good morning. it is saturday, december 24th. 7:00 as we take this live look outside, the sun rising over san rafael. a little bit of haze out there on this christmas eve, and tonight will be the seventh night of hanukkah. thank you so much for starting your morning with us. i'm kira klapper. cinthia pimentel joins us with a quick look at our micro climate forecast. hey, cinthia. >> looking good in red, great color choice today. >> ladies in red, you too looking gorgeous as ever. the temperatures are going to be looking gorgeous too once we burn off this very dense fog.

we have a dense fog are advisory through 11:00. it's creeping in from the central valley impacting areas such as livermore or tracy. if you're heading down the 5 or the 99 this morning to get to your can christmas destination, that's something to be aware of. visibility declining in the north bay. less than a mile in novato. we have a winter spare the air alert in effect north bay coast and the santa clara valley, very unhealthy for those sensitive groups. if you have to head to the store, do that last minute holiday shopping, considering car pooling. it's a gorgeous day to also take a walk. where it's not gorgeous are other parts of the country with those blizzard conditions extending out into the eastern seaboard and freezing temperatures down through texas and in florida as well. airport delays are looking very good, but there is plenty of time for things to take a turn.

i'll send it back to you, kira rngts a live look for you at sfo this morning where winter weather elsewhere is creating a ripple effect here on flights. so far nearly 3,000 flights across the u.s. have been canceled today, and so far at sfo, that number is at 50 cancellations. and of course with airports packed, prepare for those long lines to check in and get through security. the vsa has some recommendations to make sure you move quickly to your gate. the first one being ditch any containers carrying more than 3.5 ounces of liquids. as for presents. >> if you're bringing your gifts for your family or friends with you, we just ask that you don't wrap them in your fancy paper before we get to see them. we may have to open that wrapping. that's just disappointing. but if you bring it in a gift bag, we can look in the bag. we can clear anything we need to that way. that would be helpful. >> the tsa also reminds everyone to leave enough time to get through security and check your

flight status before you even leave for the airport. turning now to after nearly a year of negotiations and a five-week strike, student workers across the uc system have a new contract. members of the academic student employee and student researchers union ratified the agreement yesterday. the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the new three-year contract. it has the largest ever wage increases for any unionized higher education workers. that means uc grand students will now be the highest paid of any public university in the country. the uc system says it welcomes the ratification of the agreements. it's a different story for workers striking in san francisco. employees at macy's union square will return to the picket lines on this christmas eve. more than 400 workers are employed at the store, and

yesterday dozens of them picketed. they voted for the strike thursday night after labor negotiations broke down. the union says if workers want better pay, safer conditions and more affordable health care. they say macy's is refusing to budge on some of those issues, so the workers say they had no choice but to strike. >> i've been bargaining labor contracts for 30 years. this is a fortune 200 company. they are the cheapest company i've ever had to bargain with, and i've bargained with a lot. >> macy's issued this statement reading in part, quote, at macy's our top priority is to ensure the safety of our colleagues and customers. our macy's union square store remains open to customers and colleagues. the workers say they do expect to return to work on monday after the christmas holiday. now to a tragic story developing in san francisco. police are investigating the deaths of two young children. yesterday morning they received a call for two unresponsive kids

and what they responded to, we're told the children's parents met the officers and led them to a 1-year-old baby girl and a 5-year-old girl. despite medical aid, the two children died at the scene. officers tell us they arrested a 34-year-old woman for the deaths. no word yet on her relationship with the children. turning now to our continuing coverage of covid cases, and this morning five bay area counties are entering the cdc's high community virus tier. those include alameda, contra costa, san francisco, santa clara and solano counties. they all moved up from the yellow or medium tier to the red, the highest or worst tier. the cdc does recommend indoor masking in those red areas. meanwhile, marin, napa, san mateo and sonoma are in the

medium tier. over the last to years, the air we breathe becomes a big concern, which continues now in this age of covid, flu, and rsv. just like restaurants that receive that letter grade, buildings are now receiving a seal of approval for their indoor air quality with the help of an east bay company. here's "today in the bay's" bob redell. >> reporter: safe traces, a biotech company in pleasanton has developed a harmless dna aerosol that simulates the release of o'an airborne pathogen like covid or flu. sensors placed throughout the building track that mist and determine whether or not the ventilation and air system is filtering out those particles. >> this would be the settings they had precovid. >> reporter: or allowing them to hover and infect someone else. >> people don't know what is actually happening until we make that visible to them on what's actually going and how their systems are performing. >> reporter: they advise thash clients on how to improve the ventilation in the building so

they can earn a first of a kind air quality seal of approval issued by the well respected underwriter's lab. >> the public should not be walking into the unknown. >> reporter: within the past few weeks, they became the first company in the bay area to receive that seal which will soon be posted at the sbrants of their building on north 1st street. sort of like a health certificate at a restaurant. >> something that people want to turn the page on, it's not going away. airborne viruses were here before, afterwards, and they're going to be with us in the future. you can't be passive and reactive, you need to get ahead of it. >> reporter: in pleasanton, bob redell "today in the bay." now to a follow-up this morning, the boil water advisory is lifted for the city of fortuna in humboldt county where tuesday's earthquake caused widespread damage and outages. the worst of the damage is in the rio del area. with power back on, crews are doing gas safety checks and making repairs to damaged

pipelines. health leaders in rio del still are urging people to boil their water before drinking it until tests can be thoroughly run. the earthquake killed two people and injured 17 others. at least 60 homes in the rio del area have been deemed unsafe. now to this man, san jose's unsung hero. that's what many people are calling a 78-year-old crossing guard nicknamed bill. this morning he is recovering after being hit by a car while protecting students trying to cross the street on their last day of school before winter break. this all happened thursday morning right by brett hart middle school. bill says the car threw him 10 feet down the street. he suffered several stressed ligaments and tendons but says he's already ready to do it over again. >> they're my family. if someone wants to get to my family, they have to get through me first. please, please slow down in the

school zone, and when you see that yellow light, stop, even though it means caution, stop. >> bill has been a crossing forward for the san jose unified school district for more than seven years. he says he plans on coming back out as soon as he can, and hopes to continue to protect his students until he's 90. more than a month after election day, we now know the recount results of two tight city council races in contra costa county. a manual recap of the races wrapped up yesterday. ta mischa torrez walker officially was confirmed the winner in antioch's district 1 council race. the richmond city council race, which you may recall ended in a tie was not a tie after all. cesar sa pay da beat andrew butt by three votes. >> i am thankful and grateful to the county for the recount, ask thank you for andrew's count as well. they wanted to make sure every

vote was counted and that's exactly what happened today. >> he won the tie breaker a few weeks ago when his name was drawn out of a red paper bag. now he officially wins by three votes. each recount costs more than $20,000, paid for by the campaigns of the candidates whose supporters requested the recount. at 7:10, we have much more ahead on "today in the bay," a warning if you're by the coast this morning. we're tracking king tides and how long they're expected to last. plus -- >> i love dancing. it's my -- it's in my blood. >> a bay area student goes viral with these dance moves and the niners are taking notice.

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welcome back. this is a live look from oracle park towards the bay bridge. a lot of fog and cloud cover out there. there is a spare the air alert in effect for today and tomorrow. that means no wood burning on this christmas eve and christmas day. he is accused of being one of the biggest frauds in american history, and his old neighbors at stanford where he grew up are not happy that he's back in town. we're talking about sam bankman-fried. he is out on bail and on house arrest.

our business and tech reporter scott budman tells us the story. >> reporter: with barricades still up in sam bankman-fried's stanford neighborhood, neighbors themselves kept a low profile. mostly. >> they all hate it. >> reporter: we did find someone whose office invested in ftx, bankman's now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. >> and they invested in it? >> they invested in ftx. >> so they lost all their money. >> they lost all their money, they hated that that[ bleep ] was coming out and. >> reporter: after being released from custody, bankman-fried was allowed to return to his parents' home. he's accused of multiple counts of investor fraud after ftx recently valued at $32 billion suddenly filed for bankruptcy. >> this is one of the reasons people lose faith in the judiciary because they see

someone who stole billions of dollars from a client magically getting released on a $250 million bond. >> reporter: now investors, including those who live nearby, wait. >> that's his home. >> right. >> so i got nowhere else to go. >> scott budman "today in the bay." >> we are told that his hearing is virtual so it's likely he'll be here in the bay area for a while. the holidays are the time for king tides to wash ashore in san francisco. we found some people along the embarcadero yesterday who wanted to see the flooding firsthand as the higher than usual bay waters poured over the pavement. it also caused some flooding on highway 101 and the bike path between sausalito and mill valley. some cyclists had to go onto the freeway to avoid the water. low lying areas will see high water again today around 11:00 a.m. tomorrow's high tide will be at

noon. no one had the winning ticket in the megamillions jackpot drawing last night. we do know one person in long beach matched five numbers, but now the jackpot is $565 million, and there's still time to purchase tickets before tonight's s drawing. the next drawing takes plalace tuesday at 8:00 p.p.m. backk to that bad weather w were talking about. it won't impact santa'a's globa travelels. that's's accordingng to norad, mimilitary a agency knonown for tracking sananta as he delelive presenents on chrhristmas eve. people canan follow his christm journeyy through i its website social m media channnnels and me apapp. behindnd the scenes,s, 1,500 volunteersrs will be wororking totomorrow t to field phone cal fromom childrenn who wantt to k where santata is as s well as h deliveryry schedulele. norarad's holiday traditionon b in 1 1955 afterr a kid misistak called thehe coloradoo military command asking to speak to

santa. and as we approach christmas day, a bay area student is spreading a lot of cheer. take a look at an instagram post that's gone viral. ♪♪ >> that is 8-year-old jaden williams during his second grade performance at beachwood school in menlo park. he told us his goal was to make the audience smile and have a good time. i think he succeeded at that. jaden started dancing way back when he was 2. a classmate's mom posted that video on instagram and it has more than 600,000 likes. >> that feeling coming into my body. i just want to dance. i love dancing. it's in my blood. >> among the 600,000 likes and comments, oscar winning actress viola davis, she reposted the

story with the caption go jaden. the 49ers also commented, okay, jaden, we see you. wow, good for him. what a cool christmas gift to get all that attention. >> he is a cutie. >> yeah, what a cutie pie. >> he's going to have to give us some dance lessons, kira. >> yeah. >> really get into the holiday spirit. >> i like to dance off camera. i'll spare the viewers any of my dance moves. time to check in with cinthia pimentel for a look at our microclimate forecast. >> we'll just start dancing our way into the forecast. gorgeous temperatures to do so today, but if you are driving to your destination through the central valley, i want you to be careful of that dense fog advisory through 11:00, really dense fog, of course if you're traveling down 5, 99, visibility limited to about a quarter of a mile or less. just keep both hands on the wheel and that distance between the cars.

gorgeous sunrise over san francisco, currently 49 degrees. we will warm up nicely onto the afternoon into those upper 50s, some low 60s, and of course if you are in san francisco along the embarcadero, or if you're visiting family around mill valley, sausalito, even along the the east bay shoreline, we do have king tides in effect like we were talking about a little bit earlier on in the newscast. there is the potential for some flooding in the low lying areas. let's take it to a wider picture of what's happening around the country. we are very calm in california, and snow over in the pacific northwest, but it does not compare to what is happening right now. dangerous conditions on into the great lakes, and freezing temperatures down into florida as well. we're actually going to be warmer than florida, believe it or not today. 68 is the high through this weekend here in san jose. meantime, in florida they're only going to warm up into the 50s. now, as we look ahead through this weekend, the temperatures today like i was saying, mid to upper 60s, tomorrow bumping up just a little bit. even close to 70 degrees down in

san martin, but really the main story here, california is deciding to participate in winter. yes, we are tracking very heavy rain coming in monday night bringing some heavy winds. tuesday morning commute looks to be very, very tricky and of course we have that sierra snow as well. so difficult timing there if you want to get back to the bay area. some light sprinkles on wednesday, but it continues another round on into thursday, even through new year's eve. that's the word, christmas eve today. everywhere my mind is scattered. but of course this rain looking very, very heavy. by the time we are through on to next weekend, look at this, more than 4 inches of rain in the north bay, and of course some heavy snow up in tahoe as well. now, i want to take it on into our climate in crisis. a lot of people might be wrapping those gifts today, but if the paper that you are using ecofriendly? our meteorologist vianey arana has a hack for you.

>> it seems like there is always some sort of celebration, whether it's a graduation, a birthday or a wedding. that means buying gifts and wrapping paper. but it can be recycled because it's paper, right? think again. the oregon environmental council says because gift wrap is made with plastic, yes, even paper wrapping has plastic fiber in it. some of that shiny holiday wrapping is made with tiny pieces of aluminum or metal. not to mention the glitter that ends up in our waterways causing big problems for birds. >> i learned this one from my mom a long time ago. save those bags you've been given in the past for future gifts. another one is to buy cloth bags that can be reused for multiple purposes. here's the payoff. earth 911 estimates 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper are produced in the u.s. each year. only about half of that gets recycled. so by making a change when we wrap gifts, americans can keep

more than 2 million pounds of gift wrap out of the landfill each year. that's a lot of paper. for more climate hacks, follow me on nbc vianey arana and check out nbcbayarea.com/climatehacks. >> always with the great advice, thanks, girl. it is 7:22 right now, we have much more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up, after his community rallied around him during the pandemic, a long-time restaurant owner is now trying to return the favor. our bay area ♪ this renental car isis so bororing to dririve. let's be honesest. the e rent-a-carar industrys ththe definitition of borir. anand the reasason can be e d in the n name itselflf. rent - a a - car. you u don't wawant a frien. yoyou want thehe friend.

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welcome back. we have reported so many times over the past few years about the closing of a restaurant or a business that had been around for decades only to be done in by the pandemic. well, this is the bay area proud series, so it's not going to be one of those stories. in fact, it's just the opposite. garvin thomas has the story of a restaurant that made it and an owner looking to show just how grateful he is. >> reporter: bistro vita may not be that place where everyone knows your name. >> nice to see you, everybody. how are you? >> reporter: but if you're a regular, owner ali shafi sure does. ali has run this french restaurant in downtown menlo park for the past 25 years, the last few, of course, being some of the most difficult. like many other restaurant

owners, ali had to pivot during covid lockdowns focusing on to-go and delivery orders just to pay the bills. but ali had something, or should we say someone else in his corner. loyal customers pitching in to make sure his business survive. >> i had a client who would send us checks to use toward the payroll, and i know each one of them individual, and i'm so thankful to them. >> reporter: because of that help, ali says not only did the doors stay open, he didn't have to lay off any of his 25 employees. >> none. none. not even one person. i kept all of them through the whole time. >> and we have some wonderful food over there, it's all complimentary. >> reporter: it all has ali feeling grateful this holiday season, so this past weekend ali hosted a concert featuring two middle school bands and free food as a way to give back.

there are many businesses, particularly restaurants, that didn't make it to see the end of the pandemic. ali just wants his community to know he couldn't have made it without them. >> so i'm in the right place. i'm in the right community. i'm in the right community that really help us to stay in business. >> that was garvin thomas with our bay area proud story. we have much more ahead for you on "today in the bay." coming up, making it home for the holidays is a challenge. severe weather nationwide canceling flights even here in theay area. we b'l

good morning. it is saturday, december 24th, 7:30 as we take this live look outside, christmas in the park in downtown san jose. you can see the tree already lit up this morning as we welcome christmas eve, and tonight the seventh night of hanukkah. thank you so much for starting your weekend with us. i'm kira klapper. cinthia pimentel joins us with a quick peek at your microclimate forecast. you can see kind of a foggy haze behind you. >> a foggy start to this christmas eve indeed, but it will get much more prettier as the day goes on, i promise. a live look right now in dublin. we can see that heavy fog creeping on in from the central

valley over 580 right now. just be careful if you are headed anywhere this morning to get those last minute holiday errands done. limited visibility in the north bay, it has been improving just a little bit. last half hour we were down to less than a mile, and it's improving now to about 2:00. of course that dense fog extends through 59 9d so if you're traveling to l.a. and sacramento too. we are under a spare the air alert. no wood burning, although the temperatures will be pretty mild so you won't have to turn on the fireplace. as we take it onto our national low temperatures, very, very cold in other parts of the country. meantime, california will decide to participate in winter next week with a lot of rain. i'm tracking that all for you coming up in just a little bit. kira, back to you. as she just detailed, we are pretty lucky here with our weather, but you may have heard a major winter storm is making a mess of the holiday travel season for much of the rest of the u.s. the storm is so powerful it completely shut down the airport

in buffalo, new york, yesterday, and take a look at this map. more than 1.6 million people are without power on this christmas eve after sustained winter storms. you could see in the south and the east coast they are in yellow up to red. the red means more than 100,000 people are without power. thousands of travelers are stranded trying to start their holiday weekend. we have a live look for you now at sfo where currently there are 57 canceled flights. san jose manetta has 18 cancellations and oakland at last check has nine. as this winter storm blastst through parts of the country, the conditions are impacting airport operations just about everywhere. so we turn to maggie vespa who's at chicago's airport to show us more of this travel nightmare. >> reporter: it was the week

before christmas, and america's travel rush was on. these are the faces of a holiday travel nightmare. >> just driving to the airport and got first notification of a delay. >> reporter: d.c. based filmmaker rob's trip to see his girlfriend's family in chicago threw him into the thick of the chaos. >> people in front of me and behind me were both concerned they were going to miss their flights. >> reporter: coast to coast, damaging winds and a brutal chill halting flights by the thousands. airports paralyzed with ground stops from seattle to charlotte, in michigan, the grand rapids airport a total white house. for southwest, more than 900 cancellations and 1,800 plus delays. julian's flight to chicago was canceled. he took a bus from milwaukee hoping to get to miami. >> i didn't know how big, i thought it was going to be like the midwest. i guess it's affecting a lot of the country. >> reporter: now before christmas, home for the holidays looking doubtful for many. customer service lines at o'hare seem to stretch for hours as baggage handlers brave frozen

runways. in nashville, the baggage system itself froze creating a backlog. >> and here in chicago, the terminal train system froze too. passengers are now taking buses. >> gabby's flight from allentown to nashville was delayed four hours, stuck on the tarmac for two and a half. a 45-minute drive turned into a four-hour slog. >> it took us until like about 2:00 a.m. to get home. >> reporter: with the holiday on the horizon, america's travel plans look frozen, but for one family, relief. >> we're so glad to have her home. we miss our kids. we're just glad to have her home safe. >> that was maggie vespa reporting for us. whether you're staying home or traveling this holiday weekend, our nbc bay area app is a great resource to have. you just type in your city and we'll send you up to the minute weather alerts straight to your phone. one person is dead after a shooting at the mall of america outside of minneapolis,

minnesota. police say an officer at the mall heard shots fired just before 8:00 last night. that officer headed towards the gunshots and found a 19-year-old male suffering from several gunshot wounds, and that victim did not survive. police say the shooting was the result of a fight between two groups that escalated into gunfire. police are still in the process of identifying suspects in that shooting. back here locally and happening today, nurses at the alta bathes summit medical center plan to strike. they say their employer failed to improve their working conditions. 1,800 nurses provided that ten-day strike notice to sutter health earlier this month. you may remember this video when nurses walked out at three sutter health locations back in october. they've been working with sutter health to sign a new contract since june of 2021. but nothing has officially been signed. sutter health has previously said that nurses are asking an

unsustainable wage increase and that no patient would be left untreated. here's a heartwarming story. a 78-year-old crossing guard named bill is being called a hero, but he says he did what anyone would do when faced with the opportunity to protect those he loves. he's recovering after being hit by a car. he was hit, the kids were not, all thanks to bill. here's "today in the bay's" stephanie magallon. >> nickname bill briggs, so i go by bill. >> reporter: this is 78-year-old bill, he's been a crossing guard for over seven years, and he's a hero for many. >> i'm just an ordinary guy. i do what anybody would do to protect their family. i'm not a hero. >> reporter: those he protects every day think otherwise. >> he always puts the kids first. >> reporter: he calls them family, and they're the entire student population at brett hart middle school. he was hit by a car as he tried to help a group of students

cross the street, the students were heading home on their last day of school before break. >> this is bill's intersection. he tells me the light had just turned yellow, so he took out his stop sign, and he started walking towards the middle, and then he realized the car turning toward him wasn't going to stop in time. >> i blow my whistle and the kids step off. they're coming maybe five or six feet before they reach me, and before they reach me, that car hit me. >> reporter: bill says the car threw him ten feet up the street, shocking students and his partner who's also a crossing guard and was just up the street when she heard the crash. >> i was just stunned. just absolutely stunned. >> i went to go help him and some other kids did too. i started calling 911 because he was in a lot of pain. >> he has several stretched ligaments and tendons but he'd

go back and do it all again. >> if someone the wants to get to my family, they have to go through me first. >> they have one message. >> please slow down in the school zone, and when you see that yellow light, stop, even though it means caution, stop. >> they just need to slow down. >> reporter: and be sure they'll be there as they protect their family as they head to and from school. stephanie magallon for "today in the bay." >> what an angel, we wish bill the best in his recovery. yesterday the house passed the massive $1.7 trillion funding bill. in addition to keeping the government funded through next fall, the package contains a major boost to military spending and nearly $45 billion in assistance to ukraine. now the bill is headed to president biden's desk. a lot of money coming for bay area projects. that includes more than $21 million for projects in contra costa county secured by congressman mark desaulnier.

including $1 million for a special science social violence program at cal berkeley. this christmas meet the press with chuck todd will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the longest running show on television. >> coming up this sunday, we celebrate 75 years of "meet the press" where every occupant of the oval office has appeared since the kennedy administration. where leaders from around the world answer tough questions, where civil rights leaders have shared their struruggles, andnd where news makers are always held accountable. . >> i hopope no onene would voto me foror m me or because of my religionon. >> i w would not s support the sending of an american team to the olympics. >> democracy is my idea. >> we must move, but we must move with wisdom. >> i'm still convinced that there is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than

the tramp tramp of marching thieves. >> i was not bitter at the end. i'm not bitter now. >> so you want to be president? >> i do. >> men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men marrying women are entitled to the same exact rights. >> in four years you're going to be interviewing me and saying what a great job you're doing president trump. >> it's not easy to "meet the press". >> it's all ahead this sunday on a special 75th anniversary edition of "meet the press". >> we look forward to it. at 7:40, coming up on "today in the bay," a local food bank feeling the pinch. >> more than 70% of our funding comes from individuals and those are gifts large and small, like every gift counts. >> we'll tell you how deep inflation is cutting into one major bay area charity as the need surges for donations.

7:43 on this saturday morning. christmas eve. let's take it outside to san rafael, some fog creeping over the civic center right now. temperatures 41 degrees, and we will warm up nicely into the upper 50s by about 2:00. limited visibility elsewhere in the bay area as well on into napa, fairfield limited visibility if you're traveling up into tahoe this morning, and limited visibility also in concord down to about a half a mile. it extends into trace psy,

livermore if you're heading down 5 or into l.a., which will be pretty sunny as the day and weekend goes on. i showed you this map of the national lows across the country. right now minus 11 in bismarck, north dakota. 5 degrees in chicago. so sub freezing temperatures. make sure you check on your friends and your family in other parts of the country today. 20 degrees right now in atlanta. so christmas eve, maybe you are headed to maybe some midnight mass activities. later on today by about 10:00, we will be in the 50s, some upper 40s, 48 in concord and dublin, livermore, so a very comfortable evening ahead. now, what are we looking forward to as far as christmas day? the kids, of course, they're going to be up early wanting to open their presents from santa. sunday 7:00 a.m., we will start in the mid to upper 40s. we will warm up nicely, close to 70 degrees as the day goes on. here's what we're looking forward to next week. heavy, heavy wind gusts coing on tuesday with that incoming atmospheric river, rain piling

up in inches, 7 inches in the mountain tops. sierra snow coming down in feet with that wintry mix. so where is the storm and when's it going to come in is this we are looking at it coming in maybe late monday on into tuesday. the tuesday morning commute looking to be very rough. heavy rain on tuesday, lingering on into wednesday. then a second system approaches on thursday keeping -- continuing on into the new year's eve holiday. a lot of rain coming to us within the next week, today and tom could be the opportunity for you to go out there and clear out those storm drains. as far as our water rain update goes, we are still at a deficit in the north bay looking pretty good down here in san jose and livermore. but we could always use more. isn't that right, kira? we're going to pray that, you know, santa brings us some rain. of course he is. he's listening to our rain dances and everything, and a very active seven-day forecast for you in san francisco and the

inland valleys, of course, that rain continues through new year's eve. >> yeah, hopefully we get some rain boots from santa just in time. cinthia, than

welcome back at 7:48, a live look at the sun rising over san francisco, but you can see that fog and cloud cover over the bay. we have a spare the air alert in effect today and tomorrow, so no wood burning on this holiday

weekend. the giants ended up not signing carlos correa but it appears the front office is using that money to add some extra depth to their roster. the team added two new players, michael conforto, and taylor rogers. conforto was an all-star out fielder with the mets in 2017. he did not play all of last season while recovering from shoulder surgery. his contract, two years, $36 million. and the other newcomer, taylor rogers, the identical twin of tyler rogers. tyler has that crazy submarine delivery. taylor isn't a submarine pitcher but he throws left-handed. pretty cool for their parents watching their boys play on the same team since high school. the 49ers are gearing up for a game later today here at home at levi stadium. fans already are looking ahead. that's because the niners

clinched the nfc west division title last week, which means they're guaranteed at least one home playoff game. kyle shanahan says he's not letting all the success get to his head. this weekend the niners have to face the washington commanders team that's still fighting for their playoff bid. >> love ron rivera, he's awesome, respect the hell out of him. i love martin, martin's the man. i know those guys are trying to do it the right way. i've been really impressed these last couple of years. haven't got to see them on tape until this week. they're a good football team and i respect the people in charge. >> kickoff is 1:05 this afternoon at lelevi's. byby the way, 49ers playoff ticketets are a already o on sa range from 200 to $2,000. well, we all know inflation is making it more expensive to feed our families and make it here in the bay. second harvest of silicon valley just put out an eye opening look at how hard it is to stretch a

dollar. on the left of your screen, the amount of food second harvest could provide through a $25 donation last year that almost fills the entire table, and on the right what that same $25 donation provides this year. they say that's because food, of course, is more expensive, and government donations are down. bay area food banks are seeing an 80% increase in requests for assistance over pre-pandemic times. and because more people need help, fewer people can give. financial donations are down 37% compared to two years ago. >> so many families in silicon valley are still struggling to recover from months of lost income, and now with inflation, we are seeing more and more people having to make tough choices between paying their rent and putting food on the table. >> and a friendly reminder nbc bay area and telemundo 48 are partnering with safeway stores for our nourishing neighbors food drive, which continues through tomorrow. the next time you're at safeway,

tear off the sheet at checkout, scan the code, and it will add $10 to your total. that money will provide 20 meals to people in need. just shy of 7:52, up next, a quick look at the top stories we're following, including holiday travel hitting a standstill. standstill. on'll have the latest

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welcome back. before we get to our top stories this morning, here's what you can expect tomorrow morning on "sunday today" with willie

geist. >> we hope you'll join us tomorrow on christmas morning for a special conversation with tony winner idina menzel, on a career that has taken her from the heights of broadway starring in rent and wicked, to voicing one of the most beloved characters of all time elsa in "frozen". >> my kids were 6 and 4 when "frozen" came out. >> i apologize, that means you were sick to death of me. >> i mean, it became something none of you could have ever imagined in your wildest dreams it would become. >> one of the best professional things that's ever happened to me in my life. >> the latest news and another life well lived all ahead tomorrow on "sunday today." we hope to see you then on christmas morning. >> thanks, willie. hopefully you're awake to catch willie at 6:00 tomorrow morning, and then just stick right here for your local news with us on "today in the bay" at 7:00. first a quick look at the top stories we're following.

you may have heard a major winter storm is making a mess of the holiday travel season for much of the rest of the country. the storm is so powerful it completely shut down the airport in buffalo, new york, yesterday. and take a look at this map, more than 1.6 million people are without power on this christmas eve after those winter storms blew through. you can see the south and the east coast are in yellow up to red meaning more than 100,000 people are without power there. thousands of travelers are stranded trying to start their holiday weekend. this is a live look for you at sfo where the sun is shining, but there are 58 canceled flights. san jose has 18 cancellations and oakland has nine. whether you're staying home or traveling this holiday weekend, our nbc bay area app is a great resource to have. you just type in your city and we'll send you up to the minute weather alerts straight to your phone. san jose's unsung hero,

that's what many people are calling this 78-year-old crossing guard named bill. this morning he's recovering after being hit by a car. it happened on thursday while he was protecting students trying to cross street on their last day of school before winter break. it all happened right by brett hart middle school. he says the car threw him ten feet down the street. he suffered several stressed ligaments and tendons, but bill says he's ready to do it all over again if he needs to. >> they're my family, and i said, if someone wants to get to my family, they have to get through me first. please, please slow down in the school zone, and when you see that yellow light, stop, even though it means caution, stop. bill has been a crossing forward for the san jose unified school district for more than seven years. he says he plans on coming back as soon as he can and hopes to continue to protect his students until he is 90. what an angel. all right, let's check in with cinthia one last time

before we go. >> we're going to keep our friends and our family that live east, we're going to keep them in our thoughts today as they are dealing with that horrible, horrible winter weather. hopefully it's on the mend, you know, into next week. meantime here in the bay area, it's gorgeous so live here on the west coast. 49ers game looking very beautiful in the upper 60s by this evening, so no concern of a slick field. go out there and enjoy, and of course bring the sunglasses, the hat, you will need it out there. as i take it on into the seven-day forecast, dry tomorrow for christmas day. then we really get active as we go into monday night through the rest of the week. some heavy, heavy showers coming on tuesday. the second system comes to us on thursday and it will linger on into new year's eve. so might want to start rethinking some of those plans as we go into this week. >> good to have that warning, cinthia. thanks, and thanks to all of you for making us a part of your

morning. we'll have more local news at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. have a great saturday, enjoy your christmas eve, thseventh your christmas eve, thseventh nie gh're

watching television that is educational and informational. the more you know on nbc. dylan: hi, everyone, i'm dylan dreyer. get ready to explore a hidden world on "earth odyssey". today, we're taking a deep dive into the weird and wonderful world of crustaceans. we'll catch a rare glimpse at what makes these creatures come apart at the seams. and later, a highly skilled fisherman shows us their built-in nautical net. on the ocean floor, we'll see a tag team of top-notch hunters enjoying a meal, but we start in calmer waters, where the most famous class of crustaceans takes center stage. all of this and more on today's episode of "earth odyssey".