of borneo on high alert. strong

winds expected to return as fires rage through the region. we have team coverage on the firefight. good morning and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. and i'm marcus washington right now. more than 160,000 people under either evacuation orders or warnings. now that could increase as flames fanning winds are expected to strengthen within into wednesday. let's start right with those latest numbers that we have for you this midday. there are now three major fires burning in southern california. right now you can see where they're located on this map. so far, at least 24 people have been killed in these fires. 24 remain missing. the largest fire, the pacific palisades fire that has burned more than 23,000 acres. it is 17% contained now. it started exactly a week ago, and officials estimate that more than 5000 structures, including many homes, have been damaged or destroyed. the next largest is

the eaton fire in altadena, north of pasadena. it's burned more than 14,000 acres. fire crews now have it 35% contained. officials say 7000 structures have been damaged in the fire. the most recent fire is located in ventura county. the fire is 56 acres and 0% contained. the national weather service is using the rare, particularly dangerous situation described the wind event, expected this morning through noon on wednesday. nbc's jay gray live for us in pacific palisades. and, jay, what are the conditions like there right now? yeah, marcus, right now, thankfully, it's pretty calm. i mean, we'll get a gust every ce in a while and a sustained wind, but it's nowhere near ten miles an hour. now, we do expect that to change a bit, but in the higher elevations they are seeing more wind. you take a look. right now you can see it's not whipping up any of the real dust or ash here. so no severe winds at this point. but as you

talk about forecasters warning that really from now through midday tomorrow, we could see very strong winds, i know that in los angeles county they've already measured gusts over 70 miles an hour in some areas. and so that's very concerning. you talked about the auto fire, which sparked overnight as a result of some of the changing conditions here. we know that it's 0% containment, but they have stopped anyrogress of that fire. they've stopped it from from growing. and so right now that's good news on that quk. and one of the reasons why is that they've got mobile strike teams that have been put in place across the area. strategic points in this area and ready to move into those hotspots as they flare up, including some of thehe brush fires overnight. they had multiple brush fires overnight that they were able to get to quickly get those extinguished. ando they didn't turn into something much worse. now, we know right now that with these gusts, with this continued

intense wind over the next 24 hours or so that it could bring, and this is how fire officials characterize it. rapid growth and explosive fire behavior in this region. consider this, though a lot of the strongest winds at this point are going to be to the north in like ventura county, where we saw the auto fire spark up overnight. the issue there is you've got a lot of fuel, you've got the dry underbrush, you've got the dry lawns and the dry trees as well. so it's got plenty of fuel for these fires here. as you can see, there's not a lot left to burn. and so the real concern is going to be, as we continue through the day, stirring up embers, reigniting them and then pushing them out and into these areas where they've yet to be affected. and that's something they'll be watching very closely. it just breaks my heart every time i see these images. thank you jay. well, let's get a

look at that forecast today. meteorologist kari hall, of course, been monitoring what's going on down there as well as here at home. but we see there that fire danger. i mean, it's still big and present. yeah. so this red flag warning continues through tomorrow evening. so any time between now and thewe could see the wind kicking up. as well as that humidity levels, the humidity levels dropping to what could possibly spread some of those embers a lot more quickly, even with a light wind. so all of southern california included in that, especially in those areas near the fire. let's go through our hour by hour wind forecast, where we are expecting 40 to 50 mile per hour winds in the next hour. and although they may not be feeling this in a lot of the low lying areas in the hills and mountains, this is where we could still see those winds gusting and into tomorrow. it looks like early in the morning where we see the red and the purple. that's where the wind will really get very strong and it continues into tomorrow afternoon. so still quite a bit of time while we're in this very

critical area. and the weather conditions are not very favorable at all. back to you. all right. thanks, kari. really watching that area. in fact, president elect donald trump will reportedly visit fire ravaged areas of los angeles next week. but today, the california legislature will convene in a special session to try to figure out where to find money to pay for the recovery that is yet to begin. and the governor invited the president elect, as the republican house speaker, saying that any aid should come with conditions for the golden state. kris sounds like the president could withhold aid. well, governor newsom has said that it is the president elect's attacks on the handling of the wildfires down south, which are based on misinformation, creating a lot of conflict here. and it appears donald trump is poised to accept the invitation to see that disaster for himself. just last week, as the fires were erupting and exploding in size, t trump criticized newsom's leadership and even called for him to resisign. whi california's special session, which is

happening today, was refocused to address the l.a. wildfires. newsom originally called this session to trump proof california policies. now, newsom is proposing about $2.5 billion in emergency response funding, 1 billion of which would come from the state's emergency reserves account and the rest from the climate measures that voters just passed in november. the federal government would be expected to reimburse some of that cost. that's what we've seen in other disasters. but with trump entering the white house in one week, that aid, as you said, could come with conditions. i mean, he's done it to utah. he's done to michigan native puerto rico. he did it to california back before i was even governor in 2018, until he found out folks in orange county voted for him, and then he decided to give the money. so he's been at this for years and years and years. the housing crisis is already intensifying, with fewer rental properties available. some renters are seeing prices that might qualify as price gouging under

california law, which is illegal. the state legislature will pick up that funding discussion this afternoon. according to sources, we could see a vote as early as later this week. laura, thank you very much. we'lleep tabs on that. contain the flames andrking investigations are launched, our team is continuing to follow all the developments, all the developments when we're not on the air. our website is a really great resource. for updates, head to nbcbayarea.com. well, right now, a vote impmpacting te future of governor gavin newsom's controversial underground water tunnel in the central valley set to happen. nbc bay area's bob redell joins us from the altamont in livermore and explains that the tunnel needs help from several local water agencies in order to get construction going and complete a dozen local water agencies, including zone seven here in livermore, have already voted to approve funding to help with the planning and design of this 45 mile long underground

water tunnel that would run in the central valley and connect with an existing above ground aqueduct that is on the other side of the altamont. behind me here, you cross over when you're driving on eastbound 580 into tracy. in a few moments, a 13th water agency will vote during its board meeting that started at 11 a.m. this morning. i'm talking about the santa clara valley water district. they're going to decide whether or not to contribute $9.7 million towards the planning and design of this massive infrastructure project that will cost an estimated $20 billion to complete. now, the idea is to build a concrete tunnel that is 36ft in diameter that, as you can see on this map, would take fresh water from the sacramento river and divert it south underground to large water pumps already located in tracy, and then from there would be diverted to other par of the state. and the roughly 27 million people who rely on this water that comes from the delta. for years, former california governor jerry brown, he pushed for two tunnels. governor gavin newsom changed it to one tunnel.

the state says the tunnel is badly needed to capture more water during the big rains, and to protect our water supply from major earthquakes. the current delivery system relies on levees that could crumble in a big shake or allow salt water to intrude. environmental groups and counties, including contra costa these are counties along the delta. they oppose the water tunnel, arguing that the diversion of fresh water would make the delta water saltier, lead to more algae blooms, and hurt the fish who swim in it. here in livermore. bob redell, nbc bay area news. thank you bob. developing right now, police in vallejo are expected to reveal more details today about a tragic shooting sunday night. that's when a toddler was critically injured after being shot in the area of maher avenue and sawyer street. right now, the details are few, but police tell nbc bay area someone brought the injured child into a nearby hospital. it's not yet clear how the child is related to that individual. leaders in a cash strapped north bay school district willold a second in a

series of town halls to discuss planned closures. santa rosa city school leaders are weighing plans to close at least four schools to offset a $20 million deficit over the next two years. no final decisions have been made, but the plans call for one high school, one middle school and three elementary schools to close. the town hall is planned for six tonight at piner high school. similar meetings are scheduled for each of the district's five high schools. coming up, fire victims getting some relief on last year's taxes. how much extra time the irs is providing for people affected by the wildfires? plus, emergency alerts can keep a community safe, warning them of disasters, but they can also cause panic. the problem some people in southern california are having with their smartphones. generous people have given more than $100 million to l.a. fire victims. but how can you be sure your donation is actually helping someone in need? i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. i'll show you how. next.

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fire coverage. some people are still receiving incorrect emergency alerts. last week, millions in l.a. county got warnings to evacuate even though their area was safe. officials say these new warnings are, quote, echo alerts and caused by messages being relayed through cell phone towers that were shut down during dangerous conditions. it's not clear how widespread the issue, but officials say they're prepared windy conditions becomeif the dangerous. l.a. county wildfire victims are already getting some much needed help from state and federal tax agencies. the irs extending its filing deadline to anyone impacted by the fires. residents will now have until october 15th to file. the option is available for anyone who lives in or has a business in the fema designated disaster areas. some of the country's

most recognizable charities are collecting cash contributions for l.a. fire victims. and at the same time, many of those individuals are also appealing for donations online. consumer investigator chris chmura wants to help you not only protect your good intentions, but also the money that you're going to prevent it from going to bad people. we're going to start with a warning from the better business bureau that scammers will inevitably tug at your heart strings. unfortunately, it's something that we see very common when it comes to natural disasters or any sort of community. impactful event. one of the most common places we see individual appeals is gofundme. the fundraising site says people have already donated more than $100 million to l.a. fire victim fundraisers. gofundme says it's verifying that those fundraisers are legitimate. we are getting eyes on these fundraisers and working directly with organizers to confirm their connection to the person or family or business that they're raising funds for.

gofundme put verified fundraisers in a hub of sorts. let me show you how to get to it. start on the home page. at the very top. there's a special la fire section. next click find fundraisers. then you'll see the appeals that gofundme has verified. if you find one that seems suspicious, scroll toward the bottom and click report fundraiser. doing that will put it on gofundms radar. you can also alert us snap the qr code on screen right now to fill out our consumer complaint form online. san francisco firefighters investigating a small fire in the tenderloin at a hotel essex. this is near ellis and larkin. crews say they put out a fire that happened in a room of the hotel. we're told they rescued a man from the flames. they stayed longer to clean up the damage there. the cause is not yet clear, but initial reports say it happened as a man was charging his scooter. new at 11:00, san jose

police arresting three people for an armed robbery six months ago. officials say back in july, christopher sanchez and alex maldonado, along with three other suspects, robbed a business on alum rock avenue using weapons to threaten the victims. the suspect took about $6,000 worth of property and cash. sanchez and maldonado were identified as some of the suspects. sanchez was arrested in november. six days ago, maldonado was arrested in stockton. police say they found several weapons at maldonado maldonado's residence. turning now to developments out of washington, the justice department releasing special counsel jack smith's final report on his investigation into president elect donald trump. that report deals with mr. trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. it also investigates trump's election interference efforts leading up to the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. in the report, smith said that he believes that

the evidence was sufficient to convict trump if he did not win the 2024 presidential election. mr. trump did win the election, making it impossible for a prosecution to continue. smith resigned from his position last friday. a new app has risen to the top of the chart on apple's app store, and scott mcgrew says read note. a lot like tiktok. yeah, red note shows you short videos just like tiktok and just like tiktok, it's chinese owned. the difference is red note's makers really never expected americans to use it. most of the instructions and interface are in mandarin. it's overnight. success seems to be a bit of a smart aleck move by tiktok fans. users saying, if you don't want us to use tiktok because it's chinese, well, we'll just use a different chinese app. the ban on tiktok comes on sunday. the app's parent company, bytedance, has until then to either find an american buyer or lose access to

google and apple app stores. bloomberg reports this morning that bytedance has at least talked about the idea of selling it tiktok to elon musk, but bloomberg says chinese executives would rather let the ban take effect than cave to american rules. or they may be counting on donald trump to save tiktok. trump can't reverse the ban single handedly. it's part of a law passed by congress, but he could put pressure on the republican held house and senate to reverse their ban. trump originally supported the tiktok ban but changed his mind, telling our colleagues at cnbc back in march, quote, when i look at the ban, i'm not looking to make facebook double the size. and if you ban tiktok, facebook and others. but mostly facebook will be a big beneficiary. trump's been really straightforward of his dislike of facebook ceo mark zuckerberg for shutting down his account after the attack on the u.s. capitol. zuckerberg, meantime,

has dramatically shifted his company to the right just in the last week, ridding the company of diversity programs and changing facebook's fact checking system. meta now says zuckerberg's been invited to the trump inauguration on monday, but hasn't said if he'll go. back to you. all right. thanks, scott. let's get a look at that forecast. it was a chilly start this morning. yes, but it's starting to warm up and it's just beautiful outside. let's get a look at some of the views around the bay area. let's head to dublin with a live look outside where we can see the sky is completely clear, and it looks like the traffic is clear too. so we're going to have a nice lunch break. and looking at the golden gate bridge in san francisco. also beautiful blue skies and a light wind. definitely not as windy as it was yesterday. let's check in on our current temperatures that are now in the low 50s. it's starting to warm up, but it was so cold this morning. it still has a little bit of work to do

to make it to the 60s, but when we compare our cold versus what we're seeing elsewhere across the country, these are a look at the current temperatures that we've seen in some spots, plunging down into the single digits and even below zero. earlier this morning, this cold air has been pushing its way farther to the south. so we've had that blast of arctic air moving in, and it's going to continue to stay off towards the east. while the bay area is experiencing slightly warmer than normal temperatures. we're headed for 64 today in morgan hill and 66 in gilroy. much of the east bay will be in the low 60s, with concord today reaching a high of 60 degrees and topping out at 63. in hayward today, half moon bay in the upper 50s and low 60s for palo alto. a lot of these temperatures are what we've experienced from the past few days, but minus the wind, it probably will feel a littl bit better today compared to yesterday, with a high of 64 degrees expected in santa rosa

and in ukiah, and 62 in clear lake and sonoma. let's check in on our water year, because we know it's been dry for a while, and we don't see much rain in the forecast. we had so many storms in the beginning of december, we are still at a surplus for the areas north of san francisco and santa rosa. we are at a surplus of over 11in. elsewhere, we are really starting to lack and that deficit is growing even more. with oakland over four inches of rainfall, we need another three inches to catch up to normal. and livermore, as wellll as san jose, is running very dry. and then looking at the long range forecast, still dry into the next at least a week or so, probably through the end of next week. we are looking at that high pressure, not budging, keeping it sunny, but also keeping away any rain chances for us. so looking ahead through the next several days into the

holiday weekend, our temperatures will get slightly cooler. we'll feel that during the afternoons from saturday into the martin luther king junior holiday, with highs in the upper 50s and morning starting out in the upper 30s. for san francisco, we're looking at some low 60s here through the end of the week. a few more clouds and a breezy wind on friday as we transition to some cooler air, and will only make it into the mid 50s on sunday as well as monday. with a lot of people off of work and school just planning ahead, you might want to make sure that you're wearing extra layers for some of the events you may be going to for the holiday. back to you. great advice there, gary. thanks. well, happening now, the federal government wants to help americans make healthier choices. the fda proposed a new rule today. packaged foods and drinks currently have standard nutrition labels on the back, but the fda also wants to display the levels of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar on the front. the fda says that that's because those three are the leading contributors to chronic

disease, including cancer and diabetes. the goal is to for consumers to see what they're consuming at a glance. now, if approved, the new rules could go into effect in three years. coming up, the latest on the wildfires burning in southern california as more than 160,000 people are under high

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i guess what i'm looking for from you is, i mean, i know how the fire affected me, and there's always a constant fear that who's to say something like that won't happen again? that's fair. we committed to underground, 10,000 miles of electric line. you look back at where we were 10 years ago and we are in a completely different place today, and it's because of how we need to care for our communities and our customers. i hope that's true. [joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise]

you from burning continues. the palisades and eden fires are still by far the largest. they've scorched almost 38,000 acres, killing at least 24 people. we know that 24 people remain missing. 88,000 people across the county are under evacuation orders, and another 85,000 might be ordered to evacuate. the palisades fire alone has burned almost 24,000 acres from pacific palisades into malibu. containment at this hour, just 17%. the eaton containment is at 35%. of course, we continue to watch the

conditions there. here at home. cool in the morning, but the sun comes out. yeah, it's been pretty nice here. and quiet as well. with the wind calming down over the next few days, it gets slightly cooler for the weekend, but overall it stays dry. no major issues here, but yeah, we'll have to bundle up for the next few days. yeah, in the morning especially. that's what i'm noticing. and then for that nice walk in the afternoon. yeah it looks great for that. you know getting out thehere. it's only like 3 or 4 hours during the middle of the day where it really feels comfortable with just the long sleeves or a light jacket, and then it cools down. so the big issue is actually getting out and doing it. but you're a rock star. you'll do it. we're praying for that one today. all right. we'll check in tomorrow morning. right. because we'll be out here tomorrow morning starting at 5 to 7 a.m. and of course, our streaming shows that at 8 a.m. and our midday show at 11.

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