we will do everything we can to roll out these vaccination sites, advocate aggressively to get more vaccines quickly. >> right now at 4:30, hope for a shot is on the horizon. the mass vaccination sites set to open across the bay area in a matter of hours. plus, speed in getting those covid shots out is needed as another new variant is rapidly spreading. the two new student cases being reported right here at home. and defying orders, the south bay gym that is staying open, wracking up hefty fines for it as well. "today in the bay" starts right now.

good friday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm cierra johnson. marcus washington will join us in the next hour. we'll have a look at the traffic for friday but first a look at weather. good morning, kari. >> good morning, and it feels very chilly, starting out on this friday morning. we're going to have another cool one, but it will actually be warmer this afternoon, looking at temperatures reaching into the mid to upper 60s, and our dry weather will continue into the forecast. let's get a look at highs for today reaching up to 68 degrees in parts of the north bay. we'll see that in spots like ukiah as well as other few spots but we'll mostly see some mid-60s for today, so we'll talk about a warmer weekend ahead, coming up in a few minutes. mike, how is it looking for the early morning commute? >> well, kari, we'll take a live look at the golden gate bridge, a crew specifically as you head toward the tower, the south

tower looks clear on our view here. the north tower is where there's construction going on and coming off the marin county side. we don't see any problems on this view and we don't see a problem on the span itself. flashing lights crew clearing there and the graphics don' show any sensors with issues around that area getting across the bay bridge a smooth flow of traffic as well as around the rest of the bay, a nice easy start. back to you. a new high-volume vaccination hub opens in san francisco this morning. right now the convention floor at the moscone center looks like a clinic. the city partnered with kaiser and other medical providers to turn it into a vaccination site that is expected to ramp up to 10,000 doses a day when it has enough supply. mayor london breed says right now nothing is more important than getting people protected and saving lives. >> we will do everything we can to roll out these vaccination sites, advocate aggressively to get more vaccines quickly. >> the site will operate from

7:00a to 7:00p. more appointments will become available as supply increases. seniors in the east bay have another vaccine option, alameda county along the cities of berkeley and albany open a drive-through vaccination site yesterday at golden gate fields. hundreds were vaccinated during the soft launch, one day ahead of today's planned opening. right now it's available only to berkeley and alame do da county residents over 75. two uc berkeley students are positive for a more contagious variant of the coronavirus, it's the uk strain and it's an important discovery by berkeley scientists. "today in the bay's" cheryl hurd explains why. >> we do know that it's out there so it's really important for people to be super careful. >> reporter: dr. stacy wyman is unwith of the uc berkeley scientists who discovered a variant that's circulating in the uk and now it's been

discovered in two uc berkeley students. >> there are two people that know each other who had travele u.s., and then became symptomatic, and then came into the health center and got tested. >> reporter: wyman says they are in quarantine and believes they have not been on campus, except for testing, and so she doesn't believe it has spread. another variant discovered bytiw california variant, sweeping through the state and could be more infectious which brings up another concern, people getting infected more than once. >> for that variant we also saw a reinfection, which is quite concerning, because it makes you worry that the immunity that you get from having it once is not quite working for the newer variant. >> uc berkeley is experiencing a spike in covid cases, so much so

that administrators are telling students who live in dorms to stay inside to help prevent the spread. >> students living in the dorms are getting tested twice a week and it's because of that robust surveillance testing program that we're able to identify cases, and isolate them before they become uncontrollable outbreaks. >> reporter: in june, there was a reported outbreak traced to an offcamp us party. the variant there disappeared. councilman robinson says now is not the time to kick back. >> our vaccine rollout is accelerating rapidly, but that doesn't mean we can let down our guard. >> reporter: cheryl hurd, "today in the bay." on the heels of that, some good news. the bay area actually seeing a downward trend in both cases and hospitalizations. this shows daily new cases in the bay area. january 11th we were at 4,800. as of wednesday we were at 1,900, that's a huge drop.

hospitalizations are also trending down. january 7th, 2,300 covid patients in bay area hospital, and that has dropped to 1,500. let's hope the trend continues. a san jose gym faces more than half a million dollars in fines due to violating covid-19 health orders. "mercury news" reports california ripped fitness has been open for indoor exercise for months. santa clara county is charging the gym $550,000, the new keeps climbing every day and continues to remain open for indoor use. the gym says it's exercising its constitutional right to protest. the owner says health clubs are essential and should remain open. happening today, members of the black student union at san francisco's lowell high school will join other groups to address recent racist attacks against the lowell community. the latest incident reportedly involved a flood of racist and pornographic images during an online anti-racism training forum last month.

the identity of the hacker or hackers is not yet clear but some say it may have been the work of current students. a man accused of seriously injuring a 70-year-old giant tortoise during a vandal attack at a preschool is scheduled to be arraigned today. last weekend george robles of san jose struck the tortoise repeatedly with a metal pole at the play n learn preschool near alum rock. vets now say the tortoise may be back at the school by next month. those kids would love to see it. still reeling, after a fraud scandal. now california lawmakers are presenting blueprint for change. still ahead on to overhaul the agency. plus going all-in on electric vehicles, the amount of cash ford now plans to spend on the project. you're watching "today in the bay."

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good friday morning. it is 4:39 and we're starting out cold this morning as our temperature's at 44 degrees in oakland. it is at freezing in morgan hill and livermore. you're walking out the door to 48 degrees. we will have a nice day and talk about this and the rest of the weekend forecast coming up in a few minutes. and we do have an issue one group of commuters early morning may have a problem getting into downtown oakland. we'll point that out and i'm watching that in the east bay but a quick look at the north

bay shows no issues for the traffic flowing away from us, the taillights through san rafael headed down over the hill toward lincoln. let's check in with dom. >> good friday morning. i am dominic chu from cnbc global head quarters. wall street follows a four-day winning streak for the dow and 1.500. the markets are on track for their best week since november. in focus for investors and traders today the latest snapshot on the state of the u.s. economy and labor market. the monthly jobs report is expected to show a slight rebound in january following six straight months of weaker hiring. the unemployment rate is projected to be at 6.7% for a third month, which would be twice the pre-pandemic level for some context there. ford is the latest automaker to say it's going all-in on electric vehicles. the company plans to spend at least $22 billion through the

year 2025, nearly double what it previously announced. ford's electric mustang is already on sale now. it will start selling an electric transit full-sized van later on this year and electric ford f-150 pickup truck next year. peloton is delaying the launch of a new treadmill and will start shipping its orders by air in an effort to clear up some extreme delivery delays. peloton has cut back on marketing and doubled the size of its customer service operations to address what in some cases are months-long wait times that have prompted many customers to rail against the company on social media. demand for peloton bikes continues to surge from people wanting to exercise at home during the pandemic. those are the latest headlines from friday from cnbc. laura and cierra, it's been a while since i've really worked out but the poloton might be the case that would change things up for me if i get one at home.

>> it's on my wish list. >> there you have it, tom, go be healthy. love it. thank you. the pandemic is increasing the need for a camp fire favorite. hershey's says demand for aas with an increased number of covid-19 cases. maybe people needed some comfort. hershey's ceo tells cnbc families were likely seeing pleasant activities to take part in during the pandemic. retailers have been wise to the trends stocking up early on candy for valentine's day and easter to make sure they have enough supplies. got to check my candy bowls around here. and smashing the glass ceiling, next on "today in the bay," the all new piece of artwork paying tribute to kamala harris' historic election as vice president. we'll be right back.

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a very good friday morning to you. taking a live look outside early this friday morning, still dark, 4:46 as we take a live look outside at the bay bridge, a nice start once again. a cool start to our morning, but it's bn really nice to see grand finishes. kari's got a look at our forecast for today. maybe a little peek at the weekend, too? >> yes, and it's going to be a great weekend. actually a little bit warmer today, and that's the kind of weather we'll see over the next

several days. but i know a lot of people are just trying to get out the door to head to work. here is a look at our commute through the tri-valley. we are we'll have our temperatures in the low 40s and quickly start to warm up. we're already at 57 at 11:00 this morning, and if you don't have to commute, and you'll be able to just enjoy your day, check out the hiking forecast for the north bay, we'll start out very cold temperatures in the upper 30s here. wait until later today, we'll see temperatures trending more into the mid-60s and i think the best time to hike here will be between 2:00 and 4:00 today, with a light wind and a lot of sunshine. let's head to the south bay, we'll reach into the upper 50s and low 60s, even up to 65 degrees in milpitas and downtown san jose today and for the east bay we're looking at some mid-60s, up to 65 degrees in livermore, oakland today reaching the lower 60s, and some upper 50s/low 60s near the

coastline. daly city reaching 58 and palo alto will reach into the mid-60s. san francisco up to about 60 degrees downtown and north bay will be slightly warmer, up to 58 degrees at ukiah, and 62 degrees today in mill valley. so a very nice, comfortable day, a lot of sunshine and this is what we'll continue through the forecast with high pressure building, it's going to block our rain chances from coming in, but we will have some cooler air coming in by the beginning of next week, and then for the rest of the forecast. it just stays dry and seasonable, all of that to say hey, you're going to be able to generate a lot of energy if you have solar panels and the amount of carbon dioxide that we're avoiding putting into the atmosphere is a great amount, over a thousand tons per day, and so you'll be able to generate 124% of your electricity usage throughout the weekend, each day, that's if you keep the usage very low. and we're going to see the sunshine so we can open up the

windows, doors, let in some fresh air and it's going to be very comfortable with our inland temperatures in the upper 60s but notice early next week we will be cooling down just slightly and we'll see more of the same in san francisco as well. a few more clouds moving in by monday, but still no rain coming from those clouds and mike, it's a dry but also chilly morning commute. >> yes, for sure out there, so bring the warm beverage in your cupholder if you have one and make sure you get out to the roadways. we're looking at green sensors. that's great. had a little issue getting to downtown oakland or so i thought. i doubled checked with caltrans and they have given us the fact the crew registered as cleared from the posfrom alameda under into the downtown oakland area by the police station, where that comes back up aboveground so a smooth drive, should be there. the webster tube was never

interrupted. they alternate the tubes with maintenance. the rest of the bay no delays necessary. look at the bay bridge toll plaza where there are no metering lights because there's hardly any traffic flow going on but what traffic there is moves smoothly. back to you. >> that's what we like to hear, thank you. debit cards may soon be a thing of the past for california's fraud-plagued employment development department. state lawmakers yesterday unveiled a series of measures to overhaul the system which by all accounts failed miserably during the first few months of the pandemic. billions of dollars were handed out to people filing bogus claims. the new measures would include more cross-checks and verifying of claims. it would also eliminate atm cards in favor of direct payment plans. lawmakersf three states that do not offer direct deposit. new details, the white house is now pressing pause on a plan to change the h1b visa selection process to a wage based priority

system. the trump system originally proposed that change supposed to take effect in march, it would prioritize higher paid recipients to bring in more top talent and open up for lower level jobs to u.s. workers. visas are granted through a lottery process now. many of the jobs are based in silicon valley. the biden administration intends to keep things as they are this year to buy time to better develop the new selection process. new this morning, kamala harris' historic election as vice president is being immortalized in a work of art, a portrait carved out of cracked glass is now on display at the lincoln memorial, meant to symbolize the vice president's historic career and breaking through a glass ceiling. the work of art is expected to be on display through tomorrow night. the vice president is aware of the portrait but there's no word if she is planning to visit it in person. >> very cool. well, it's finally friday and that means super bowl weekend is here. next on "today in the bay," we're going to take you out to tampa, where the countdown to

kickoff is on. plus the woman who is set to make history on the field sunday. and hapning now, dozens of icelanders are warming up, 66 ice firveers outside of green bay became stranded because of pressure cracks. it took about four hours to get everyone rescued. no injuries are reported. the rescue finished just as a major winter storm was expected to hit the area. colgate optic white renewal removes ten years of yellow stains. that's like all the way back to 2010. they're jeans. they're leggings. they're jeggings! whoa. remove ten years of yellow stains

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welcome back, everybody. maybe this will quiet kelly oubre's critic. the brand new warrior fits in fine with the new team scoring a

career high 40 points against the mavericks. warriors won by 31. 141-116. all right, enough basketball. how about football? super bowl weekend finally here, and the countdown to kickoff is on. we've got a live look of course it won't be your typical super bowl. covid has changed a lot of that, but tampa, the host city, still throwing a big party. >> like always, one of the places fans are checking out is the nfl experience, that's where "today in the bay's" jay gray is with a morning closer >> reporter: two days before kickoff, already the super bowl is -- >> history in the making. >> reporter: starting with where the game will be played. >> tampa! yeah, tampa! >> reporter: the buccaneers are the first team to play in the championship on their home turf, but in a cruel irony, raymond james will be the first stadium in the modern era that won't be

full. the nfl limiting the number of fans for social distancing purposes. covid-19 making this the first super bowl with digital tickets only and no cash for concessions to limit contact. it's the same reason the traditionally packed and crazy media day had to go virtual, another first. and on the field sunday line judge sarah thomas will be the first woman to referee a super bowl game. >> and i'm truly honored and humbled to be a part of this year's super bowl group. >> reporter: on the sidelines, tampa bay will have the first two female assistants to coach in a super bowl and at halftime for the first time ever, the concert stage won't be on the field. >> yeah, so we built the stage in the stadium but i'm not going to tell you anything else because you'd have to watch on sunday. >> reporter: like every super bowl, there will be plenty to watch on sunday, including some things we've never seen before. jay gray, nbc news, tampa.

>> let's hope it's a good game. an all-out night debate. coming up next on "today in the bay," we're going to have a live report from washington, d.c., on the relief agreement just reached and what it means for millions of struggling americans. plus, selected to lead the new oakland police chief that is being tapped to take over the department and the budget problems he'll be facing. we'll be right back.

i'm made to move. but these days, i'm not getting out as much as i'd like to. that's why i take osteo bi-flex. it helps with occasional joint stiffness, while it nourishes & strengthens my joints for the long term. osteo bi-flex, find our coupon in sunday's paper.

right now at 5:00, new man in charge, a live report on the candidate sources say will be oakland's next police chief. the budget woes he'll be walking into and the answers we may be getting in just a matter of hours. plus -- >> this amendment is designed to say let's put american workers first. >> sounds so simple and it's simply wrong. >> a new covid relief plan clears a major hurdle in capitol hill as vice president kamala harris casts her first tie-breaking vote on the senate floor. the debate still brewing over what kind of stimulus check we'll get. a new shot of hope. johnson & johnson takes a major step toward rolling out america's third covid vaccine. we'll right now. a very good friday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm cierra johnson. happy friday. marcus washington will join us in a little bit. we'll have a look at traffic but

first a look at weather with meteorologist kari hall. good morning. >> good morning, and even though it's starting out cold this morning, it will actually be warmer this afternoon, and we have some really nice weather headed our way for the weekend, but it will be dry and that will extend even into early next week. let's check out our high temperatures for today, this is what you can expect later this afternoon, reaching 64 in oakland and in palo alto. san jose reaching 65 and napa today will reach 66 degrees. we'll take a look at the weekend forecast ahead and even take you to the sierra, coming up in a few minutes. mike, right now just getting out to work, how is that drive for the commute? >> well kari, a little better, because some folks are done for the week, overnight road crews in oakland or alameda, as we look at the map zooming in toward where there were absence of sensors -- sensors were red coming aos