it is a good tuesday morning for us, i hope it's a good tuesday morning for you, too. i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. let's get straight to meteorologist kari hall with a look at that forecast for us and kari, where is the rain right now? >> we've seen it hit or miss across parts of the bay area. right now hitting parts of the north bay as we track it with storm ranger moving along the coastline and soon moving into san francisco. we are going to see the waves of showers moving in today, but also a chance of thunderstorms, and in the north bay right now, some light rain, but notice all of the colors there, some snow on some of our bay area peaks, as you go up above 3,000 feet. we'll see more snow throughout today and talk about what to expect as this continues toove in with this unsettled weather pattern, more on that in a few minutes in the microclimate forecast. kris and marcus? >> thank you, kari. now to "today in the bay's" cierra johnson what governor newsom is expected to address in

his state of the state speech tonight. there's a lot going on than a post-it he waved around. >> reporter: governor newsom has a lot of ground to cover, not only we are still in the midst of a global pandemic, he has to emphasize how important it is to stay the course. some are calling this the most important speech of his political career. the speech is taking place as the recall efforts to get him out of office really ramp up. now, governor gavin newsom is going to hold that speech at dodger stadium. this will be the third state of the state address in recent weeks. he's made his way across the state, highlighting vaccine efforts, some of the mass vaccination sites as well as touting the fall in covid numbers. the governor is expected to also discuss returning to the classroom, this after newsom and state legislature approved a $6.6 billion funding and public schools. this speech as i mentioned taking place as recall efforts ramp up. signatures are due march 17th,

the next step would then have the secretary of state's office determine if there are enough valid signatures, if the signatures are in fact valid. the next step from there would be an election. as i mentioned, he's giving the speech at dodger stadium. a little bit of symbolism there, just last week the governor did announce that there would be fans allowed in some of the major league baseball stadiums at a reduced capacity, of course. so as we stay tuned for that speech, there will be a lot to keep track of. we will bring you the updates on air and online. live in marin county, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thank you. from the governor to the president and capitol hill, president biden's relief bill is up for a final vote in the house today. the president is expected to sign it sometime this week. "today in the bay's" tracie potts is live in washington with the politics around that bill, but tracie, there's also new cdc guidelines that a lot of people are happy about when it comes to those who are vaccinated.

>> right, marcus. people who are fully vaccinated, 30 million people in this country are wondering what can i do? what's different? can i go out? do i need to wear a mask? who can i associate with? is offering new guidelines on that. the cdc says masks should still be worn in public but if you're fully vaccinated, it's okay to visit family from one household in town without a mask or social distancing two weeks after the final shot. >> if grandparents have been vaccinated, they can visit their daughter and her family even if they have not been vaccinated, so long as the daughter and her family are not at risk for severe disease. >> reporter: americans ready to come out of hiding. >> go to the beach. >> go out, visit family. >> i'm looking forward to visiting my grandkids.r:ravel i discouraged. health experts are concerned with spring break just around the corner. florida is already seeing

crowds. >> i see so many frickin' people and honestly, everyone's like almost piled up on top of each other. >> reporter: texas lifts its mask man tate tomorrow. >> that this doesn't come back to create an influx of cases, and super spreader virus. >> reporter: in washington, the house of representatives could take a final vote on coronavirus relief today or tomorrow morning. so far, with no republicans supporting the nearly $2 trillion plan. >> as soon as i get it. >> reporter: president biden watching veterans get their shots. he'll address the nation thursday night to mark the first anniversary of america on lockdown. now the white house says if this repair or if this bill, this relief bill passes in the next few days, you could see that y

within the month. democrat chuck schumer said two weeks, give or take a few days. >> i'm sure a lot of people will be happy if they are able to receive that. tracie, thank you. a follow-up, sutter health this week expects to start receiving the second dose of vaccines, it's been missing due to the shortage. there's some concern that the shortage could leave people waiting for their second dose past the recommended window but supplemental doses are arriving this week and next, sutter's first dose appointments are on hold. some bay area health leaders expressing new doubts about their counties being rolled into the new statewide vaccination program to be run by blue shield. >> we've been distributing not just covid vaccine but other vaccines for years. we know how to do it. there's no reason to add another layer of bureaucracy to the process. >> that's santa clara county executive. he is talking about the newly

minted program launched for some counties outside the bay area. blue shield is in cross -- blue shield is in charge, i should say, and it's supposed to be statewide by the end of the month. santa clara county, is not ready to sign on because there's no added benefit. although it is not clear yet if counties will be allowed to opt out. big change in the morning routine for palo alto high school students, they have to find their shoes, they're gearing up to be in the classroom for the first time this year. sharon katsuda is in palo alto. schools have been working up to this point to get back to in-person instruction. >> reporter: they really have. good morning, kris. yes and it's going to be interesting talking to high school students when they return this morning, because some of them i know kind of like sleeping in and going to their zoom classes, just rolling out of bed going to their zoom classes so it will be interesting talking to them this morning. all grades are returning to the

classroom today, that's tk through 12th. elementary students in the district have been back in a hybrid model since october. fifth graders went back last tuesday. now it's the high school's turn. last week during a visit to baron elementary, governor newsom held up the palo alto unionified school district as an example of how to reopen safely. west contra costa unified is one of the first districts to announce the plan for in-person summer school and in san francisco, the school district is still working with the teachers union to get students back in school next month. with vaccinations for teachers on track, governor newsom says there are many reasons why schools should be able to reopen with other social distancing measures in place. i just took a look on campus, just the front of it and i do see a lot of arrows on the ground, showing people where to walk, so students social distance and xs on the benches where they can sit and a lot of signs reminding people to social distance so looks like they're ready for the students to come back this morning.

reporting live in palo alto, i'm sharon katsuda, "today in the bay." >> hopefully they'll all be on time. we're not used to getting out of the house this early. we have another winter storm just off our coast, moving in and some of you may be seeing some rain already. nbc bay area's storm ranger is all fired up, you see it up there, as the sun is starting to peak over san bruno mountain and we are ready for it i think. storm ranger, marcus, going to be busy for the next couple of days. >> are we really ready for the rain? although we need it. >> i covered the patio furniture and put the umbrella down which you know is my achilles heel. >> yes. >> that's why it's raining. >> i mean the umbrella is crooked because i forgot the last time. >> that's okay. that's okay. let's talk about that rain. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking that for us and kari, what are we looking at now? >> yes, i can guarantee it's going to rain for you if you washed your car recently. we are going to see this hit or miss across parts of the bay

area. you can see how large the storm system it. going to bring in wa of rain and one of the days where one minute it's raining, the next minute it's sunny and then it's raining again. we're seeing the scattered showers coming through with these chilly temperatures that will stay in the 50s for today and we should see a little bit more activity as we go into this evening. at any point some of the cells popping through producing some thunderstorms and small hail. we will continue to monitor that for today and talk about what else is in that forecast coming up in a few minutes. mike, how is it looking right now for the commute? >> it's looking like not enough rain for a car wash but not enough to be a car wash. kari talks about the changed ahead, more traffic is coming onto the roadways now but nothing as dramatic as i thought it might be. eastbound 580 just shy of san ramon road a crash, overturned vehicle, big rig involved. no major injuries.

your right lane is blocked and no slowing shows up on the sensors. we're looking at the bay bridge toll plaza, the last five minutes, as sharon was talking, the backup just started forming as you are approaching the toll plaza. back to you. >> thank you, mike and kari. we have a way for to you skip the vaccine line and get a shot, but it will require some commitment. we're going to explain that, coming up at 6:25. plus an honor for a scientist who already won the nobel prize. what's next. plus -- ♪ whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ i, i, i, i'm every woman ♪cou other, there you have it, whitney houston's remake of chaka khan's classic. another remake is in the works and who is behind it all. it is a powerhouse for you. you don't want to miss it.

we'll talk about it. 6:10.

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right now6:13 we look at your commute and spots like the tri-valley, starts out dry but off and on rain in the forecast throughout the morning with times of sunshine.

make sure you have the windshield wipers working. we'll talk about the rain and also how the shutdown may have helped our climate in crisis, coming up in a few minutes. >> despite what it looked like earlier we have traffic patterns similar to yesterday's the 880 overcrossing where the backup is forming at the toll plaza for the bay bridge but the richmond bridge, moisture on the roadways, there's the rain scattered around the bay. we're tracking that coming up. good morning, happy tuesday to you as well. tech stocks got absolutely hammered yesterday, enough that it pushed the nasdaq down into correction territory. this isn't all bad news, though. money is coming out of tech stocks because it's going into industries that will do well once the pandemic is over. energy and travel and that kind of thing.

i use this number carefully, only 721 americans died yesterday, less than a thousand a day for the first time in a long time. tech stocks did very well during the pandemic because we were staying at home. netflix and apple moved higher because we stayed home and watched television. zoom stocks zoomed because we had so many online meetings. not everything is going to go back to normal. dropbox is selling its office building on owens street in san francisco because it's expecting its employees to work from home for a majority of the time from here on out. it's selling for $1 billion. the second largest real estate deal in city history, the embarcadero center, was the biggest. well, there's a book coming out today about a cal berkeley professor and researcher, jennifer doudna, in some circles a household name. if you need a reminder, she won the nobel peace prize for her research in genes and dna which led to gene splicing called

crisper and changed modern science forever. the book is called "code breaker." the reason i bring is up is because of the author, walter isaacson. take a look at what else he has written about in the past, da vinci, einstein, jobs and now doudna. that is the sort of company she's in. a while ago pre-pandemic, i did a segment. if you want to know more you can or go get the book, i'm sure walter isaacson explains it really well. i like that idea of hey i got a book written about me. who has the author written about, einstein, da vinci, and steve jobs. >> that is impressive. i interviewed her after the nobel, folks called her and she couldn't believe it. she found out from somebody else, because she slept through the call. >> wow. >> right, it's just so exciting to have incredible scientists. she lived in santa cruz for a while, to have all of these

people in our neighborhood. >> something in the water. >> keep drinking the water, kids. all right, thanks, zot. also trending this morning the remake of all remakes. >> two of music's most powerful voices teaming up to remake the 1978 hit "i'm every woman." take a listen. ♪ i'm every woman, it's all in me ♪ ♪ i can read your thoughts right now ♪ >> chaka khan and idina menzel in honor of international woman's day. >> sounds great when you sing it in the car or shower and back yum mus backup music. i won't attempt it. >> mike is every man this

morning. >> i'll sing along with n my car and do my report not in high car. we'll look at the roadways and see how things play out. we are watching a few spots like the bay bridge toll plaza. the backup continues to build in the middle lanes as well as coming off the 808 overcrossing and that will be where the we're still tracking that because of changes, as we look at the map, talking about the build at the toll plaza, we expect no problems or slowing through contra costa county, feeding into the maze, i've circled another report of minor flooding, standing water, 101 around sir francis drake and you see the green highlighting filling in over the cost. kari will talk more about the incoming storm. the rest of the bay shows light volume including the dublin interchange. kari, the crash is eastbound so it's counter commute but the rain is going to affect the commute, right? >> yes, we're going to start to see the pop-up showers moving through and we're already tracking this on storm ranger,

that's mobile doppler radar. this is the perfect day to have the nbc bay area app. it tells you when rain is moving right where you are. you need this on a day like today one minute it's sunny and the next it's raining. marin county, parts of san francisco we'll see more of this activity with light morning showers and then the possibility of some afternoon thunderstorms once we get that daytime heating and more energy in the atmosphere going along with the storm, small hail, heavy downpours along with gusty winds and we start to see this filling in a little bit more as we go into this evening with more activity across the bay area. notice the different colors there, where you see the blues and the pink. that shows a wintry mix that we'll see that on some of our hills and mountains up above 3,000 feet so a lot of activity here with the possibility of in total getting about an inch of rain, as we go through this forecast. a lot of showers for today, tomorrow, and then it tapers off

early on thursday morning. after that, sunshine and temperatures will quickly rebound into the mid to upper 60s, as we go into the weekend, as we spring forward, yes, that's that reminder that we set our clocks forward this weekend and san francisco will esearch weekend. we've also been putting a spotlight on our climate in crisis. this morning i wanted to talk about the shutdown during the pandemic and how it actually helped improve our air quality. we were looking at summer ozone levels a drop in vehicle traffic, 14%. air traffic dropped 40% and we have the lowest ozone pollution in about 20 years. this is a picture of a weather balloon they launch that takes measurements as it travels throughout the atmosphere and overall a decrease in the northern hemisphere of 7% to br

some better air except for during the summer, we h check out our website nbcbayarea.com/climateincrisis. we have a lot of stories from different angles and keep checking in. within the next week as we approach the one-year anniversary of our lockdown our weather team will analyze how much carbon dioxide we did not put in the air as we work from home. check that out as well, nbcbayarea.com. back to you, kris and marcus. >> thank you. >> 6:21. next on "today in the bay," "nbc bay area responds." the check is in the mail, the bank never claimed they got it, until they did. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura, "nbc bay area responds" next.

dana said she lost her job and enrolled in forbearance where you and the bank agree to pause house payments with no penalties. in december, dana was ready to repay seven months of missed mortgage payments so she sent allied bank a check for $28,756. but it didn't credit her account, so she called ally. a rep. told her they never got her check but dana could provide proof they did, with delivery

confirmation from the united states postal service right there. that didn't convince ally, so dana emailed us. we asked ally where was her $28,000 check. this is where it gets really interesting. first the bank responded with a statement saying "ally is committed to providing our customers with a highly transparent and trusted mortgage experience. we have researched dana's concern. we are sending our response directly, so that this matter can be resolved as quickly as possible." well a few things happened. first dana received a letter, with her check, ally returned it, saying it rejected the check because the amount written right here on the coupon part didn't match her monthly payment. we had more work to do. we figured out dana was supposed to send a big repayment to a different address. she says no one at ally told her to do that. in time, we got everything straightened out. dana sent her check for the same amount and this time got credit

for her payment. now if your check goes nowhere, go to nbcbayarea.com and click the "responds" option from the main menu or call us 888-996-tips. there is a way to get a vaccine even if you are not yet eligible and you don't have to jump the line. it's all legal. the my turn volunteer campaign is asking for people to step up to provide help at vaccination clinics for non-medical volunteers tasks from sanitizing surfaces to directing traffic and once you sign up on the website, and you volunteer for four hours or more at a clinic, you may be eligible to receive a vaccine whether you are currently qualified or not. the state chief service officer says thousands of people have already signed up and they expect many more volunteers will come forward in the weeks to come. if you are looking for information on how and where to get your shot, just go to

planyourvaccine.com, pull up your state and occupation and it will pull up the closest vaccination sites to you, that's planyourvaccine.com. coming up next on "today in the bay," back to our top stories including two more bay area counties hoping to get the green light to ado you indoor dining to resume. we're live with a look at which counties that are in line and how soon businesses there may reopen. she was once the darling of silicon valley. today her criminal trial is expected to begin. new details coming up on elizabeth holmes and the theranos trial starting now. you're watching "today in the bay."

it's time to open those windows, you're looking live across the bay area and this morning, another storm inches closer and this one is here to stay for a bit. straight ahead, when that rain will find you. "today in the bay" continues right now. terrific tuesday it is, good morning to you. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. meteorologist kari hall, what falls on the roadway affects us all. >> absolutely. we're going to see it raining at times today. not raining all day but we'll see waves of it coming through and this wave for our morning is pushing through parts of now sonoma county approaching san francisco and san mateo county as well. a line of rain moving n a closer

look shows it moving into san francisco with some of of the heavier rain just off the coast. expect this rain to be with us at times today, tomorrow and even on thursday morning so we'll talk more about how much to expect and the chance of thunderstorms. i'll have more on that coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you, kari. a live look at oakland and the city hoping for good news today with the possibility alameda county to get the okay to resume indoor dining and other operations. >> and this is just one county hoping to move forward. "today in the bay's" bob redell is tracking the potential reopenings live from pleasanton. bob? >> reporter: correct, good morning to you, marcus and kris. restaurants here in downtown pleasanton could resume indoor dining as soon as tomorrow. later today we expect the state to announce that alameda county, where we're at and also solano county, both counties will be able to move out of the purple tier of reopening and into the

less restrictive tier of red. this expected to happen today. this means restaurants would be able to reopen indoors at 25% o. gyms and fitness centers could resume for indoor operations at 10% capacity, movie theaters same, 25%, or 100 people, whichever is fewer, museums, zoos and aquariums 25%. now if you take a closer look at alameda county, to move to the red tier, counties must have 00 weeks, and you could see in alameda county right now at 6.3, so they're below that 7 per 100,000 threshold. if you take a look at the map of the bay area, you could see which counties are in their respective reopening tiers. as we mentioned solano and alameda are in the purple tier, expected to move into the red tier if that happens, that leaves only two bay area counties still in purple, contra costa and sonoma.

both of those counties are headed in the right direction. contra costa county has 8.1 cases per 100,000. we want to get down to 7, again. sonoma is at 9.6. sonoma county health officials tell "the press democrat" they hope they, too, can move into the red tier sometime this week. reporting live in downtown pleasanton, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> bob, thank you. san francisco may be the next city to approve a $5 an hour hazard pay increase for store workers. like similar ordinances in san jose and oakland the hourly hike would apply to workers at large grocery store retail chains and it would last for the duration of the pandemic. in other cities stores warned about passing the costs on to customers. if the ordinance is approved, it would go into effect immediately. job postings dropped nearly 70% during last year. opportunities in outdoor related fields like agriculture and fishing are down 54% and food service job postings hit hard by

months of restaurant closures are down a similar amount, about 53%. more and more people are simply giving up and trying to make it in the bay elsewhere. builders in the central valley say there's been a huge surge in people moving from the bay area and "the chronicle" is reporting tracy, mountain house, there the homes can be 50% less expensive than nearby tri-valley. one area river island saw a 57% growth in last year alone. this from people seeking more space because they're working from home, learning from home, too. happening today another step in the ongoing saga over one of the main roadways in marin. a public hearing will be held to consider renaming sir francis drake boulevard in marin county. sir fran kiss drake was a 16th century english naval officer who many point out was also a slave trader. the county created a working

group last summer to analyze his history and raise awareness about the possible change. a similar hearing happens today in san anselmo. fairfax agreed to change the name of its two-mile leg but has not agreed on what that new name will be. in a few hours the high-profile trial of former theranos ceo elizabeth holmes will begin. jury selection is set to begin at a san jose federal courthouse and the courtroom is already reconfigured to socially distance jurors. a judge also ordered holmes to wear a clear face mask during the trial, which is expected to take two to four months. holmes and theranos' former c.o.o. each face a dozen felony fraud charges related to lying to investors about the availabilities of their blood testing company. they both face 20 years in prison if convicted. 6:35 and we are keeping an eye on the sky with nbc bay area sky ranger fired up, tracking this incoming winter storm. let's head outside for you right now, a live look at the mighty

golden gate bridge. a little hazy out there this morning. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking that rain as it scatters throughout the bay area. it's something that is going to stick around. >> looks chilly. >> yes, it's going to be a cold day and then it's also going to be at times sunny, at times raining and a few of us may even have some thunderstorms. a mixed bag of weather for today, as this storm system comes in, and especially for this afternoon, once we start to get a little bit more energy in the atmosphere, once those temperatures warm up, we could see those thunderstorms firing up, but we're seeing that initial wave of rain coming in, a lot of the lightning off the coast hasn't made it to the inland areas and we're going to see more activity for today, but once again, some breaks in between. you just want to make sure you're ready for just about anything throughout the points of today as we go into the afternoon. going into this evening, we could see some more widespread rain passing by, especially for early tomorrow morning, but this is also when we get those really

chilly temperatures, in some of our bay area hills and mountains start to get some snow while the rest of the bay area and the valleys could get some times of some heavy rain as well as a small hail. we are still going to see more of this wet weather into the day tomorrow, and then it starts to gradually taper off on thursday morning. we'll talk about sierra snow as well as what else is ahead in this forecast, coming up in a few minutes. mike, you've been watching the roads. anything new popping up for, that people should know about before they head out? >> a couple of things, kari. let's look at the bay bridge toll plaza where the backup has been forming, the metering lights turned on at 6:22, it augmented the backup for a couple of minutes. holding steady mid parking lot and the 880 overcrossing looks lighter. as we look at the maps, that's showing with the sensors not a dramatic slowdown where the arrow is, that's where the showdown and the slowdown? no. we're talking about the circle in the north bay. the green highlight there is

some rain, wet roadways and flooding earlier at sir francis drake boulevard 101. we talked about the name change proposed but right now that's still what we call it and water on the roads. green sensors for the rest of the bay. the crash near the dublin interchange in the eastbound direction, no slowing. back to you. >> mike, thank you. 6:38. as governor newsom prepares for his third state of the state dress today we're asking how well california is doing in vaccinations. how we compare to other nations and those numbers may surprise you. plus -- >> a big influx of unaccompanied children on the border is the biggest crisis for the biden administration so far. out to the big board this morning, where the dow is up, what i can't show you is the nasdaq roaring back after historic losses yesterday. speaking of president biden, he has a major problem, an update on are waking up this morning and why, oh, no, were they naughty. we're watching "today in the bay."

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right now at 6:41, if you're waking up and getting ready to head out for a walk, jog, bike ride, the earlier the better. the rain will be off and on throughout late morning into the afternoon. a look at the rest of the microclimate in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. and as we look back at the bay bridge toll plaza, where it's sort of stacking up a bit. i want to talk about the

b.a.r.t. trains as well in oakland, hearing about a delay, ten-minute lake merritt to the dublin pleasanton direction. there's a fire next to the trackway between lake merritt and fruitvale so there are some delays. we're tracking this as it's reported by b.a.r.t., coming up. despite the initial slovak seen rollout, state health leaders say california is doing better than most of the world with nearly 11 million people now having received at least one dose. from a recent tweet the govern's said the united states, china and the european union, the united kingdom and india surpassed california when it comes to the number of shots. california has a population of about 40 million people. the governor now getting ready to deliver his state of the state address. and right now we want to bring in "today in the bay's" cierra? >> reporter: good morning. the governor's going to have a lot of ground to cover.

we're in the midst of a global pandemic so he has to emphasize how important it is to stay the course from here on out and giving this state of the state address with those recall efforts really ramping up, folks wanting to recall him because of what they felt was inaction in specific areas, that speech will be given at dodger stadium. this will be his third state of the state address in recent weeks, made trips across the state highlighting vaccine efforts, touring mass vaccination sites and touting the falling covid numbers. the governor is expected to discuss that return to the classroom, this after his administration and the state legislature approved that $6.6 billion in funding for public schools and the speech as i mentioned taking place as the recall efforts are ramping up. signatures are due march 17th. the next step would be for the secretary of state's office to determine if there are enough valid signatures from there, if there are enough valid

signatures, the next step would be election. now, there is some significance in the speech being given at dodger stadium. last week the governor announced that there would be some fans allowed at major league baseball stadiums that would be capped, a number of fans, but there's going to be a lot to cover at his state of the state address, takes place tonight at 6:00. we'll of course have a recap of what was said, what we need to know moving forward and have that for you on air and online. we're live in marin county, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thank you, cierra. it is 6:44 right now and president biden is dealing with what is the first major crisis of his presidency. a surge of children at the border. >> scott mcgrew, this is a humanitarian problem, with really no good answers. >> no, there really aren't. children showing up without parents, fleeing gangs and poverty and the effects of not one but two hurricanes in now record numbers at the border and it could get worse as the weather gets warmer, and the big question is, what do you do with

them? you can't send them back. they're children. we take them in, like we would adult refugees but adult refugees are then often released under u.s. law until it's time to take their refugee status to a judge but you can't let release children on their own recognizance, they're children so big problems. it's a problem that every administration has faced recently, but maybe worse for the biden administration because the young refugees may be more encouraged to come to america because they feel they'll be better treated by the biden administration. a reminder as we deal with all this, refugees who come to america cross the border and present themselves at a port of entry are not only not breaking the law, they're following the american law to the letter. not a lot to report new on the stimulus other than we do expect the house to pass the senate version of the bill today. it could be on the president's desk by tonight.

and checks could go out in a matter of weeks. yesterday a reporter asked the white house whether or not the stimulus checks would contain biden's signatures the way the trump signatures were on the last checks. the white house press secretary said that was a popular question she was getting and they hadn't thought about it one way or the other. south korea is going to pay the u.s. more money for helping it defend itself against north korea, something president trump has been pushing for, had been pushing for and now south korea's doing it. trump wanted the republic of korea to pay five times as much. it's not clear how much more they're paying but they are paying. president biden presented the two women he has nominated for promotion to four-star general yesterday on international women's day. president trump's defense secretary said he delayed suggesting the women's promotions fearing trump would refuse.

the senate still has to approve biden's nomination. >> every step they've also helped push open the doors of opportunity to women in our military, blazing the trail a little wider, a little brighter for all proud women following in their path and looking to their example. >> we're watching everything that's happening in washington particularly the stimulus. follow me on twitter, marcus and kris. >> before you go, we want to talk about president biden's major problem, talking about major, the dog. >> major, the dog. he apparently had what they're calling an aggressive incident, we're interpreting he tried to bite somebody. we understand somebody with white house security possibly so major and champ -- major is the newthe adopted dog and the champ is the old dog, something like 13 and didn't try to hurt anybody. they've been sent back to delaware. the white house says it's because the first lady is out of the house and so that's going to

be routine. we'll see if they come back when the first lady comes back but apparently major just got a little bit too enthusiastic with what is the ultimate in washington speak and aggressive incident. >> i was thinking that maybe they had a little potty accident but this is your dog acts out like that. >> certainly is. >> hopefully they can get him retrained. >> thanks, scott. berkeley childhood home of vice president kamala harris may soon be named an historic landmark so current rules only allow landmark status to places where historic events occurred but today city leaders will consider a resolution allowing homes of historic berkeley residents to gain landmark status as well. vice president kamala harris was born in oakland but spent most of her childhood in berkeley. >> it's a cold blast this

weekend, kari. >> yes, this is a cold storm, something that we haven't seen much of this winter. it's going to be a chilly day at times sunny and raining and we may have thunderstorms in the mix. we have storm ranger to track all the changes we'll see today. one wave of rain clearlake to santa rosa moving to san francisco and approaching the coastline to half moon bay. we'll see showers moving in, so it's a wet start in san rafael as well as san francisco and that will be making its way across the bay into the east bay as well. so you can see the movement of this wave of rain coming through, while we will have the his or miss showers for this afternoon, we have a lot of this the bay area before we're done with it and we need every drop of this rain that we see the sunrise, the sun coming through the clouds at tri-valley but not

as colorful as the beautiful sunset we had yesterday evening. as we look at what to expect for today, the later in the day we get, the higher the chance you'll get of some showers moving through, but once again it's not going to be raining all day. we're going to see the times of showers passing by and we have to watch out for the chance of thunderstorms as well especially this afternoon, once the temperatures warm up near the surface that could lead to the air rising a lot more quickly and giving more energy to the already unsettled weather in the atmosphere that we have in place. so looking at some more widespread rain into this evening, and early tomorrow morning and some of our upper elevations up above 3,000 feet around the bay area we could see some snow coating some of those hills. we'll see that continue into thursday as well. as far as rainfall totals, some of us in the inland areas about a half to three quarters of an inch of rain. higher in parts of the north bay and along the immediate coastline and as far as sierra

snow looks good as well over a foot in many spots around south lake tahoe about eight inches and 15 inches for kirk wood. we may not have to travel that far because of the snow. from mt. hamilton in the bay area, possibly the santa cruz summit could see light snow and some of our north bay mountains also getting some snow over the next couple of days and we'll have to take it in, all of those beautiful sights because the temperatures will warm up and any snow we get temperatures reach into the upper 60s this weekend so we go from winter to spring within the course of a couple of days. mike, how is it looking heading just to work this morning? >> kari, we had breaking news over in oakland. my buddy ben, found it in the operations center and we'll take that camera as we see smoke of what appears to be in the area that the fire was reported alongside the b.a.r.t. tracks, not on the tracks but alongside near the b.a.r.t. tracks between lake merritt and fruitvale.

you see the oakland sky line in the distance. this camera is atseum. it's white smoke. they may have crews on scene as we look at the map. i circled an area also on 880 where there's a lot of slowing there as well. this may be distraction from the smoke but there may be another incident around 23rd or 29th in the same area on the nimitz. i'm tracking that but the fire did cause a delay for b.a.r.t. and now it's 20 minutes for that section through the oakland area. look at the bay bridge toll plaza with the arrow, the backups at the toll plaza, nothing major there. another look over here at the san mateo bridge, looks like they've just blocked off the right lane. you see the arrow causing slowing because you're down to just 66% of the normal traffic capacity across to the high-rise. that's westbound. back to you. >> mike, thanks. happening now, the international gymnastics federation cancels its artistic all-around world cup in tokyo. that event was planned as a test event for the olympics this summer, instead, tokyo 2020

organizers say that they would hold a national gymnastics event on may 4th, this is to see how the progress for the games is going. the 2020 olympics are scheduled to start july 23rd. remember, you can only watch them here on nbc bay area. >> i'll be there. coming up next action more schools reopening their doors today but in this case not for the youngest students. high schoolers in one district are going back for the first time in a year. a live report on what they had to do to make it happen. you're watching "today in the bay."

6:55. a quick look at top stories and pleasanton. businesses there hopeful that the state is ready to move alameda and solano counties into the less restrictive red tier later today. as soon as tomorrow, restaurants and movie theaters could reopen indoors at 25% capacity with a maximum of 100 people. gyms and fitness centers can reopen at 10% capacity indoors. palo alto high school students are returning to the classroom today for the first time in a year. >> "today in the bay's" sharon katsuda is live in palo alto where the students will start to arrive soon. schools there working very hard to get to this point, sharon. >> reporter: yes, they are, kris and starting to see some workers arife. with daylight on campus they set

up extra tables and chairs next to the classrooms to provide extra space and the school the high school students should be arriving soon. all grades are returning to the classroom today, that's tk through 12th. elementary students in the district have been back in a hybrid model since october. sixth graders went back to school last tuesday. now it's the high school's turn. last week during a visit to baron elementary governor newsom held up the school district as an example of how to reopen safely. west contra costa unified is one of the first districts to announce the plan for in-person summer school and in san francisco, the school district is still working with the teachers union to get students back in school next month. with vaccinations for teachers on track, governor newsom says there are many reasons why schools should be able to reopen with other social distancing measures in place, and this morning, i did take a look on campus, just towards the front of the school, and definitely there are a lot of signs there saying wear your mask, keep six feet apart and social distance

and wash your hands. they're ready for the students to arrive. back to you. >> thank you, sharon. a follow-up, sutter health this week expects to start receiving the second dose vaccines that it missed due to the shortage. there is some concern the shortage could leave people waiting for their second dose pasted recommended window. supplemental doses are arriving this week and next, sutter's first dose appointments are on hold. some bay area health leaders expressing new doubt about counties rolled into the statewide vaccination program run by blue shield. santa clara county's executive officer says there is no reason to add another level of bureaucracy to the process, but it's not clear if counties will be allowed to opt out. one final look outside from our cameras over san francisco, san jose, everything in between, and you can see the rain is starting to come our way a

little let's see, microclimate-y, we'll call it that. meteorologist kari hall is tracking it all for us. >> i like that. there will be some spots where it's pouring down raining and others spots where it's sunny. you may see rainbows and few of us who get in on thunderstorms. we'll be tracking that with storm ranger today. you can also do the same if you have the nbc bay area app because we'll see the rain off and on. the app will give you alerts as the rain approaches your location. you will also be able to get live views of storm ranger and zoom right on into where you live and see how long it will take for the rain to get there. really cool tool, as you get ready to head out the door this morning. how is it looking for the commute, mike? >> kari, breaking news, but in the good side this time. recovery for the nimitz. look how slow the northbound direction is over on the right headed from the coliseum up to about oak street. a live camera shows us we saw smoke, now just very little smoke alongside the b.a.r.t.

tracks. looks like the fire must be under control. smoke is going away and b.a.r.t. says it's in recovery mode. >> that will do it for us for now. >> a live look the san bruno mountain our storm ranger hard at work. stay with us for more looks at what we can expect from that rain. good morning the new normal long-awaited new cdc guidelines on what's safe to do once you get the covid vaccine, a turning point in the pandemic. >> looking forward to visiting my grandkids. >> fully vaccinated people getting the green light to be inside together without masks or social distancing, but lge gatherings and travel still a no-go. >> we have to see this through let's stick together >> straight ahead, the new hope being offered to millions of families eager for visits after a long and difficult year. royal ramifications. the world still waiting on a