>> taylor: thanks to our contestants ben de la creme, jinkx monsoon, and peaches christ! i'm taylor tomlinson, and this has been "after midnight"! goodnight! oh, my god.

now at 11:00 -- >> crash, crash, crash. this is alert 3, crash, crash, crash. >> -- more than 60 people are believed to be dead after a plane and helicopter collided over d.c., investigators trying to figure out how it could have happened. >> our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened. >> while the president seems to be already pointing the finger. >> how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash? >> because i have common sense. and a bay area mother hoping for justice for the people accused of killing her daughter. from kpix, this is the late

news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi. i'm sara donchey. usually when people talk about dry january, it's because they gave the vodka sodas for a month. this time it was a dry january for all of us. new year's resolution or not, because we hardly got any rain. well, that is over. paul heggen is back with the end of dry january. >> yes. >> it means something different for you in your personal life. >> mother nature celebrating a day early the end of dry january. it's been the third dryest january on record for downtown san francisco back to 1850 if tomorrow was still dry. it won't be. >> right. >> we'll look at how things will evolve through the lifetime of this system and start by looking at the current radar, the way things stand now, which is a blank view. there is nothing on the radar yet. the first showers are still a few hours away from making their way into the north bay. we'll look at the future radar view through 10:00 saturday. so first showers move into the north bay overnight before the sun comes

up tomorrow, but that rain spreads southward across the rest of the bay area. this will come at us in waves. we're talking about a generally wet day tomorrow and the heaviest rain is likely to fall tomorrow night into saturday as this first peak of a double-peaked atmospheric river will head our way. let's look at the flood watch in effect. this goes into effect at noon tomorrow through 10:00 p.m. sunday, but, again, it is friday night and saturday time frame when some of the heaviest rain will fall. the flood watch is not a flash flood watch. that's worse. flood watch means flood prone areas, low lying spots, streams, creeks, low lying intersections, may be collecting water the next couple days. rainfall amounts just through saturday will range from less than an inch of total rainfall in san jose, but that's not bad for the rain shadow of the santa cruz mountains to generally 1 to 2 inches for most of the bay with the heftiest amounts in the north bay, between 2 to 2 1/2 inches of rain over the next couple of days. we are not done

with the rain at that point because of the atmospheric river and its double-peaked nature. here's what we're talking about. if the first peak was ranked as an atmospheric river, by itself it would be a 1 or 2. the other would be an ar1, really borderline. because they're happening essentially back to back, they combine to produce the effects of an ar3 which means a balance of beneficial rainfall, very dry fire fuels absorbing that moisture, the ground doing the same, but the potential for some localized flooding. we'll add up the rain over the course of the next seven days coming up in the full forecast in a few minutes. >> paul, thank you for keeping an eye on that for us. now we turn to that deadly airplane crash just outside of reagan national airport in d.c. all 64 people on board an american airlines flight are believed to be dead after the plane and an army black hawk helicopter crashed into each other. the three soldiers on

that helicopter are presumed dead, also. crews have recovered 40 bodies so far. tonight the ntsb said they have found the flight and voice recorders from the plane. >> we look at the human, the machine, and the environment. so we will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident. again, we will look at the aircraft. we will look at the helicopter. we will look at the environment in which they were operating in. that is standard in any part of our investigation. >> brian able is live for us in alexandria, virginia, with the very latest. thanks for joining us. i want to start with this search and rescue or search and recovery mission. where does that stand at this late hour? >> reporter: well, sara, it was paused as evening approached here on thursday, obviously here being friday at this point, and that's when the sun went down

because of visibility issues, but also another part is the knowledge by the divers that the bodies, the victims that they are going to be able to recover without moving more equipment, without moving that fuselage, have been recovered. so that's where they're at right now. the divers, of course, having some difficulty there dealing with dark, muddy waters with the current as well as ice in the river and jet fuel and other very dangerous materials and debris that they're having to work around. one official described it as having to basically use braille to get around the areas, especially inside the plane to try to find the remaining survivors -- remaining victims rather. 14 of them are unaccounted for at this point. >> that is so incredibly sad and so difficult to think about what they have to do now, these crews, as they comb through all of this evidence and just the

wreckage here. i know the investigation into what exactly went wrong here could take a very long time as these things tend to do. what can you tell us about which agencies are looking into this and what we know at this very, very early stage about how this could have happened? >> reporter: it is a laundry list of agencies, sara, fbi, but the ntsb are the ones that are really taking a forward approach of this. they are the lead, but the department of defense, the dod, given it was an army helicopter that was involved in this, they are also having their own investigation. the ntsb did say today that the faa gave them a trove of information, but they're also holding off really ramping up the investigation until the recovery part of this, the salvage part of this effort, has been completed. so it should still be a couple days before we

really start learning more information, especially because a specialized crane is on its way here and it's still about 24, 48 hours before that crane is going to be able to be operational to get that fuselage out of the potomac river. >> brian, finally, the president made some comments today to the media about this crash about what he guesses is to blame here. let's listen to that real quick. >> reporter: mr. president, you have today blamed the diversity element, but then told us that you weren't sure that the controllers made any mistakes. you then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were the ones who made the mistake. >> it's all under investigation. >> reporter: i understand that. that's why i'm trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash. >> because i have common sense. >> brian, what was the reaction to those comments?

>> reporter: well, you know, i look to ntsb as well as other aviation officials that are all saying that it's too early to not only speculate, but it's too early to be placing blame, especially at this stage of the investigation. it's also important to note that there is different corridors here at reagan airport. that's very unique to washington, d.c. there's helicopters flying low every day all day long. so that in and of itself is not an indicator of what happened here. of course, the ntsb will be looking into it and they say they'll have a preliminary report sometime within 30 days. >> thank you so much for your time. the crash has hit the ice skating community especially hard. several victims were u.s. figure skating members with ties to clubs in massachusetts and virginia. courtney cole reports from boston. >> reporter: a makeshift memorial is growing at the

ashburn icehouse in virginia honoring victims of wednesday's deadly midair collision. >> it's a tough day. the staff is struggling. >> reporter: rob lorenzen serves as the club's general manager and said some of his members were on the flight 5342. >> it's a shame that the community has to experience this and the potential of several individuals no longer participating. it leaves a void. >> reporter: the skating club of boston is grieving the loss of six of its members who were also returning from the u.s. figure skating championships and development camp in kansas. >> i just broke down. just to hear the news in the morning was absolutely heartbreaking knowing that it's going to impact a community of skaters. >> reporter: teen skaters spencer lane and jenna han, known for their talent and leadership, were traveling with their mothers jin han and christine lane. >> spencer was a crazy kid, incredibly talented. jenna, just

a wonderful kid, wonderful parents, great athlete, great competitor, loved by all. >> reporter: two esteemed club coaches, married couple ever gina evgenia shishkova and vadim naumov were also on board. >> when you lose coaches like this, you lose the future of the sport. >> reporter: the skating club of boston lost 18 members in 1961 in another plane crash en route to the world championships in prague. the disaster is putting a spotlight on air traffic controllers and what they do to keep us safe. >> and i can tell you that being an air traffic controller was probably the most stressful job that i have ever had. >> we talked to one former controller about his experience and the common request that could at least partially explain the crash. and a mother is still waiting to get justice for her 5-year-old daughter nearly two years after her shooting death, why she's hoping things will

change under a new d

back to the airline disaster in d.c., the faa said one air traffic controller was doing the job of two people. our lauren toms spoke with one controller in the bay area and looked at staffing levels. >> reporter: the unimaginable crash of a passenger airline and

military black hawk captured in this earth cam footage is raising questions about the air traffic controller's role. ross sagan has been on both sides of the control tower, as an air traffic controller and an airline pilot. he says a simple but often difficult command may be one possible cause for the collision. >> i thought well, visual separation, sounds like it's reared its ugly head again. >> reporter: pilots are constantly instructed to maintain visual separation as nearly 2,000 flights come in and out of the bay area's three main airports every day. >> we have a duty to see and avoid other traffic, if it's possible, and especially if we're given a clearance to maintain visual separation from another aircraft. once we accept that, it is our burden to see and avoid that aircraft. >> reporter: air traffic control staffing levels at the tower in d.c. will be one focus of the investigation. here in the bay

area staffing levels are near the faa's projected goals at all three major airports. the most recent staffing numbers from 123atc says as of november of 2024, sfo has 25 active controllers with nine in training, oakland with 20 active and one in training, and san jose with 14 active and five in training, up slightly from the faa's official 2023 numbers. >> and i can tell you that being an air traffic controller was probably the most stressful job that i have ever had. >> reporter: even so sagan says he remains confident in the safety and competence of our air traffic controllers. >> it's a human system. we all make mistakes. i had great confidence in the controllers. first alert weather powered by kia. learn more at kia.com. kia, movement that inspires.

>> the first widespread rain the bay area has seen in weeks is headed towards us. the clouds have already arrived, nothing falling out of the clouds yet, but that will change the next several hours, the first showers moving into the north bay before the sun comes up spreading across the rest of the bay area tomorrow morning. the heaviest rain falls tomorrow night into saturday with its first peak of a double-peaked atmospheric river, off-and-on showers in between monday and the next wave of moisture arrives monday night into tuesday. let's look at the floor map here and track what's going to happen as we head through the next 48 hours or so. this first animation takes us from midnight through 10:00 tomorrow morning. this first band of moisture will evaporate on the way down. the showers that come in before the sun comes up hit the ground in the north bay and spread pretty far to the south, but your chances of rain inland in the east valley and santa clara valley remain low the first half of the day. as the rain continues, it will make more progress even

into those rain-shadowed spots. from 10:00 tomorrow morning to 8:00 p.m., you can see how widespread the rain becomes. there are some gaps, but keep the umbrella and rain jacket handy. it's going to be a generally wet day. 8:00 tomorrow night through 6:00 saturday morning, a little break in the action for the southern half of the bay area as the system reorganizes itself, but saturday we'll see rain spreading back out. this is some of the heaviest rain that will fall through the duration of this entire system it. goes from 6:00 saturday morning through 4:00 saturday afternoon. yellow indicates pockets of heavier downpours. that rain will fall onto increasingly saturated ground. i talked about the flood watch in effect from noon tomorrow through 10:00 p.m. sunday. this is the excessive rainfall outlook from the weather prediction center and this is the lowest category. it's a marginal risk which means flooding even on a localized basis is not likely but remains within the realm of possibility. this is the excessive rainfall outlook for saturday. we go up a notch into

what's the slight risk category. the phrasing is a bit misleading. it means an elevated threat of at least localized flooding saturday as the heavier rain falls onto already wet ground. that's why the flood watch is in effect for the entire weekend. let's add up the rain over the course of the next seven days. i put the weather prediction center's official forecast numbers in the circles on the map. a few locations we're highlighting the range of possibilities. 8 inches of rain for ben lomond, but look at san jose, expecting 2.6 inches of rain. the bust and boom amounts indicate the dryest and wettest reasonable scenarios, still a wide range of possibilities. concord is expects over 4 inches but could get less than half or could pick up almost twice that amount. it's a similar range of possibilities foget two but could pick up 8. for the north bay expecting 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 inches of rain, but if we hit

the rainfall jackpot, santa rosa could get over a foot of total rainfall and heighten the flooding concerns. so it is a generally wet seven-day forecast. temperatures aren't changing a lot. you can see the trend. we have rain, rain friday and saturday, showers on sunday, then two more days of widespread rain, monday and tuesday, lingering showers wednesday and there is one dry day in the seven-day forecast. it is the last day of the seven-day forecast. that's the next time we can actually anticipate rain-free conditions, but that's still seven days away. we've got a long way to go between now and then. >> thank you so much, paul. as three men accused of killing a 5-year-old girl head to trial, a family in mourning is hoping the new alameda county district attorney will take action where former d.a. pamela price refused. andrea nakano explains. >> reporter: in april of 2023, eliana was in the back seat of

her mother's car heading to a birthday party for grandpa and grandma. that's when three gang members opened fire with one of the shots striking her in the chest. >> the pain often comes and goes. there's days i'm good and days i'm bad, but, you know, it's something that i've just learned to live with. >> reporter: while sophia grieves her daughter's loss, she has taken on a legal battle, something she never thought she would have to do. >> as her mother, i am advocating for her to make sure that we get the justice that she deserves. >> reporter: she was told by the former district attorney, pamela price, that it wasn't within her office policy to charge the men with murder under special circumstances. >> i know she was all about the rehabilitation of criminals and, yes, there are some crimes and some criminals that can be rehabilitated in some cases, but there's no coming back from

killing a child senselessly. >> reporter: she's hopeful with a new d.a. the special circumstances charge will be added before the defendants go to trial. >> what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong and special circumstances will make them eligible for life without the possibility of parole and why gamble with the future of our children having that opportunity for them to be out again? >> reporter: but the charge goes to trial february 11th, the same day the new district attorney is set to be sworn in. she hopes the new d.a. jones dixon has heard the message from voters loud and clear that they want change and criminals to be appropriately charged for their crimes. >> i'm never going to be able to see my daughter as a teenager, you know. these criminals may see their children through a glass window or whatever, but guess what? i'll never be able to see my

daughter. they will. so justice needs to be served. straight ahead in sports, a moment of truth for one of the top women's bay area ballers. and if i only had a golf game like we saw today, irishman to soccer icon. the bay area concert calendar brought to you by live nation. >> this saturday night the comedy of sebastian manskoko and his it ain't right tour. and bruce coburn, one

you will never get any

complaints from me starting with basketball. >> no. not at all. >> no. >> especially for a program off to its best start in 12 years and you just hope just get a little bit better, a little bit better and, well, it's a work in progress. in sports you're always trying to get to the next level and if you're not trying, what are you doing? top 20 match-up, cal women's basketball was knocking at that next level door in its inaugural season in the acc. 19th-ranked bears hosted one of the bluebloods of the game, north carolina tar heels. bears trailed by ten early, but look at suarez work so hard underneath. they cut the heels' lead to one, but carolina's defense put cal's offense in deep freeze in the fourth. under four minutes left, kelly's jumper put them up nine. cal had only five made three's. that's their game. 15th-ranked tar heels won it

65-52. the bears' first home loss as their record fell to 18-4. they will have beat pitt this weekend. pitt was at stanford and in this one low scoring first half, 17-14 cardinal. off the miss, panthers three. here's how stanford ended the half, coast to coast, laid it in to beat the buzzer. stanford went on to win 58-46. their record? 11-9. rick celebrini the dad watching his baby boy go to work in seattle at the kraken. early second period tied 1-1. here came seattle. oh, knocked it in, kraken took the lead. less than a minute later here comes san jose. they turned it over and brandon montour made them pay, two goals tonight. seattle scored four times in the period and won it by a final of 6-2.

the sharks have lost seven of their last eight. well, what a beautiful shot. pebble beach pro-am, the pebble beach course, but we want to show you rory mcilroy at spyglass hill, par 3 15th, jarred it from 119 yards, tied for eighth after a 6 under 66. then back at the pebble course, fellow irishman shane lowry at the iconic par 3 7, what a 100-yard ace. lowry and mcilroy did provide drinks for everyone, guinness, of course. russell henley leads the field by one at 8 under par. orlando, florida, in a pro-am, hold out for eagle at the 14th hole, all right, nice, but moments later same group, u.s. soccer icon brandi chastain, san jose native, bay fc co-founder, eagle of her own! that was the lpga tournament of

champions. those are the kind of skills that i need in my vern glenn invitational in june, shameless plug. brandi, come play. i got a spot for you. i've seen her go yard at oracle park the year it opened. she's got skills. >> i'm very impressed, as someone who really doesn't understand golf at all. all right. vern glenn invitational upcoming. i have work on my skills. thank you. a salmon farm going out of business thought hey, let's do the right thing and give this fish to the food bank, but there was, pun intended, a catch, how they managed to fish for a good cause. i'm jonny moseley and the mountains are calling. the toyota's packed up and ready to go, but before we get out there let's look at what conditions are like. the toyota tahoe

report is ready. let's head over to the map. >> it is definitely a complicated forecast for the sierra this weekend. here's the bottom line. it does not look like a good weekend to be traveling to the mountains. you're looking at the snow forecast totals for friday, but keep in mind this can be deceiving. the snow will be mixed with and then change over to just rain. the same atmospheric river bringing rain to the bay area will bring enough warm air to push snow levels up to 8,500 feet saturday and sunday. several inches of rain this weekend will not only make a mess of the slopes, but will lead to the threat of downslope flooding. gusty winds kick in already tomorrow with the strongest gusts late saturday into sunday. a wind driven rain/snow mix makes for a less than ideal skiing experience this weekend, but there's some good news next week. the rain will transition back to heavy snow by tuesday and wednesday. we'll be

running a food bank is important work and it cannot be easy convincing people to donate money or to give food. so you can do the job of making sure the people who really need help can feed themselves and feed their families. it's noble stuff, but volunteers at a food bank in new york went above and beyond the calling i would argue

and they got the call from a salmon farm that went something like this. hey, come get it. the farm was closing down and they said they wanted to give the food bank 40,000 pounds of fish, but the thing is the fish were still alive obviously and the food bank workers had to come and catch them themselves and they had to do it kind of quick. >> we didn't want it to go to waste, go into a dumpster or something like that when it's great to eat, right? >> the fact we only had weeks to execute this really ratcheted up the intensity and the anxiety a little bit. i knew that we had the will. i knew we had the expertise. >> it's like i'm wearing open-toed shoes at work today. what am i supposed to do here? 42 volunteers did it, though. 243 food pantries will be getting frozen salmon donations as a result. >> who did all of the cleaning of those fish? >> oh, me. >> yeah, sure.

>> no. we would be in grave trouble. yeah. props to them for getting it done no matter what. >> that's quite an operation. >> it is, yeah. would love (lively music) - hello, everyone, and welcome to the injury help center where we have professionals standing by to answer your questions for free. so if you've been injured in an accident, like a car accident or a slip and fall, we can help. so pick up the phone and find out how much money you can get for your accident. thank you all for joining me today. i'm tory shulman, your host, joined by my longtime friend and co-host, al jackson. al, with our extensive experience in television, could you please tell our viewers what we're doing here today, and more importantly, who should call right now? (telephone ringing) - well, tory, first off, i'm super excited to be here with you today, and frankly, it's about you,