that's-877-276-1149. with anthem blue cross, you're free to enjoy value like nev before. ♪ >> clear that the animal has been shot with a shotgun. >> this x-ray shs the shotgun pellet lodged in the head of a wounded a lion. veterinarians are working to save his life. >> they're worried about his health and finding whoever shot him. theresa, what's the latest? >> well, we saw that sea lion and he is clearly suffing but definitely getting some of the best medal help possible. workers from here at the marine mammal center scooped him up and

helped him after pedestrians saw him on the beach at the south end of sausalito wednesday night. the 7 foot sea lion named silent night has been wounded by a shotgun blast to the head and has suffered grave injuries. the 336 pound male has lost his right eye, a few teeth and his left eye is swollen shut from inflammation around his face. x-rays taken when he was sedated yesterday shows six pieces of fragment in various locations from his nose to eye and near his brain. veterinarians are concerned it could do more harm than good to deal with the pellets. they're going to leave them where lodged and give him medication. >> som of them are very close to his brain. if swelling from that or infection from that actually gets into the brain, that would be life-threatening condition

and very likely could be fatal. >> this morning marine mammal center workers were using wooden boards to corner the sea lion and get close to him to administer shots of anti-inflammatory d pain medications. he's also getting antiotics to hopefully keep on save infection. they have reported the shooting to federal wildlife officials so they can investiga who shot this sea lion and.. they have no idea. gunshot wounds to marine mamls happen too often. last year they treated 19 animals, mostly sea lions. thisear silent night is the 9th gunshot victim. the caretakers are made him silent night in honor of the season and because he has a regal composure like a knight. >> belmont police at a middle school to be on the lookout after evidence of a mountain lion attack just behind the

school. a picture of a mountain lion paw print captured in the field behind the middle school. that's the same area where a deer carcass was found yesterday. parents and teachers and people's who walks dogs nearby are asked to be extra vig leapt. it's highly unlikely a mountain lion would pose a threat tony of the students. >> police have issued what they call a school alert after a suspicious man tried to make contacwith a nine year old girl near grant elementary school. the ungs girl and her brother were walking home near mcnear avenue in petaluma when they noticed a suspicious gray van and when the children entered the house. a man described as short and gray-haired drove his van into their driveway, rang the doorbell, all the while making eye contact with the girl. no crime was committed but the incident was suspicious enough to warrant an alert. >> developing ns now. within the last hour a jury in salt lake city has issued a

guilty vdict in the kidnapping of elizabeth smart. mitchell could now face life in prison. the jurors rejected mitchell's insanity defense. she was taken from her home at knife poi when she was 14. she was held captive by mitchel for nine months. she was raped almost daily before finally being recognized at a store. the court's trying to decide if mitchell was competent to stand trial. >> police were led on an early morning chase. he was kled when his car crashed into a pole in berkeley. this all began when an oakland police offic stopped a white honda civic last night. during th stop, the driver hit the officer leaving him with some bumps and bruises. oakland and berkeley police then spotted the car around 5:00 this morning d started the chase. after more than an hour the driver crashed o frontage road by 80 in berkeley. he died in the hospital a short

time later. oakland police will only say the suspect was a wanted palee and the crash is being investigated by the chp. >> a san francisco judge has issued a ruling in favor of governor schwarzenegger to sell 11 state properties. the governor wants to sell the buildings to private investors and then have thstate lease them back. the superior court judge denied a request for the preliminary injution to stop the sale. it would generate more than a billion dollars to help the cash-strapped state. it includes buildings that house the supreme cour and state appeals court. >> tonit u.s. attornegeneral eric holder will address a national muslim group at a hotel. it will be the first time a u.s. attorney general has attended an event hosted by a muslim group. holder's speech comes at a time when b area muslims are especially concerned about government eavesdropping. federal agents often show up uninvited at local arab cultural

events. three bay area muslims recent complained about.b.i. visits to their homes and workplaces >> in washington presint obama will meet privately with former president bill clinton today. jenelle wang joins us from the news room with more on this closedoor meeting. >> the white houseas not released an official statement about why the two are meeting but sources say president obama is seeking aice how to deal with the recent mid-term sal lacking that has republicans ruling the house. >> the opposition party being in control, 1994 midterm elections republicans won control of the house durinmr. clinton's first term as president. present obama is now in the same boat come january. their meetin this afternoon will be behin closed doors. president obama may also seek advice on this week's tax cut deal that has membs of the democraticarty boiling over. >> in the form that it was

negotiated, it is no acctable to the house democratic caucus. it's as simple as that. >> the presidentmade a deal with republicans this week on extending bush era tax cuts for another two years, including cuts for the wealthiest americans, something democrats say will just drive up the deficit. >> to add insult to injury, they added the state tax which is a bridge too far for many of our members. >> in an interview released today, president obama says despite the rebellion by many democrats he bieves the deal will pass saying congress won't allow taxes to go back up and possibly drive the economy back into recession. over in the senate, a more friely atmosphere. members unveiled their version of the bil with added sweeteners including tax breaks to promote alternate energy. it's lated for a vote monday and is expected to pass. congress has until the end of this year to passhe deal. that when the current tax cuts are set to expire.

reporting live in the news room, jenelle wang, abc 7 news >> thanks very much. president obama is calling on china to release a jailed nobel peace prize recipient. earlier today he was not able to collect a prtigious $1.4 million reward in norway because he's being held in a chinese prison. china was infiated when the 54-year-old litera critic won. he's serving a sentence on subversion charges for the one-party communist political system. he has placed supporters including hisife under house arrest to prevent anybody from picking up his prize. it was the first time in 74 years th award was not handed over to th winner. >> a potentially dangerous revelation from aviation officials. >> tales from te sea. passengers on board a daged cruise shireturn to port. >> and signs of a salmon run. why officials are now hopeful

the cohoe salmon are returning

>> after riding out a 30-foot sea, a cruise ship now safely on land. the damad ship reached argentina oveight after several days on the high seas. this video from a nearby ship shows what the crew and passengers endured. this massive ship was tossed about by 30 foot and

occasionally 40 foot waves. looks like a movie. one couple appeared on "good morning america"o praise the captain and crews. >> everything on e ship continued to function. the staff was there to help people maneuver around. so no one would get hurt. we did have a couple of injuries on the way down. but when we got into these heavy seas, none of the passengers were injured. a crew membe unfortunately was. >> wow! what a story. passengers also shot video of the "national geographic" explorer ship as it answered the distress call. they were worried about the danger and knew this would not be an ordinary cruise. >> the federal aviation administration doesn't know nearly a third of the airplanes in this country. it coverroughly 119,000 aircraft. the faa admitted today that the incomplete and missing records could make it possle for

terrists to buy planes without the government knowing it or make it impossible to track specific flight its files are in such disarray it's orded all aircraft owners, all of them to reregister their planes to bring them up to date. >> they can't remember a year with smany bear problems. bears are breaking into taho homes and businesses at a rate of five per day. bears have bitten, swiped down or knocked down several people in confrontation. 2,000 complaints have be filed about nuisance bears. the new problems are like due to a booming bear population. 25 years ago there were roughly 4,000 black bears statewide, now there e well over 37,000. >> peer has set a relution she hopes will lead to better protecon of the swans. last month someone broke the neck of one of the swans and

earlier this year another was stolen from the lagoon. the last remaining swan has been temporarily relocated for her safety. she will be returned to the lagoon next month with long with a newian. the resolution calls to develop a plan to preserv the long-term safety and preseation of the animals. all the rain this season now has several hundred endangered cohoe salmon swimming up creeks and rivers to spawn. fisheries management team says their latest survey is offering very encouraging resul. they're findi morsel mon nests in local creek beds than they dilast season but they warn that it's still too early to call the season a success. the salmon population has steadily declined over the past 15 years but officials say this year's storms could create very good conditions for the fish. a final count will be made in january. >> speaking wet out there, a little sprinkle coming in.

>> yes? >> technical term, i like that. very nice, all right! let's take a look outside. we do have a warmer weekend on the way. you can see some of the warmer air already. i'll tell you who it will keep temperatures under control while the rest of us warm up this weeken >> she can do that. i gotta practice. it's day one on this new job for the california man some are now calling the world's second most famous santa. >> and ringing a be very good cause. helping to make a difference this holiday seaso

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♪ later today the man many have come to know as santa john will start his new job at an old san francisco bar. john toomey has been santa at the union square macy's the last 20 years but he was fired after an adult couple complained about a slightly naughty joke he told him ile they were sitting on his lap. the owner of the bar offered him a new gig with a nice pay increase. he will start at 3:00 this afternoon through christmas eve. anything who visits is asked to bring awe new unwrapped toy for a holiday-sponsored hiday toy drive. >> many familiar faces helping to ring in the holidays for the

salvation army in san francisco's union square today. ho ho ho! merry christmas! >> have you seen the gentleman before? i have. he's abc 7's own arts and entertainment reporter don sanchez and he got into the act a short time ago in fron of macy's. this mks the 30th year local celebrities ar ringing bells to encourage people to toss coin and bills into the salvation army kettle. the bell-ringing tradition started in san fransco in the 1890s before going global. i don't remember who used to drop 20-dollar gold pieces in there back then. >> all that small change does add up though. it really doesn't. >> don ha a little rhythm there, too. >> looked like it was dry for a moment where he was standing. >> these the trend. drier as the day unfolds and even through the weeke. tahoe, no new snow but looks kind of neat now with some of those clouds hangi around.

we're looking from the heavenly cam here. and kind of warm. i'll hav that forecast for you here in a minute. let's bring you back home and show you what's going on here. rather foggy in some spots as we look at emeryville this morning. live doppler 7 hd picking up radar returns with some of those scattered lighrains we were talkg about are moving through marin county heading to the south-southeast. they're gog to push across the san pablo bay and head over towards contra costa count alameda county,ven the peninsula may get a scattered light rain over the next couple hours. confusing this atmosphere with this humid air. has to give ove to fog eventuly. upper 50s to near 60 mountain view, fremont, liverme and san jose. we have upper 50s to near 60 monterey bay and even inland. mostly cloudy this afternoon with scatter sprinkles. more widespread fog tonight and thicker fog will form.

and the weekend warming trend will hit most areas. i'll sho you the areas in a second. first let's talk about what's going on right now. notice it a little farther to the north today and it will continue moving that way because of this ar of high pressure. so overs top of us today, mainly cloudy with that scattered ght rain. temperatures low to mid-60s. livermore, san jose66. some of the warmer spots. clearly lagging a little behind at 57. monterey bay and inland, clouds. low to mid-60s for you. tonight you can see how widespread the fog and everything's dealing with it. upper 40s to low 50s and mild once again. fog in the central valley, the drive into the sierra tomorrow morning yoll have to deal with some of that tulie fog. what's going asar as it the future radar. pretty dry over top of us but once the sun sets make it a little drizzle for your eveni plans. overnight the high pressure a little closer and tomorrow we

see some sun bre out. you can see it along the coast. but it's the interior valleys in the east bay. this tulie fog that develops especially satury in sunday startso pull through the delta community and filter into our valleys keeping us foggy and much cooler than everybody else this weekend. heading to the sierra, rain mixed with snow. a few showers there. look at the temperatur lake level. up to 60 degrees. let's talk about the snow pack. we haven't mentioned it yet. the statewide average, 138% above normal but the season goes all the way through april 1st. only at 28%. we need to keep building upon this early surplus to stay okay as we head into the spring. your forecast, notice most of us see the sunshine. low to mid-60s through the coast and bay and inland but then that fog starts to roll into the valley sunday and monda keeping temperatures in the upper 50s there while upr 60s around the

bay and low 60s at the coast. we'll see a cooling trend for all of us on tuesday as a chance of rain moves ba into the forecast and los more likely for wednesday and thursday. >> so much more, too. >> we do! coming up, this week's perfect pet. >> here with zuk and clarence. a kitten from the humane society. honey...? [ mom ] yes. honey, i can't find my internet rd. oh, i'll borrow hailey's. u're downloading movies. fast! from here?

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>> today on oprah at 4:00,

returning to the west virginia town where someone jumped into the community pool 27 years ago. the bay area city getting ready to close for business for 11 days to save money. we're going to be there live as the fire macy santa starts his new job this afternoon. >> time now for friday's perfect pet. >> introduce us to some new fries. >> a couple new friends. robert, if i'm not mistaken. fairly young, also. >> yes. >> hi, kerry, how are you? >> good. >> decided to tell us about unique names, also. (laughte >> yes. this is clarence. yes and boots. and i brought them here tod because we have so many cats at the marin humane soety now and so many that we reced our adoption fees for the month of december. >> that's great. >> i brought a two--month-ol you might want to bring her home

for the holidays, all deed out for the holidays. it would b great if they could stay together. but along with kittens, we have a lot of adult cats fo adoption. >> and unual at this time to have that. >> it is, it is! we really hope by reducing the adoption fee that we'll be able to adopt a lot in time for the holidays. >> okay. you can get more information by calling 415-506225. and check out my weather blog on abc7news.com. so cute! have a great weekend >> love the little things around the neck, too. >> they're adorable. thank you for joining us on the abc 7 news. >> "who wants to be a millionaire" coming up next. >> have a great weekend. we'll se

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