what's happening in minneapolis and across the world right now. right now at 6:00 from the bay area to san diego, a day a lot of californians have been waiting for finally arrived. we're six hours into vaccinations opening to everyone 16 and older, but you know what? you still have to work to book that shot. >> hit refresh, keep going, be persistent and hopefully you'll get it soon. >> that's the message, don't give up. keep hunting and that's exactly what our team right here at nbc bay area's "today in the bay" are doing for you all hour on "today in the bay," as it continues right now. it's thursday morning and good morning to you. thanks so much for being a part of our team. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. your weather and commute check is coming up in just about eight minutes but first, let's talk about the big story of the day, marcus, it's getting vaccinated. >> we begin with consumer investigator chris chmura with

tips for getting those appointments. >> let's start with the state's website. myturn.ca.gov. the department of health says you don't have to register or prove eligibility. you can just start searching for an appointment. we found if you do a little more digging, you can find other available sites or open appointments. here's where to dig. start with your county's public health office and other counties, too. they might have information about mass vaccination sites. we searched santa clara's website and found lots of open shots in gilroy, appointments we did not see on the state website. so checking with public health offices is key. you can also search pharmacy websites, they're getting more

doses and adding more appointments, too. >> our goal is to be in every store. >> the federal government sends see vass supply notifications. see vass applies what's called a social vulnerability index and selects locations and updates its appointment system. cvs says it does that regularly but we saw the biggest batches of appointments open each night, overnight, generally around 1:00 a.m. people grabbed them fast so you might have to stay up late or get up early to grab one. >> we absolutely are encouraging everyone to check regularly and not to feel defeated or feel like there's no vaccine left. >> walgreens says it updates inventory weekly but wouldn't tell us what day. one message we've heard loud and clear is pharmacies do not accept walk-ins. >> we are actually not allowing anyone to come into the stores and recommending that people don't do that. >> you must have an appointment to get a covid-19 vaccine at a pharmacy. that being said, consider calling nearby pharmacies to see if they're keeping a local standby list for no shows or leftover vaccine. you don't get much notice but you might get seen much faster. it worked for my colleague arlen fernandez at telemundo 48 responde. >> try what i did and other people did, call local pharmacies and see if they can put on a waiting list.

it was worth my time. >> if you get the moderna or pfizer vaccine, you'll need a second shot a few weeks later. ask the nurses at the first appointment to set your second appointment. if they require you to book it yourself, don't wait. side note. if you travel a long distance to get your first shot you don't have to travel back to the same location to get your second. good luck. when we learn more, we'll have it for you right here. this morning we are joining you in hunting for the elusive appointments. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson doing that for us, as well this morning. >> you're tracking social media for the tips as well. >> reporter: yes, good morning. i had the chance to interview two women that are administrators for a facebook group, the san francisco covid-19 vaccine help group. the facebook page offers tips for folks looking for a vaccine or have already completed a vaccine and have any advice for

others. both women offer their expertise and say they've become pretty good at landing those vaccines. their page boasts more than 5. thousand members. the group members are interactive, and both women say it's been an honor to help others and offer tips for those looking for shots now that eligibility expanded. >> i think the first thing would be to cast a broad net and don't get too focused on one site, and try to be informed about possible patterns of when appointments are released. >> if you're new to the process and you feel lost, please reach out for help. i'm happy to help, and if you know how to help, help someone else. >> reporter: and one of the other tips they offered was to

spread a wide net so that's exactly what i'm doing here, searching for vaccines for folks in the san francisco area. i have several pads up so that's my live net the myturn site and two pharmacies, cvs and walgreens. i've been searching and refreshing. so far i haven't found anything but that's really the key is it to make sure you keep refreshing your wide net in case anything does become available. they say it's important to join a couple facebook groups. may be a post one group is not aware of. it could be key to securing a vaccine. live in millbrae, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> workout for your fingers, keep refreshing. california received just under 2 million vaccine dose this is week. next week the number is the same slightly less. as of this morning nearly 40% of adults in california received at least one shot, 23% fully vaccinated. >> stay with our "today in the

bay" team throughout the morning for updates and follow us all on social media. we are all out actively posting about any of those vaccine appointments that we find. i just tweeted i found some for you in coachella and clovis, if you want to make a road trip. we're trying to share as many helpful tips and links for you this morning. it is 6:06. one of the larkest school districts in the south bay welcomes some children back into the class road. >> thom jensen is live in san jose. alum rocks schools have been struggling to get to this point. >> reporter: it's been a money issue. one of alum rock's schools is set to reopen later on this morning. they're going to give us a tour of the school, just opening for third through fifth graders part-time, only about a third of the student body returning. fewer than 100 students out of a student body of about 310. it's a fairly large school district, too, 28 schools, serving 11,000 students.

the superintendent told us last month that she'd need about $9 million to open all of the classrooms safely. she got about a third of that $3 million, and later on this morning, we're going we'll see how some of the money was spent. it's been frustraing for alum rock, watched wealthier districts open earlier and robustly. yesterday the governor discussed frustration and encouraged more districts to reopen. >> we could do this safely, we know that. we know that. there's no substitute for that enrichment, that comes from being in school. >> reporter: some of the things that we're told that we'll see at this school is a lot of distance between desks, sneeze guards, a lot more hand sanitizing stations water fountains. political leaders, school officials and county health officials and parent and teacher groups will also be with us on

that tour. we hope to get their feedback about what they see today. thom jensen, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much, tom. so let's stay in san jose for that this morning, taking a live look outside. wow, look at that, the sun is up overlooking downtown san jose, and some of the kids do head back to school, maybe in a hybrid situation as well, finally we get to go out and about. masks on, but getting some fresh air nonetheless. should be a nice day ahead, kari? >> absolutely. and it's so nice to see more of the kids heading back to school and we're going to have some nice weather for drop-off, maybe the parents are already packing those lunches. we'll see temperatures that drop off at about 45 degrees in alum rock and pickup mostly in the low 60s. it's nice and sunny, head outside. we have a lot of people doing the hybrid learning and virtual learning as well. san ramon will see temperatures at 52 degrees at 9:00, and then

laptops outside as you enjoy more of the time outdoors today, reaching into the mid-60s and of course recommendin90 minutes of exercise each day. so of course we want to get that in. as people head to work this morning, how is it looking, vianey? >> well, westbound 880 is recovering following an earlier crash that was blocking the "a" street on-ramp. we're still seeing some slowing there and i did see a new crash pop up in the palo alto area. i'll check the chp traffic reports of course in a few minutes but quick update on your east bay drive times northbound 808 from marina boulevard to bradd quay nine minutes. westbound estudillo avenue to grand avenue eight minutes and fish ranch road to the bay bridge about eight minutes. another update on the palo alto crash in a few minutes. back to you. >> thank you. 6:09, a busy day around

here. scott mcgrew, the good news today is you don't have to file your taxes this april 15th, which is today. >> which is today, that's right. there's an extension because of the pandemic, though we were saying yesterday, get them in, because of that child tax credit. coming up, we'll take a look at matchbox cars and a tough tweet from ford, out to the futures, looking in the green this fine morning. and are you getting a lot of red when clicking looking for the covid vaccine poemts? we have got a team of reporters and folks behind the scenes all clicking away trying to find you the best ones this morning. head to nbcbayarea.com for much more news. you're watching "today in the bay."

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learn, save and spend with guidance from chase. confidence feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. right out in at 6:12, time to head out for a run or bike ride, you're my inspiration. temperatures in cupertino mid-40s and a lot of sunshine and nice weather today. we'll talk about three simple steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint from our climate in crisis coming up. major slowing at the bay bridge, westbound 80 toward the bay bridge looking at about 20 minutes, so you may want to head out the door now. minutes, and

westbound 84 toward the dumbarton bridge 9 minutes. a full traffic report in a few minutes. good morning, happy thursday as well. very few calls for new boycotts by conservatives after a huge number of companies signed on to a full page ad defending voting rights. starbucks, peloton, netflix among them, pushing back against states restricting or changing voter laws. georgia was the first to do it and coca-cola and major league baseball and delta called the state out on it leading conservatives called for boycotts and for corporations to keep out of politics. >> well, republicans buy stock and fly on planes and drink coca-cola, too. so i'm saying here is i think this is quite stupid to jump in the middle of a highly controversial issue.

>> the list of companies jumping in defending voter rights spans airlines, american and jetblue, banks, bank of america, wells fargo and google and apple and pinterest and best buy and nordstroms, and general motors. the fir time jobless claims released the lowest since the pandemic started, very good news. the u.s. sanctioned 19 russian organizations and individuals moments ago. we'll talk about that as we talk about politics in half an hour. a biting tweet from the ceo of ford showing off his company's new automated driving software called blue cruise. jim farley says "we tested it in the real world so our customers don't have to." that's a shot at tesla, which releases beta level software to willing customers. tesla's automated driving system has been blamed for a number of crashes. ford's system will be available at the f150 pickup and the new ford electric mustang suv. matchbox which makes the

little model cars showing off e your hands. it's part of a line of matchbox green cars like the bmw electric and will be made with recyclable materials. marcus and law camera, when i was a student at east grand rapids middle school, lunch was exactly $1 and matchbox exactly $1 at the drugstore down the street. my parents would send me to school with $2. some days it of matchbox cars and not lunch. >> i'm with you. i probably would have chosen the car a couple of days, too. >> i remember buying those cars for $1. good memories, there. 6:16 right now. walmart plans to convert two-third of its hourly store roles to full time positions by the end of this year as it looks retain workers. the pickup and delivery business has boomed since the start of the pandemic and that means more full time jobs available with

consistent schedules. the latest move walmart will have added 100,000 more full time positions than it did five years ago. trending this morning, one less reason for you to have to go to work while your dog does not. >> anheuser-busch is holding a contest to find its first canine chief tasting officer. the salary $20,000 for its owner, the winning dog will taste test busch's new dog brew, a nonalcoholic beer made especially for dogs. to qualify, your pup must have good taste and smell and be a very good boy or girl. to submit your dog for consideration, check out the application on the company's website. if i have a dog, everyone works in this house, you got to do some work. >> got to earn your keep at your house. >> look, i had a friend whose dog had to go through surgery, about $20,000, so you know, look. >> oh, yeah. >> uh-huh. >> expensive. >> got to do some work.

work, binx, no, sleep. vianey? >> he's back to sleep. i woke him up during the 5:00 a.m. hour specifically for this hit that talks about dogs and he looked at me like i was crazy so i let him go back to sleeping in the morning and is he relaxing now. but you know, we do have just a couple of issues out on the road right now. we've got some slowing along the bay bridge, which is something you definitely want to pay attention to, this is a part of your morning commute. you can see it on our speed sensor maps where you see the red is where the slowing is happening. how much of a delay can you expect? as of right now, looks like about 20 minutes but the east bay drive times are also starting to slow down a bit, too, westbound 24 from fish ranch road to the bay bridge nine minutes and here it s one of the slowest spots is westbound 80 towards the bay bridge, about 24 minutes. westbound 92 toward the san mateo bridge 13 minutes, and westbound 84 toward the

dumbarton bridge about nine minutes. so the bay bridge is definitely busy this morning. you definitely want to head out now. kari? >> we'll let binx sleep a little while longer before you head out for that walk. we have a nice cool start to our morning, here is a live look outside in tiburon. the low clouds, the marine layer that's with us keeping the coastline cool today, so we will have another day with a wide range in temperatures, from the upper 50s in san francisco to the mid-60s in oakland, upper 60s for palo alto and some low 70s for our inland valleys in spots like concord, and we're going to see still some very dry conditions. we just got the update of the drought monitor. i wanted to show you what it looks like across the state. it's a lot of bright colors because we're pretty much all in a drought at this point and seen worsening drought conditions especially for the severe and extreme drought categories across southern california. it really remains unchanged for us here. we still have the extreme drought for parts of the north

bay, but most of us right now are in a severe drought. so of course it's top of mind to start conserving water. i have good news. we go get some snow in the sierra and over the past 24 hours, there were some spots like mt. rose that got a foot of snow. so just a beautiful start to this thursday, this weather system has moved on, so if you're going there this weekend, it will be a good drive, and you'll have some fresh powder, too. here we're going to see the temperatures reaching into the mid 80s, so it's going to feel more like summer in our inland areas but it does cool down next week. san francisco will sees temperatures in the upper 50s today, but we'll head up to 70 by sunday. now let's talk about our climate in crisis. we look at some simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint leading up to earth day. a lot of us have used online shopping more than ever during this pandemic, so websites like amazon allow you to pick a delivery day tos well as the wa you produce and you might want

to try that as well as biking at least one earned this week or walking through that, pick up some groceries. you may find that you do things a little bit faster than you thought, and you're also reducing your carbon footprint, and a lot of people don't realize this, but you do need to eat less meat to also have a better carbon footprint. you'd think about cattle, they produce 6% of our bad greenhouse gases and bigger car bop footprint to get the meat to the store and your table. check out some of these tips. vianey's climate hacks by clicking on our climate in crisis tab on the website. laura and marcus? >> the more you know. coming up, water bills are going up for hundreds of thousands of bay area customers. will this impact you? we'll talk about the details next. and our producer toni leon has spent all morning long looking for vaccine appointments. he's been detailing his journey

on twitter. the best place he found so far, cvs' website offering some shots in brentwood. you can find any shots through myturn.ca's website or the alameda county health department. follow nbc bay area on twitter. we'll be right back.

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you can even watch your dvr from anywhere. okay, that's just showing off. you get all of this with x1. so go on, get really into your shows. you need a breath mint. xfinity. it's a way better way to watch. 6:24. today may mark a new step in pg&e ultimately losing its

utility license. the power regulators are expected to serve official notice it is neglecting responsibilities and leaving northern california at greater risk of new deadly wildfires. pg&e already responded to those allegeses saying agents are ignoring the progress they're making in boosting fire safety. pg&e falls short in making changes being recommended today, the puc may eventually pull its license. new this morning, people in the south bay should prepare to pay a whole lot more for their water. the mercury news is reporting santa clara valley water district will raise 10% each year for the next eight years, that means monthly bills will go up by about $5. the water district halted the hike last year due to the pandemic but now the hikes have become more critical to maintain infrastructure. expect to pay more starting july 1st. a happy ending to a desperate search and rescue mission.

renee campeon is rescued in the san gabriel mountains. he managed to text his friend a photo after becoming lost. l.a. county search and rescue posted it on social media asking for help. another person, benjamin kuo responded with coordinates of where he believed that photo was taken which helped guide rescuers. the pair virtually met for the first time on tuesday. >> really appreciate what you did. i really, i don't know if i could have made it there another day. it's just so cold. >> in his spare time, kuo tracks wildfires, using satellite images. i love that, using modern technology at home. all right, we're using technology for you this morning. we have all been hunting behind the scenes for these coveted vaccine appointments. we've got live team coverage coming up next. and another developing story for you this morning, happening

here in the bay area, right now police surrounding a south bay home. coming up, we'll tell you the violent incident they believe may be tied to the person barricaded inside. you're watching "today in the bay."

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nkt right now at 6:30, vaccinations open to everyone 16 up in the golden state. time to look for open appointments and that's what we're doing for you this morning. let's get started.

"today in the bay" continues right now. good thursday morning. thanks for joining us. i'm marcus washington along with laura garcia and laura, a big day today. >> it sure is. we started this journey as you well know over a year ago, first cases of covid-19 appeared right here in the bay area. then we have a lockdown, of course working from home and now finally a chance for all of us to get that vaccine, and start to put this pandemic behind us. so let's get going. the entire "today in the bay" team both on air and off air they're all behind the scenes working for you this morning. take a look, "today in the bay's" thom jensen is searching outside of the bay area, where we're finding some of the appointments if you're willing to drive, open spots in stockton and surrounding areas in the central valley. cierra johnson look at that working on top of her car, but she's checking for tips on social media out there right now and we've got a team in our

newsroom as well, writers and producers have been online scouring all these different sites to try to find you vaccine eligibility and shots out there. our staff also working from home this morning, they've been looking for appointments that possibly you could snag right now. they found a few, but you may be in for a journey there. we'll continue to post on air and online where you can book these appointments. let's check in with ready bob redell searching all morning long. any success, bob? >> mild, moderate success i should say, laura. you want to go to the my turn california website. i typed in addresses or zip codes for the south bay, the peninsula, sf, the north bay, didn't have any luck but when i did start looking and saying that i was living in eastern alameda or eastern contra costa counties, plenty of appointments, stockton arena, so

if you live in these areas, the eastern parts of alameda or contra costa county, you will be able to find web sites. this is for 8:30 this morning. i just clicked on it and it says that appointment is no longer available. 1:30 in the afternoon, so i'm able to get 1:30 in the afternoon, the early morning one has been taken. if you want to get your shot today and you're eligible go to your my turn california website. this was the scene yesterday at the stanford covid-19 vaccine clinic, in emeryville. one of the spots that did have appointments available. we spoke with one woman who drove all the way from san jose to emeryville to get her shot. >> i'm very relieved. i didn't think i would get it this early. >> i feel relieved. you know, it's kind of an emotional thing to decide to get one and i'm glad i did. >> i'm happy to have the first and can't wait to get the second over with. >> reporter: santa clara county just received 300,000 doses from the federal government.

people snapped up those appointments almost immediately, up the we ininess la, in san mateo county, there is a shortfall this week of about 5,000 doses due to the johnson & johnson freeze and a relatively small shipment coming from the state. the health department there suggests people on the peninsula check out large medical groups like stanford or kaiser, or check your local pharmacies for availability. reporting live, bob redell "today in the bay." >> bob, before you go, you had a really good point there. it was illustrated, you clicked on an appointment and when you click again it's gone. so folks really have to remember, you kind of can't be picky, if you see something, you need to grab it. >> yes. stockton arena, one that keeps popping up and 8:45 is available. so stockton arena, like i mentioned earlier, does have a lot of availability, where we took our daughter on sunday and we live here in eastern alameda

county area. i don't know if you qualify if you say live in oakland, sf, san jose. there's a radius they're making eligible to go to the stockton arena. not sure how far that radius is. >> all right, good things to check out. thanks so much, bob. the task of getting those appointments is a tough one there. we bring in consumer investigator chris chmura, i spoke with him to find out some of the tricks when you're hunting for that vaccine. okay, chris, a lot of people looking for convenient and easy way for vaccine appointments. do you have tips or tricks? >> good morning, marcus. the key is to search everywhere you can. here's where we've been searching. first the state's official website myturn.ca.gov. if you don't find any appointments there, don't give

up. just move on. look to see if your local public health office has any open slots or information about mass vaccine sites. check if w your health plan, lots of people online reported good success with that route. finally check with the big pharmacy companies and consider doing your search overnight. we noticed the number of available appointments at cvs was greatest at 1:00 a.m. costco just added more locations but it's been offering the one-shot johnson & johnson vaccine. that's on hold. so it might be even more difficult to find appointments there. now, speaking of finding appointments, local might be an issue but we've seen wide open availability outside the bay area. >> speaking of outside the bay area, a lot of people are talking about driving long distance to get that shot. chris, you went to bakersfield. how far does one have to go to get this shot? >> i guess it depends on how quickly you want to get a shot. if you don't want to wait, you might find some open same-day

appointments in the central valley or mass vaccination sites that will take walk-ups, that's what my wife and i did, a walk-up mass vaccination site, no waiting, just eight hours of driving because they opened up availability. we found it by looking at public health websites, county by county, until we found a mass vaccine clinic that didn't require an appointment. in and out in an hour. >> you see online different versions, one is better than the other. can you choose the vaccine that you want to get? >> yes and no. some clinics and pharmacies say you'll get whatever they have on hand. some pharmacies have been giving customers an option during the appointment setting process. the johnson & johnson vaccine once it resumes or the two-dose pfizer or moderna shot. >> if you get the vaccine, the two-dose vaccine you need the second appointment for that one. so is it going to be difficult to book that one after you get your first shot? >> it might be. before you leave the clinic that's giving you your first dose, ask them to set your second appointment. if they won't or can't, you'll likely have to hunt again, and that's what happened to me. we didn't get a second shot set

up so we later contacted the health system that ran our clinic, it made an appointment closer to home, thankfully. the health plan rep. said they could see availability about a month out but pharmacies are only publicly sharing a few days out. so as more and more people are getting shot one, there's going to be more competition for shot two so i'd recommend checking occasionally or often after your first dose to see what's available for your second. if we see changes or hacks to help you with that process, we'll let you know. >> never thought with getting the second shot having to search again. good to know, thanks, chris. >> you're welcome. we have much more on vaccine appointments coming up in this next half hour. to other news this morning as well, developing now, police are surrounding a home in connection with a shooting in san jose.

north fourth street near taylor. the shooting happened about 12 hours ago near aloni middle school. one person was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. fort fourth remains closed. taggers targeted walnut creek. it happened last night in the downtown area, near main and locust streets, city hall and the police department were both among the targets. some witnesses did report protesters in the area but it's still not clear how many people were actually there or how police responded. >> consideration demanding that mayor foppoli resign as mayor of windsor. >> the mayor of windsor himself tom knick foppoli introducing a resolution he resign immediately happened during last night's emergency town council meeting in the wake of sexual assault

made by a half dozen women. he insists none of the allegations are true and he has no plans to step down. residents and other councilmembers pleaded for him to rethink his approach. >> the reason i am not stepping down is that in this case i know the truth of those experiences. i don't blame those who are angry and suggest this as they were not there and do not know what i know. >> if you love windsor as much as you said you always have, then you need to resign tonight so that we can move on and start the healing process. >> other councilmembers did vote for him to resign, but they lack authority to remove him. that can only change if he's convicted of a felony or voters recall him. 6:39. taking a live look in san francisco this morning, where you can once again catch a live show or attend a conference. who knew attending a conference would sound like fun?

the city is giving the green light to reopen indoor ticketed and seated events including sports and theaters at 35% capacity. they'll have to provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid test. maybe "hamilton" will make a return. >> nice, or "hamilton" outside. that would be good. right now we're just trying to get that other shot. >> this is so true right here. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking those temperatures that we can expect. a shot of sunshine today maybe, right? >> yes, or maybe a sip of some wine. let's head to napa valley this weekend if you're packing to go there, pack some spring and summer clothes, we're going from 75 degrees on friday to 82 on saturday and 87 degrees on sunday. so yes, by the end of the weekend, it's going to be very warm, going hiking, going to maybe shasta trinity national forest, it's going to be a lot hotter there, reaching 90 degrees by the end of the

weekend, and that sunshine continues with l.a. reaching into the upper 60s for tomorrow and saturday. vianey, how is it looking for the commute? >> you know, so far we've done pretty well when it comes to no major accidents but there is some slowing along the morgan hill area along 101. it's just morning commute starting to build. let's look at -- excuse me -- your south bay drive times, northbound 101 from highway 85 about 20 minutes, northbound 280 from highway 101 to highway 85 about 7 minutes and northbound 85 from highway 101 about 20 minutes. back to you. >> thanks, vianey. 6:41. coming up next, the very latest on the j&j covid vaccine and what's being done with the hopes of getting it back into rotation. plus -- tough new sanctions against russians and russian organizations. we'll bring you the latest from washington.

and check out these images, is it a ufo? up next, what one insider says the pentagon may be ready to admit. you're watching "today in the bay."

the good thursday morning. 6:43, take a look at your microclimate and high temperatures for today. it's going to be another nice one, a lot of sunshine, a light breeze and we'll continue with one more day of weather like

this, before it heats up. we'll talk about that in our microclimate forecast coming up in a few minutes. east bay drive times northbound 880 from marina boulevard to broadway about 11 minutes, westbound 58 from estudill avenue to grand avenue 8 minutes and westbound 24 to fish ranch road 12 minutes. full traffic report in a few minutes. as vaccine eligibility ex-panlds statewide eyes on washington as some congressional lawmakers are pushing to add more justices to the supreme court. >> first team coverage with "today in the bay's" tracie potts this morning. she has a look at concerns over johnson & johnson's vaccine is in the spotlight on capitol hill. tracie? >> that's right, laura. lots of concerns about vaccines in general especially now this one-shot johnson & johnson vaccine, that is in the spotlight right now. the biden administration's top

health experts will be on capitol hill talking about this and other issues regarding the pandemic today. they are trying to prevent panic, after every state, all 50 including california hit the pause button on the j&j vaccine after a cdc panel took no action on that topic yesterday, saying they want more information following reports of rare blood clots. as we've been reporting all morning, the pause on johnson & johnson comes as california opens eligibility to all adults 16 and older today. it's making getting that coveted appointment even more difficult. >> it is so, so true, everywhere. tracie potts, thanks so much. in the meantime, the push by some democrats to add more justices to the supreme court. scott mcgrew continues our coverage. >> a new bill in congress that undercuts the president's call

for a commission to look into expanding the court, just goes forward with it, with no study or thought. it will likely fail because it has little support. republicans don't like it, it would end their control of the court. many on both sides don't like it because it would call into question the legitimacy of the court and for democrats it gets ahead of the president's wishes. president biden ordered the u.s. troops leave afghanistan no later than september 11th. president trump called for an earlier withdrawal on may 1st. biden now says some troops will indeed start leaving on the 1st of may, a significant move. biden says he doesn't agree with the may 1st date but an american president negotiated it he says and so america's going to stick to it. presidents usually do stick to what previous presidents promised. american foreign policy is supposed to be consistent but what biden is saying is very different than what president trump did. he withdrew from president

obama's deal with iran and the paris agreement as well. president trump is it not follow president obama but president biden seems to be following president trump. video brand new into our newsroom, secretary of state anthony blinken landed in kabul meeting with the afghan president, says america's relationship with afghanistan will not end with the withdrawal of troops. major moves against russia. the u.s. expelled diplomats, sanctions against 32 new organizations and individuals and president biden declared the threats from russia a national emergency, this after the kremlin interfered with the 2020 election and once again interfering with ukraine. the sanctions mean those individuals and organizations will have trouble banking and investing. video here of russian athletes showing off their new olympic uniforms. they can't wear uniforms that say russia because of a punishment by the olympic committee over drugs and cheating. we're watching everything that's

happening in washington. there is a whole lot of it, we're talking about it on you can find me there, i'm @scottmcgrew. >> thank you. think about this. have you ever thought maybe you're not alone? the pentagon may be getting closer to revealing its own conclusions. >> some way these images and clips show a possible ufo. now they were classified until a documentary filmmaker released them last year. he says the pentagon not only confirms authenticity but plans to present them during a congressional report this summer. the former director of the pentagon program says this is not a case of science fiction. >> i know it's hard for people to really, you know, wrap their head around it, but it is real. that's no longer a point of conjecture. we are well beyond that. the question is, what is it and how does it work? >> gadi schwartz is trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. you can see his full report on

the "today" show, immediately after "today in the bay" at 7:00 a.m. i don't know if anybody remembers -- ♪ do, do, do, do, do ♪ just came to me right now. >> no. >> you guys don't? >> well you know what? really old movie. >> the music was playing at the same time, almost sounded like the exact thing. ♪ do, do, do, do ♪ guaranteed there's some viewers that know what i'm talking about. >> twilight zone? >> no. >> see? >> let's move on to weather and get a look at your forecast. right? let's check it out what's going on with your home school recess. a lot of people are learning virtually or you have the hybrid learning going on, so let's head over toward the east bay, our home school recess forecast for san ramon will start out in the low 50s and we'll see a lot of sunshine today. it's going to be nice for just spending a lot more time outside and if you're one of the lucky

few able to go to the a's game today, make sure you're bundled up. cool and breezy, up 50s at first pitch at 6:40 and dropping as we head throughout that game. we'll round the microclimates around the bay area, we'll see oakland reaching 65 degrees and 71 in san jose. morgan hill will reach 71 and 71 also in napa. concord today one of the warmer spots, reaching 73 degrees. now, i wanted to show you the drought monitor update, this just came out this morning and we are seeing some worsening drought conditions especially for southern california, where we're starting to see a lot more of that dark red creeping in to california as well as severe drought that continues for much of the north bay into the extreme drought category as you head off towards the north and east. we're still extremely dry, and we're not seeing any significant rain chances in the forecast. so we're keeping an eye on that. i do have a bit of good news,

yesterday in the sierra, there were some spots like mt. rose that had 12 inches of snow, and there was a light coating of snow elsewhere across the sierra, good to get that precipitation coming down. a look at our live camera shows fresh powder at north star. you'll enjoy that and temperatures warming up for the bay area, mid-60s for inland areas and before you think about turning on the ac, we get our natural air conditioning coming back by the beginning to middle of next week. vianey, heading out for work this morning, how is it looking for the commute? >> we do have some slowing if 880 is a part of your commute before the toll plaza on-ramp. we're starting to see some slowing, it looks like there's a crash just before that, so let me give you a quick look at your drive times, westbound 80 toward the bay bridge about 14 minutes. actually got better because it was at about 24 minutes so

that's good. it's moving somewhat. westbound 92 toward the san mateo bridge 13 minutes. so far we're doing okay. i'll send it back to you. >> thank you very much. happening now, we are monitoring vaccine eligibility. now open to everyone 16 and older in our state. we just found six covid vaccine appointments, still available in napa county, kaiser permanente offering them for tomorrow afternoon. it's all for napa county residents 16 and older, but you don't have to have kaiser insurance. when you book, you'll book both your first and second shots. >> you already know that we are looking for more appointments elsewhere. our team out there right now, take a look at bob and cierra, working hard on those computers trying to find those appointments for you. much more ahead on "today in the bay." it is 6:53.

this guy here is busy working on our state's recovery. you see he lives in california and by vacationing in california he's supporting our businesses and communities. which means every fruity skewer is like another sweet nail in the rebuilding of our economy. hammer away craftsman.

calling all californians. keep your vacation here and help our state get back to work. and please travel responsibly.

♪ ♪ ♪ and help our state get back to work. when it comes to your financial health, just a few small steps can make a real difference. ♪ ♪ ♪ guidance on your terms. confidence feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. welcome back. our top story today, vaccine eligibility now open to anyone 16 and older, and you know what? a lot of people in california have been waiting for this day. but people who already locked in the slot say that they still have to work to book that shot. >> hit refresh, keep going, be persistent and hopefully you'll get it soon. >> they booked it, but they had to work for it, that's the message, don't give up.

keep hunting. that's exactly what our own team here on nbc bay area has been doing for you all morning long. let's begin with "today in the bay's" bob redell, how is it going? >> laura and marcus, good morning to you. you want to go to the my turn california website. here i've entered an address in eastern alameda county, plenty of availability at the stockton arena, but if you go back and you look here, you see other places, it would not let me book at the oakland coliseum. it says there's available at the safeway pharmacy. you go on their website there is no availability except for in los altos, limited availability. the takeaway from this, appointments are hard to find until you live in eastern alameda county or eastern contra costa county where you can get into the stockton arena. what is not clear is what the eligibility is in terms of the radius, it seems you have to

live close to the stockton arena. if you type in a san francisco zip code, stockton arena is not going to come up. if you look closer to stockton arena and eastern alameda, contra costa county there are plenty of appointments available. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." and i'm cierra johnson in millbrae. i've been following the advice of the co-administrators of one of those vaccine searching facebook groups, biggest piece of advice was to cast a wide net, refresh, refresh, refresh, so that's what i've been doing. i've been focusing on the san francisco area as well as pharmacies, and i have not found any in the san francisco area but when i extended that 50 miles out, i was able to locate limited availability in los altos. the individuals with that facebook group saying join one of the facebook pages. there's folks actively searching, posting and you may be able to land a vaccine using one of those sites.

in millbrae, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thanks. we have got much more information online for you as well, head to our website, nbcbayarea.com, click on how to get a vaccine appointment at the top of the page. as you're looking, so are we, looking outside a live look at sfo this morning, looking nice, the sun shining now, well, meteorologist kari hall has a look at the forecast for us and looking nice and bright. >> yes, we have a lot more sunshine in the forecast and we keep the comfortable temperatures for today and tomorrow. it's going to feel more like summer this weekend in our inland valleys in spots like concord, going into next week, with he will cool down a few more degrees and also a slight chance of rain. how is it looking for the commute, vianey? >> well, we had a couple of fender -- pretty busy at the bay bridge, westbound 80 towards the bay bridge you're looking at about 15 minutes. so if you have to take the bridge, definitely do that time now. westbound 92 toward the san mateo bridge only about 13 minutes. back to you.

>> all right, thanks so much. that's going to do for us this morning. >> take a look at this, beautiful sunrise in san jose. ahh, just makes me want to go out and drink some tea. the "today" show is coming up. have a great morning. we'll see you back here at 7:25. . good morning, weighing the risks, the pause on johnson & johnson's vaccine to remain in place for at least another week. a seventh woman now developing rare but serious blood clots after getting the shot the cdc's director trying to prevent panic. >> for people who received the vaccine more than a month ago the risk of a blood clot is exceptionally low. >> all this as covid cases continue to rise at an alarming rate across much of the country. just ahead, everything you need to know. breaking overnight, released, the officer who