now at 5:00, it's open season. businesses in two more bay area counties ready to roll with the new rollback in covid restrictions. a live report ahead on what's now allowed and still has to wait. i was frightened, scared. i had never, ever, ever experienced that kind of intimidation in my life. >> uber talking about the frightened fare ride, the latest incident and arrest in oakland in a concern about the spike in hate crimes. another round of wet weather fanning across the bay area at this hour. our radar you can see certainly lighting up as that rain continues to fall. meteorologist kari hall timing out our forecast for us as "today in the bay" continues right now.

a very good wednesday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. it's time to get a look at that forecast because if you're waking up, you see the wet roads and ground outsite, meteorologist kari hall has been tracking that rain. look at all the green behind you. >> yes, you may hear the rain hating the roof and trickling down the storm drains. we'll see the rain off and on today as it comes in waves can breaks in between and the activity continues. marin county and san francisco moving across the bay moving back with another wave of rain. we'll track this throughout the day, we could get some thunderstorms. we'll talk more about that in a few minutes. >> thanks, kari. storm ranger will be scanning the entire storm and you can get access to it at any time with our nbc bay area app.

download the app for free. a lot more red on the map when it comes to covid rules. alameda and solano are the latest to escape that tier. bob redell still a little too early in the morning for to you notice the difference but i'm sure a lot of people are excited there. talking about the gyms, the 24-hour behind me in pleasanton they'll have the jut door gym in the parking lot but also this morning let people inside the building to workout as long as the capacity doesn't go above 10%, the one rule in the red tier of reopening. the case and test positivity rates moved enough to move from

the purpose toll red tier of reopening. gyms, restaurants, movie theaters and museums can resume indoor operations at limited capacities. >> i think like everybody else we're ecstatic. we're excited to finally go back indoors. fitness is essential. >> when the pandemic first started and i stopped work the out my life went into shambles. it helps me keep a good routine in my life and my mental fitness as well. >> reporter: six and a half miles away the 24-hour fitness location in san ramon cannot yet resume indoor operations because it's in contra costa county, which is still in the purple tier. we spoke to one person who uses that outtoo gym. he says this is getting old. it's way past time. especially since the only difference between the san ramon gym and the pleasanton gym is a county line, talking about the line between contra costa which is purple and alameda, which is red.

on the map, contra costa and sonoma are the only counties still in the purple tier, but they are headed in the right direction, to move back to red soon, we believe. mayor london breed of san francisco said yesterday she anticipates her city moving into the orange tier in a couple of weeks. reporting live here in pleasanton, bob redell, "today in the bay." we've got a live look in san francisco as well this morning where a petition is now gaining traction to preserve the so-called parklets popping up on streets and sidewalks, the non-profit group grow sf wants the city to retain the rules created for its shared spaces program now scheduled to expire june 30th. the golden gate restaurant association say it may help provide businesses for those that closed down during the pandemic. lawmakers are expected to give president biden his first legislative victory. democrats have votes to pass the $2 trillion relief bill. the president hopes he'll be able to sign it into law this week and likely won't have any

gop support from. it includes $1,400 direct payments for low and middle income americans and also includes up to $3,600 per child as a tax credit, something some believe could lift struggling families out of poverty but some republicans argue it will result in more taxes. >> i would be able to pay rent or at least have a little cushion. >> it would pay for some food supplies i need. >> we know that the result of that package is going to be middle class tax increases. >> today the president meets with the ceos of merck and johnson & johnson. the rival companies are also working together to speed up production of a new one-dose covid vaccine. alaska has become the first state to allow anyone 16 or older to get vaccinated. the governor of alaska says expanding eligibility for alaskans will be a game changer. johnson & johnson's covid vaccine now ramping up in parts of the bay area. mayor london breed tweeted out

the first johnson & johnson vaccines are administered in san francisco this week. health leader, counting on the extra doses to help alleviate california's vaccine supply shortage. a follow-up, leaders in daly city along with san francisco the latest in the bay area to approve emergency hazard pay for store workers. employees at large chain stores will receive a $5 an hour rate hike for the duration of the pandemic. other cities with similar ordinances include oakland and san jose. retailers have warned added costs will be passed on to shoppers. two new incidents raising new concerns that it may be tied to the recent spike in hate crimes. in one case an arrest has already been made. the other left an uber driver terrified. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live this morning, digging deeper into what happened in each of these cases and what police are saying. cierra? >> good morning, marcus. those two cases are similar to the other attacks on asian-americans in the bay area.

there's been one arrest, but law enforcement cannot confirm they are hate crimes but both of the victims were of asian-american descent. the first crime took place inside an uber. three women berating a driver with slurs and profanity, with one of them coughing in the driver's face, grabbing his phone and trying to rip off the driver's mask. the women eventually leave the car, but one of the women pepper sprays the inside of that uber. sfpd says they're still reviewing the case and working to determine what type of charges they could bring. >> i hope they get arrested soon. i've been in contact with san francisco police department and they have assured me they're going to find them pretty soon. >> a go fund me was established to help the drivers lost wages and legal fees he may have. so far that page has raised more than $25,000 and in oakland an

arrest has been made in the attack of an older asian man in the adams point neighborhood, early tuesday morning, a 75-year-old asian man was shoved to the ground and robbed and left with severe injuries. opd is not releasing what led to that arrest, but some living in the neighborhood are still shocked by the crime. >> i can't imagine pushing someone, someone so frail and someone so weak and he's probably just trying to do his morning exercising. >> reporter: and in that oakland situation, oakland mayor libby schaaf says right now opd is working to determine if that attack was racially motivated or if it was just a vile opportunity for a person just to rob an older gentleman, but again, both situations still being investigated, and folks in both communities still shocked at the rate that these crimes continue. we're live in san francisco, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> cierra, thank you. you can help in the effort to stop the hate. nbc bay area, telemundo 48 and

our parent company comcast have partnered with the bay area pacific fund, providing grants to organizations working to stop attacks against the asian community and asians all together. if you want to toe nate we added a link on our website, nbcbayarea.com. new details in a guilty plea in san francisco's public works corruption scandal. former city employee sandra xuniza made a deal to cooperate with federal prosecutor pop she was director of the public works fix it team and walked in neighborhood services and tied romantic lyally mohammad nuru. she's the fifth defendant to reach a plea deal. this morning our storm ranger fired up as the storm moves across the bay area. did you hear all the thunder? we've got a live look outside in san francisco, and san jose. pretty wet for this wednesday

morning and new snow video from outside the bay area. snowplows going down the road in lake county here, on highway 175, close to cobb. cal trans plowing the roads making way. i just got back from tahoe, guys, last night, and i am so impressed with how quickly they get out there to clear those roads for people. >> yes. >> they were pretty well organized. >> glad to see them. >> yes. >> all right, hey, guess what? >> what? >> a little bird up there in tahoe told me today is kari hall's birthday. happy birthday, kari. >> what, kari! >> thank you. >> happy birthday. >> i'm getting the best gift of all, we are seeing some rain and of course that's a meteorologist's best gift we can receive right now especially with a chance of thunderstorms. we like to see that, too, makes the weather very interesting, and we'll be watching out as this storm system moves through. we've seen some lightning to our south but we've also been

watching out for that chance, we could see it again for today along with some small hail and temperatures dropping and we'll continue to watch that sierra snow. mike? >> happy birthday and happy rain to you, kari. let's get out there on the roadways. that is affecting your drive obviously and it will for a while per kari's forecast. looking at the green highing, it shifted east as kari showed you the activity on the radar. this is how it is on the roadways. the pink and the white may be slippery in the hills. it's not a major commute area. southbound 680 at mission, a crash there, a car spun out, now two involved, watch for traction on the roads. flooding reported on off-ramps in oakland. circled 101 north of the golden gate bridge, road crews should be clearing and live look at the golden gate bridge itself, we have wet roadways and slippery conditions. i didn't put that in the rundown. that's my fault. i'll show that to you coming up, back to you. >> no worry, looks good. what did you do to save your

favorite restaurant? >> next on "today in the bay" the drastic must-see measure one l.a. man is taking to support his top eating spot and it might just make you cringe. plus the major changes coming to the golden globe awards, following a lot of criticism this year. and a hacker gains almost superpowers after accessing more than 100,000 security cameras, everywhere. also ahead at 5:25, one year later, breonna taylor's mother sharing her heartbreak and tells us about the one thing she is not planning to give up on. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now at 5:14, we are under a microclimate weather alert, as we watch the waves of rain moving through on storm ranger and it's not going to let up any time soon, as you head out for your morning commute, expect it to be chilly and temperatures really don't warm up much today. make sure you have a warm jacket and the umbrella. we'll talk about some warmer temperatures ahead in our forecast. and we're talking about the rain that is now, right here on the roadways as we look at the golden gate bridge, what kari is talking about, rain traveling through the bay area and continuing in waves and so we have slick conditions, not raining right now on this camera lens, but you see the effects of what happened and what will happen again. scott, back over to you. good morning, mike. good morning, everyone.

happy wednesday to everyone as well. really big hack to tell you about involving more than 150,000 security cameras placed in schools and hospitals, jails, factories, even homes. an android developer named tilly cotman who uses the they/them pronoun they were able to hack thousands of security cameras to a reporter at bloomberg, this is a website with a picture titled "self-portrait." among them tesla's factory. it's unlikely we'd show you hacked footage but the number of cameras hacked is staggering, 150,000 plus. the maker of the camera, san mateo-based vercata said in a statement "our internal security team and external security firm are investigating the scale and scope of this issue and we've notified law enforcement." the hackers were able to gain access to the cameras inside

security company cloud flair as well and watch people work, the security company that discovered the democratic national committee had been hacked by the russians ahead of the 2016 presidential election. verkata is probably glad it's not a publicly traded company. tech stocks did well tuesday after several days of retreat. nasdaq got up more than 3.5% and roblax goes public today, allows people to make video games with a simple interface so even kids use it. roblox estimates half of all american children under the age of 16 plays or programs one of its games. it's sort of like minecraft in the sense that you build things, but you can actually build the thing that builds the thing and it's incredible for kids because they can create these video games that then their friends play. >> yes.

jack loves it and now he's going to want to buy the stock. watch. >> absolutely. he should. >> thanks, uncle scott. new this morning, the maker of products including dove, axe and vaseline trying to be more inclusive in its branding. the washington reports that unilever will remove the word "normal" from more than 200 personal beauty and care products, shampoo products for normal to oily hair or on lotions saying for normal skin. the company also plans more racially diverse ad campaigns. the group behind the golden globes is promising "transformational change" after a diversity scandal. leaders with the hollywood foreign press association announced that it has hired or is hiring a -- it's actually going to hire a strategic diversity adviser and outside

law firm to monitor its policies. this comes after the "l.a. times" revealed that the 87-member group doesn't have a single black member despite push for diversity in hollywood. trending this morning, rapper cardi b. making some history. ♪ you know where i'm at, you know where i be ♪ ♪ you in the club ♪ >> she just became the first female rapper to earn a certified diamond single with her hit "bodak yellow." her records sold 10 million parties. >> way to go, cardi. also trending, what would you do to try to save your favorite restaurant? think about it for a second while i read you this. this stuntman hunter ray barker, the answer was sitting in a pool of bean dip for 24 hours outside of his favorite mexican restaurant in l.a. he also got the restaurant's logo tattooed on his arm while he was in that tub. barker hopes that his stunt will

actually help bring more customers in and he's not in it to get free burritos for life. no, rather he really wants everyone to remember to support the small businesses especially during the pandemic. wow. >> for sure. i just want to -- >> i don't think that's going to bring the girls in. >> laura, i was worried, don't want them to waste the food but don't want them to use the refried beans either. we're kind of stuck there. >> go out there to the pool and get some more. >> eww. >> yeah, that's a different kind of dip. we're all talking about getting away a little bit, hawaii sounds so nice, but kari, they've been having some flooding there i understand in maui. >> yes. now is not the time to go. i wanted to show you this video, a state of emergency due to some extremely heavy rain that's been causing mudslides and you can see all of the damage there. this is not just maui but also

oahu, where we had some rounds of heavy rain causing the flooding, the mudslides, and it's really been devastating there, so we'll continue to monitor what's going on, not only in hawaii but here in the bay area, as we get this storm system coming in. we can see it on storm ranger, as we've been tracking the waves of rain coming in. we're not expecting anything like that because it's been so dry here and we'll see some times of rain that may get quite heavy. we can see heavy rain moving across the peninsula, across the bay and now into hayward and also now starting to rain pretty good in oakland right now, and then as we move down the peninsula from palo alto to los altos to the santa cruz mountains, we've at times seen snow on the santa cruz mountains as well in some of the upper elevations near summit road, as well as the heavy sierra snow. we have a lot more of the system that has to move through. we'll keep the unsettled weather for today and also the chance of hail, the national weather service putting out this heads

up that if you do encounter a road that is just covered with hail, do not slam on the brakes. it's basically like a layer of ice and can make you slide. ease off of the gas pedal and also avoid turning quickly on the steering wheel, so just a heads up, just in case we do see this, and there is that potential that we could see some hail off and on for today, as well as some more rumbles of thunder and some more lightning. we'll talk more about this coming up. mike, how is it looking right now for the commute? >> well, kari, looks like we might have to make sure that marcus knows about the thunder as well. it scared him overnight. marcus is better now. we're looking out to the roadways, it is wet. it's slippery out there so we watch for that. southbound 17 rainy commute across the hills here heading toward santa cruz at big moody curve, technically brush street. there was a crash there, just warning about the slippery conditions as we look out to the roadways. come on, wake up, map. here we go, just like the rest

of us. we look at the live shoot, the san mateo bridge traffic flows smoothly and coming toward us that is a linker that is lane change and soupy on the lanes. we have the bay bridge as well where an earlier overnight wind advisory may still be a factor as we look at the flags starting to flap once when it, lighter traffic but slippery conditions. back to you. >> all right, thanks so much, mike. a piece of pandemic history, coming up next on "today in the bay," the all new item soon to be displayed inside the smithsonian, and when you can visit the museum yourself. but first, our team always on social media, before the storm hit, kari actually shared these photos of her backyard flowers blooming. she has the green thumb for real. be sure to follow her on facebook, twitter and instagram and she's always posting those go forecasts for you.

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thanks for sticking around. it's 5:26. today marks one year since 26-year-old breonna taylor was shot and killed by police in her own apartment. police had been serving a no knock warrant, nearly one year later the only indictment is for the shots that went into her neighbor's wall. none of the three officers involved was charged with taylor's death. her mother, tamika palmer says her focus was the same as last year to see justice is served. >> nobody's been held accountable and that's the

problem. so fll that happens i guess i'll continue to fight. >> watch the full interview today on the "today" show at 7:00, right after "today in the bay." a live look at the dallas skyline for you. texas big day there, as all businesses are expect to fully reopen at 100% capacity without the mask mandate. if covid cases make up more than 15% of hospitalizations in any region, though, for seven days straight, businesses can legally be required to reduce their capacity down to 50%. a piece of the pandemic will be displayed forever at the smithsonian. the vial that contained the first dosage of vaccine in the united states. they are also collecting shipping equipment fort first doses and the medical scrubs and

i.d. badge of the new york nurse who was the first american to receive the shot. wow. history. living through it right now, marcus. >> yes. also, coming up next, much maligned edd briefly set back by a new problem, the glitch that had some people strugging and californians completely shut out. a live look for you this morning at the bay bridge, drivers everywhere, getting some of their lives back due to less congested roads out there. the new data showing just how much bay area traffic has fallen over the past year.

we will not be distracted from getting shots in arms and our economy booming again. this is a fight for california's future. >> now at 5:30 on the verge of a possible recall election, governor newsom delivers one of his most important speeches of his political career. his message of hope, during the pandemic, and the direction he sees the state moving. and more vaccine setbacks in the bay area. the issue now leading to thousands of vaccination appointments being canceled. plus rain, thunder and even snow. nbc bay area storm ranger taking us inside the storm system moving through the bay area this morning. here is a live look outside at current conditions at sfo and in walnut creek. meteorologist kari hall is tracking some of the much-needed rain and how much more is headed our way.

"today in the bay" continues now. >> we certainly do need it. it's nice to see. good wednesday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. talking about the rain, meteorologist kari hall has been tracking that for us this morning. >> and this morning, yes, it is so great to see the rain moving in. most of us have gotten a quarter up to an inch of rain near the coast and there's more to come, as we've seen it coming in waves with some breaks in between for parts of the bay, moving toward oakland and hayward. the east bay getting in on wet weather moving toward the tri-valley and we also have some rain in cupertino and soon be moving into campbell and san jose within the next few minutes. we'll be tracking all of this as well as the chance of more thunderstorms today, coming up in a few minutes. marcus? >> you can track the rain at your home as well through our nbc bay area app. it gives you free access to your storm ranger radar. you can set up weather alerts

tailored to your neighborhood and if you don't have the app, download it now for free at the app store. governor gavin newsom made what could be the most important address of his career. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez joins us live this morning with a look at not only what he said, but how it's all landing. good morning, kris. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. a lot of us are still waiting to be vaccinated. a lot of us are waiting for our kids to go back to school. a lot of us are waiting to recover financially from the pandemic and the governor said there are still brighter days ahead. speaking from the mass vaccination site at dodger stadium he focused on the state response to the coronavirus pandemic touting the benefit of the early shutdown and mask mandate. however, an associated press fact check shows that he misrepresented some of the covid data. the death rate per capita saying it was lower than what the cdc data reports. now the push to reopen schools

also has not quite materialized in many communities just yet. and though the state's vaccination effort ramped up it falls behind other states in the nation. in his speech, he spoke of the 54,000 californians who lost their lives to the virus. >> covid patients cared for by doctors and nurses and paramedics who despite the chaos and risk to themselves paused. >> covid was particularly difficult for california, because of his lockdowns, and now his own hypocrisy telling people to stay at home and he's at the french laundry having dinner. >> reporter: that's the chair of the san francisco republican party who supports the recall effort and supporters of the effort say that the governor, they have enough signatures on the recall petition to get that onto the ballot for voters to decide later this year. still the governor did stick to the brighter days message and said that he has made mistakes along the way, however, he's

learned from them. in san jose, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> kris, thank you. as we've been telling you, today is a big day for businesses in two bay area counties, alameda and solano are moving into the less restrictive red tier along with santa cruz county. here is a look at the updated map for you. the red tier means retail can open at 50%. restaurants can allow indoor dining at 25% capacity, indoor religious worship can resume at 25% and for gyms, it's 10%. the bay area's first orange tier county may not be far behind. if recent data holds, san mateo county may reach that level next week. that would allow bars and breweries to reopen outdoors. restaurants would be able to increase indoor capacity to 50%. san francisco supervisor matt haney is stepping up the push to get more vaccinations to some of the city's most vulnerable neighborhoods. in a new statement, he calls on public health leaders to mobilize vaccine efforts for low income residents in the tenderloin and treasure island.

he says both meet the governor's criteria for the state's most underserved zip codes and according to his office, just 8% on treasure island have been vaccinated. another major setback to report this morning to get shots in arms. stanford health care canceling nearly 7,000 vaccination appointments in alameda and santa clara counties because of a shortage of supply of vaccines. stanford health care is trying to reschedule the appointments for 20 days from now, when they say the supply should be a lot more stable. if you're looking for information on how and where to get that shot, just go to planyourvaccine.com and put in your state, age and occupation. it will pull up the closest vaccination sites to you, that's at planyourvaccine.com. some berkeley students could resume full-time in-person learning within weeks. an email went out to all families this week offering students that option. tk through second graders are set to start march 29th. third grade through fifth grade returns in mid-april. previously berkeley seemed

committed to the hybrid model. a district does not have to sign agreements with the union, but says that the union supports the plan. more details california's largest school district now nailing down some return dates. l.a. unified will reopen classrooms in mid-april, this is for the youngest students. for secondary schools, it's the end of april, that agreement reached last night schools will use a hybrid model. new this morning, a stanford-based study is illustrating the impact learning from home is having on reading development for younger students. the policy analysis for california education says children in first through third grades are reading aloud inaccurately 30% below normal over the past year. the findings are based on test scores across 22 states, including several school districts in california. south bay leaders have now provided a boost to better help businesses struggling to make it

in the bay. santa clara county supervisors, they have approved a recommendation to reduce or waive permit fees for the small businesses. now those fees charged to restaurants, food retailer, personal care services and gyms with fewer than 50 employees would be able to reduce or even waive through the end of the year. let's take a live look at the bay bridge on this kind of soggy wednesday morning. at this hour, traffic doesn't seem to be a problem out there but it turns out the pandemic has been this way far more often for bay area drivers over the past year. intrex has its 2020 global traffic scorecard. major cities across the united states saw traffic fall 44% last year. new york city drivers spent the most average time in their cars at 100 hours. l.a. coming in fifth with a 56% drop from 2019. the bay area actually came in sixth. drivers here lost 47 hours in traffic on average, but that was

right about half the year prior. new doubts about the recent four-year extension for the golden gate park, the ferris wheel, remember we were talking about that? the committee is now considering a new resolution to only extend its service for an additional year. it comes after a lot of opponents were pointing out the extension must have two-thirds board approval under the current guidelines. supporters meantime believe that that kind of approval is not required for what they're calling a temporary installation. right now, our exclusive bay area storm ranger up and running atop san bruno mountain scanning the skies and tracking the much-needed rain. across the bay area we have the live look, cameras in san jose, richmond and palo alto. roads are wet. meteorologist kari hall is timing out just how long you need the umbrellas this week. kari, how long? >> definitely needed pretty much all day today. tomorrow you can put that

umbrella down and maybe just pick up a nice warm coat. it's going to be chilly. as we get a look at what's going on right now, some rain moving through sunnyvale, cupertino and approaching campbell, moving into san jose within the next few minutes and a lot more of the storm system to work through the bay area, a chance of thunderstorms. mike, what's going on right now for the morning commute? >> you know, kari, we do have an alert i need to take folks to. i apologize, i was tweaking things so i probably messed up the control room as well, guys, sorry about that. we'll get that in place for the next one. eastbound 580 is jammed up right now as we have aboverturned big rig headed out to theality month pass, this crash happened a little while ago. we got word all but one lane are blocked right now getting out of the area causing a distraction coming in westbound is your commute. this is a factor for folks who don't normally hav an issue for the morning drive.

spinout near the san mateo bridge toll plaza, and a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza shows you light traffic but tougher conditions, the flags are flapping. it's breezy on the span. back to you. >> mike, thanks. staying put. still ahead on "today in the bay," how long extra security an capitol hill will remain after the deadly siege. also that search intensifying for the man who planted two pipe bombs in washington the night before. well, it's said the senate plan for the stimulus saves money, but it's still $1.9 trillion. we'll do some of the math, coming up. plus a little glimmer of hope this morning, if you can't wait to visit the happiest place on earth. what disneyland is saying about a possible reopening date. you're watching "today in the bay."

good wednesday morning. as we start out with this microclimate weather alert, we're expecting off and on rain, a chance of lightning as well as small hail with temperatures dropping today, staying chilly and more sierra snow. we'll talk more about all of this in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> and kari, we have a traffic alert, it's counter commute, the opposite direction but over my shoulder. we'll show it eastbound 580 jamming up livermore out of the altamont pass. the soupy conditions on the san mateo bridge as well and

spinouts reported on both sides. we'll talk about it more coming up. developing in minneapolis, jury selection resumes for the trial for the former police officer charged in the death of george floyd. derek chauvin was the officer seen in that video, putting his knee to floyd's neck for more than eight minutes. so far, three jurors have been seated. attorneys on both sides have been hard-pressed to find anyone not biased by the extensive media coverage. now to new developments in the insurrection on capitol hill. the national guard plans to stay in d.c. for ten more weeks following january's violent attack. its mission was expected to end on friday. the fbi is now releasing video that shows the person they believe planted two pipe bombs in d.c. the night before the riots. they were placed outside the democratic national committee and republican national committee offices. a $100,000 reward is being offered. the president will likely have the stimulus bill sometime on his desk today. >> scott mcgrew, checks will

start printing shortly after that. >> that's exactly right. the white house saying they will not have the president's signature on them, something president trump did, signing the memo line, not the signature line. $1,400 to individuals making less than $75,000 a year and of course money for unemployment benefits, the hungry and much more. speaker nancy pelosi says what congress has accomplished was as important as the affordable care act. >> in the 33 years that i have been in congress and up until now, the affordable care act has been the most consequential legislation that i had been a part of. this is definitely on a par with that, if not to exceed it in terms of its impact on many more poor people in our country. >> the house passed its own version of a stimulus some time back but it's the senate version that will become the law of the land, probably today.

the house has to approve it. the stimulus the house originally proposed was $1.9 trillion. the senate proposed scaling that back, reducing the number of americans who got a check and reducing the amount of extra unemployment benefits but stiff roughly a $1.9 trillion cost according to the congressional budget office. it turns out when you're dealing with numbers this big, it's all in the rounding. according to the congressional budget office, the house version cost $1 trlgs 919,633,000. the senate cut it back to 1,874,808,000. enough to build four aircraft carriers, a lot of money but a rounding error. some round up to $2 trillion. a math teacher says you could technically round down to zero. the white house dogs have been sent back to delaware after

an incident but the bidens plan on bringing a cat to the white house who no doubt will say i am in charge here. >> where is the cat? today is a good day for the cat. i don't have any update on the cat. we know the cat will break the internet, but i don't have any update on its status. >> that's the latest on the white house pets. we're watching the stimulus vote talking about it on twitter. you can find me @scottmcgrew. a follow-up in lafayette. councilmembers passed a resolution to ask the chp and cal trans for help in preventing trump supporters from gathering an on overpass above highway 24 near walnut creek. since september protesters with patriots of contra costa lined up every monday and friday. they say it's a matter of free speech. the city calls it a public safety issue. no carryover problem expected today for california's edd computer system which experienced a brief shutdown

yesterday. the agency says the outage lasted about an hour. all systems crashed including unemployment insurance and jobless benefits and it impacted most pretty much anyone trying to access the system between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. we've got new details, disneyland theme parks will reopen next month. "l.a. times" reporting disney will recall 10,000 california employees, training them on the new covid protocols. attendants at attendance at the park will be capped at 15% for now. 5:49, a special day for us here on "today in the bay." >> you know us, we like to celebrate everything, and today is meteorologist kari hall's birthday, even though things are a little different this year, we can't celebrate in person, we still wanted to bring you a little cheer, so we requested a little help from kari's family. take a look. >> hey, kari, i just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. look, it has been such a long

past year and i just wanted to say you know, from my work from home to your work from home studio, you're so great to work with, and i can't wait until we can celebrate in person. i hope you have the perfect day and again, happy birth day. >> happy birthday, kari! >> from your friends and family in louisville, kentucky. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ >> this is from your family in louisville. we wish you a wonderful birthday. >> bye! >> bye! >> happy birthday kari. we love you. >> happy birthday, mommy. >> yes. >> happy birthday. >> surprise! >> surprise! >> thank you guys. it's been so hard because we can't see your family especially my family in kentucky.

it was cool to see them. thank you guys. >> put a smile on your face this morning. >> all right. i'm so excited too that we get to celebrate today maybe go out and run in the rain a little bit. it's been so great to see that as well as we are seeing showers off and on. we went out there yesterday and washed the car and let the rain finish washing off the soap. it's been so nice to see and even a little bit of thunder and lightning which is of course always a spectacle, as we get a look at what's going on, on storm ranger, we've seen the showers moving through, and right now it's approaching parts of the east bay and the tri-valley. rain it moving through hayward and into dublin right now. it's going to be moving into pleasanton and livermore. the showers will be in east san

jose within the next few minutes and looking at all of the showers across the region that will be moving in, and we've seen some spots where we had some thunder and lightning, but there's still that chance for today with the center of the storm system moving in and also the possibility of small hail. as we go hour by hour, we've seen the rain moving in, and some of those showers start to taper off by later on tonight but at any point it could rain today and look at how much clearer tomorrow. after that, the water gets a chance to soak into the ground as we take a look at how much more rain we need to catch up to normal, and of course, we do still have these huge rainfall deficits over 18 inches for santa rosa and we'll continue to keep an eye on that as well as the rest of the bay area, while we get some snow on some of our bay area peaks, going into the next few days, and then this weekend, we will be clearing out and warming up, and temperatures heading into the mid-60s as we

spring forward this weekend. mike, how is it looking for the commute? >> looking like you got what you wanted for your birthday, rain activity. it's out there and also means for a busy birthday. unfortunately i have what we don't want on the altamont pass an alert for folks traveling eastbound on 580 getting away from livermore in toward tracy. we only have one lane blocked, we only have one lane open, sorry, overturned big rig and i hear about oil on the roadway. they need a crew to clear it up with absorbent and the rain in the area, that will complicate things a bit, getting out of the area toward tracy. the arrow shows you light traffic for the 84 cut-through, sick circled the san mateo bridge and dumbarton bridge. crash cleared at the toll plaza. rain may have been a factor at the dumbarton bridge, car lost its grip on the road as well so do be careful out there. back to you. >> thank you, mike. 5:53 right now. more fallout following the bombshell interview with prince harry and meghan markle, now

seen by some 50 million viewers across 17 countries. buckingham palace is responding in part saying the issues being raised during the interview including the one involving race is being treated very seriously. the queen is saying "some recollections may vary but it needs to be a family matter." in the meantime, piers morgan is leaving his role as a host on the popular "good morning britain." this comes following 41,000 complaints about his response to the interview. yesterday he walked off the set, after the show's meteorologist criticized him for his response. happening now, airline industry leaders are asking president biden's administration to set a new official standard for vaccine passport. this will allow travelers to disclose their covid testing and vaccination status as more americans start to fly. in a letter, more than two dozen airline industry groups are urging that the covid response coordinator establish uniform

guidance. there's a lot more ahead on this wednesday morning for you, including all new video of a bear crashing a ski trip. you'll want to stick around for this one to see what happened next. and from bears to sharks, find out where in california a close encounter happened. a wild wednesday out there. you're watching "today in the bay."

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welcome back to "today in the bay." take a look at new video, a close call for a group of skiers in romania. a skier took this video of a bear approaching the group and trying to run along with them. to keep the bear from getting any closer they tried to shoo it away. the bear decided to chase them down the slopes. they eventually got away and the bear slowed down probably he realized they didn't have any porridge. a young great white shark showing up on drone video off the southern coastline in del mar. the surfers who are dating said a friend texted them the screen shot and they recognized themselves. >> she's like all right, don't freak out or anything but we made the news. i'm like oh no, what did we do?

>> i guess at first i was like oh my god, that's insane. if i had known it was there, i would have reacted a little bit differently probably. >> scripps oceanographer says it's not unusual for sharks to be so close to del mar. signs are posted giving surfers a heads up. blanch has returned to the place or the palace of fine arts in san francisco. she was released yesterday into the pond she's called home for 25 years. a long time. the swan has spent the past month in the hospital because veterinarians were treating her for possible zinc or lead poise poisoning. they ask you avoid feeding her when she's close ashore. right now at 6:00, reopenings in the east bay, a new day. business also start letting people inside for dining or

working out. we're live in alameda county this morning for the new beginning there today, and for two other counties. >> not just in the east bay. today texas drops all its covid restrictions and reopens fully. that as alaska says all adults can get a shot. we are actually tracking all pandemic changes from coast to coast this morning. back home, another day of rain, hail, thunderstorms and even snow in certain places. our storm watch continues and is next. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues. good wednesday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm marcus washington. [ muted ] >> -- take it outside this morning. we have a live look at our cameras across the bay area. rain in some spots right now, in fact. kari's been monitoring it all for us. >> as we look at the cameras it's like wow, the sun is rising earlier in the morning. now we're able to see a little bit. once we spring forward, we'll go