southern california wildfires, with worsening conditions on the way. we're monitoring winds as crews brace for flare ups. master toys to burn their house, their toys, their beds. everything got burned. the fe is affecting little children so much. and thousands of students now going back to school in new locations. the way families who lost everything are navigating their children's education and addressing the growing number of unhoused in the south bay. the major change is set to be announced today ahead of san jose's annual audit. this is today in the bay. good morning. thanks for allowing us to be a part of your wednesday morning. i'm marcus washington and i'm laura garcia. let's get right to

the situation in southern california where people who live there are waking up on edge as strong winds are making a return. the palisades fire has burned more than 23,000 acres. it is 18% contained right now. the eaton fire has burned about 14,000 acres. it is 35% contained. the number of confirmed deaths is now at 25. nearly 90,000 people are still under evacuation orders. across l.a. county, more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking the forecast in southern california for us and kari, this red flag warning is still in effect. it's still in effect until 6:00 this evening. so we have another 12 hours of this particularly dangerous situation. red flag warning for pretty much all of southern california. these areas shaded in red, where we are still looking at some high wind gusts. and most of the gusts that we've seen this morning have been in the higher elevations in the san gabriel mountains at some of the

highest peaks. we're still getting gusts at 54mph in the santa ana mountains, 41, the simi hills at 35, and the simi hills, i should say, at 35 and malibu at 30, as well as rancho cucamonga at 30mph. and the forecast keeps the wind strong, at least until late morning into the early afternoon. by this evening, it looks like for a lot of spots the wind will weaken, but still, we're looking at winds high enough to possibly cause some new fire starts, or cause the fire to spread in different directions. so unfortunately it's going to be dangerous throughout the day that as temperatures are above normal. so we'll talk about what we're seeing here as well in the bay area and when the winds may increase coming up in the full microclimate forecast. thank you. kari. well, state education leaders are now fast tracking free emergency housing for teachers who lost everything in the southern california wildfires or just simply can't return to their homes. this as students who attended damaged or

destroyed schools are now enrolling in new campuses, now transferring from one school to another historically been a difficult task. but the governor is taking action, promising to cut through any red tape. today in the bay's bigad, shaban is in altadena with more on that. we are here at what used to be an elementary and middle school, but really the only thing left recognizable is this play structure. the rest reduced to rubble and ruin, which is just one example of why schools all across southern california are now welcoming students who've been forced out of their homes and classrooms. a lot of children lost their toys because they got burned. their house, their toys, their bed. everything got burned. at seven years old, renata alpizar may not understand empathy, but she can feel it, which is why she says she's excited about potentially welcoming new students to her alhambra elementary school, who have been displaced by the ongoing wildfires. they can be happy and they can do anything they want,

and they now listen to their teacher. erica is her mother. sometimes our kids are. i think they're in a big bubble, and they they cannot imagine all the damage. i think that it's a good opportunity, at least for me. it will be great that she really. that she can really see the kids, that they are losing everything, that they need help. and so really getting it right when the students first come in is so critically important. jim schofield is director of student support services for alhambra unified school district, where several students were just newly enrolled after being impacted by the fires. it could be any number of circumstances. they might be staying in hotel, they might be living out of their car, they might be staying with a family friend or a relative, be it temporary or long term. the governor signed an executive order to fast track the school transfer process for fire victims, suspending some of the standard requirements to get kids enrolled quicker. we may have families coming in who

don't have what we would typically ask of a family. they may not have any utility bills, they may not have school records. they may not even have a school to turn to, to get records from. the scope of the devastation has educators across southern california planning long term. their new students could be part of their student body for years. would you like to share your school with them? renata says she's excited to save them a a seat. now, just hw many displaced students schools are enrolling varies widely. some have yet to receive any requests, while others have already welcomed dozens of new students. bigad robin reporting there. now, our wildfire coverage continues throughout the morning. what happens if your house burns down in a wildfire? well, at 625 this morning, our consumer team is going to break down just how you can get the absolute most from your insurance. the chp investigating a horrific crash near gilroy that left three people dead. it happened just

before 7:00 last night on shore road, east of highway 25. investigators say a driver lost control, crossing into opposing traffic and hitting another car. that driver lost control along with two passengers were killed. one of the victims was 17 years old. another passenger in that car and the driver of the other car that was hit, were flown to a nearby hospital with serious injuries. later this morning, we expect to learn how santa clara county and san jose officials will count how many people are unhoused in the south bay. we also expect to learn how soon those struggling to make it in the bay may have a sanctioned place to stay. today in the bay's kris sanchez joining us from the newsroom this morning with more on that. kris. good morning to you marcus and laura. so every two years as you know, crews go out across the county to find out how many people are living on the streets, along creek beds, in rvs and cars and in shelters. and this santa clara county and the city of san

jose will reveal how they will do their count next week. now, just last week, federal figures put the number of people living unhoused at nearly 10,400 people in santa clara county. it is the highest out of all nine bay area counties, and 5% higher than the year before. one advocate says this is still likely an undercount. at the same time, city of san jose officials are preparing to open the city's second safe parking site in the city. the site on berryessa road will be able to serve residents with bathroom facilities, counseling, community gardens and security. the 85 spot lot could be open by the end of this month and just in time, as parking enforcement began putting notices on rvs in areas near schools, parks and neighborhoods reminding them that they're not supposed to park in those areas. but with people living in an estimated 2000 rvs and other oversize vehicles on the streets. one city councilman warns this safe site still won't be enough, but there are going to be still a

number of rvs out on the streets because we don't have space for everybody, and we're going to have to continue looking to identify additional sites. now, all bay area counties do the same point in time count on the same day so that the numbers are consistent. we understand the methodology is going to be a little different this year, which might make comparison a little difficult, but we'll update you that in our midday news as we find out what that's going to be. the count is expected to happen next wednesday and thursday. laura. all right. we'll see how it goes. thanks, chris. 608 right now, taking a live look outside at san francisco. we know it's a cold start once again to our bay area mornings, but it's been nice when the sun comes out in the afternoon. kari. yes, and it seems like you just have to stay in the sun to actually feel warm, even in the middle of the day. but our temperatures have actually been above normal for our afternoon highs, even after starting out near freezing or with frosty conditions. once again, we're seeing those mid to upper 30s in the south county. it is freezing in danville and

fairfield, just 1 degrees above freezing. we're also near freezing in much of the north bay, with santa rosa now dipping down to 32 degrees in walnut creek. it is a clear start and 36 right now. we'll stay in the 30s through 8:00, and then at 9:00, you see those temperatures going up as we once again make it back into the 60s, which will be above what's normal when we think about mid january. we're used to seeing temperatures in the upper 50s, but also we're usually getting some rain. so it's been dry and it's also been warmer than average. we'll be tracking that. we'll talk about what's ahead. mike's been looking around to try to save you a little bit of money. yeah. kari folks who remember yesterday we had that great price listed in pleasanton today. report shows that same location is up $0.30. that's 3.49 at gulf food mart, gas and garage on first street. that's the only big leap like that. but again, that value is gone in the north bay. solano county is the low. they have vallejo with 3.59

at national petroleum on springs road and in the south bay. the last number here, the best, is listed as 3.65 in san jose. great gas on stevens creek boulevard. check your area's on gasbuddy.com to see what changes might have happened overnight on the roadways. in the last few minutes, we see a little more traffic flowing. nothing dramatic today. an easy drive through the east bay highway for highway 37 typical slower spots we're building at the bridge richmond in towards san rafael. and of course, the bay bridge does have all lanes full except for hov. good advantage. back to you. all right. thanks, mike. 610 right now, an iconic surf shop is wiping out. coming up, the popular stofront now shutting its doors. and the shifting tides now impacting a downtown business district. the u.s. supreme court today to hear an important case to protect kids online. let's go out to the future and see how much green there is. that's a lot of green. we got really good news about inflation. nice. plus look at the number right there on your screen. it's a countdown. 16 days to go to the end of dry

january. okay. but if you still want to get out, you know have fun. look no further. we're going to take you inside a brand new bar. this is serving up nonalcoholic drinks. and not just the sugary kind that you may be used to. these are pretty unique. stick around for that. and so much more right here on today in the bay.

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happy wednesday to you. good news on inflation. the consumer price index showing prices increased just 2.9% from this time last year. that's getting back closer to fed targets. stocks are up and even better treasury yields are down. jpmorgan chase made it to our board for the third day in a row. it just reported strong profits. so too did wells fargo. the securities and exchange commission, has made a last minute accusation against elon musk, accusing him of being dishonest as he bought up twitter stock with the intention of buying the company last minute. because the sec run right now by a biden employee or appointee, rather. and in a week, donald trump is going to be president and elon musk is one of his closest advisors. the sec complaint says musk bought up twitter stock in order to buy the company, but didn't tell people he was doing that. and that's against the rules. now, this is nothing new. we talked

about all of this in real time as it happened back in the spring of 2022. nbc has obtained a memo showing meta plans to cut as much as 5% of its workers. workers who the company rates as substandard in their employee evaluations. that would work out to about 3600 people. meta already did that to low performers. it's just speeding it up. the memo says they'll be out next month. now, if you wanted to be a harsh critic, you'd point out this guy's idea to pivot the company to virtual reality at the expense of tens of billions of dollars was maybe the lowest of all low performance ideas. but mark zuckerberg has two things protecting him. one, meta still makes plenty of money on facebook and instagram, and two, zuckerberg owns 60% of meta, and he gets ten votes for every one of his shares, compared to one vote per share for everybody else. and the u.s. supreme court today will hear arguments over age verification on the internet, specifically for adult

websites. us law has said for many decades that children should not be able to access adult content. for instance, the supreme court upheld a case in 1968 where a store was punished for selling two boys a girlie magazine. that's what the court called it. but these days, kids don't need to go down to the corner store. they can look at their phones and see far worse. the state of texas says that's got to come to an end. adult websites need to be required to check your age. and they argue they're already doing it for online gambling like dftkings. so why not for pornography? i mean, there's no no reasonable person thinks kids should access pornography. but the other thing that sex education educators are saying is this is how kids are learning about sex in a way that is just not healthy at all. at all. yeah. all right. thanks, scott. you bet. well, new at six for you. a popular santa cruz surf shop is closing its doors. o'neill's surf shop closing its

downtown location after 25 years, announcing plans to consolidate operations. economic leaders say downtown is still thriving. and the weeks following christmas commonly lead to reshuffle of businesses. the surf shop will still operate three other locations in santa cruz and two others in capitola. well, trending this morning, dry january does not have to mean boring drinks. a new bar in walnut creek is creating a stir by serving those abstaining from alcohol. scipio's. yeah, that's what they call it. scipio's. they recently opened their next door to macy's at the broadway plaza. the bar focuses on nonalcoholic beverages. its owners say they opened scipio's for people like themselves, who don't drink and are tired of being stuck with mocktails. mocktails are juicy, sugary things, and this is an actual nonalcoholic adult cocktail. and that's what we wanted to create with someplace that i didn't feel like a kid going in and

just drinking something sugary. well, scipio still serves some alcoholic beverages, along with close to 30 nonalcoholic beers, wines and cocktails. and just think about it. if you are doing dry january, you have made it 15 days in. yay! good for you. keep going. hopefully you're feeling better and you know more well rested and etc. as long as we have coffee, i'm good. you know, we drink coffee. run. we need that on this shift, but also to stay warm because it's been so cold. and we are starting out with cold temperatures again this morning. let's take a live look outside in san rafael where the dry weather continues. not just because it's dry january, but our weather is dry too. and looking ahead, it's going to be slightly cooler this weekend. and as we transition toward that cooler air for friday, saturday, sunday, there may be some more wind picking up across the bay area. we'll talk more about that. let's get a look at where we're starting. right now. it is 34 in sonoma. a lot of these

temperatures are even near or just above freezing. we're at 35 in livermore and pleasanton and 44 in san mateo. so the heavier jacket needed to start out the day. but let's check out how the rest of the country is faring for this. right in the middle of january day, where our temperatures are in saint louis and the teens, chicago is at a whole five degrees right now, and we've seen the wind chills in some of those areas below zero. so it is really brutal. but even though we're starting out cool, our high temperatures today will be above what we typically see for this date in san francisco. the normal high temperature is 58 degrees, will be up to 63, and one of the warmer spots, san jose, will be eight degrees above what's normal. so looking nice and mild for later today. tomorrow is a repeat of today. we continue with the warmer than normal temperatures. while we're still not going to see any rain coming in high pressure blocking that storm track, keeping it well to

the north, and by the end of next week, we may possibly see some rain coming close. but it looks like as of now, we're still not going to see any rain. so we take a look at the temperatures that go from upper 60s in morgan hill to low 60s for the weekend, and once again, it's going to be breezy, so just keep that in mind if you're making some outdoor plans or heading to some of the martin luther king junior celebrations going on around the bay, you may need a few extra layers, especially after our morning temperatures start out in the upper 30s and san francisco goes from highs in the low 60s to mid 50s for the weekend. mike, you're hearing about a crash in fremont. yeah, things were really clear on the chp report the last few minutes. we've seen a number of reports. the one i'm watching over here, there may be two actually now crashes reported north, 680 approaching mission cutover closer to warm springs. the other one might be in the southbound direction, judging by the slower sensors we see. but that's also the commute direction. we'll track this corridor toward the fremont

funnel, but so far, no major issues. the gentle build out of the altamont. i'm looking at vasco. we've seen this travel time jump up. so look in the middle here where it was closer to a half hour just a few minutes ago. so maybe things are teetering on those speed limits. the volume seems to be building coming out of contra costa county, but it's about on schedule. back to you. a lot of people going back to work. yeah. 621 for you this morning next here on today in the bay nbc bay area responds. we have a timely financial lesson for you, courtesy of the l.a. firestorm. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. what you need to know about public insurance adjusters next. nfl playoffs are now underway. niners aren't in it this year, but you can cheer on other teams. how about the l.a. rams or philadelphia eagles? kickoff starts at 11:00 this morning right here on nbc bay area. we'll be right back.

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in los angeles with viewers fire related issues, and along the way, they're actually finding some timely reminders for us. consumer investigator chris moore just tackled the thorny topic of public adjusters. here's a reality check not everyone gets every penny out of their home insurance policy. even if your home burns down

completely, your insurance company might offer you less than a full payment for various reasons. you can push back yourself, or you can hire someone called a public adjuster to basically fight your insurance company for you for a fee. despite the name, public adjusters actually work for private companies. they are known to canvass disaster areas with salespeople, and brochures in general. understand that public adjusters absolutely do have a place in this industry, but there's a place down the line. sussman recommends giving your insurance company time to make you an offer. if it's a lowball, push bac yourself. ask for a second opinion of your claim, and get your agent or broker to make some noise on your behalf. if you go throu all of these steps and you still feel that you're not getting what you need, then and only then do you want to start signing away part of your policy. the department of insurance says a public adjusters fee is generally a percentage of your entire insurance settlement amount. the finance website nerdwallet

estimates 5 to 20%. we have an open invitation for you to share your insurance issues. snap the qr code on screen right now to fill out our consumer complaint form online. thanks, kris. 626 right now we've got a lot more ahead at 630, including southern california wildfires forcing people from their homes. what are kids supposed to do about school? the warm welcome one evacuated family just received in the city by the bay.lus a town hall tonight on the oakland police department's restrictive and controversial rules regarding police pursuits. the changes in the works for that policy. stay with us. you're watching (vo) with fargo, your virtual assistant from wells fargo,

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you can pick up the tab, even when you forget your wallet. (kaz) i got this. (ben) fargo, send kaz $145 dollars with zelle. (kaz) smooth. (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo. the threat of strong winds returning in southern california, where on the ground with the latest as firefighters try to gain the upper hand on two devastating wildfires taking on the fentanyl crisis. the emergency meeting san francisco's mayor is organizing today on the heels of his order to cut down on overdoses. we are an amazing city and we need to have all resources, all hands on deck to fight the crime and to maintain the great accomplishments that we have thus far. slamming the brakes on a no chase policy. the push from the governor to pursue criminals

who target people and businesses in oakland. this is today in the bay. 630 on your wednesday morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. and i'm marcus remain under evacuation ordersoe this morning, with fears of strong winds that could make a return any time now. in southern california, another 85,000 under evacuation warnings and the number of confirmed deaths in the palisades and eden fires now at 25. right now in southern california, crews on the ground say extremely strong winds never materialized overnight. but conditions are worsening at this hour. lauren coronado from our l.a. sister station has more from the palisades fire zone. this is where firefighters this morning are really expressing some relief as they try to get a handle on those flames. it's been just over a week since the palisades fire sparked, and today we're still dealing with red flag conditions. thankfully,

there aren't many active flames out right now. in fact, there haven't been bad flames the last couple days. but firefighters say there are still a lot of areas that are smoldering, a lot of vegetation, and that's really what they're working on. containment. right now we're at the incident command post, where members of the national guard are stationed. this is where they're staged, and dozens of lapd officers as well. the palisades fire is burning nearly 24,000 acres and is 18% contained. about 5000 homes and structures are destroyed or damaged. thousands of people forced from their homes more than a week now, with evacuation orders still in place. as for the cause of the fire, an investigation is well underway. federal agents were seen walking the area collecting evidence, working to find out the cause of the fire. back out here. it's not too bad in terms of weather when it comes to these winds

that we've been up against. it's a little bit breezy, but firefighters say we are still not out of the woods. reporting here in pacific palisades. i'm lauren coronado, and you can find resources to help victims of the southern california wildfires and develop an emergency plan of your own foror yo and your family just by going to nbcbayarea.com. we've also posted a lot of updates on the wildfires and investigations underway. we're also keeping tabs on what is happening weather wise as well. particularly dangerous situation down there. yeah, we've heard that so many times here recently, but it's the highest level of the red flag warning that you canet. and it continues until 6:00 this evening. and there will be parts of southern california under a red flag warning through tomorrow afternoon. but it's highlighting a lot of those areas around those very critical fire zones, as we're still getting wind gusts this morning it's some of the higher peaks at 54mph. and we're also seeing those winds at about 30 to 40mph

across some of the other hills in southern california. but the valleys are seeing some lighter winds. and along the coastline in spots like long beach. we're starting out this morning with winds below ten miles per hour, but it is expected to still become very gusty throughout the day and continuing those high winds in the hills, at least through this evening. but it is looking much improved for tomorrow, which will hopefully be a good time for crews to get these fires a lot more contained than we've seen in recent days. so we'll be watching that. we'll talk about an increase in the bay area wind forecast for the weekend. that's coming up in a few minutes, laura. all right. thank you very much. kari. well, happening today, one week into his new role, san francisco mayor daniel lurie will take on the city's fentanyl crisis. it follows his move yesterday to introduce what he is calling a fentanyl state of emergency ordinance to the board of supervisors. the ordinance would unlock funding to fast track the hiring of public safety and health staff and expand

treatment and shelter capacity. today, he will sit down with some supervisors and department leaders for a roundtable discussion and address the media at 11 a.m. we'll, of course, continue to follow. also today, oakland police commissioners are holding a town hall covering the department's controversial and restrictive rules surrounding chases. some argue the pursuit policy lets too many criminals get away without ever getting caught. today in the bay's bob redell is live the east bay this morning. and bob. governor newsom is leading this charge to change this policy or else. right. or else. laura. yes. the governor says that the state will limit or possibly restrict the number of chp officers who've been going to oakland over the past several months to help combat crime in that city. right now, opd and the city administrator are revising that controversial pursuit policy, which will be presented to the oakland police commission next week. tonight, the commission, which oversees over opd, will

hold a town hall to hear from oaklanders about their concerns and to discuss the proposed changes that these people are looking for. as it stands, oakland police officers are prohibited from going after suspects unless the suspect has a firearm or is suspected of a violent crime. the city implemented this restrictive policy back in 2014, after an audit found that vehicle pursuits were causing too many crashes and injuries to officers, bystanders and suspects. and because of that, they didn't think it was. they were justified. after going nonviont criminals. last september, the oakland police commission reviewed that policy and recommended no changes. then in december, during a visit to oakland, governor newsom called the policy a, quote, an extreme outlier in california that is hamstring the state's efforts towards crime prevention. you could be drunk, you can run a red light, you can come close to sideswiping a school bus during

the morning hours, right in front of a police officer. before tonight's town hall, oakland residents and small business owners are going to rally to demand an immediate end to oakland's no pursuit policy, which they say has emboldened criminals and led to an increase in break ins and into cars and businesses. the founder of asian unite released this quote, saying the no pursuit policy has turned our city into a playground for criminals. we need leadership that prioritizes the safety of our families and businesses, unquote. that city hall is tonight at 630 for about 90 minutes at the east bay church of religious science on telegraph avenue in oakland that is being held by the oakland police commission. reporting live, bob redell today in the bay. bob, thank you. 637 for you right now, san jose police hold the first and two virtual meetings to discuss its integration of technology aimed at increasing public safety.

sdpd saying that it will soon have access to more than a third of the cameras run by san jose's department of transportation and parking control. it says it plans to use that technology to track crime in real time. the department currently has 3000 cameras throughout san jose. sjpd saying that it will increase or decrease its access to the number of cameras, depending on crime trends. that meeting gets underway at 6:00 tonight on zoom. breaking news just into our newsroom moments ago, the fda is banning the use of red dye number three. that's a synthetic dye which gives foods and drinks their bright red cherry color. but it's been linked to cancer in animals. the dye is still used in thousands of foods, including candy, cereals, cherries and fruit cocktails, and strawberry flavored milkshakes. this comes weeks after governor gavin newsom issued an executive order to crack down on ultra processed foods and further investigate food dyes. a live look out for

you this morning. this is in dublin. look at the sunrise is starting to come. that is beautiful out there. meteorologist kari hall of course, tracking that forecast. but i know this is also what you love, seeing those sunrises out there. yeah, absolutely. and it's going to be a nice one as our temperatures, though, are probably a little too cool to stay out there for a long time and enjoy it. we're in the upper 30s and walnut creek is 36. 37 in palo alto and 41 in san jose. in san francisco, it's 44 to get this day started. and then looking at the trend, we are going to quickly see those numbers jumping into the mid 40s at 9:00 and then mid 50s at 11:00. we're headed for the low 60s for today, which will be above our normal high temperature for this date. as we've continued to see some warm temperatures. but also it's going to be sunny once again today. so we'll talk about changes ahead. and mike, you're following up on a crash in hazard in fremont. yeah. this is the one north 680 between warm springs. and the mission cut over there in the fremont area northbound side. there were reports of a tire bouncing

around in lanes and folks having to avoid that. crews have arrived on scene. i think they've got that under control without what it sounds like is no traffic break. so that should be good. southbound is your commute direction, neither showing any m major swing? san jose has the mild build for north 101 expected at this time. there is a crash at klawitter west 92, so that will slow you down a bit. heading toward that toll plaza and the san mateo bridge, and just past the toll plaza here at the richmond bridge westbound, your commute direction bogs down a bit. there's a crash there. addressing crews are heading out there. the bridge itself moves smoothly over into the north bay. scott, back to you. well, lots more still to come on today in the bay, including the senate doing its job, putting trump's pick for his cabinet on the hot seat. plus, we're live in san francisco, where dozens of animals are set to arrive today from southern california. it's part of a coordinated effort to help families impacted by the wildfires. we'll talk about how you can help up ahead. stay with us. you'

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biden will say farewell to the nation and his presidency late this afternoon. scott mcgrew joins us now. he'll make a nationwide address at 5:00. that's right. it's a good reminder that things happen late in washington, 8 p.m. their time. many of us are still coming home from work at 5:00 on the west coast. biden has always been good at heartfelt, emotional moments. we expect he'll thank the nation for an opportunity to be president, go

over some of his achievements, which includes an incredibly strong economy and once again, perhaps obliquely, warn about the threats he thinks the upcoming president will bring to the office and to the nation. the president speaking. 5 p.m. our time. big news out of washington. senator joni ernst, who has made fighting sexual assault in the military one of her top priorities, will support trump's pick, pete hegseth, to be the next secretary of defense. hegseth behavior, both with women and with alcohol, came up repeatedly at his confirmation hearing yesterday, including an incident at a republican women's conference in which a woman said hegseth assaulted her. hegseth said it was consensual. here's a bit of the exchange between him and virginia senator tim kaine occurred in monterey, california, in october 2017. at that time, you were still married to your second wife, correct? i believe so. and you

had just fathered a child by a woman who would later become your third wife. correct? senator, i was falsely charged. i completely, fully investigated and completely cleared. so you think you are completely cleared because you committed no crime? that's your definition of cleared. you had just fathered a child two months before by a woman that was not your wife. i am shocked that you would stand here and say you're completely cleared. can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child that had been born two months before? and you tell us you were completely cleared? prosecutors in monterey county said they couldn't come up with enough evidence of sexual assault to charge hegseth. hegseth did pay the woman an undisclosed amount of money. some senators are concerned that texas lack of experience is getting lost in all these conversations about sex and alcohol. hegseth did serve in the national guard, but he's never run any sort of big

organization. the defense department has more than 3 million people working for it, and a budget of more than 800 billion. the ceo of gm and the president of ford have both been secretaries of defense, and people doubted their experience. gm employs 163,000 people in modern times. the last organization hegseth ran had about 30 people. the president speaks to the nation tonight at five. we will, of course, carry that live right here on nbc bay area on our website nbcbayarea.com, and our app as well. thanks so much, scott. well, turning back to our coverage of the southern california wildfires today, dozens of animals impacted will arrive here in the bay area. this comes as hundreds of animals are really filling up those la shelters today in the bay's ginger conejero saab joins us live in san francisco this morning. bay area animal shelters. they've been preparing for r this. th've got a lot of incoming animals. that's right.

laura. they've been preparing. they've been really working to convince people like marcus who say that they're ready to adopt a dog. they want to make space for their shelters, for the incoming animals that are expected today. and they've made some good progress over the weekend, they found 70 animals homes for 70 animals, including 25 puppies. and they're looking to continue that momentum into today and into the days that follow with the arrival of dozens of animals that will be transferred to sf spca from los angeles shelters today. now, this is really part of a coordinated effort of shelters down south spca as well as amelia air rescue, which is a nonprofit that saves shelter pets by flying them to new families. so 30 animals are expected to arrive at three this afternoon at moffett airfield, and then they'll get to sf spca a couple of hours later. but the drive to help families, their animals and the shelters down south, well, it doesn't end there. people can support by

donating online or donating in person here. drop by 201 alabama street to give us your towels, your sheets, any unopened pet food. we are going to take a massive amount of donations down to la with us so we can help replenish the supply there at those shelters. as well. east bay spca is also taking in animals and supporting shelters in southern california. they too are hoping to increase space for displaced animals. so they shared a picture of strawberry, who is the smallest dog from a recent transport out of la, and you can see pictures of other puppies and animals at east bay spca.org/adopt. if you are in a place where you can really help out. now, sf spca does have a second transport mission that's scheduled for n next week. they went down on monday. they plan to go down again next week if that's needed. and a reminder for all those people who are considering hint hint. marcus

adoption fees are waived at this point. i know laura's been working hard at that and all of the puppies are spayed neutered and they're up to date with their vaccinations. and if i didn't have three kids, marcus, i might consider it. but kari like kari said, there's just a lot going on right now. come on guys, i've got so many people that are looking to help. well, you know, ginger, i was thinking when you were saying that, i was like, well, i know for sure that ginger's kids will watch the dog for me if i go away. so, look, i got built in babysitters already. 100%. it takes a village, guys. it's a circus. just add to the. just add to the circus. yeah, i guess that's what i always do. i add to the circus, i add to the crazy. but dogs are just. they make a family. yeah. they do. i'm a big fan. it is tough thougugh. you'r right. marcus, you think about getting home, taking care of the little one as well. yeah, that's true, but it gets you out, gets you active. going for walks in the afternoon. yeah. staying active. definitely important. and at lst we haven't had to deal with any rain. so we can't

use that as an excuse for not getting out there. it's still nice and sunny. i mean, this might make you want to stay in bed a little bit longer. take a look at these temperatures. it's freezing like literally freezing right now in spots in parts of the bay area. santa rosa 32, danville 32. we're also just 1 degrees above freezing in fairfield. and then we're seeing temperatures in the mid 30s for the south county, san jose at 41. in san francisco, it's 47. cool start. but look at later today and where we're headed. it's going to be a nice one. almost 70 degrees in gilroy today, as well as east san jose and 65 in cupertino. we're also going to see a lot of 60s for the east bay, maybe a little bit cooler for antioch and livermore, 62 degrees there and 65 in hayward. near the coast. it's 60 today in half moon bay. nice and sunny, a light wind, and san francisco headed for the low 60s. and for the north bay it will be 66 in santa rosa and

61 in mill valley, still well above normal temperatures. and as we look ahead to see if we're going to get any rain here any time soon, it still may be a while. all of the storm systems are well to the north of us, and this takes it all the way out to next friday when we're seeing some rain approaching. but we'll have to see if it makes it down into the bay area. in the meantime, we are still getting cold fronts and at times the wind picks up and just no rain associated with those cold fronts. so look at the weekend. walnut creek goes from mid 60s for today and tomorrow and then intohe 50s for the weekend. and those are the high temperatures. and we will stay a little bit cooler through the middle of next week. this will also be a long weekend for a lot of people. if you have the martin luther king holiday off, it's going to be in the low 60s on monday for the inland areas. after starting out in the upper 30s, and we're dropping into the mid 50s for san francisco with a breezy weekend, but still nice and sunny. mike, you have a

little more delay now coming out of richmond. yeah, across the bridge. we talked about this crash just past the toll plaza as folks are heading westbound over toward the san rafael side, things really stopped up here. they're starting to move once again. slowly. i believe they're in the process of clearing from this section, this crash again going in your commute direction. meanwhile, over in richmond itself, there may be another crash, but things aren't too severe as far as the slowing. it's the east bay bill, but lighter than your typical wednesday. and we're looking at the san mateo bridge, a smoother drive to build there, the really most significant in the south bay. back to you. thks so much, mike. 651 happening now. santa clara valley water leaders delivered a big win for governor gavin newsom. they approved a proposal to spend nearly $10 million towards an underground water tunnel in the central valley. if fully funded, it would create a concrete structure 36ft in diameter that would take fresh water from the sacramento river and divert it underground to large water pumps and tracy. the project's price tag is $20 billion. 12 other

local water agencies already have funding in place to move that project forward, and we'll be back in just minutes with a look at our top stories this morning, including crews in southern california right now bracing for even stronger winds. we've got an update on those conditions expected to worsen in a matter of hours. but first, here's candice nguyen with our investigative unit. if the project had gone as planned, all of l.a. would have been on california's new next generation 911 system during these fires. but deployment of the updated network is suspended, and we're now uncovering more problems. recent problems, including busy signals and a six hour 911 outage. i'm candice nguyen. watch our latest investigation on next generation 911. too big to fail. right now on

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out of southern california, people are waking up again this morning on edge with strong winds picking up right now. firefighters overnight did make some headway on containing the two largest wildfires. this morning, the number of confirmed deaths is now at 25. the palisades fire, now 19% contained with more than 23,000 acres burned. containment for the eaton fire grew this morning to 45%, with more than 14,000 acres burned across l.a. county. more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed. chp this morning investigating a crash near gilroy. this is the crash that left three people dead. it happened just before seven last night on shore road, east of highway 25. investigators say a driver lost control, crossing into opposing traffic and hitting another car. the driver that lost control, along with two passengers, were killed. one of the victims is 17 years old. now, another passenger in that car and the driver of the other car that was hit were flown to a

nearby hospital with serious injuries. today, san francisco mayor daniel lurie is taking on the city's fentanyl crisis. it follows his move to introduce what he is calling a fentanyl state of emergency ordinance to the board of supervisors. the ordinance would unlock funding to fast track hiring of public safety and health staff and expand treatment and shelter capacity. today, he's sitting down with supervisors and department leaders for a roundtable talk. today, the oakland police commission will hold a town hall on the police department's controversial and restructure contrersial and restrictive rules, which may allow criminals to flee scenes of a crime without getting caught. the city implemented the restrictive policy back in 2014. this is after an audit found that vehicle pursuits were causing too many crashes and injuries. last month, governor gavin newsom called that policy an extreme outlier, and the city and police department are expected to present a revision of that rule to the police

commission next week. also today, we'll learn about san jose's newest 85 spot safe parking sites in that city in berryessa. it could open as soon as the end of the month, with bathroom facilities, counseling, community gardens and security. the city has been ramping up parking enforcement on arv's in areas near schools, parks and neighborhoods. we'll also learn how santa clara county will conduct this year's point in time count of unhoused people. all right. last look at that forecast for us this morning. it's cold again this morning. temperatures in some spots near freezing but headed for the mid 60s this afternoon. nice and sunny. and with a light wind cooling down tonight. and you can see pretty much this weather stays on repeat through at least the middle of next week. maybe just slightly cooler for the weekend. well we've got changes in the south bay. the volume builds over the last ten minutes. we've seen more slowing on 85. definitely on 87 between capital and curtner. looks like the crash may have cleared across the bridge from richmond in towards san rafael. things are moving better at the toll

plaza. still backed up at the bay bridge, of course. all right. well, today show coming up right after today in the bay at 7:00. but in the meantime, you can continue watching today in the bay on roku and other streaming platforms. ahead, in our 8 a.m. newscast, baseball hall of fame inductee tony la russa joins us live in studio to talk about the help that he's giving back to pets in need. it's going to be good. well, that does it for us here on today in the bay this morning. thanks for allowing us to be a part of your morning. that's right. turn to nbcbayarea.com any time of day or night as we're constantly updating. also follow all of us on social. yeah, get a little peek behind kerry's lush life over there. stick around today show is next. good wednesday morning. fireworks on capitol hill over donald trump's pick for