okay. okay. right now at 4:30, terrifying moments for drivers on a pay area bridge as a semi goes up in flames leaving the driver with no place to go. the investigation under way into that fatal accident. >> and a looming teacher's strike. what teachers in one bay area school district are demanding. >> plus, a booster targeting omicron. the new trial under way to help combat the variant. this is "today in the bay." >> thursday morning. here we are. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia.

>> and i'm i'm marcus washington. >> we're broadcasting live over at the television and live on roku, amazon fire and apple and online just in case you have to get out this morning. and if you are, we've got you covered on that front. mike has a look at the commute coming up in a bit and let's take a look at the forecast with vianey arana. >> very dense fog through most of the bay area. this is a live look at downtown san jose. we can actually see it. we are seeing fog in other parts of the bay area. we'll get to that visibility in a second. right now, very cold to start. san jose is 38 degrees. i definitely felt that windchill a little bit coming into the station, and in through livermore 38 degrees, concord 37, napa 38. let's see the areas that do see fog, because even though we're not seeing fog in the south bay,

it's only my clicker would advance, you can see there's fog in the north bay and limited visibility down to a quarter mile in some sports. now a check of traffic with mike. >> that's okay, vianey. we have shared maps and i don't see the big yellow problem that we saw yesterday. that's good news. better visibility for the south bay, but still some patches of fog out there. vianey, going to hit that computer, wake it up. all have to wake up in the morning. we'll wake up to a closure still going on eastbound 80 through vallejo. we warned you about that yesterday. tonight the opposite direction will happen. same section there, highway 29 is your alternate, but right now the bay bridge moves clearly getting down there in problem. a clear look at emoryville shows you a much clearer path there this morning. >> want to give you a live look this morning at the richmond san rafael bridge where roads are now open after a deadly and fiery crash. this happened just before 7:00 last night on the east side of

the bridge. that crash involved a big rig and a car. one person who became trapped inside that car sadly died. both the car and that big rig caught fight. traffic, it was backed up for miles for several hours. one witness who was actually close to that crash says that she thought her life was in danger. >> couldn't really back up, so it's really scary to be stuck behind, you know, a car that is engulfed in flames. the flames actually got so high that they were touching the top of the bridge so it was really, really on fire. >> authorities have not yet released the name of the person who died in the crash. the cause is still unknown. >> wedding day bliss turns to terror for a san francisco couple and the photographer. the photographer fought off a be rower all while the newlyweds watched in fear. they are now accusing the mayor and city officials of neglecting crime in the city. >> reporter: wedding day bliss turns to terror for a san francisco couple and their photographer friday afternoon during a shoot at california and

powell. >> a man pulled up and a man jumped out and proceeded to assault our photographer and attempt to steal the camera. >> reporter: photographer ken mendoza says he fought to keep his gear and the couple's memory. >> the assailant grabbed my hand and the camera at the same time, and i was able to kind of punch my way out of that twice. >> reporter: everyone managed to escape. the suspects took off. the couple who does not want to be identified says a witness called police reporting the driver had a gun. at a news conference, mayor london breed and police chief bill scott said there were more than 2,200 robberies reported in san francisco last year. they want funding to put more officers on the street. >> when officers are present, and this is proven time and time again, we tend to have less of those events, when officers are present. that's why foot patrols and foot beats and bike overs and presence and engagement are so important. >> reporter: mendoza agrees. >> you have extra patrols of

these iconic locations because it's not just for us wedding photographers, but it's -- this is why people come to san francisco and spend money. >> the newlyweds say they are considering leaving san francisco because they don't feel safe. >> people ever like lon opd breed an great are giving lip service about what they are doing to stop crime to prosecute offenders but it's not working. i wake up in the morning and i think, my goodness, one of us could have been a groan and widower on the same day. >> 4:35 for you right now. bay area health departments, they are on alert after two cases of the new omicron variant were confirmed in south bay. we learned that they are the only confirmed bay area cases of ba-2, among the 14 identified by the state so far. so how much should you worry about the new variant? infectious disease specialists say ba-2 may be a little more

transmissible than the original version of omicron, but it does not appear to be more of a threat. >> if you've been infected with omicron already, you're going to be projected against ba-3 so it's not going to superinfect you, for example, because they are so similar and no signs that it's more virulent. >> santa clara county ba-2 cases were detected using genomic skwensing. moderna is testing a booster targeting omicron. the company says it's faced two trials under way. new data suggests its booster's effectiveness against omicron declined slightly after six months but was still notable. >> first it was oakland, now west contra costa county. hundreds of teachers are threatening to strike unless the district addresses their covid safety concerns by tomorrow. in a letter to union members, united teachers of richmond is

demanding mask and weekly testing for teachers if a class has three or more covid cases. they want the testing to be bumped up to twice per week. we have reached out to the district for a response, but we've not yet heard back. >> 4:36 right now. putting an end to rumors. still ahead, tesla ceo elon musk speaking out about whether he's working to diversify the car lineup. >> and tap to pay. the apple set to release that will help small businesses could contactless. >> don't forgot the jacket. 30s down through morgan hill, the south bay and interior valleys and fog up towards north bay. a full look at your forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> plus, we still have the closure for eastbound 80 through vallejo. the atiat is highway 29. it's been going on since 11:00 half night and slated to reopen at 5:00. i've heard about no delays, but this will cause a bit of a delay if you're heading north to vacaville. you're watching "today in the

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. good morning. it is 4:40 right now, and we do have limited visibility up through novato and down to a quarter of a mile there. expect some clearing by mid-morning, and we'll get plenty of sunshine into the afternoon. a full forecast in just a so those usual suspects for fog over there, let take a live look outside and see how things are working where we usually have some traffic flow right now. a live look outside shows us the

san matteo bridge where everything is a lot clearer as far as the view goes. same volume of traffic that we expect in the westbound directions and let's check if things are unexpected with sylvana. >> wall street is the set for a lower opening follow the federal reserve's decision, the fed giving the clearest signal yet it plans to hike interest rate to fight inflation. the first hike is expected in march. it would also be the first increase since 2018. the dow giving up gains of more than 500 points to close down 129. the s&p 500 losing early gains and the nasdaq ending the day little changed and today reports on unemployment, durable goods, housing and fourth-quarter gdp and earnings from mcdonald's, apple, visa and comcast, the parent of nbc universal. apple is working on a new feature to allow small businesses to use iphones to

accept payments without the need for an external card reader. this has been anticipated since apple bought a contactless pay and apple would like to use the tap-to-pay technology similar to apple pay and tesla says they won't introduce new models focusing on current models because of supply chain issues. the cyber truck is delayed until next year. musk says tesla isn't currently working on the $25,000 car he's been teasing in the past. guys, back for you. >> got to wait a little longer for your cyber truck. >> tick, tick, tick.

>> thanks. >> our climate in crisis. next here on "today in the bay," we count down the days to the winter olympics. the one big climate concern athletes are working to bring attention to. >> and we are at 46 degrees in san francisco. by 9:00, 10:00 we'll get some clearing and sunshine rolls through. i'll have a closer look at what's expected for the remainder of the workweek and a look at the weekend coming up. >> sunshine later. vianey said later of the right now it's still dark. look at oakland brightly lit by the head london knights, clear visibility and a clear drive north of the coliseum. we're going to talk about what few things we see that may slow you down coming up.

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taking a live look at the golden gate bridge on this thursday morning. looks clear. at least you can see across the span this morning, those moments of a lot of fog in parts of the bay area, but that's a good thing for drivers, visibility. i didn't miss any exits today, mike. >> that's good stuff. great having you here, laura. let's get out to the maps. you saw a clear look at the golden gate bridge. visibility good in most sports. there's some fog in the north bay. i did circle approach to the golden gate bridge, as equipment got over there ready to move the lanes, the center divide in a bit, and the arrow shows you that eastbound 580, the lower deck is a little bit of slowing

because of the crew. typical overnight maintenance, but the bridge is reopened after the deadly fiery crash last night. again, both directions that have richmond centerville bridge are open once again for business this morning. rest of the bay shows a light easy green. green sensors dominate from the city to the south bay and along the east bay we have a little bit of slowing out at altamont and a little bit of slowing at discovery bay and even there's no slowing out of the altamont there's a fair number of headlights. vianey, we know this shot and we almost always have a steady flow of traffic. >> that's right. even around 4:47 a.m., it's one of those busy spots. san jose, you can see it this morning. this is a live look in downtown. we had that really dense fog earlier. not as dense today but we're sees a couple of spots wish use up through the north bay and some areas in the peninsula. right now though it's also very cold. we've been starting out in the 30s. no different today. 35 degrees right now in morgan

hill as you head out the door. livermore 38 and san jose 38 and up through napa 38 degrees and then 40s around the bay and peninsula. let's take a look at the fog and visibility. san carlos and around the redwood city area as we'll getting rid of the fog but a lot of fog up to novato and down to a quarter of a mile and we've got that half moon bay fog as well. now let's take a look at your highs for today. forecasted highs will once again be very similar to yesterday and we've had a lot of copy and paste days because of the high pressure, no big changes. 65 degrees in san jose and morgan hill 67 and east san jose 66 and in through parts of the peninsula we're also seeing some temperatures in the low 60s as well. a little breezy at times, especially around the coastline if you're going to be heading to san francisco. expect to see some temperatures in the mid-60s through concord and antioch 62 and vallejo 61, van matteo 61 degrees.

downtown 67 and clear lake 62. santa rosa 65. now heading into the remainder of the week, the dry weather will continue to dominate with this high pressure system, and as we continue to see the high pressure system, we'll also see the sunshine. we were monitoring for a possibility of maybe seeing some shower activity sunday into monday, but it looks like now that system is completely north, so any chance of rain for us is pretty much nonexistent at this point. we've got a system just offshore, and what that's going to do is that's going to kick cup the wind and cool us off and temps will remain in the 60s at least through the remained earth of the weekend in through inland areas and also through san francisco. 60 degrees into friday. that system is offshore and into saturday and sunday we start to dip down into the 50s. now let's go ahead and check in with our climate in crisis. this is something that we tap into every week. in just weeks all eyes will be on the winter olympics. climate change is threatening the future of winter sports and athletes are speaking out to

protect our planet. now a study led by the waterloo university of canada revealed if greenhouse gas emissions stay high only one of the 21 former host cities will be a reliable site for the winter olympics by the end of the century. if climate trends continue the way they are going, there may not be enough snow on the slopes around sochi, russia or packed down powder in vancouver, canada by mid-century. winter games star gold medalist cross-country jesse diggins is one sounding the alarm. >> i'm really worried about the sport. i don't want to be the generation that ruins it for everybody else. >> weather and climate are especially critical to the survival of outdoor sports, says the author daniel scott, but if countries cut their emissions in line with the paris agreement climate targets eight cities will remain reliable. for more information just like

this one, head on over to nbcbayarea.com and check out the climate in crisis tab. a lot of info on not what's happening in the u.s. but also across the world and the california area. >> one win away from the super bowl. next on "today in the bay," can the 49ers beat the rams for a third time this season? a preview of how the team is shaping up after the break. and happening now, the united nations will mark international holocaust remembrance day this morning. the u.n. general assembly will remember the 6 million jews and other victims who were killed. today also marks 77 years since the concentration camp was liberated by the soviet red army. a virtual remembrance ceremony begins at 8:00 this morning. we'll be right back.

a spacex rocket is on a collision course with the moon. the falcon 9 launched back in 2015. it was part of a mission to accepted a space weather satellite a million mile journaler, but it didn't have enough fuel to return to earth, so it's been drifting in space ever since. scientists say it will hit the moon in march, but effect will be minor. >> this sunday the bay area will come to it a standstill. this is to watch the 49ers to play, but the big question is can they make it three in a row? >> and dating it back to previous seasons, can they beat the rams a seventh time in the way? the winner goes to the super bowl. anthony flores is at team headquarters. >> reporter: the 49ers/rams rivalries first kicked off in the 1950s but for the second time in nfl history the two nfc west division foes will meet in the playoffs with a trip to the super bowl on the line.

>> watch stafford go deep. and it's picked off. intercepted by thomas! >> reporter: this pick in overtime highlighted a 17-point comeback victory for the 49ers over the rams in the final week of the nfl regular season. the win clinched a spot in the postseason for the 49ers and also marked their sixth straight win over the rams. this sunday it's round three with the winner moving on to play in the super bowl. >> we know these guys as well as possible playing for a third time now. nothing will real surprise us, i wouldn't say. >> lots on the line. we'll play as hard as we can, they will play as hard as we can, and we'll see who makes the most plays and makes the least mistakes. >> mistakes about jimmy garoppolo are a big reason why the 49ers are underdogs heading into the nfc championship game despite normally dominating the scoreboard against l.a. this postseason jimmy g., who has been playing with a thumb and shoulder injury, has completed just 61% of his passes with two interceptions and no

touchdowns. number 10 says he's trying to block out all the outside noise about his less than stellar play. >> has long as these guys in this locker room, you know, have faith in me and belief in me, that's all i really care about. the fact that we're winning games is not a surprise. he does exactly what we need him to do. he's playing great football. >> reporter: and what the 49ers need jimmy g. to do on sunday is play mistake-free football. the rams are playing with a lot of confidence after knocking out tom brady and the defending super bowl champion buccaneers. >> i'm not shocked that they are in the nfc championship by any means, and we're familiar with them. they are familiar with us, and it's going to be a great game. >> reporter: a win on sunday would send the 49ers back to the super bowl for the second time in three years. i'm anthony flores for "today in the bay." >> okay. as we wait to find out who will win this sunday, the super bowl, well just two weeks away, and we're actually learning more about the covid measure safety protocols so all of those people who plan to go to the game will

have to do. >> everyone who attends the super bowl will get a free kn-95 mask and personnel will roam the stadium making sure people are wearing the masks unless they are eating or drinking. want to go to the game. there are official nfl ticket packages right now for about $14,000. i'll watch it from home. don't forget. you can watch the super bowl right here on nbc bay area on february 13th right before valentine's day. the super bowl and olympics will be going on at the same time for the first time ever. >> just throw a party at home. it will be less than $14,000. >> in your bubble. >> very much your bubble. >> much more ahead this morning, 4:57 right now. stepping down from the bench. still ahead on "today in the bay,". >> we want to move quickly and get this done as quickly has possible. >> the supreme court justice from the bay area announcing his

retirement. a live report from washington on the potential replacements president biden is considering. >> and stay bundled. we're in the 30s for the tri-valley. stays in the 30s until 8:00 a.m. a complete look at your afternoon highs coming up. >> and just right now, we should have those lanes reopening in vallejo, eastbound 80 reopening after the overnight closure, and we're also watching your commute westbound 80 coming in.

wear a mask and get vaccinated and boosted. >> right now at 5:00, getting children vaccinated. a live report on the new push state leaders are taking to try to increase the number of children receiving the shot. >> and a vaccine deadline looms for first responders in the north bay. the consequences they face if they fail to comply. >> plus, stepping down from the bench. justice stephen breyer, the bay area native will step away from the high court. our washington insider breaks down who is likely to replace him. this is "today in the bay." a very good thursday morning to you. thanks for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. if you're on the go this morning, we're not only broadcasting other on television but you can also watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. >> pretty much everywhere. >> let's start this morning with a look at the forecast. vianey arana is in tracking what