hours, afternoon hours, . right now at 4:30, reconstructing the attack, brand new, never before seen video unveiled from the capitol riot as the impeachment case against former president trump moves forward. we expect to receive more reports from labs detecting such variants in the coming weeks. >> one of the c in the bay area. we'll tell you what we know about the newest variant. >> we're firing up nbc bay area storm ranger. meteorologist kari hall is timing it out for us.

as "today in the bay" starts right now. good thursday morning. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm kris sanchez. marcus washington will join us in our next hour. first we went to check out the storm building, kari. >> we are watching clouds rolling in ahead of several storm systems lining up out there as we take a look at this wide view of all of the storms out there in the pacific and so they will be moving in and the first one arriving later this afternoon. right now storm ranger not picking up on rain for us, but it will be moving in first starting in the north bay and across the rest of the bay area this afternoon into the evening. this will once again be the first in a series of storms heading into the bay area, but none of them look particularly strong. that's the good news bringing in beneficial rain without any major troubles. we'll talk about what's ahead in the forecast coming up. mike, any problems right now for the morning commute?

>> well, the commute is looking pretty strong from our palo alto camera. our director pointed out he saw flashing lights and checked 101 into san mateo, there are crews doing overnight roadwork and may be clearing in the few minutes. we're looking at a smooth drive. there's still a crew blocking the webster tube from oakland to alameda for that overnight maintenance. use the bridges. thanks so much. 4:32. on capitol hill house impeachment managers keep building their case that donald trump incited an insurrection. prosecutors will wrap up opening arguments today in the second full day of former president trump's impeachment trial. they said the former president spent months inciting the riot at the capitol. donald trump is still expected to be acquitted in the end.

sounding the alarm, the covid variant first discovered in south africa is confirmed to be here in the bay area. two cases on the map you see them, one alameda county, the other under investigation in the south bay. that's where ian cull is tracking the latest information. >> reporter: health officials investigating two cases of the covid-19 variant seen in south africa. one person in santa clara traveled in january and quarantined when they came back. they got sick but didn't have to be hospitalized. another person in alameda county had it too. >> efforts are under way in alameda and across california to systemically improve surveillance for variants of concern. we expect to receive more reports from labs detecting such variants in the coming weeks. >> reporter: the two positive tests were some of the few sent sequencing that confirmed the variant.

doctors say on a one to ten scale their level of concern is a five because it's more contakes you. >> people are tired of taking precautions, perhaps loosening up a little bit and this isn't the time to do that. >> reporter: the cdc says there is no evidence the variant is more deadly. ucsf dr. hong says this strain may be more resistant to them. >> with the south african variant you have the super power of being easily transmissible but that the vaccines may not work as well. >> reporter: in men lo parkway pacific bio sciences is working to decode how it might work against those mutations. >> it's going to be used by the vaccine companies and by the health labs, the cdc and is so forth, to study how effective vaccines are to the new variants like the south african variant.

>> reporter: health leaders assume the variant is spreading widely throughout the community and don't know to what extent but following safety protocols is a must. in san jose, ian cull, nbc bay area news. california is showing signs of progress in the pandemic. yesterday the state reported an average of nearly 13,800 new cases, nearly 27,000 case drop since the golden state's peak last month. a big improvement. unfortunately according to nbc news the state has surfaced 45,000 covid deaths. many californians wondering if gavin newsom will deliver on what he calls a $6 billion early action package for school reopenings. he suggested an announcement could come as early as tomorrow. previous school reopening plans now dead in the water. some bay area school districts are stuck right now with their unions unwilling to agree on

opening classrooms without vaccinations for teachers. the issue has come up for schools including san francisco and berkeley and other districts are waiting for more guidance from the state. > l.a. county schools are grapplinging with new cases following considerably to the point classrooms by that metric would be able to reopen within two weeks but teacher vaccinations are not prioritized so there, like here, some districts cannot agree with their unions on the best path forward. peninsula renters struggling to make it in the bay will receive a boost from the county. the county set aside nearly $47 million for tenants and landlords impacted by the pandemic. during the pandemic requests for assistance are five times the normal rate. no word on when that application process will be available. still ahead on "today in the bay," the california -- [ inaudible ] president biden is adding to the team and the

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the number one herbal supplement brand has everything you need to help keep your immune system strong. immune support comes naturally with nature's bounty. right now at 4:39, if you're planning to head to the sierra this weekend, head's up that we could see anywhere from 9 to 19 inches of snow this weekend.

we are going to have very hazardous road conditions and we'll talk about rain moving into the bay area that's in the forecast coming up. and also in san raphael beginning tonight at 11:00 and going pretty much every night through november or december. northbound 101 coming towards us here affected at the san raphael exit and possibly transition off of 580 coming off the bridge. hey, good morning. i am frank holland from cnbc. your business headlines. wall street set to open higher as the markets look to continue the forward momentum. the dow closed at a record high yesterday. the nasdaq and s&p both hit record highs during the session but couldn't hold on to those gains. all three on track for the second straight positive week and higher for the month. investors pointing to comments from jay powell signaling that low interest rates are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

investors pointed to comments from jay powell signalling that low interest rates -- excuse me in focus, the number of people filing for unemployment and earnings from kraft heinz, pepsico and disney. best buy has notified store workers it's cutting jobs and reducing hours as it adapts to more people shopping online. they have reported soaring sales in recent quarters as shoppers stock up. much of those gains have come from online orderers which tripled in the recent quarter. they furloughed 50,000 workers but began bringing them back over the summer. microsoft approached pinterest in recent months about possibly buying the company. the "financial times" says the talks are not currently active. pinterest whose market value jumped 600% to $51 billion during the pandemic said in the past it wants to remain independent. a deal would likely have been the largest ever for microsoft twice what it paid for linked inn in 2016. back over to you. >> thank you so much, frank.

new this morning the state supreme court rejecting case involving whether uber and lyft misclassified their drivers as independent contractors according to the chronicle. voters approved proposition 22 in november that allows ride share and delivery app companies to avoid giving drivers full benefits by preserving their contractor status. coming up next on "today in the bay," a play at home for the oakland a's. a decision outside the lines to speed up the push for a waterfront stadium. we'll be right back. milan leads a local nonprofit providing ppe food and diapers and in the aftermath of george floyd's death is working to foster a racial awakening offering mental health services to those in need. this week's change maker is

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a very good thursday morning to you. waiting for the sun's arrival and rain today in the forecast. taking a live look outside the twinkling lights in the east bay city of oakland. kari has been tracking the storm. we really need the rain. >> we do. and it's most of the rain that we're seeing in the forecast will be light and just enough to soak the ground and then we'll have a chance to dry out. we are going to be tracking the next system coming in but we are starting out dry this morning as we check the pollen count we are seeing moderate amounts of pollen from cedar, ash, elm, pine and mold is low at this point. you may be wondering does the rain help clear pollen from the air? and the answer is yes, at least temporarily because we do need a light steady rain that really helps clear the air of the

pollen and the pollen basically gets pulled down to the ground and broken apart and so it's not flying through the air in these big clumps. but one thing that's bad about the rain is that we could see mold levels increase. if you're allergic to mold that could definitely be an issue. let's talk about the timeline of the rain coming in. we're first going to see it moving into the north bay, stopping it here at 1:00. very light showers possible elsewhere but as we see the yellows and oranges that indicate some heavier rain and that could move in by 7:00 this evening. clears out for tomorrow and looks like it's going to be another really nice day as we start out our weekend, but there will be some more showers in the forecast on saturday. the saturday system looks very weak and, in fact, the latest runs of the computer models aren't showing too much rain for us. we could see hit or miss showers moving in especially during the morning on saturday and clearing up for the afternoon. that's great if you have the valentine's weekend plans.

we'll start out next week with rain once again with a new system rolling in. for the most part we're looking at a quarter to half inch of rain but there may be a few spots getting slightly more as we go through this forecast rain every other day in the forecast from today as well as some clearing tomorrow. some showers on saturday. clearing out on sunday. and then rain again on monday. i'll keep you up to date on all of those changes coming up. mike, what's going on as people head out the door? >> kari, first of all i'm thrilled i get to follow the mold and pollen report. the roadways things are looking pretty good and pretty clear. we're looking at the centers that are green, but towards oakland notice a change that's also green, the webster tube is the one from oakland in toward alameda under the water has wrapped up the overnight roadwork for the crew there. there's something marked on the bay bridge it's westbound around treasure island. a quick look from our camera

from emeryville and on the sensors no slowing but a disabled vehicle around the tunnel. i'll follow the details and the bridge usually takes care of those quickly this time of the night. >> thank you. president biden reaching out to california in order to fill his cabinet. the president nominated julie su to be his deputy labor secretary. she's been california's labor secretary since 2018. our labor and worker force development has been under the microscope with the massive unemployment fraud at the employment development department. the problems began long before suh took over. a change at the u.s./mexico board. uptick in families enter the united states. holding facilities are getting crowded and this week i.c.e. reopened a unit that has not been opened since the pandemic took hold. now to a big development in

a food delivery tri-valley in san francisco. parents we remember this one. a kidnapping suspect now accusinged of carjacking that father's minivan with two kids inside is in custody. the search for a second person continues as investigators reveal how they were able to make that arrest. "today in the bay's" jean elle has the story. >> reporter: the suspect in custody was wearing a court ordered ankle monitor when he targeted the delivery monitor and it was the gps device that connected him to the crime scene here. police find a minivan stollen in pacific heights and the two kids safely inside and have made an arrest, 25-year-old erlin romero is in custody linked to the crime scene by gps records. >> the electronic monitoring was a critical part of the investigation that led to his arrest. >> reporter: district attorney sayshe p tice arrested romoer for robbery and a stolen car last year. he says he filed felony charges,

but a judge released romero with gps monitoring. >> we did ask the court to detain him in the robbery case and that, again, the more serious of the two cases we asked for detention, and that request was denied by the court. >> reporter: he says romero was on a waiting list for collaborative court and he's now being held on a long list of charges. >> they're not put on people so we can track where the next crime will be. >> reporter: the kidnapping is the latest example of the criminal justice system failing after police say a repeat offender hit and killed two women on new year's eve she asked the d.a. and law enforcement agencies for data about how many end up back on the street. >> we want to hold people accountable, get them the services they need and keep the public safe. >> reporter: she has not received the information she's requested. jean elle, nbc bay area news. alameda county sheriff deputy is dropping his lawsuit against the toronto raptors president.

you might remember this scuff until 2019 after the raptors won the nba finals over the warriors. this was pre-pan. the raptor's president went on to the court to join his team in the celebration when the deputy who claims the -- in the lawsuit that he stopped the president because he didn't provide proper credentials led to a shoving match that was captured on video. the oakland a's still far away from realizing their dream of a new stadium but a win in court may streamline the prose. the a's hope they give them the green light to start building a new stadium at howard terminal. first they will need to have environmental impact reports presented and then cleared. a judge this week reportedly ruled any challenges to the eir will have to be hashed out within a 270 day time frame. that decision defeats a challenge tied to the shipping industry. are you wearing it the right way? coming up "today in the bay," new advice from the cdc on masks

and how to best protect yourself. and happening now, the president of the tokyo olympics organizing committee says he is stepping down. pressure was growing over sexist remarks he made last week and he told a meeting of the japanese olympic committee a board with many female members requires more time for meetings and the president later retracted his comments and apologized but fewer than six months left before the tokyo games to reorganize. you can only watch them here on nbc bay area.

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masks instead of one can block more than 90% of the virus saying a surgical mask underneath a cloth mask is the best combo. this morning on the "today" show dr. fauci anthony fauci breaks it down. >> wear a mask. you wear a mask and then you want it to fit better so one of the ways you could do it if you would like to is put a cloth mask over which actually here and here and here where you can get leakage in is better contained. >> so funny, i did an instagram on this because i've always worn two masks. they fit your face better. another recommendation wear a mask with nose wires in them and tying knots on the earlobes of the surgical masks for the best fit. the bottom line, any mask better than no mask. >> even if it's not properly

like dr. fauci's. finding out who can get the vaccine is hard for all of us because the rules are changing constantly. nbc news and comcast nbc universal is trying to make it easier for you. the site plan your vaccine.com is called a one-stop shop to get you all of the information on when, where and how to sign up to get the covid vaccine in you are -- in your area. kim kardashian west showing appreciation for frontline workers donating flowers to a hospital in southern california. >> the flowers were from a photo shoot the frontline posters posted pictures thanking west. last year her shapewear company donated $1 million to families 4:56.by the pandemic. on trial, next on "today in the bay," a preview of day three of president trump's impeachment trial. the case both sides are set to make today.

plus fresh fallout. a live report on all new lawsuit bay area based robinhood is set to face in court and it's the heartbreak one family says they're dealing with this morning at the heart of it. we'll be right back. before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn,

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maintain power. reconstructing the riot with a trump impeachment trial ready to move forward more of the never before seen videos from the capitol siege just ahead. menlo park based robinhood facing legal action, a report ahead on the accusations from one family that suffered an unbearable tragedy. covid cases, bay area researchers have identified the variant first discovered in south africa. the concerns it's raising among experts as "today in the bay" continues right now. good thursday morning. thank you for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm kris sanchez. marcus washington will join us in a bit but rain is on the way, kari. >> and i'm excited. we're going to get some good rain for the bay area but not expecting any major problems out of this. these storm systems coming in will be fairly weak so we're watching some of the light

showers starting to approach the coast and rain will be spreading in. we've fired up storm ranger and we are going to be tracking this throughout today, but most of the rain moves in late this morning into the afternoon. if you're home schooling in petaluma try to get the kids out early before the rain moves in later today. we'll time it out for the bay area and the forecast coming up. mike, how are you timing out the commute? is it still looking good? [ no audio ] >> we're going to wake up mike's mic in a little bit. when the trump impeachment trial resumes today, house managers prosecuting the former president will continue to lay out their case. >> "today in the bay's" susan mcginniss live in washington with a look at what we can expect today. susan? >> hi, good morning, chris and laura. house managers or the