12-year-old from fremont was standing at the shoreline at cowell state beach with an adult and 8-year-old when a sneaker wave swept all three into the water yesterday afternoon. the 8-year-old and the adult were pushed back to the shore by the surf. the 12-year-old was pulled under about 100 yards offshore. he has not been seen since. >> so sad. 6:43 right now. small earthquake rattled parts of the north bay last night at about 8:30. the 2.7 quake was centered two miles outside of santa rosa. hundreds of people living in the

area apparently felt the shaking. several people were arrested following a protest associated with black lives matters near mayor sam liccardo's home. the group came face to face with a line of officers, the protest declared an unlawful assembly just after 8:00 last night. some refused to leave the area. some of the protesters pointed a laser at a police helicopter, that's a felony. air quality agency has temporarily suspended limits on how many bodies can be cremated amidst the lack of storage space for those who have died from covid-19. the pan themmic has caused the current death rate to skyrocket, placing a strain on hospitals, funeral homes and even crematoriums. the current death rate one every six minutes. southern california leaders are trying to rethink vaccine policies on the fly.

they've issued an executive order calling for people over 65 to be vaccinated as soon as thursday. the county is limiting its rollout due to scarce supplies, also school leaders are asking the state to allow schools to become vaccination sites. the hope is teachers and staff will be vaccinated more quickly so classrooms can reopen. quarter to 7:00. back to our microclimate weather alert and the situation right now in the north bay is where strong winds caused damage to a home overnight. >> "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live in santa rosa with a look at the morning mess there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. if you were waking up in the middle of the night by the wind, this is what some folks are seeing as they open their windows. right now on middlebrook lane in santa rosa, in those strong winds knocking down trees and that tree landing on a home. you can see in the left side of your screen the brown home has the tree on top of the roof. you can see the roof there thaw

glass door and also a car here that's damaged. a lot of debris on this yard again this is middlebrook lane in santa rosa. we had crews out all night and they captured video the moments after that tree fell. so far we're not seeing reports of injuries from this situation or any other damage in the area. our meteorologists have been forecasting these strong winds for the last couple of days, so this is just one example of what that wind can do. the wind was also to blame for a fire that could have quickly burned out of control in geyserville. we have video of that. right now you're looking at what started as a 10 to 15-acre brush fire that officials say was caused by a downed power line. this is near the geo plant area off of geyser are resort road. the fire began around 9:00 last night. thankfully it started in the valley and not a high wind mountain ridge. by the looks of it, it could have quickly burned out of

control, so back out here live in santa rosa, a lot of damage for this particular home, driving in, coming from san francisco, up to sonoma, i could feel my car shaking and i saw a lot of debris coming on to this particular street. if you're in this vicinity, you may want to come out a little early just to make sure everything is all right and keep a close eye on those power lines with that strong wind. there's a chance the power lines could be down, and it could still be active. again, if you see any damage, be sure to send it our way. we'd love to see and let some of your neighbors know what's happening in your area. my twitter and facebook, cierra johnson tv. live in santa rosa, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thanks. that's the thing a lot of people hearing those winds howl overnight, everyone needs to assess their properties. kari, this wind's going to continue as well? >> yes, looks like we do still

have several hours of some high winds and it seems like every time i start making my list of the top wind gusts, we see another one. so it's still pretty gusty out there and that's the reason why we are seeing the areas shaded in red included in that high wind warning through at least 10:00 and the wind advisory through this evening meaning it's still going to be gusty at times, looking back once again at some of the high windusts g and the macaya mountains east of cloverdale, we had a wind gust reaching over 97 miles per hour. i mean, it's ju unreal to see some of these numbers and mt. cobb 94. mt. diablo had a wind gust of 82 miles per hour and sausalito reaching 60-mile-per-hour winds. san francisco also with some really high wind speeds up to 54. we'll start to gradually see these winds calming down. there will be another system coming in by friday that could bring in some spotty, light showers, but mainly some much

colder temperatures, and then there will be another storm system right behind that, moving in through the end of the weekend into early next week, that could bring in a better shot of some heavier rainfall and some sierra snow. we have big changes ahead. we're going to see temperatures in the upper 60s today, some mid-60s tomorrow, and still pretty mild on thursday, but then oncehat low drops in on friday, with the scattered light showers, we'll see high temperatures in the inland valleys only reaching 54 degrees and we could have some freezing temperatures during those early morning hours. the off and on rain continues through early monday with highs reaching up to 50 degrees, and for san francisco also a big drop in temperatures. we have a lot of changes ahead, and it won't be that warm and balmy weekend we had just this past weekend. this may be one more for staying inside and watching movies. now as we head over to you, mike, you've been watching the wind advisories and also some downed trees, affecting parts of the commute.

>> yes, even the transit, b.a.r.t. as we look at this grid here, b.a.r.t. has reported that they're trying to get that tree down from the commute direction that's heading south or west i guess on the east shore freeway between richmond and el cerrito. the alternate, ac transit or headed to the city, switch over at macarthur. it's also affecting sfa ferry, the 6:35 is canceled usually because of wind. check that website and their twitter account. the website has the latest updates. as we look at the wind, the light yellow impacting all of the areas throughout the north bay, bridges many of them hold on tight. the bay bridge we saw that camera moving around. 580, a tree branch down across right lights, impacting folks pede mond and highway 24 and crash independent of any of this stuff is clearing from southbound 808 around wynton. the rest of the bay watch for trees, debris and the like. the search continues for victims in wreckage after a

jetliner crashed off the coast of indonesia. the plane went down ten days ago in the java sea and killed all 62 people on board. authorities were going to end the operation yesterday but extended it to thursday. the cockpit voice recorder's been recovered which hopefully will hopefully have some clues. 6:51. coming up next a quick look at our top stories. we're going to take you back live to washington, d.c. kris sanchez will give you a ground level look at security preparations ahead of tomorrow's inauguration. plus more links to the covid strain recently discovered in the bay area. the new signs of its rapid spread across our state. you're watching "today in the bay."

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6:54. welcome back. here is a quick look at top stories we're foowinll including the final countdown to inauguration. >> "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is on the ground in washington, d.c., this morning. kris? >> reporter: well, hi there, laura and scott. we're just about a half mile from the u.s. capitol there, and we're close enough that we were able to hear the band practicing. we heard some patriotic music kind of coming our way. we've also seen a lot of those national guard troops coming and going. we've seen them arriving. we've got video of some of them who appeared to be leaving the capitol. we're going away from the capitol likely being replaced by a different shift but the

security that we're seeing here actually started before we even arrived, and we were in phoenix, we went through a second tsa screening right at the gate, before we boarded our flight to washington, d.c. that was swabbing and checking i.d.s and everything. on board my photographer robbie and i counted about five secret service agents. we also saw heavy security from the time we left the airport here in d.c. there are three times the number of national guard troops here than there have been for other inaugurations. some of them from the bay area, although we have not been able to pinpoint any of them. we keep asking though being very pesty with the national guard troops this morning. but lots of law enforcement as well and we saw border patrol here. we talked to some border patrol agents here from san diego as well. so we know lots of law enforcement here. we are about to go get some extra credentials we're going to need for tomorrow to get closer to the inaugural events and then we'll be gathering some content for our reports coming up at

5:00 and 6:00 today. laura and scott? >> we look forward to it, kris and talking to you tomorrow as well. coming up on the "today" show in her first ever network television interview, ashley biden, the only daughter of joe and dr. jill biden opens up about the family through thoughts heading through the momentous week. watch that in minutes starting at 7:00 a.m. ahead of tomorrow's inauguration, a presidential debate of sorts over travel restrictions. president trump is ending covid travel restrictions for air travelers from europe and brazil. the restrictions require a negative covid test for anyone flying into the u.s., and it would be lifted january 26th, but the incoming administration is already vowing to keep the restrictions in place. researchers in southern california have identified a new variant of the same covid strain

of some of the same covid strain that's been popping up more and more in the bay area. the variant is tied to an outbreak at l.a. cedar sinai hospital and tied to the variant recently linked to the christmas day outbreak at san jose kaiser. the strain was first observed in denmark. it is not the same one that's been identified in the uk, but researchers are calling it a major contributor to the surge in cases over the past two months particularly in southern california. the bay area as we've been telling you waking up to downed trees and power lines, even some wind-whipped fires overnight. "today in the bay's" bob redell is live in the south bay with a look at some of the damage there. bob? >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. fortunately the small number of wildfires are small in size an acre or two in contained. downtown los gatos the american flag still wind-whipped, sustained winds, national weather service has a high wind advisory in effect until 10:00 this morning. i think could you see why and an actual advisory goes on until 6:00 tonight. they recorded gusts from anywhere from 54 miles an hour that was in san francisco overnight to 97 miles an hour up

there in sonoma. this is some of the damage, i wouldn't call it damage but debris we found in the road. this is south in the mountains, the hills above los gatos on black road. you can see a lot of debris in the road and also this was highway 9, you could see the santa clara fire department having to bring up the chainsaw to take down a tree that had come down on the road there near highway 35. outside of a tree coming down on a house up in the north bay, we don't know of any significant damage, again, this is a mess out there, as far as debris on the roadway but no injuries. reporting live in los gatos, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much, bob. you mentioned that tree down in the north bay, we're going to take you there live, this is a live look, imagine waking up to this. the strong winds throughout the bay area caused quite a bit of damage to this home overnight, and quite a bit of cleanup, which we'll lay ahead for the homeowners. kari has a look at the forecast. the winds are going to continue.

>> yes, especially for the next few hours and it was a long, sleepless night for a lot of people. gradually the winds will calm down and we'll sleep better tonight after we see temperatures reaching into the low 60s. more 60s tomorrow and then a cooler weekend ahead. mike, how is it looking right now for the morning commute? >> the bay bridge backup is less but still there. the wind i believe causing to turn on the metering lights to keep traffic on the span, where it's gusty, at a minimum there. that's your backup. fremont the flag is moving around, indicating the wind as well, traffic on 880 moves smoothly. we still have delays at b.a.r.t. out of richmond to el cerrito. a tree down on the tracks, trying to clear that as well. expect delays and watch b.a.r.t. signs for the latest updates. that's going to do it for us. the "today" show is coming up next. >> we'll leave you with a look at the u.s. capitol, as we prepare for the inauguration of joe biden tomorrow.

we will have full coverage live throughout "today in the bay," and throughout the day as well. have an absolutely fantastic tuesday. good morning, high high alert on the eve of the inauguration, a massive military presence in the nation's capital washington locked down with a wall of security in place. >> this is three times the number of guardsmen we would normally have in support of the united states secret service. >> this as stunning, new information comes to light on the capitol siege. >> knock, knock, we're here. >> a rioter who allegedly stole a laptop from house speaker nancy pelosi's office surrendering to police overnight. was she planning to sell it to russia we are live in washington with the very latest.