from this wind storm that blew through. cierra? >> reporter: yes, good morning, kari. right now all is calm on the other side of the golden gate bridge. things are quiet but a completely different story this time yesterday and into the afternoon hours. take a look at your screen. crews throughout the bay area capturing some of that damage. crews were busy in daly city. the winds left a tree down on a roadway. one person there was left with minor injuries. first responders aren't sure if it's because the tree fell onto the car or the car crashed into the tree, but take a listen to what they had to say about the strong winds. >> the wind is very strong tonight, blowing approximately 25 with higher gusts up in the 30s. you can still hear the wind now coming down. so this is a tree approximately 80 to 100 feet in height and got

knocked down with the severe winds. we've been having a hard wind event all day. >> reporter: you can tell that huge tree was able to get knocked down by that wind and that same strong wind wreaked havoc in redwood city. trees in the downtown area, one of them actually ended up on top of a car. we're told no one was injured in that situation. there was also some damage in the city of bernal heights. a tree in an intersection blocking traffic. pg&e crews were eventually able to move that. you can stay with us. a look and what you can expect for the weather later in the day. if you had any storm damage in your area or any wind damage, feel free to tweet us or send us a picture. i'm cierra johnson on facebook and twitter. cierra johnson for "today in the bay." investigators say they now

know what started a small grass fire that destroyed a home. officials say juveniles were playing with fire. it got out of control and burned up the hillside. it started in the backyard on arthur road. witnesses say they heard a lot of explosions and thick, black smoke could be seen for miles. >> the wind took it and hit the grass and went up on the hill. a lot of cars up there. there were propane tanks that exploded. >> the three juveniles were questioned and released to their parents. they all got out safely. >> the chance of a 9/11-style commission investigating the capitol siege now resting in the hands of u.s. senators. more than a dozen republicans supporting it.

tracie the showdown is hardly over. >> reporter: democrats and republicans both say they want to get to the bottom of what happens at the capitol but how they do it. is the issue. republican leaders are skeptical that there's some language in the fine print that would give democrats too much control. they think this may be wholly unnecessary with the fbi investigation going on. some of the same arguments we heard from the house yesterday in what at times turned out to be a fierce debate over why this is even an issue. >> we have people scaling the capitol, hitting the capitol police with lead pipes across the head and we can't get bipartisanship. what else has to happen in this country? >> set aside politics just this

once. >> the only way to stop the lines is to respond with the truth. >> reporter: so as you said it's now in the hands of the senate. the house divided 50/50 so an uphill battle when that comes up for a vote. >> still on the divide but talking about the mask mandate. what are they divided on now? >> reporter: whether or not they have to wear a mask on the house floor when they come to vote, republicans say get rid of it. the cdc has said vaccinated people don't have to wear them. house speaker nancy pelosi says she's concerned because at last count a quarter of lawmakers had not been vaccinated and,

remember, they were prioritized very early on. she's saying get your people in line, get them vaccinated and then we'll talk about mask. it failed so as of today the mask still has to be worn. some republicans have taken them off. and taken the $500. >> we still have to wear them. thank you, tracie. and that's the thing. there's so much confusion about this. in fact, maybe you're among those now returning to the work place or maybe about to go back to work. today state leaders will debate the mask rules you'll have to follow here in california if you're fully vaccinated. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is live in milpitas with a look at what's on the table here, kris. >> reporter: all right. so we are about three weeks away from california's targeted reopening date of june 15th. this is really about what things are going to look like moving forward.

they are considering dropping the mask mandate in the work place if everyone in the work place is fully vaccinated. employers would have to get verification from their employ yes, sir to keep those records. the state will consider banning companies to take their masks off. the proposal goes through one more approval before we are a go. bay area health leaders support keeping guidelines in place through june 15th when the state reopens but then aligning with the cdc guidelines after that. cdc guidelines say fully vaccinated people are safe to go maskless outdoors and indoors. that is going to take a level of trust that people are being honest about being vaccinated and some folks aren't feeling the faith.

>> i'm vaccinated so at this point i'm dancing in the streets. i don't care anymore. >> i wouldn't require a vaccine passport or proof of vaccine. >> if i know they're not vaccinated, i might step back a few. it's their choice to not have been vaccinated, and it's my choice to keep going. >> reporter: now there is no vaccine passport, no vaccine mandate here but the county did institute one requirement and that is verification of vaccination for employers who are bringing their workers back. and employers are trying to figure out how they're going to do that asking questions of their legal teams, their privacy teams and what not to figure out how to go forward. in milpitas, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." california hitting a new vaccination milestone. two-thirds of the state's adults are now at least partially

vaccinated. nationally that number is a little bit over 60%. the number is higher here in the bay area. the entire bay area, marin county at 84%. >> be careful, right? that includes even when you're going to the prom. teenagers not vaccinated will have to stay six feet apart. san francisco hoefsed proms for high schools across the bay area. they have to keep their distance and keep masks on.

>> maybe put a shawl or jacket on. the temperatures have been breezy. kari has a look at our forecast. waking up to a clear sunrise. a live look outside in dublin checking out the commute on 580 and it's a chilly start so, yes, you do need the jacket for much of the morning because the warm-up happens very slowly even during the middle of the late morning into the afternoon. many upper 60s in the north bay but a few spots hitting 60 degrees. we will continu weekend. we'll talk more about that and more about the drought in a few minutes. mike, what's going on now for the commute around the rest of the bay area? >> the silicon valley is in the change area typical at this time.

north 101. the arrow shows you where there's slowing. so the first cleared. the second one should kick in over the next half hour closer to 6:40 in the morning. everything else moves slowly south of the san mateo bridge. an incident going on at the off ramp, the coliseum, waiting for confirmation on details there. 680 has the disabled big rig. the tow truck arrives the next half hour. the bay bridge toll plaza. the backup there in the middle lanes but the gradual build, no big concern right now but it's coming. traffic is coming. back to you. all right, thanks so much, mike. do you have any upcoming spring cleaning plans? coming up next on "today in the bay," the message goodwill wants you to hear before you donate any unwanted items. and a warning this morning about a wobbly tower. stay away says the u.s. government. let's take you out to the futures turning a little bit

positive after very good news about jobless claims. ♪ i'll be there for you ♪ you'll be there and the wait is finally over. th reunion trailer everyone has been waiting for. we

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you out the door. in the east bay checking out our forecast heading out in fremont in the upper 40s. grab the jacket, and it's still pretty breezy as we go into today, staying on the cool side but we will be warming up. we'll talk more about that, the drought and the wind all coming up in a few minutes. and the sun, shield your eyes. the bay bridge toll plaza is filling in gradually. more traffic flowing here. no problems, no slowing just yet. watch for that build out of contra costa county. well, good morning. a very happy thursday to you as well. looks like a tough day on the markets may be avoided this morning because the futures have turned suddenly positive. we weren't expecting that. we did get good jobs news,

444,000 new jobs lost last week. that's much less than we were ebb inspecting. wouldn't it be great if they were added. there were losses on wall street. the dow was down, the nasdaq really barely moved. losses were three in a row. looks like it will be better today. the real losses coming in cryptocurrency. bitcoin down $40,000 a coin about 40% off its all-time highs. did you hear about the wobbly skyscraper in shenzhen? i'm surprised by the number of people in silicon valley i've talked to who have been there or worked there . the tower briefly evacuated after it wobbled and now the u.s. state department says u.s. citizens should not go inside that building. if you're looking for a cyber security job colonial pipeline apparently has a new opening looking for somebody who can oversee the development of a cyber security program.

the company is taking andcations. ford rolled out its new f-150 electric pickup truck. we got a sneak peek when president biden peeled out across the parking lot. ford probably figured it's a day early but if the president wants to drive the truck he can. it has 563 horsepower, 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds. normally we don't think of a pickup truck as an electric despite the cyber truck that's allegedly coming from tesla but it makes sense because you have a huge amount of torque in electric motors and farms and ranches do a lot of solar and electricity. if you've paid the bill on a well pump you know why wineries and what not like their solar. >> i don't know the price tag but i'm sure it's a lot. thanks, scott.

if you're doing a little spring cleaning, goodwill has a message this morning and that is please stop donating your trash. yeah. goodwill says that many people out there dropping things like broken furniture, torn apart toys and electronics that just don't work, so stop doing it. we're turning now to a popular choice when you're not a wine connoisseur, the second cheapest wine that you may find on the menu. it's often seen as the perfect pick when you don't want to look a little tacky by ordering the cheapest. a new survey says more than half of us choose it. for a lot of people they believe the second cheapest wine has the highest markup. they prove it's commonly not true and more often than not is a good value. cheers to that and cheers to you. trending right now the one where you realize this is really

happening. >> in this case the preview letting all "friend" fans know it is on. >> rachel wrote ross a letter and demanded he read it before they got back together. how many pages was that letter? >> 18 pages. >> 18 panls -- >> front and back. >> front and back. >> do you all remember that? the official preview of the "friends" reunion. hbo max dropping it yesterday. all of the characters are back playing a trivia game and learning about cameos from the likes of reese witherspoon and lady gaga. it premieres one week from today. ♪ i'll be there for you ♪ >> there you have it. >> i'm not charging for that. >> i did the clapping. >> hopefully they don't charge us for it. >> you keep clapping along,

mike. take it away. we'll focus on the tolls. as we look at the maps we're talking about the muni build today on little friday, friday jr. it looks great. the problem here in oakland northbound 880 jamming up. i believe they've just closed down the off ramp there. exit 98 to avoid the backup. keep that in mind. at the bay bridge a backup, very mild, kari. some held up in oakland as the sun will be a factor of it is for our camera and will be for folks driving from san francisco into oakland as well. over to you. we've seen a lot of that sunshine recently and why the i exceptional drought, the highest

level you can have and we've seen it widespread across the west. now we're starting to see more of that creeping into the bay area. we are now at 15% of the state in that highest level of an exceptional drought. really an emergency here because we've seen such dry conditions especially from parts of the north bay moving down through fairfield and into the tri-valley and then extends also up toward marin county. now the dark red showing that we are now at a very serious situation where we could have a year round fire season due to the low water and more water shortages. and for our crops that means that the fields are left fallow and causes food prices to rise. a high mortality rate for trees which can add more fuel to fires and will possibly have very poor air quality due to the lack of rain. and we have seen sun showers

moving across the sierra. for us it's been kicking up high winds, drying out the vegetation even more but there could be snow in the sierra. 1 to 5 inches the next couple of days and once that moves out our temperatures start to warm up as high pressure moves right back in. temperatures will reach into the low to mid-80s for the inland areas. san francisco just gets minor warming heading to the end of the weekend. and now we turn to our climate in crisis over to our forecast with vianey arana with one way to reduce some of your waste. >> reporter: kari, good morning. we're talking about a part of our makeup routine. lipstick. if you like to use it, there are many shades, but everything from the ingredients to the packaging could be harming our planet. the reason why, well, most of them are made out of wax, pigment and oil. and petroleum is a fossil fuel.

into our atmosphere when burned. now instead just shopping for your favorite shade read up on the brand and the label. many offer natural ingredients and biodegradable tubes, some compostable made out of recycled materials. look out for recycling programs where you can return old tubes for free incentives. some good news there. according to lush cosmetics, could eliminate 70% of carbon emissions. it's important that we do our homework, too. of course i'm hoping that big name companies take notice and make some changes. for more info follow me and check out nbcbayarea.com/climatehacks. back to you. vianey. 6:22 right now. this morning theg to learn more

possible ufo sightings. up next on "today in the bay" what one expert is now saying about recently leaked videos of close encounters. plus, pick up your bags. the big changes before booking your next trip overseas. you're watching "today in the bay."

a follow-up now, and i promise this isn't just for my

fiance, but you can begin going to france starting june 9th. full details are still to come but you'll need to be fully vaccinated or have a negative covid test of the french consul general says more vaccinations and easing restrictions will make france attractive to tourists again. >> people are seeing or redubses what reduction brings. it allows to have croissant and coffee in the morning, to meet friends, the economy to resume, shops to reopen and republic allows very soon tourists, u.s. tourists, to come back to france. >> sounds awesome. i'm vaccinated and excited to travel in europe again. >> me, too. not just france, the entire european union is relaxing travel restrictions just in time for summer. the anticipation is building ahead of next month's hearing on ufos on capitol hill, and we're getting insight on how lawmakers

are changing their attitudes about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. here is one expert who has been tracking how the federal government has been handling unexplained phenomenon for years. >> we've had congressional hearings into ufos before and it's been many, many years, but each time sort of the politicians were very wary of getting involved with the phenomenon. now they don't seem to be. >> as many ufo enthusiasts know next month congress will review a military report detailing several documented unexplained sightings. you can watch the full story now on nbclx or wait until after "today in the bay." anytime you want at lx.com. let's talk about it, 6:27, that mask debate in the south bay is getting a lot of attention. a witness capturing it all on camera as that customer is walking out. what happened?

we'll tell you what the woman did just before and what police are doing now to investigate. plus, a big hit for one of the bay area's largest industries. a one-two punch hitting wine country where it hurts the most.

not what you expect when you move to the city to have a but here we are. a tree

>> right now at 6:30, a wild night in san francisco as the hunt for a mountain lion comes to a dramatic end. what it took to finally capture the animal. but first, two developing weather stories this hour, blustering winds knocking down trees. this is new video overnight from daly city where a tree came crashing down onto a car. the other weather story, the san francisco bay area has now entered an exceptional drought. that news coming down in just the last 60 minutes or so. "today in the bay" continues right now. a very good thursday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. let's go to meteorologist kari hall who is tracking those two big weather stories for us this morning. yeah, we've had such high winds, let's take a look at the gusts across parts of the bay

area as we take a look at sfo measuring one of those high wind gusts. it really tops the list of the altamont pass reaching 61 miles per hour and a 53-mile-per-hour wind in byron, so we also saw those winds in san jose and oakland at about 30 to 40 miles per hour, but that other big story we were talking about the exceptional drought. what does that mean? well, it's the highest level a drought can be, the most severe, and we're seeing that right here in the bay area for parts of the north bay over to the east bay. we can see the dark shading of red showing that our water has gone down very low and we just haven't had enough rain this season. we're going to be talking more about the impacts of this as well as we go throughout the morning. laura? thanks so much. these wild animals have been coming down to very populated areas. in fact, the mountain lion that caused quite a stir in san francisco became a bit of a

video sensation now removed from one neighborhood. "today in the bay's" bob redell is live across the bay at the oakland zoo where authorities took that big cat in late last night. we're seeing more and more wild animals. maybe they're looking for some water out there, too, bob. >> reporter: that's the question the people who monitor these types of things are trying to answer. the oakland zoo has agreed to take in this mountain lion, to take care of it until a decision is made on what to do with it, laura. the mountain lion was spotted yesterday morning in a tree on santa marina near mission in the bernal heights neighborhood as you can see in the photo taken by a person who lives in the area. animal control believes this is twice the day before. last night an officer with the state fish and wildlife agency tranquilize it had with a dart as it sat in a tree outside a house. the lion jumped down from the tree, went on to a front porch where it passed out.

the os ersofficers were able to retrieve it and take it to the zoo. >> i came downstairs to take the garbage out and got about three steps down and there was a man sitting in a car out here who looked at me and yelled, get back inside, there's a cougar in the tree. i thought it was a joke, but i went back inside and sure enough police showed up and animal control, i guess. it became a whole scene. it was very exciting. not what you expect when you move to the city. >> reporter: fish and wildlife tells us it's a young male about 120 pounds. it is wearing a tracking device. they don't know why it came into the enabled. it was sighted twice tuesday morning, once early in the morning by someone's surveillance camera and another time later that morning by someone who saw it near bernal hill park. fish and wildlife says it will most likely be up to a team of biologists to evaluate what to do next with the mountain lion to see if they can release hill

back into the wild. another possibility might have to be euthanized bus he's come down into a neighborhood more than once. again, that is a decision that's not been made. fish and wildlife, again, telling us that with be up to a team of biologists to figure that out. outside the oakland zoo, bob redell. >> thank you. developing now the trial for the man accused of killing an oakland native, molly tibbetts, is under way. christian rivera, an undocumented immigrant, pleaded not guilty to killing the 20-year-old in iowa in july of 2018. it was held as an example of lax immigration laws. they say rivera led them to her body in the cornfield one month after his arrest. there's fallout over mask rules really reaching a new level. in fact, take a look at this. a customer refusing to wear a mask eventually spits at workers. it happened this week at umai

savory hot dogs in east san jose. here is an employee describing what happened. >> she was like, no, i have the right to not wear a mask. i pointed at our windowsill which has a poster saying facemasks required upon entry. she got frustrated and spit at the screen protector. >> workers say they've had prior run-ins with the same customer. the mask confusion is lingering after the cdc said vaccinated people can take them off, but california says mask rules are still in effect until the state fully reopens next month. 6:36. opening statements begin in the trial surrounding the massive covid outbreak at san quentin prison. the trial is taking place in marin on behalf of the prison inmates who argue the state illegally botched its handling of the outbreak and transferring infected prisoners. san francisco and marin public defenders are among those representing the plaintiffs. 29 inmates and one staff member

died from covid. the hearing is expected to last several weeks. new this morning we're learning just how big of a hit wine country is taking from the pandemic and recent wildfires. according to a new report the value of napa county's wine crops dropped from $930 million in 2019 to $460 million in 2020. production also decreased by 60,000 tons. the county's agricultural commissioner says the lnu complex and glass wildfires last year had the biggest impact. helping renters struggling to make it in the bay. advocates yesterday demanded more money be added to the city budget to help those on the verge of losing assistance after june 30th. san mateo county leaders say so far less than 1% of available emergency funding has been handed out to struggling renters and landlords. the county has $47 million

available with more money coming. just $314,000 has been granted. now the reasons vary including some unwillingness by landlords, they say, to take part. new details now on muni's return to normalcy. more routes will come back online in august. "the examiner" reports the focus on school routes. however, no word on when the aboveground lines will resume. those would be a huge boost for san francisco state students who return august 23rd. here we go this morning heading into the week. meteorologist kari hall has a look at the weekend forecast as many of us are getting ready for the weekend, kari. yes, so it's thursday. you're probably thinking, all right, what am i going to do this weekend? it doesn't matter what you do, the weather is going to be beautiful f. you're going to napa valley, expect highs in the mid-70s. sunshine and breezy winds. it will be a little bit warmer on sunday. we'll see more of the same in

santa cruz along the coast. temperatures reaching into the mid-60s. we won't see as much of the fog. napa valley in the mid-70s as well as what we'll see in the coastline. as we go into the forecast for south lake tahoe, just watch out for some pop-up showers, possibly some snow in the upper elevations, and by the end the weekend we're in the upper 50s and it will be good by the time you drive back to the bay area. we will talk more about the drought, the wind and the rest of our forecast here locally in a few minutes. mike, what's going on now for the commute? >> kari, you talk about snow on the road possibility. cushions in the road in san jose. a quick traffic break 280, the sensor just changed there. circled is the build we expect coming up north 101 through san jose. didn't expect this amount of traffic here north 880 because of the off ramp is still closed. if it's closed when you get there, can you pass by high street or exit early and get off at 98 and take surface streets.

they may be opening that soon. slow for the castro valley y and through concord. highway 4 really slowing a lot more slowing through pittsburg and bay point. all right. thanks so much, mike. quickly approaching 6:40. not backing down. next on "today in the bay" despite the growing calls for de-escalation, new signs israel's conflict with hamas may be headed the other direction. plus -- >> reporter: i'm kris sanchez. we are in milpitas this morning where a lot of businesses, just like everywhere in the bay area, are wondering what's next. today we could get guidelines from the state for people who are headed back to work in person. in washington this morning an impassioned plea who are sticking around and watching. let's take you out to the big board where we're barely negative, but much better than we expected and who got good news about jobs. you're watching "today in the bay."

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right now at 6:43 let's check out our high temperatures today as we go around the bay area. we'll reach into the upper 60s in santa rosa. still a breezy day and cooler than normal. san jose only reaching 67. san francisco looking at a high of 60. we'll talk more about this in the forecast in a few minutes. and 66 avenue still blocked from the nimitz, the off ramp there. it hasn't stopped folks from getting to the bay bridge.

it's filled in and those flags are still flapping in the breeze across that span. developing right now israel continues to pound the gaza strip with air strikes today despite calls from the u.s. to wind down the violence that has left hundreds dead. you see that large plume of black smoke billowing after one rattled gaza at day break. president biden is pushing for, quote, significant de-escalation. israel's prime minister not ruling out further escalation of the conflict in gaza. gaza medical officials say 219 people have been killed and israeli authorities put the death toll at 12. the president today will also sign a covid-19 hate crimes act into law. >> scott mcgrew, this is often talked about as a way to protect

those in the aapi community. yeah, and that's been at the top of a lot of americans' minds as we've watched terrible, terrible reports on the news including here in the bay area. the president will sign that bill into law this afternoon. on wednesday the house passed a resolution to set up an independent 9/11-style nonpartisan commission to examine the january 6th attacks on the u.s. capitol. republican leadership asked its members to vote against it but 35 republicans voted for it including the republican ranking member of the homeland security committee. the commission faces a far less certain future in the senate. now earlier we showed you a clip of one congressman voicing his frustration. it's passionate. let's show you the whole thing. >> i want to thank other republicans who were supporting this and thank them for their bipartisanship. to the other 90% of our friends on the other side of the aisle,

holy cow! incoherent! no idea what you're talking about. benghazi, you guys chased the former secretary of state all over the country, spent millions of dollars. we have people scaling the capitol, hitting the capitol police are lead pipes across the head, and we can't get bipartisanship! what else has to happen in this country? cops, this is a slap in the face to every rank and file cop in the united states! if we're going to take on china, if we're going to rebuild the country, if we're going to reverse climate change, we need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality, and you ain't one of them. i yield back the balance of my time. >> now there are two schools of thought for voting against the investigation. one is that there are already several hearings under way. the other objection is it wouldn't be fair to republicans, though it is set up as bipartisan. speaker pelosi points out

yesterday as the leader of the majority she already has the power to create a completely one-sided investigation complete with subpoena power. but she says she's chosen not to do that. we're talking about all of this on twitter. i'd love for you to join us and given us your thoughts. can you find me on twitter @scottmcgrew. 6:47 right now. so maybe you're among those now returning to the work place, or you're about to. well, today state leaders will debate what kind of mask rules you'll have to follow if you're fully vaccinated. >> "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is moving you forward live in milpitas with a look at what's on the table. what do you have, kris? >> reporter: hey, marcus and laura. going back to work in california could mean seeing your colleague's smiling faces after more than a year. that's because today state leaders will talk about doing away with the mask mandate for people who are vaccinated and potentially doing away with

social distancing but only plac vaccinated. under that proposal employers would be required to obtain employee vaccination records and keep them current. if cal osha approves this proposal it would require one more approval before we're then a go. that with align with santa clara county which is also requiring employers public and governmental to do the same no later than june 1st. if you are feeling that you are not quite comfortable enough to ditch the mask at this point or even within the next two weeks, there could be protection in there for you as well. the state is proposing banning companies from forcing their employees to take their masks off if they don't feel comfortable. kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> kris, thank you. it is a bittersweet day for our "today in the bay" team. >> i'm wearing a mask of a different sort this morning, smiling through some tears because our producer, many of you don't get to see every day

is behind the scenes but is phenomenal. he's moving on. the team always working so hard behind-the-scenes to put together everything that you see on this show every single day for the last five years. but we're prud of him, too. he's moving on to our sister station wnbc in new york city, and we all want to wish him luck. take a look. ♪ start spreading the news ♪ >> i hear someone it leaving california for the big apple. we want to say congratulations to you. >> he's just an interesting person with an interesting back story of where he came from, how he got here and interesting socially as well. >> who? natine? great guy. love working with him. where is he going? wow. no kidding? not surprised. >> i'm going to miss your smooth voice in my ear in the morning. thank you for helping me be the kind of reporter i want to be. >> you're leaving me after allte

big move to new york. you are a class act. >> now you're taking our sunshine to new york which may actually be a good thing. maybe we'll finally get some rain. >> i couldn't imagine a better person to go to new york city. they will be in great hands. you're an awesome producer. >> we are sorry to see you go but happy about your future in new york. in the bay area, your name is big. >> i never say this to anyone but i really hope you get the early morning shift in new york because then i'll get to talk to you all the time. >> natin, you know how much i adore you. thank you for everything that you have done for "today in the bay." you're such a great friend of mine as well. i'm sad to see you go but i'm really excited for your new adventures in the big apple. you'll always have a home here with us. i'm really sad. here he is in the control room one final time.

we will really miss you. of course we wish you nothing but the best. he is such a dear friend. i can't believe i'm getting choked up. >> he's a great guy. he really is. >> he's just a great guy. he makes me laugh. we have so much fun. i wish him the best. >> many trips to new york. >> this just in, he decided to stay. no. >> after all that? >> yay! no, he's such an amazing person, so much fun. take it away, kari. it's like our little bird is flying away, that's why i'm so emotional. >> yeah, you know, friends to us all and now we have to plan a trip to new york to see you. so i'm kind of excited about that. happy for you, natin. let's look at what's going on now. as i mentioned maybe we'll finally get some rain because it's been so dry and now we have

these exceptional drought conditions, the highest level of drought declared now for the bay area. really a dangerous and emergency situation here as we've seen our water levels depleting as well as now we're at the very beginning of what's considered our dry month so we have to make it through the next several months before we see even a chance of rain again. so what does that mean for you? this could mean a year round fire season because we've had such a big water shortage. and the fields in some spots are left fallow under these conditions. food prices begin to rise. we're the largest producer of the food across the country and the tree mortality rate is high where we have exceptional drought and also poor air quality. so we're watching out for all of that and our temperatures have been cooler thanks to a system moving just to the east of us, at least the sierras are getting rain and even snow in the upper elevations and that will continue for the next few days with our temperatures staying cool for the next few days.

it will be warming up again as we stay dry into next week. mike, how is it looking right now for the commute? slowing, kari. they have reopened the 66 off ramp. it's slow from before you get to 98 up to 66 last the coliseum. slowing for highway 4. slowing for the east shore freeway. the cushioning, i believe, are being cleared. there's a traffic break in the next couple of minutes. thanks, mike. rapping now getting your real i.d. getting easier. you'll no longer have to give your social security card or w-2 form to the dmv. those requirements are easing after the federal government made some changes. all california residents have to do now is provide their social security number, proof of identification and two proofs of residency like water or cable bill. coming up next on "today in the bay," a quick look at our top stories including a mountain lion seen prowling san francisco

for days finally stopped in his tracks. a live report on how it was finally captured and where that big cat is right now. you're watching "today in the bay."

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6:57. welcome back. a quick look at our top stories we're following for you that morning including a mountain lion that caused quite a stir this week in san francisco now finally gone from one neighborhood. >> "today in the bay's" bob redell live across the bay at the oakland zoo where authorities took the big cat late last night. bob? >> reporter: correct, marcus and laura. the oakland zoo has agreed to take care of the mountain lion until they can figure out what to do. it was spotted in the bernal heights neighborhood in san francisco. animal control believes this is the same mountain lion that was spotted on tuesday, the day before, spotted twice there. last night an officer with the state fish and wildlife agency

tranquilized the lion as it sat in a tree and eventually came down, hung out on someone's front porch before it eventually passed out and an animal control brought it here to oakland. fish and wildlife tells us as far as what's next it could be released back into the wild but up to a team of biologists. the other option, sadly, it might be euthanized because it's already come down once into the neighborhood. reporting live here outside the oakland zoo, bob redell, "today in the bay." did you hear the howling winds last night? take a look at this new video from daly city where a large tree came crashing down on the car. it happened near the mall. the driver suffered minor injuries but the car had some major damage there. will the wind conditions continue? let's check in with kari. it will still be a breezy day and temperatures heading into the upper 60s and low 70s and calmer winds for the week.

mike, what's happening out there for the commute? >> tougher drive for san jose, again, a disabled vehicle at mckee may cause a traffic break. some folks are ditching back over to 280 which had recovered from an earlier cushion removal. >> all right. thank you so much. thank you for joining us as well. another big good-bye, a sad farewell. i'm wearing black today in mourning because our producer natin is going to the big apple. we're excited for him but we will miss you dearly. >> we're going to miss your voice and your presentation. >> congratulations. >> love you, natin! >> just a phenomenal person. always good with some good laughs and honestly a very dear friend. we're going to miss you. we're so proud of you, though. never forget your roots right here in the bay area, baby. you come on back. you always have a home here on "today in the bay." >> and just think the end of the

show all about natin is what he would want. >> finally he's in the limelight. have a great morning, everybody. good morning investigating the insurrection >> the bill is passed. >> the house votes overnight to create an independent 9/11 style commission to probe the january 6th capitol hill siege. >> set aside politics just this once. >> but the bill already facing an uphill battle in the senate, with republican leader mitch mcconnell casting doubt on its future calling it partisan inside the new battle in washington over the deadly riots. >> breaking overnight. onslaught. israeli forces