repair storm damage... from mudslides... to potholes... the mess they're dealing with... with the next round of rain just around the corner. y choi. bay area crews scrambling to clear up storm damage from mudslides and potholes. the mess they are dealing with, with more rain around the corner. good afternoon, i'm kenny choi. >> i'm michelle griego.

we have team coverage. maria medina is in the santa cruz mountains. anne makovec is in the east bay. but first roberta is in the weather center with conditions right now. >> it continues to rain across much of the bay area. seeing a little bit of a break across the south bay but right now let's get to it. it is live. hi-def doppler radar picking up pretty light to moderate rainfall around the north bay anywhere stretching from petaluma into novato making tracks into san rafael as you head towards the golden gate bridge. it's raining in vallejo, east of the bay orinda, moraga, danville, alamo, oakland, all with rain showers. flood washing in effect for central sonoma county. flooding at the mark west creek, santa rosa, sebastopol, graton and cotati. turn around, don't drown! this is just in from the national weather service. the huge highlighted area in yellow, that is a flash flood watch that goes into effect tonight through friday north bay, the coastline, santa cruz

mountains. we are anticipating more mudslides, flooding and rockslides, as well. we do have rain showers now. we'll continue to see the rain taper off during the evening commute and then a bigger more vigorous system moving into the bay area promising even gustier winds than what we experienced yesterday. we are going to track this incoming system together coming up. kenny, that's a little bit later in the newscast. >> thank you. part of highway may be shut down for days because of a huge mudslide that hasn't stopped moving. kpix 5's maria medina is in the santa cruz mountains, where several mudslides ve hit in the very same spot. >> reporter: chp allowed us to get just a few feet away from this monster mudslide. you can see why it shut down the northbound lanes. they say the clean-up will continue until tomorrow afternoon. >> this is definitely close to up with those act of god type of areas. >> reporter: the mudslide is

the third in the last several weeks in this area. >> this is the biggest mudslide i have seen on this highway. >> reporter: caltrans engineer part of the crew cleaning up the mess figuring out how to stabilize this saturated earth he says is no easy task. >> you would be, like, a kid on the beach digging a hole and the sand keeps caving in. the problem that would cave in here are some boulders the size of vw bugs. >> reporter: the mudslide went down a month after it crushed this live truck. this time it sent an suv airborne, the driver okay but northbound lanes are shut down near vine hill road. southbound lanes are open to two-way traffic. still, a warning for drivers. northbound lanes could be shut down up to three days. >> rain is supposed to be worse tomorrow with a break today. more stuff will come falling down today. >> reporter: caltrans says even if they put a catch system for mudslides in the problem area

it may not have done any good. >> the amount of material that fell on this slide was unprecedented. >> reporter: crews are stretched so thin because of all the mudslides countywide that they are bringing in contractors. as far as permanent solutions, they can't put one in until the rain stops. in santa cruz county, maria medina, kpix 5. caltrans says that they may need to wait until the spring to put in a permanent system to prevent future mudslides in that area. the storm is causing delays all over bay area roads. a huge pothole opened up on 580 in livermore ahead of the morning commute. kpix 5's anne makovec was there and shows us the challenges of repairing the road. >> reporter: the challenge for crews right now is that this big pothole is on a bridge so it's not as simple as just filling it in. it's four by ten feet long and exposes the rebar underneath

westbound 580. that shut down the two right lanes over greenville road for the morning commute. more than a dozen drivers got flash tires by hitting this hole at full speed. caltrans took all morning to make a plan to fill this hole temporarily. >> more permanent repairs need warm dry weather. >> reporter: in the meantime the traffic was crawling between tracy and livermore. this truck driver took 2.5 hours. he says 580 has been needing repairs for years. >> they will mess around and break a spring leaf on this thing and it happened before. so for them not to fix it and we pay all these taxes is horrible. >> reporter: caltrans says there are plans to repave the road this year. >> i know that the paving out there is in really ragged shape but there are other places that needed more attention first. >> reporter: the goal is to get 580 reopened as soon as possible. they hope before this evening. in livermore, anne makevoc, kpix 5. we are getting new pictures of the impact of the storm. take a look at this.

this car flipped over into a creek near collier canyon road in alameda county yesterday. the chp says that a resident jumped in and busted out a window with a pick axe to save the driver. napa police tweeted out this photo of a crash on big ranch road between el centro and [ indiscernible ] thanks to seatbelts and airbags the driver survived. no other cars were involved. officers say to slow down or wet roads. new video the toll that this wet weather is taking on the napa river. this drone video was shot by a viewer. you can see this area is waterlogged. stay with kpix 5 news as we track the storm damage and look ahead to the next storm on air and online at cbssf.com. all this rain is replenishing our reservoirs but will it flush out water restrictions? state regulators are meeting this afternoon in sacramento to decide whether to keep the

restrictions or eliminate them. they were put in place during the drought but it's unclear if they are still needed. many water districts are urging the board to get rid of conservation rules but skeptics say we can't bank on this wet weather being the new normal. a contentious debate is under way in the u.s. senate right now. democrats are arguing against senator jeff sessions' qualifications to become attorney general. but they have one less voice today. cbs reporter weijia jang on why senator elizabeth warren says she was silenced. >> reporter: senate democrats debated through the night in opposition to senator jeff sessions becoming attorney general. >> tens of millions of americans' lives will be impact by their decisions. so they should have to go through a thorough, um, vetting process. >> reporter: but republicans say one for went too far when she read a letter from coretta scott king opposing sessions' nomination to be a federal judge in 1986.

>> "mr. sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens." >> reporter: her speech was cut off citing a rule which says senators cannot make disparaging remarks about a colleague. >> she was warned. she was given an explanation. nevertheless, she persisted. >> reporter: the hashtag, never the less she persisted and let liz speak began trending on twitter. senator warren will not be allowed to speak again until they take up the vote on the confirmation but the democratic colleagues are picking up the slack. other democrats began reading coretta scott king's letter on the floor wednesday morning. >> these are coretta scott king's word to chill the free exercise of the vote by the black citizens. >> senator sessions -- >> reporter: democrats have little hope of defeating senator sessions' nomination.

staffers have even begun moving furniture out of his senate office in preparation for the move to the department of justice. weijia jang, cbs news, capitol hill. >> california senator kamala harris is set to speak on the floor in a few minutes to speak against jeff sessions. assembly members from san diego, los angeles and sacramento want to welcome refugees into california. they are proposing new legislation that would provide refugees with in-state tuition at public colleges, help those who have foreign experience and apply it toward a professional license, and earmark $5 million for refugee education as well as declare june 20th, 2017, world refugee day. the three assembly members behind the bill represent the counties with the largest refugee populations in the state. last year, nearly 8,000 refugees arrived in california. the fate of president trump's temporary travel ban is now in the hands of three federal judges here in california.

cbs news' jan crawford reports on the arguments present to the ninth circuit court of appeals. >> reporter: two of the three judges appeared skeptical of arguments presented by the justice department lawyer making the case on behalf of the government. he said, the state's challenging the ban have no case because they were not directly harmed. but immigration law gives the president broad discretion on national security and the order is not a muslim ban and does not discriminate based on race or religion. >> submitted evidence that they suggest shows that that was the motivation so why shouldn't the case proceed perhaps to discovery to see if that really was the motivation or not? >> we're not saying the case shouldn't proceed. but it is extraordinary for a court to enjoin the president's national security determination based on some newspaper articles. that's what's happened here. >> reporter: the lawyers from washington and minnesota argues the ban hurts their states and

its residents, violates constitutional provisions and amounts to discrimination against muslims. >> a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: he pointed to mr. trump's rhetoric during his presidential campaign. >> the public statements from the president and his top advisers reflect that strong intent. >> one judge pressed on how the temporary 7-nation ban discriminated against muslims. and asked why the president can't put limits on countries with significant terrorism concerns. >> i have trouble understanding why we're supposed to infer religious animus when in fact the vast majority of muslims would not be affected as residents of those nations. and where the concern for terrorism with those connected with radical islamic sects is kind of hard to deny. >> reporter: this morning, president trump tweeted that if u.s. doesn't win the case as we

should we will never have the security and safety as we are entitled ... politics. the ninth circuit is the most liberal appeals court in the country and so many say the administration will lose. but that of course is not the end of the legal fight. jan crawford, cbs news, washington. still ahead, president trump meets with the head of bay area tech giant intel. the major announcement he is calling the future of computers. >> as we have heavy rain and wind, tornadoes hit the south, destruction after a series of twisters.

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tornadoes touched down in southeastern louisiana. the ed cars, smashed clean-up efforts are under way right now after 7 tornadoes touched down in southeastern louisiana. the twisters flipped cars,

smashed hopes and brought down trees and power lines. some people recorded the destruction as it happened. several dozen people were injured. and louisiana's governor has declared a state of emergency. president trump told a group of police chiefs this morning that they have a true friend in the white house. he is promising zero tolerance for violence against law enforcement officers. >> we all see what happens and what's been happening to you. not fair. we must protect those who protect us. >> the president also said that his administration will give police departments the resources they need to recruit and retain officers. new at noon intel's ceo joined president trump in the oval office today to announce a $7 billion investment in a factory in arizona. he said the factory will be making the most advanced chips on the planet. in fact, he brought one to show the president calling it the future of computers. the factory will employ 3,000 workers. he says the announcement comes

partly in response to the president's tax and regulatory policies. facebook is making changes to its employee leave policy. it's expanding bereavement time and paid leave for employees taking care of sick family members giving them 20 days of paid lead for death of a immediate family member and six weeks of paid leave to take care of a sick family member. sheryl sandberg says that the new policy hits home. her husband died in 2015. checking in on wall street right now, the dow is down 35 points. spotify is teaming up with accuweather creating play lists based on the weather in your location. sunny days translate into happier music and rainy days call for acoustic music. so let the acoustic music begin, roberta. >> i'm going to get my own weather app so you guys can hear my kind of music, okay? i have a lot of rainy day music. we have a lot of rain ahead

of us, still. hi, everybody! good afternoon. take a look at our live hi-def doppler radar. it's been raining all morning long. east bay now, you have the light to moderate rainfall anywhere around highway 13 as you make tracks towards 580 into the oakland area. also emeryville, alameda, berkeley, making it a very slippery afternoon commute. meanwhile, we do have some heavy concentration of precipitation, can you see it there? in the yellow and orange around guerneville which has been a concern for the past 24 hours. the russian river in guerneville is now at 33.7. flood stage is at 32 feet. see what does that tell you? minor flooding is occurring right now. in addition, flood warning is in effect for the red highlighted area which encompasses the mark west creek, santa rosa, sebastopol, graton and cotati. this is a flash flood watch in effect for the north bay, coastline, santa cruz

mountains, more mudslides, rockslides, and flooding over the next 24 to 36 hours. raindrops on the camera lens. temperatures right now in the 60s. and the winds have been increasing pretty much out of the south 10 to 20, 16 in oakland 12 in berkeley, 6 in napa. these winds are nothing! tomorrow we have a high wind advisory in place up to 30-mile- per-hour winds gusts up to 50. the rest of the day the rain gradually tapers and tonight cloud cover, foggy, and then we will have a stormy day on our thursday, atmospheric river right there, cold front out there, tapping in between the two, we have a good risk of thunderstorms throughout the day tomorrow. here's your futurecast. playing out your day, notice tomorrow, this is midnight as we go forward toward the morning commute raining in the north bay gradually in the central bay by 9:00. here's the timing, into the santa clara valley by the early afternoon hours out of here about 10 p.m. another impulse friday before we dry out on saturday. rainfall amounts, up to about 2 to 3 inches of rain.

as far as the tahoe area is concerned, it's raining today, tomorrow, friday, but clearing out by the weekend. here's a look at our extended forecast for today. we're talking about temperatures into the 60s. winds south 10 to 20 miles per hour. the out -- the forecast for tonight, 5:42, is sunset, we may even actually see a little bit of it in the south bay. otherwise, we're talking about rain tomorrow, friday, partly cloudy saturday, sunshine sunday through valentine's day. and then more rain possible next thursday. >> so a nice valentine's day. >> we will enjoy it. >> maybe kenny, too. >> yeah. [ laughter ] >> all right. thanks, roberta. >> but not together. >> no. [ laughter ] >> tell me about it. [ laughter ] let's make that clear. [ laughter ] >> still ahead, music's biggest night is almost here. a preview of the grammy awards. >> and what's cool about your school? email your nomination to us at coolschools@kpix.com and we may feature your school on the show. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

ell, today's tip of the day is going to be is with honeydew imported. the flavor isn't that bad for this time of the year. these aren't bad. but you have to select and store them right or otherwise, they are not going to taste

good at all. let's talk about selection. like all honeydew a creamy color all the way around very, very important. the creamier the better. when you bring them home, unlike cantaloupes, these will continue to get sweeter, continue to get riper. so store them on the counter, not in the refrigerator. when you rub your hands on the top like this, you get a nice little sticky feel to them, that's when they're the best when it's high sugar content and heavy for their size. the unused portion you store in the refrigerator. honeydew for this time of the year, tastes like summer out there when you find it at the market and bring them home. a little proscuitto around there, may taste just a little bit better and a little balsamic reduction. 'm tony tantillo, your fresh grocer. nd always remember to eat fresh and stay healthy. the heavier the better. we're less than a week away from the 59th annual grammy awards. i spoke with the man behind the magic today ken erlich, talking

about how music has changed during his 30 years he has been producing. >> in my years we watched music go from really, you know, disco to punk to new wave to, um, um, grunge to, um, um, you know, pure pop to, you know, the emergence of country, um, it's -- you know, the musical style changes so we just kind of -- we follow it and we also believe that at times we kind of lead it. >> you can catch the grammys sunday night at 5:00 right here on kpix 5. we'll be right back. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,

ken and liz will see you at five. have a great afternoon. that's it. >> it goes just like that. >> every day [ music ] >> sunshine is coming this weekend. >> get your ponchos and umbrellas ready for tomorrow. ,,

>> wyatt: the hits just keep on coming. >> steffy: huh. nicole's hashtags are really paying off. when anyone posts about me in the media or on their personal pages, it links here. >> wyatt: yeah. >> steffy: huh. wow. >> wyatt: oh, look. post about our divorce. won't be reading the comments on that one. >> steffy: look, it doesn't matter what they say. you're a great husband. and look, you're really important to me. >> wyatt: and i-i feel the same way. i just... i can't -- i can't be this close to you every day. i'll put on a brave face for the wedding. i'll support you and my brother.